I had put off doing the food shopping for far too long, so Saturday morning I threw on sweats and a t-shirt and headed for Albertsons. I knew I wanted some good old comfort food from home, so I got the ingredients for Chicken and Wild Rice hotdish. I was also craving a Rueben, so sauerkraut, Swiss cheese, pastrami, and rye bread went in the cart. On the healthy side, I got the ingredients for a white bean soup, which would be yummy on a cold day.
The cashier was friendly - rare these days, at least in my neck of the woods. The fellow that bagged my groceries was probably in his mid-40's, and I didn't pay much attention to him. That is until he said something very excitedly about limbo and Magnum, and remember that episode where only the Lads could hear him? He had a bit of a speech impediment, and of course the subject matter was a little out of the blue. He continued to talk about that episode, and I just decided to go with it. He insisted on taking my groceries out to the car, and so I got a non-stop description not only that episode, but what was considered the best Magnum P.I. episode of all time. Then he asked how many DVDs I own (none - I have Netflix). He owns a lot, and I guess Walmart is the best place to buy them. Then he switched to the new James Caan TV show, and said "don't give up on it...you have to be patient".
As I drove home, I realized I was smiling. Someone that I normally wouldn't pay any attention to at all made me smile. His soul shone bright and touched me in a way I didn't expect.
The hotdish turned out well - I added mushrooms and onion to the recipe, otherwise I followed Amy Thielen's recipe from her book "The New Midwestern Table". She has a show on the Food Network, filmed in Two Inlets, not that far from where I live during the summer.
Today is Sunday, and I'm busy working off the hotdish. I'm on week 8 of a beginning running program. I ran 6 minutes today. Three times, with one minute walking in between. Six minutes, people! I started out not being able to run for 20 SECONDS this summer.
I'm also doing a 30-day squat challenge, so I got my 70 squats out of the way this morning too. I'm very proud of myself, especially since I couldn't seem to get my butt off the couch yesterday other than to shop, cook, and eat.
2 comments:
Hi Sandy. I noticed your new profile pic (looks good), clicked on your profile, saw your blog link, and couldn't help myself.
My mother in law lives in Osage, not far from Two Inlets, and only one mile from the border of Two Inlets State Forest. Didn't know there was a professional chef that cooks in that area. Interesting.
Great blog, BTW, and great story about the grocery bagger. Hope you're enjoying warm weather down there. We had an unexpected 57 degree day yesterday, but it was in the single digits with a bit of snow on Monday. It's just gonna go down hill from here, lol.
Thanks for the compliment Sarah! Amy Thielen is signing books today from 6-8 at Zandbroz Variety in downtown Fargo if you're interested. Her show on Food Network is called Heartland Table - I've only seen part of one episode, but I guess it's on Saturday mornings at 9:30!
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