Instacart: Hi, Milkmaid, I Hope You Enjoy My Mushrooms

I tried to stay Covid-safe and shop by Instacart today, but my shopper did the old switcheroo.

My husband, Dan, still insists on going to ShopRite at least once a week. I think it’s risky, because we are older and it is crowded. He wears a mask and uses hand sanitizer. The prices are best there, for sure, though the produce and meat can be below par — and you can’t find many local boutique brands (bread, coffee, chocolate).

I prefer Kings, and when Covid spiked in the spring and again, now, as a last-minute cook, I especially like the contact-free delivery within 2 hours. I try not to spend more than $50 to $100 each time, filling in here and there. I used to walk or bike the 15 minutes to Kings, peruse the aisles on a treasure hunt, and carry home my groceries; now, a shopper rings the doorbell and leaves brown paper bags on our stoop.

But another mix-up happened today. I was planning to make two big pots of Grace’s Mushroom Soup from the little Kitchen with a View cookbooklet by Judith Burke. I bought it, and Judy signed it, when Dan and I stayed at the (lighthouse) Keeper’s House Bed & Breakfast in Isle au Haut, Maine in the late 1990s with our young daughter, Annie.

The lodging had no electricity, save in the kitchen (for the mixers and fridge); candles lit the rooms. All meals were included — even sack lunches for day hikes, complete with havarti sandwiches on Judy’s bread and layered Yummy Bars. Everything that came out of that kitchen…