Why Am I Surprised?

I just finished an eleven-week survey of the cost of food per item.  I used to think you could take a $5 bill into the grocery store and come out with several items.  "Several" isn't the operative word anymore.  One or barely two would be more like it since I found the average cost per item to be $4.  Okay, $3.96.  And that with my coop's 10% senior discount ... and no meat since I've been getting mine from the local farmer or the local butcher shop and don't count that into my shopping tab.  (Yes, mine is a casual survey.)  The least expensive item was a single banana--and organic, at that--for a quarter.  The most expensive was a container of good-quality (free-and-clear of all fragrances) laundry soap for $17.99 but that supposedly provided some 60+ washes.

I bought one head of cauliflower for $8, then had to pick through it for bugs, resorting to breaking it into very small florets and soaking them in a bowl of water.  You'd be surprised how many bugs I found.  Then I bought another less buggy cauliflower--which cost the same.  I divided that into eight $1 piles.

Here, then, is $1 worth of cauliflower

I was going to do an apple pie comparison--the cost if I made one as opposed to the cost of purchasing one at the farmers market, but the pie lady apparently died this past winter.  And then I was off gluten and sugar for awhile so I chucked that experiment.

When I gave a little dinner party recently--there were four of us in all--I figured it cost around $100.  Two bottles of wine, fresh apple cider, plus two nice cheeses for a cheese and cracker platter.  Some little munchy nibbles.  Four bone-in chicken breasts.  Cauliflower, chicken broth, half and half with which to make soup.  Spinach, potatoes, onions.  Ice cream plus a couple of bakery-made lemon bars.  The maple liqueur which we poured on the ice cream--yum!--had been a gift, so I figured that was free.  Of course, if we'd gone out to eat, the entree alone (with soup and dessert extra) would have come to around $28 each.  That plus tax and tip, and I dare say the cost would have risen by another $100.  So, I guess I saved $100 by doing the cooking and serving.

Actually, I don't find that people give dinner parties anymore.  If they get together--other than lunch or a summer outdoor barbecue (do people get together anymore to eat?)--it seems to be pot luck.  Casual.  "What can I bring?" they say when invited.  No, I want to reply--I'm doing the food; you're my guest.  It seems a bit of an odd concept these days.  Or, I'm finding that to be the case.  But don't you think it's fun to be invited out to dinner?  You dress up, you take a bottle of wine or a box of chocolates as a house gift, and you let your host/hostess prepare the evening.  Then, when it's your turn, you do the same for them.  Pot lucks have their place.  But so do dinner parties.