The Prize Winner of American Fork, Utah

If you haven't read or watched The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio, I highly recommend both the book and the movie.

I totally felt like her this weekend, except that I didn't win groceries for free, and I didn't have a time limit. Also I didn't have to do anything creative. But in all other respects, exactly like.

Our local Smith's store is closing. We could speculate as to why, but that would be boring. What is not boring is having them sell all remaining merchandise at 40 percent off. I thought I'd pick up some tomato paste for a recipe I wanted to make Saturday night. No luck. All the tomato paste was gone. But a lot of stuff was left, namely all the organic stuff, the cooking wines, and most of the health food section. (Fascinating experience from a sociological perspective as well.)

As I walked around throwing organic stuff (and wine) into my cart, I noticed a few items that are called for in some of my recipes, but that I'd never actually buy because they cost too much. I started to throw some of those in too, and after a few minutes, I realized I was using the same strategy as Evelyn Ryan (the Prize Winner): try some stuff out you wouldn't normally eat, because you'd never be willing to pay for it. I don't mind thinking like she did--she was awesome.

Here's a sampling of the fun stuff I got:

Anchovy paste
Bleu cheese stuffed olives
Basil and oregano infused balsamic vinegar
Rosemary infused balsamic vinegar
Clam juice
Chipotle peppers
Imported Edam cheese
Kimchee
Sardines
Capers
Sun-dried tomatoes

I also bought all the baking potatoes they had on hand which is really boring, but I had to take them to the church for a funeral.

If you want to come over for dinner, I'm thinking about throwing it all into a giant stew to see what happens. Mmmm!