Introduction.

I have been blogging online for years, but this is my first blog to have a concrete purpose other simply the expression of my innate (I think human) self-absorption.

Instead, this blog is about my absorption with grocery shopping, food, and cooking. I knew that I needed some sort of outlet for my food musings when I caught myself pondering recipes that I could whip up from my well-stocked-for-a-college-student pantry and filling my personal blog with recipes. Since moving out of my parents' home into an apartment with friends, I've discovered a great fondness for cooking... well, after my initial months of eating out-of-the-box pasta dinners and baking brownies from the box, anyway. There were the usual beginning-cook mishaps of over-seasoning, under-seasoning, over-cooking, under-cooking, and simple ineptitude, but with the help of my (and my faithful roommates' and friends') willingness to be guinea pigs, I've acquired some of the basic skills and techniques for cooking and am thirsty to learn more.

I must live on a budget, and at this point I am ready to go beyond the dry pasta with garlic and parmesan, the home-made tomato sauce, and the roast chicken. I am making slow excursions into the realm of foods that I've not yet been brave enough or had enough time to attempt to make. I like learning how to make things from scratch that people would usually only get from a jar or order in a restaurant. I also like making things that are edible--
these are sometimes mutually exclusive when put in my hands.

I love perusing the aisles of different markets looking for good deals and looking for inspiration for things to cook in the ingredients I find on the cheap. And actually, I must admit that just walking the aisles of a grocery store tends to make me pretty happy-- hence the blog's title.

And here I am.