Impulse Buying

A few weeks ago I bought some rye flour on impulse, intending to make some bread (all because a friend once told me he liked the rye bread a local baker sells).

I went to a seminar many years ago on 'Stress' and out of all the words spoken there, the concept that stuck with me was "It's not the things we do that cause stress, it's the things we leave undone".

So the rye flour sits in the cupboard for a while ...

Finally the day comes when that niggling thought has gathered such strength that I get around to looking through my cookbooks for a suitable recipe and pulling the rye flour out of the larder (hey! I bought TWO bags of this stuff! What was I THINKING?!?). A kid from next door pops round with her friend - it's a pleasant distraction for a few minutes. They go. I'm left with my big intentions.

So I make the bread - in the end it's kind of experimental, not adhering to any particular recipe. I add soya flour and a bit of rice flour and a bit of cornflour, some honey, some olive oil. I guess at the amount of liquid then add some more, and take it out of the oven when it looks done. The result is very tasty but still doughy in the middle - whether because the dough was too wet, or because I didn't bake it long enough I don't know.

That was Sunday. This morning there is still half a loaf sitting there uneaten. I've thrown a slice out for the birds and they've turned up their beaks at it. Whatever the recipe was for the rye bread my friend used to buy from the bakers, I don't think I've quite stumbled upon it. But you know I've got lots of rye flour left to play with ... lots. Lucky me.

That same friend isn't a professing Christian but today sent me a link to Bocelli singing The Lord's Prayer with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. He used the word 'sensational'. I watched it and for some unknown reason, it didn't do a lot for me. I tried to work up a sense of reverence, a deep emotional response that I'm guessing had I been there in person, I would have felt. Nothing. At best I could appreciate my friend's gesture, appreciate the connection between us that prompted him to send me the link believing it would move me. Contrast this with a link a Christian friend recently sent me: Glee: 'Imagine'. That held so much appeal I now watch the series on TV.

Anyway, back with the subject of this post: impulse buying.

I've been asked to make some cakes for a meeting tomorrow night. I went shopping for ingredients yesterday. I'm aiming to do a chocolate cream cake and a fruit cake. Used to be I bought sultanas for the fruit cake, until I discovered another friend likes bran loaf made with luxury dried fruit mix. As I stood in front of the shelf of dried fruit, I felt a gentle inner prompting to buy the sultanas rather than the luxury fruit mix. I heard it but ignored it, thinking I knew better, that any dried fruit not used for the cake will come in handy next time I make a bran loaf.

Today as I looked at the remains of the rye loaf, this idea popped into my head: why not make a bread and butter pudding with it?

As I stood there trying to pick out the sultanas from the luxury fruit mix, I thought back to that inner prompting yesterday. If only I had listened.