Aussiehalley - Halley Down Under

an insight into my character...or an exercise in banality

On this gorgeous, gorgeous day (67!) I took a walk to the organic market down the street, wearing jeans and a tshirt with flip-flops, since my feet relish any opportunity to be in contact with the outside, unconstrained by pesky things like socks. I brought my "Soul Mama-Global Vegetarian Cafe" bag from Melbourne (St. Kilda), where bringing reusable cloth bags for your groceries is common, encouraged, and an opportunity to show your team colors. My team, in this case, being the vegetarians. On the reverse side of the bag, there's the George Bernard Shaw quote: Animals are my friends and I don't eat my friends.

Here's my organic booty:
-zucchini
-woodstock extra firm tofu
-Buckwheat frozen waffles ("Gluten Free! with real berries")
-Wallaby blueberry yogurt (yes, I got it because it said 'wallaby' and 'australian style')
-Stonyfield Farms vanilla chai ice cream (omg! I know! I saw it and had to get it!)
-veggie bologna (LiteLife, if you're curious. I also like Yves)
-a brick o'Colby Cheddar cheese
-Stroopwaffels (they're Dutch and sweet and kinda like waffle cones but in circles, like a cookie, with a layer of maple syrup-kinda thing in the middle)
-a veggie turkey sub on a seasame wheat roll
-Soy Dream Vanilla Enriched soy milk
-Ezekiel bread (the one with the orange label)
-Stacy's Naked pita chips (plain. so good.)
-Ethnic Gourmet Shahi Paneer
-vegetable broth (for the soup I'm making later with my box from greengrocer)

-And a big ball o'fresh mozarella from the deli next door ("So's Your Mom")

So what's this about greengrocer? (linky-doo) I had a box delivered Thursday (the small, orgranic box). They set the list each week and if I'm in need of produce, I say to their website, "send it, website." The stuff is fresh and tastes better (for the most part, noticeably) than grocery store stuff. The fruit I got last time was some of the best I've tasted. (Some of the other best was at the exotic tropical fruit farm up in Cape Trib. If you're ever up in Queensland, go there. http://aussiehalley.blogspot.com/2005_12_01_archive.html)

So what did I get this week?
-broccoli (the whole big thing is already gone. I went on a broccoli binge, what can I say?)
-green leaf lettuce
-spinach (2/3rds gone)
-carrots with tops
-roma tomatoes
-avocados
-anjou pears
-mango
-navel oranges
-granny smith apples
-bananas (one left)
-and I ordered basil, too (two bucks for a whole big bag of really fresh stuff. I'm in love with it.)

So that's what's in my kitchen. That, and dirty dishes (which will hopefully be gone shortly. They're soaking, okay?). I'm not sure what any of this shows. But I love grocery shopping, I really do. I can spend hours roaming aisles of the mega-grocery stores and minutes on end reading packages. I'm fascinated by groceries. To come home with a bagful of new things to eat feels luxurious. It feels like abundance. There are almost endless possibilities to what can be done with the food. Groceries are a promise of future - if we were to die today, we wouldn't need groceries. Groceries say, you will be here tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow. Each item has the potential to be a promise of fulfilling resolutions to start cooking more or eating better or taking care of one's emotional well-being through cookies. Groceries allow us to travel and to be home. Even if everything all goes to rot, the potential for all these things remain. And potential breeds whatever happens tomorrow.

I'm going to go finish my veggie turkey sandwich.

posted by Halley @ 6:01 PM