Ugghhh, Valentine's Day

How did my dinner go? It was okay. Just okay. Could have been better.

I dropped by Rosauer's (local grocery store) to pick up some of the organic lamb they had advertised, and found that it was all frozen solid. Which did me no good, because I was starting dinner as soon as I returned home. As I walked by their fresh meat case, I saw a lovely display of stuffed salmon. Perfect! and not too expensive, so I asked for some. I also asked how to prepare it, what wines would go with it, etc. The lady behind the counter gave me a butcher-paper package and I went home.

At home, I unraveled the butcher paper and it contained these shrink-wrapped, solid-as-an-icy-rock bricks of stuffed salmon. Not fresh, not lovely, not even thawed. I was as far from dinner as I had been when I walked into the grocery store. My husband called the store because I was so distraught, and they saw no problem. The manager was actually a little testy about it. Like I should assume that meat and seafood from their fresh-meat, butcher counter is frozen.

So one of my courses was ruined before I even started. A four-course meal lacks the oomph of a five course one, you know? It isn't even worth it to bring them out at different times. We ate our scampi and our salad and nibbled at the cheese and drank the wine. It wasn't a special dinner, just any old dinner.

The worst thing is that Rosauer's is the best source of organic meat and produce in my town, so I can't stop shopping there, however much they piss me off. What this town needs is some COMPETITION. Like a Trader Joe's.