Last week we went to see our friend Jeremy play with Tony Conrad. It was fun, if not a little bit of a throwback to my early twenties, going to a show in a gross warehouse, full of smelly indie rockers and crazy people. I guess I’m just too old for that, though I did enjoy the music very much.

Today I am off, and feeling like a cold is coming on. Having just been sick a couple of weeks ago, I hope its not happening again. I was feeling pretty good after getting over the bronchitis too!

I always spend a lot of time thinking about food, but it feels like I’m doing it even more lately. I suppose there are a few reasons for this, re-reading some food literature, new food books coming out, exciting issues of food magazines (to me anyway). But I also think the economy is a huge factor as well, or, its making me think differently about food. There’s been an onslaught of articles and forum topics dedicated to cooking during a recession and wasting little food. Inspired by these, I am trying to cook what I have and not shop too much. The folks over at egullet are doing a little challenge which has been covered in many other places, not to grocery shop for a week, which has subsequently turned into a month. Not only is it so interesting to see what people have stockpiled in their fridges and pantries, but what they are able to cook with what’s on hand. Personally, between the three people in our household, we don’t have too much piled up and generally tend to use most of what we buy. However, there is a picky eater here, so being creative can sometimes be more of a challenge. Me, I’m happy to eat a poached egg on top of some roasted vegetables and call it a day. That sort of eating even excites me. But I am inspired by everyone’s ideas for dinner and such, and after reading some of the estimates on american households, even makes me think this should be a nationwide priority. “Let’s say there are 111,162,259 households in the US. And let’s say each one has an average of $100 of food in inventory that’s being carried unnecessarily. That’s $11,116,225,900 (eleven billion dollars). I’m guessing the real number is much higher.” Thats just scary and probably a very modest estimate. In any case, its an interesting and money saving idea, something I could personally benefit from.

In other news, the nice weather over the weekend got me way too happy about spring coming, seeing as it won’t be here for a few more weeks. Oh well, its 35 today and feels like a nice enough day. I’m sure I’ll be complaining soon enough about the heat and humidity!

Music: Simon and Garfunkel – “The Sounds of Silence” ( The Sounds of Silence, 1965)