Gras a agribusiness.

A friend recently pointed out that in the manner of saying grace, thanking God for food from the earth, it makes a certain sense to thank Agribusiness for meals that come straight from the chemistry lab.

Confession 1: I love cereal. It's my all-time comfort food.
Confession 2: I love cheap things...er, saving money.

So 1 + 2 =
Oh yes, we did, last Thursday night. It was a second-tier anniversary for us (the day we started dating, EIGHT years ago!), so we celebrated with cereal from Argentina. Pay Only for Taste indeed, since I think this cereal was nutritionally valueless. Hello, food desert in a box. Add a little soy milk, though...irresistible.

Saturday we atoned for our sins by making pasta from scratch:

Basic pasta, as it turns out, is the simplest recipe ever:

3 eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups flour
3/4 teaspoons salt

Mix, let rest 30 minutes, roll super-thin, cut into noodles, dry. To cook, boil for 5 minutes in lightly salted water. Can be stored for weeks. Easy peasy.

We embellished ours with greens from a local tire garden, tomatoes and garlic from the street market, and feta from...well, far away. Delicious. Recommended. I'm not sure if you actually save money by making pasta, but a sense of accomplishment is really one of the best seasonings you can use.

So, the lesson for this week is:
Celebrate humanity. Cook food.