The Absent Uncle: Thoughts on grocery shopping and good hot dish

Here at our house, we have a notepad that exists only for items to be found on the next grocery run. Whomever does it. 

At our house that is now me. My wife has never enjoyed grocery shopping, and until I retired, I could not be counted on to be available to shop when things were needed and certainly, I was not very good at getting all we needed. However, in retirement things have changed! 

Get low on a staple item, put it on the list. Thinking about a menu dish in the next few days, put the needed items on that list. 

I have always responded best to a routine, to a pattern of life that allows me to be comfortable, feeling I am aware (and hoped to be in control of) my environment. And now a mental inventory has developed that just cannot be denied while shopping to ensure my (our) environment has the essentials. 

See a problem here?

My grocery shopping is strategic. The list dictates the purchase with little added items that might just be good to have around. Menu variations are difficult without forethought, and I am afraid spontaneity to change almost never happens. 

But when it does …

That flexibility comes out in the form of a good old Minnesotan (substitute South Dakotan for my readers) hot dish. Some hamburger, noodles or rice, the fail-safe crème of mushroom soup, and an added vegetable rescued before spoilage. A meal set for a king of his environment on demand.

But my wife is a Californian. She tolerates but does not embrace the hot dish fetish so near and dear to my heart.

I’m sure every household deal with these issues. Ours has for almost 45 years. So much change, so many adjustments, and we move forward on the road of life – thankfully together, the next hot dish on the horizon.