"Dude, stay away from the food store when you're reading Milton!"

Charity's words. I guess she has a point; I went to the food store tonight looking for inspiration for Sunday lunch (which is the meal that I prepare each week) after reading Paradise Lost all day (for work---don't ask), and the results were... um... epic.

"Sparkling cider? What did you do, go to the food store hungry?"

"No, I ate before I went. It's just that I was reading Milton today and..."

Then she saw my truffles and whipped cream. Yeah. I guess I should be grateful that she didn't notice the peach halves. 0:-)

You know how it is. All you want is something a little different. It's the biggest, most elaborate meal of the week because we always have 2-6 guests, plus us, for Sunday lunch. You have an excuse to flourish a bit. Then you go to the food store, hopped up on Starbucks (which is conveniently located next door to the food store), and you're wandering the aisles and you see, wow, this great sale on hams.

Then you start thinking what would go with ham... and one thing follows another. You get potatoes and vegetables and biscuits and fixings for an amazing peaches-dark-chocolate-whipped-cream-craisins dessert, and then there's this sparkling cider that simply sings of autumn... and after all that Miltonic language about Paradise, you go down like a lamb to the slaughter.

Bingo. That was me. And you know what? I'm not a bit sorry. It was my own money, and what are food budgets for if you can't blow them every so often? However, since I'm going to be reading Milton for two more weeks, I guess I'd better devise a way to circumvent my epic tendencies before next Sunday rolls around. Budgets, after all, have to be stuck to most of the time if they are going to stand being blown sometimes.

But oh, it was blown with a lovely BOOM!!!!

I'll let you know tomorrow how the feast turns out. ;-)

--- Me