Extravagance

I have started playing a game with myself when I go food shopping each weekend. The game is: buy as little as possible. The game is secretly: spend as little money as possible, but that is not as fun. I challenge myself to recall what I already have at home, and to work with those items, plus a carefully selected collection of economical new items, to create a week's worth of food for me and Pete.

Today I played the game in an even more challenging environment. After church today we went on a date to... Wegman's. Although we agree there is nothing inherently wrong with the veritable cornucopia of fruits, vegetables, breads, cheeses, meats, seafood delicacies, and baked goods, the abundance of food at Wegman's seems a bit extreme. And it does make it extremely easy to fall into greediness and to desire the luxurious life that is associated with cartfuls of expensive food. Walking by displays of bright orange peppers, just-misted bunches of fresh parsley, bundles of sunflowers, and $4 menu magazines is tempting. But I actually did well with my game at Wegman's today. The one luxury I planned to purchase - English crumpets - was out of stock. So I was spared that indulgence.

For a girl who's become accustomed to shopping at ALDI - where there are absolutely no frills - the extravagance of Wegman's is a bit of a shock. So are the women in heeled leather boots drinking lattes while they shop for organic fat free ice cream and Romanesco broccoli. There's a woman handing out tiny sample cups of just-squeezed orange juice. A small child is screaming at the gelato bar where her grandmother is about to buy her chocolate ice cream. There's a whole aisle of various international foods (although NOT crumpets). There's a miniature train set suspended from the ceiling that chug-a-chug-chug's in a loop above your head in the cheese section. The environment of the luxury grocery store is a bit embarrassing.

But at the heart of Wegman's and ALDI is the fulfillment of a basic human need - the need to eat. And if I can create meals that tantalize, satisfy, and nourish us, I don't think it matters where I've purchased the ingredients. Wegman's is a place to ponder the creativity of God in his design of a world full of edible things. At ALDI, food is just food; no fanfare. Either place, it's a loaves and fishes game to make something plentiful out of whatever I can afford. Sometimes, tossing in a little something extra is alright too. Today, a five-dollar container of gourmet olives from the Mediterranean Bar was not on the shopping list, but it made Pete's day. And for my splurge - if you know where I can get crumpets, let me know.