Chocolate, cherries, and pecans: An economic warning sign?

photo by bcmom
I love chocolate chip cookies. And despite the fact that I spent two solid years of my life on a strict sugar and grain free diet, my favorite thing about going off that crazy diet is baking again.

I learned to bake with my grandmother, spending time with her each summer in her lovely home in Saugatuck, MI. She was exceedingly patient as I dumped ingredients into a turning mixer, splattering banana bread batter all over her utility room. She acted as if she had done just the same thing yesterday, and cheerfully helped me clean up after myself.

I remember the first time I made a loaf of bread on my own. (With yeast and everything!) I don't know how old I was, but it was young enough to impress my father who had to tell a corny joke in my honor, "Because you know how to make bread, you'll never run out of dough!" That moment still brings a smile to my face. I was so proud of myself. My father loved bread, and I love my father.

So I'm not an expert baker or anything, but I would say I bake something almost every week and try new things from time to time, but I hate wasting ingredients on experiments because there is nothing more disappointing than baking all day and having nothing to eat later. Lately I'm much less inclined to take baking risks because throwing away a botched batch of something is a gut-wrenching experience in more ways than one.

Because I bake frequently, I have a vague mental tally of how much special items like pecan halves, extra dark chocolate, and tart cherries cost. I have noticed the prices going up. Now, this is significant, despite the fact that I'm somewhat obsessed with saving money, because even I'm not one to forgo inelastic goods like chocolate, for which I believe there is not a sufficient substitute. However, not only is chocolate increasing in price, but so are those pecans, as well as the cherries, flour, sugar, butter and eggs. 

As I was mixing the ingredients for the cookies I thought, "Geez, I halved the recipe and these ingredients are going fast!" I panicked a bit. This seemed odd, irrational, unusual. I'm not one to panic about baking ingredients. I am usually so absorbed in the daydream of eating the goods in the near future. 

What I'm getting at is that I have always considered myself a very frugal person who does not spend their money on excess, but things like chocolate chip cookies seemed a reasonable luxury. In today's economic environment, I'm beginning to think I'm wrong.

If this all sounds very trite and you are disgusted by my senseless pining after cookies I'll not be eating when there are people who may not even have a meal to eat today, understand it is much bigger than cookies. Me and my cookies are a microcosm. If I have to forgo cookies, other people far worse off than I am will have to forgo much, much more. This is why what is happening in Egypt is happening. I understand that increasing food prices directly contributed to the unrest. 

So, I'm looking at my cookies and wondering, "When will this end, or is this just the beginning?"