For all of you with adventuresome tastes, you do have a wide culinary world to enjoy – or at least explore. As more people stay at home (providing they can also get groceries), many appear to be trying new dishes and recipes. Several of my friends consider me to be a picky eater, although that can be a relative term. I grew up in a “standard” small, Southern town in the time of traditional fare, but indeed did not eat cooked greens nor yellow squash. A wide range of seasonings were not available, although for those who never had vegetables cooked with bacon grease, you are missing a treat. There were no Chinese, Italian, etc; restaurants, and when a pizza place did finally open, we of course didn’t cross the threshold since they also sold beer. (That was one of numerous Baptist prohibitions I violated in my college years).

Anyway, my culinary experience did greatly expand as I left home for both foreign countries and other states. I do admit, I hadn’t the faintest notion of what a frappe was the first time I visited Maine and unless one is vegetarian, how can one not appreciate a Philly cheese steak? My point is, I do have a long list of “common” items I don’t eat, possible led off by eggs, bananas, and mushrooms. I am occasionally trapped into eating quiche due to social politeness, and yes, I apparently ate both eggs and bananas as a small child until somewhere along the way, I was able to express my dislike. (Mushrooms were not part of our diet so I was spared that.) Hubby, on the other hand, loves them and for a while was convinced if I just tried a different type/way of preparation, I would change my mind. He has given up and simply enjoys eating my share. I’m okay with the flavor; not the texture, so we cook with them all the time and I pass mine to him.

My point is, as long as we picky eaters achieve balanced nutrition, (which most of us do) don’t worry about us.

Ah yes, each January – and this is the part I find puzzling – we have the Girl Scout tradition of massive cookie sales taking place in the exact same month where there are leftover sweets from the holidays and many people are at least trying to cut back on calories. Now, in all fairness, some people don’t need to cut back and if one has lots of kids/teens to provide snacks for, this takes care of that and supports a worthy cause. We, of course, are in a position where it’s simply one more charitable contribution as I actually take possession of usually only two boxes. The rest is, “No, I don’t need more cookies, but here’s the $5.” I suppose I have now answered my own question as to why sales continue to be strong. It is indeed a tradition people still appreciate.

I do admit I was startled to see the upcoming (or maybe it aired and we missed it) Girl Scout Cookie Baking Competition. I am always amazed at the culinary artistry of most of the decorative baking competitions and from the trailers I’ve seen, this will be quite creative. I’m not certain of what the rules are and if there are extra points for incorporating as many of the kinds of cookies as possible. Which leads me to the next aspect. Even though I tend toward the time-honored favorites of Thin Mints, Shortbread, and Do-Si-Dos (for Hubby), the lemon are tempting and I nearly caved at the sight of Toffee-tastic and Caramel Chocolate Chip when I was at the grocery yesterday. There are some other new ones, too, and as a former logistician, I do wonder a bit. I haven’t spoken with the dedicated parents who do this year-after-year about how they manage the increasing number of choices. Anyway, I’ll see if I hold off for another week or if at least one more box will make its way into the pantry.

While I had wanted to post yesterday, we always do a party for about a dozen people and balancing prep plus having the kids and a very active four-and-a-half year old, computer time was limited. In fact, I’d hoped to sleep in this morning. On the other hand, having a bit of quiet time is useful. And yes, I did have a mini-cupcake and a shortbread cookie for breakfast. I will seek a home for some of the extra sweets that have come our way. We have a new family across the street with four children, so I’ll see how “over-loaded” they are. Fortunately, one of our neighbors and party-attendee is a widower who just returned from visiting family in California. He will be happy to take leftovers of pulled pork, chicken wings, etc,. and we do have plenty to share. I always buy too much and even then think, “Maybe I should add one more thing.” Hubby sighs and no longer tries to reason with me.

Anyway, it’s interesting the number of people who are asking, “Where did the decade go?” In our case, everyone at the party (less granddaughter of course) remembered entering the New Millennium and what excitement that was. In fact, our son was in the High School Class of ’99, and he’s still not sure if that was cooler or if being in ’00 would have been.

It has certainly been a decade of change and I think many of us have mixed feelings. It’s difficult to know what the next ten years will bring. I haven’t done formal New Year’s resolutions for a long time although great for those who chose to do so. Hoping for the usual for family and friends, knowing the odds are someone will have difficulties to deal with. Perhaps at least the first year of the new decade will be calm.

Having owned a Saab, a Mercedes, and a Jaguar, I take nothing away from those vehicles. They were quite nice and no, that’s not meant as an understatement. With gift-buying time here (and the number of car commercials seems to have increased), there can be the urge to spend more than is necessary. What actually set me off today is another Christmas party we attended last night at a place I won’t mention. It involved an activity which most everyone enjoyed and there was a nice buffet. There is also a bar/restaurant and we were among the last of the group to arrive. Most already had drinks and the group was moving to the area where we would have our party. The host told us to go ahead with everyone and thought there were drinks waiting there; if not they would be along shortly. There was a bit of a delay with that and I told Hubby I would just go back to the bar and get the first round for the two of us. Now, in somewhat of a degree of fairness, when I ordered a draft for him and asked if they had sauvignon blanc, I did not specifically ask if they had it as a house wine. I did see what bottle it was poured from and therefore when given the check showing the glass as $17.00, I was stunned. While that was the only glass of that I drank, it did raise my hackles. One of two things applied; either they priced all their wines absurdly, or the bartender simply decided to sell me a more expensive type than mention what their house was. I don’t care for either answer, and that brings me back around to what I am willing to pay for.

I certainly indulge at times in expensive things. By the way, the Mercedes and the Jaguar were both purchased used (low mileage) through Carmax. As much as I appreciated those vehicles, it was the cost and inconvenience of service that caused me to turn away from luxury brands. That includes having to run premium gas in them for the best performance. For us, in many cases, it isn’t about can we afford a particular thing – it’s are we getting what we consider value for that item? In some situations, absolutely – like when I booked us first class last year on the Acela train to NYC. Many times though, it is not, which is why we didn’t dine in the famous, ridiculously priced NY restaurants. We’ve had that experience in other cities and don’t need to repeat it too often. The same with gifts; it can be appropriate to spend extra for something truly wanted. Measuring a gift simply by the cost is not our style though.