One of the kind of neat things about being on this diet is that I have been inspired to look for new recipes, which makes our dinners a little more exciting, anyway.

Last night I was working on an adaptation of a recipe that was chicken breasts covered with a cream sauce. One of the major ingredients of the sauce was - you will be surprised! - cream. I had the chicken in the frying pan, cooking, and I got the cream out of the refrigerator and started to measure it out...

Cream should not glop when you pour it. It should not have chunks in it.

The cream I'd bought only half a week earlier had already turned bad. I looked at the carton and saw that it was dated February 1 - the same day I'd bought it. Guess that'll teach me to just assume that what's on the shelf is good.

So I turned the chicken down to low, and grabbed my set of keys to Matt's car and ran up to the store for some more cream.

Coming out of the store with my fresh pint of cream (carton dated March 1), I encountered a man who was getting out of his car. He locked it and zipped his jacket up to his neck, then - as I was approaching - nodded to me affably and said, "Virginia is a cold state!"

I smiled tolerantly (it wasn't really that cold last night), nodded in return, and got in my (well, Matt's) car. Out of curiosity, I glanced at the man's license plate as I pulled out of the parking spot.

Illinois.

I've been to Illinois a number of times, now, since most of Matt's family lives near Chicago. Only one of those trips has been in the summer. The rest of have been in November and December, and let me tell you, Illinois is a lot colder than Virginia. (Being, as it is, both further north and farther from the warming effects of the ocean.)

I'm sure there's a rational explanation. Or maybe there isn't. You never know.

But the chicken with cream sauce was very tasty.

--Liz