Grocery Store

Of all the things that are new and culturally different here in Perth, I've found the grocery store to be the most overwhelming thing. The grocery stores here are Cole's, Woolworth's, and IGA. The stores are small. Andrew says they remind him of the grocery stores in England. Even the 'big' grocery store in downtown Perth must be a quarter a size of the 11th Street Kroger in Houston. The aisles are narrow and claustrophobic. I don't know the brands here so that adds to the experience. I typically end up standing and staring at the pasta section for 5 minutes. I'm sure I look extremely bizarre (even Micah looks at me like, 'what in the world are you doing???'). Plus, remaining in a static position in a narrow aisle means that I'm always in someones way. :) I am slowly getting my bearings but honestly, I never would have thought that grocery shopping would be something to get used to. Oh, I should mention that it seems all the grocery carts in Perth have an inclination to veer to the right....seriously, I'm developing some disproportionate arm muscle trying to keep my cart in line.

Food (and most items in general) is expensive here. Going out to dinner is not an option unless we want to eat our entire food budget for the week. As a result, yours truly has been cooking (I can just hear the gasps from certain family members). Funny enough, I'm enjoying it. I'm trying to figure out why I hated it so much in the States. Who knows. Thankfully, I brought my recipe box w/ me but I'm running out of ideas. I've gotten a number of recipes from Maz, Gail (the Italian Martha Stewart of our generation) and my lovely Nana (the original Italian Martha Stewart) but please, please, please send me your favorite, fairly easy recipes (ahem, JoJo) that don't require a mountain of ingredients. The more the merrier Andrew and Micah's tummies will be! :)

More later.