Recently I came across an article in Delicious UK–one of a handful of online food publications I subscribed to–which posed the intriguing question “Would you judge someone by their shopping list?” During lockdown, many people offered to shop for those who couldn’t, which in turn opened up a window into their private lives through their shopping lists to their friends, neighbors, and relatives. As expected the lists revealed “truths” about people that countered what others “imagined them to be.” For example, someone you always assumed was very down to earth, unfussy was actually extremely rigid when it came to brand loyalty, to the point of refusing any substitutions. My mother, is one of those people. To the outside world, she’s pleasantly unassuming, a sweet old lady. But to her family and those who know her better, Mom is one of those women “Harry” (Billy Crystal) in When Harry Met Sally (1989) would describe as a “high maintenance who thinks she’s low maintenance.”

My brother Sam and I wage a seemingly endless uphill battle every week to get her to understand why it’s impractical, not to mention unsafe, to go to three or four different stores simply to hunt down specific brands and items, particularly when most of time she doesn’t even remember to use them once we’ve managed to track them down. We think she understands because she’ll say “Oh, fine then. I’m not that picky. I can live without it if I have to”—only to have her repeat the same request a few days later. She wants what she wants. Period. Full stop. Consequently, I’ve had to keep a running list of her “must haves” on my iPhone. With respect to my own list…well that’s different thing entirely.

It’s been almost a year since our lives abruptly changed with the pandemic. In the beginning it was all about stocking up on necessities like toilet paper, bleach, pantry staples, etc. Remember when everyone decided they’d start baking their own bread, precipitating a nationwide shortage of yeast and flour? I resorted to sourcing my baking supplies from a wholesale distributor who wisely opened up their business to individual customers. As lockdown, quarantine, and masking became our new normal months in, I shifted my focus on finding new ways to experiment with ingredients that were readily available, like wheat starch and gluten rice flour from my neighborhood Asian market. I cooked my way through an entire menu of dim sum favorites last summer. I limited myself to early morning shopping at primarily two stores once a week–Lucky’s and Sunset Market–so whatever I put on the list had to be from there. I crossed my fingers I’d be able to score a loaf of Mom’s must have Orowheat sliced dark rye bread. Despite all the other types of bread I was baking (and still bake), she absolutely HAD TO HAVE that particular bread.

These days, with restrictions gradually lifting and vaccination sites opening up, I’m not as quite as anxious about scarcity or not being to find things as I was before. I don’t stock up with as much a sense of urgency or fervor. Still, I’m not comfortable enough to just wander into a store to browse aimlessly either as I once did pre-Covid times, given that I suspect it will be a while for my turn to get vaccinated, though Mom thankfully just received her second shot (woo hoo!). No, the kind of “browsing” I do now is strictly online, through Instacart and Costco, which has definitely been a mixed bag of positives and negatives. On the one hand, I can usually find about 85% of what I’m looking for without ever leaving home. On the other hand, there’s no guarantee the shopper will find everything on my list in stock so unless I specify no substitutions for particular items on my list I’ll end up with something weird…or I’ll still end up with something I didn’t ask for by mistake…or I won’t receive something that was supposedly purchased. In those instances I end up either running out to get the single item I really need, like sugar, or I simply try to find it online at another store if I can make the minimum for delivery.

I think the big difference between my pre-pandemic and my current pandemic shopping lists (or shopping habits rather) is that pre-pandemic I rarely made shopping lists, unless I was planning to cook specific dishes or bake a special dessert order. Instead, I’d have a general list running in my head of staples like milk, eggs, fruit, and vegetables, then filled in the rest when I got to the store. My decisions were often based on what was on sale, what I was in the mood to eat, what my work schedule would be like for the week. Inspiration invariably came to me as I perused the aisles. I never thought twice about hitting up a few different stores. Admittedly this was not the most cost-effective way to grocery shop, but that was just how I rolled. To be clear, in my professional life as a chef I’m all about lists and organization. My personal life is another story.

A “shopping list” wouldn’t say much about me. Shopping receipts, however, would reveal, among other things, my penchant for ethnic specialties, particularly pantry items, love of Asian snack foods (who am I kidding, ALL snack foods), and (no surprise) obsession with baking ingredients and paraphernalia.

Now, even if I venture off script as I browse online, I try to follow an actual grocery list because I don’t want to rack up extra delivery fees, tips, etc., hopping from one site to another. When I’m inside an actual grocery, I’m even more conscientious about sticking to my list to avoid unnecessary backtracking, especially in places like Trader Joe’s that place markings on the floor to route shoppers along a one-way path to the check-out—no dawdling, no meandering, no perusing…no fun. On the bright side, I’m less likely to splurge on the latest snack food or “featured item” since I’m practically racing through the store, efficiently ticking items off my grocery list so I can get out of there with minimal human contact.

