Food for Thought

I got to Stratford in the early afternoon on Friday and dedicated my time to unpacking, so I dipped into my supply of imported American food and had mac and cheese for dinner. Yesterday, I spent the day at Warwick for the general postgraduate induction, which took up the entire day, which means it wasn't until yesterday that I was able to go grocery shopping.

I don't know that there has ever been a time in my life that I've thought about food more than I do in Strats. Part of it is financial. Until I find a new job, I have to stick to a budget, and I'm also trying to save. This means planning veeery carefully what I need for the week and how many meals I can get out of each purchase. Then there is the whole issue of my being an atrocious eater (I hate fruit, for example), and so trying to find foods that I know I will eat and yet still have nutritional value is a bit of a puzzle. Finally, I'm also trying to get better at cooking. I'm pretty okay, but I rely on only a few recipes. The quest for new dishes that require few ingredients, are inexpensive, satisfy my peculiar eating habits and are good enough I won't mind eating them for a week is perpetual. I don't find any of things stressful—on the contrary, it's kind of like a game. But I'm consistently amazed how much of my non-Shakespeare brain power is devoted to food.

At the same time that food is like a puzzle here, it remains a huge source of comfort. I don't mean comfort eating, but simply that it exists. I love grocery shopping, I love unpacking groceries, I love organizing my pantry and seeing it's stocked. It's just such a wonderful sense of security and home.

Speaking of which, tonight Jason-Gay-Jason-Not-My-Boyfriend is coming over for quesadillas, wine and 'The Princess and the Frog.' If that doesn't say "Welcome Home," I'm not sure what does!