I love fruit. Summertime is *not* my favorite season, but I can’t get past all the delicious, sweet fresh fruits that I can get right now. So when I heard a tip that our local Wal Mart (where I do not usually shop) had some really gorgeous fresh fruit (which is unusual), I figured why not – we needed bread and milk anyway.
The tip paid off, and I scored some really gorgeous looking strawberries, nectarines, and plums very inexpensively. Hooray! I also got bread and milk, and some chickpeas to make hummous. (Hummous is of the devil, just so you know.)
But as I went through the bakery to get my bread… I saw it.
The memory of my morning’s eating ran through my mind (1 glass of iced tea. oops). And the sandwich called to me.
Chicken salad on a fresh croissant, with red leaf lettuce and tomato. The timestamp on the package said 10am. That meant it had been on ice long enough for the entire sandwich to be cold… but not long enough for the bread to be stale or soggy. The lettuce was ruffly on the edges, sticking out of the sandwich – enticing me.
My stomach growled.
My brain said: “Anna, you know you’ve not eaten anything, and if you eat that sandwich, you will not feel well. Your tummy does not like large amounts of calories on an empty stomach, and you KNOW that is not a low fat sandwich”
My tummy said: “Up yours!”
I looked at the price tag. $2. Two dollars. I could justify two dollars, couldn’t I? I put it in my basket, checked out, and – upon arriving at the car – tentatively opened the package, hoping that my expectations would not be disappointed.
They weren’t. It was every bit as good as I expected – and more. Cold, crisp lettuce on sweet buttery croissant with fresh tomato and fresh chunks of chicken and celery and onion in a tangy dressing, the entire thing chilled perfectly but not stale or soggy at all. I devoured the sandwich, right there in my car in the parking lot. (Hey – I was hungry!)
Upon arriving home, my stomach said: “uhh… so maybe we shouldn’t have been so enthusiastic.”
But you know what? It was worth it.