Eve of the Eve at the Grocery Store

"Good luck in there" was the reaction I faced from a fellow customer when walking into the Manalapan Wegman's last week on the day before Christmas Eve.  I had decided the night before to bake a couple different Christmas cookies to give to both my husband's family and my own when we traveled back to Philadelphia for Christmas.  When I was in middle school and high school, I loved to bake, not cook but bake.  There is something so mathematical about baking.  All ingredients must be added in a set amount and in a set order.  When I went to college though and even in my first couple of apartments after school, I didn't have the kitchen space or utensils to bake.  Now though that we've moved into a house with a bigger kitchen and have gotten all the right baking supplies from our wedding registry, I'm excited to start baking again.  At Thanksgiving I made Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes with a Cream Cheese frosting.  For Christmas this year, I made Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip cookies, Chocolate Chip cookies and Sugar cookies.  Both times though, I decided what to make at the last minute and so had to go to the grocery store to pick up pumpkin puree or peanut butter chips on the day before the eve of the holiday.      

What I have discovered is that possibly the worst times of the entire year to go to the grocery store is the day before the eve of a big holiday.  The store is jammed with shoppers like myself getting those last minute additional ingredients that aren't stocked in their kitchens.  Even though it is approaching the holiday, and one would think that the shoppers would be in festive happy moods, it is a war zone.  Carts are crammed into aisles, making it impossible to maneuver through the store without traffic jams.  Customers are so frazzled with the pending holiday stress of both cooking huge meals that take hours to prepare and minutes to eat and acting as the peacemaker between various family members.  Store employees are constantly balancing restocking the shelves with staying out of the way.  It is true chaos and one big recipe for disaster.

Next year I wish I could know that I wouldn't have to face it again, that I would be prepared in advance, but I know that there will be that one thing I forget, putting me back there with the rest of the stressed and tired customers.  I will just remember to extend the same sympathetic advice to my fellow shoppers that I received last week.  "Good luck in there!"