“The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men
Gang aft agley,
An’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain,
For promis’d joy!” – Robert Burns, To a Mouse
“Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.” – John Lennon, Beautiful Boy
The pandemic threw many plans into the abyss. Our vacation to Italy. Social gatherings with friends. Annual traditions such as parades, fireworks, and street festivals. About the only plans we can successfully execute these days are menu plans.
Before Covid-19, our menu planning was half-baked. We’d look at what we had in the house, what was on sale at the grocery store, and supplement with midweek trips to the market or go out to a restaurant. Now we try to limit our supermarket shopping trips to once a week; therefore, our menus for the week need to be thought through before we leave the house. Julian will grab a piece of paper and ask, “So what are we making this week?” We go through a litany of items that we’re willing to make, after perusing what’s on sale and what recipes we may have seen browsing through cookbooks, magazines, and the web.
Today was a good example of menu planning. Julian had looked at Central Market’s specials last night and formulated a tentative list – halibut, chicken, pork, eggplant. We also needed to go to Costco, which meant I could get some of its tasty little lamb chops. He’d originally put kalbi ribs on the menu, but they were prohibitively expensive so we got pork steaks instead. We’re at least set until next weekend.
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