If our shopping lists are a window into who we are, what does my “pandemic era” shopping list say about me? Well, for one, I’m no longer tied to name brands (not that I was super brand loyal to begin with). Sure, I do favor some brands over others for a few specific things, like Philadelphia cream cheese over a generic store brand in cheesecake. But if it’s not on sale and cream cheese is not the star ingredient, then I’m gonna buy the cheaper store brand or another brand that’s on sale.

Second, I still get bored easily, even more so now being tied down with restrictions. Consequently, I’m always changing things up. About the only constants on my list are lactose-free whole milk, eggs, scallions, avocados, red bell peppers, sweet potatoes (more for my dog Violet), some type of leafy greens, ginger, and garlic. Other vegetables rotate in and out seasonally. I might buy bananas and grapes one week, apples and berries another. Proteins vary from week to week, depending on what’s on sale or simply what I’m inspire to cook. Lately, I’ve been using the pressure cooker function on my Ninja Foodi a lot to quick cook everything from Chinese bbq pulled pork to Hainanese chicken rice, the latter coming together in under 40 minutes.

To be sure the pandemic has altered the way I shop, but I don’t think it has fundamentally changed what I choose to buy…though perhaps it has affected the quantities. My friend Karen and I recently lamented over the alarming rate with which we’ve gone through butter and sugar, considerably more in the past year than we’ve ever before, barring special events like monthly bake sales. You don’t want to know how many 4-packs of unsalted butter and 25lbs bags of sugar I’ve purchased in the last 12 months. I’ve essentially “baked” a giant safety blanket out of flour (bread, all-purpose, cake), sugar (granulated and brown), eggs (I usually buy 2 flats of 30 eggs at a time), instant yeast, and butter. If I at least have ample supplies of these staples I can do almost anything.

Anyone looking at my “shopping list” might judge me for the seemingly disproportionate amount of butter, sugar, and eggs in relation to “healthier” items like fruit, vegetables, complex carbohydrates, and lean proteins. That’s perfectly fine with me. After all, who is to say there aren’t people who might have a bit of “list envy” over my grocery selection…and wonder what delicious concoctions are coming out of my kitchen…like these extra fluffy Orange Cinnamon Rolls?

This is my take on the Pillowy Soft Cinnamon Rolls from King Arthur via Food 52. I added lots of fresh orange zest and a splash of almond extract to the dough and to the filling, and a little fresh-squeezed orange juice to the icing. I mixed the dough in my KitchenAid with a dough hook, but you can easily do it by hand.

Fluffy Orange Cinnamon Rolls (adapted from King Arthur)

Yield: 7 large rolls

Dough:

• 1 c. whole milk, divided
• 2 1/2 c. + 2 T. bread flour, divided
• 1 t. kosher or sea salt
• 2 T. sugar
• 2 t. instant yeast
• 4 T. unsalted butter, softened
• zest of 1 large orange, divided
• 1/2 t. almond extract

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1. Whisk together 1/3 c. milk and 2 T. bread flour in a small saucepan until smooth. Heat the pan until medium low heat, stirring the mixture with a heat proof spatula until the mixture is a very thick paste-like consistency.
2. Combine the hot mixture with the rest of the milk and almond extract.
3. In a mixer bowl, add the rest of the flour, sugar, salt, yeast, and 2/3 of the zest. Whisk to combine, then add the butter and warmed milk mixture.
4. Using a dough hook, mix on low speed just to combine, then increase to medium speed and mix until the dough is very smooth and elastic, about 3-4 mins.
5. Gather the dough up into a tight ball, then place in a well-greased bowl, flipping the dough a couple of times to fully coat in grease. Cover the bowl and let the dough rise in a warm space until doubled in size.

Filling:

• 1 T. melted unsalted butter
• 1/2 c. brown sugar
• pinch of kosher or sea salt
• 2 T. bread or all-purpose flour
• 2 t. ground cinnamon
• *remaining orange zest
• 1/2 t. almond extract

1. Combine everything in a bowl and mix together to form crumbly filling.
2. Deflate the risen dough, place on a lightly greased surface, and flatten out into a 10″x12″ rectangle. Sprinkle evenly with filling leaving a 1/2″ border along the top edge. Roll into a tight pinwheel log.
3. Score the log into 7 equal pieces, then using dental floss, loop around each marked piece, criss crossing the two ends, pulling both ends of the floss in opposite directions to cut the dough.
4. Place the pieces cut side down on two parchment-lined baking sheets. Loosely drape the sheets with lightly greased plastic wrap and let the dough rise in a warm space until doubled in size.
5. Bake the rolls in a preheated 350F degree oven in the top third rack for 15-18 mins. or until golden and internal temperature registers 190F degrees.
6. Let the rolls cool on a rack while you make the icing.

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Icing:

• 1 1/2 c. powdered sugar
• pinch sea salt
• 1 T. orange juice
• 1/2 t. vanilla extract
• 2 T. buttermilk
• 3 T. melted unsalted butter

1. Whisk together ingredients until smooth.
2. Spread a generous layer of icing on each roll.