Dear Customers,
INFLATION! Not the kind you employ when your basketball doesn’t bounce high enough, and not the kind that clowns use creating balloon animals. I’m talking about the kind that affects each and every one of us. While we would like to lay the blame at Vladimir Putin’s door for invading the Ukraine, the cause(s) go much deeper than that.
In college, as an economics major, it was drummed into us that inflation occurs when “too much money was chasing too few goods!” That’s rather simplified but the combination of several factors has led us to an economy where prices continue to soar. It trickles down to everybody. The most noticeable, the segments of your budget where it pinches the most are at the gas pump and at the grocery store.
As the person who handles the bulk of the cost increases and ultimately the retail increases here at Costa’s, I see it on a daily basis. Companies that used to raise their prices once or maybe twice a year are now issuing price increases almost quarterly or even more frequently, trying to stay afloat. I reconcile, by hand, every invoice we get from outside vendors for the deli. Last week, out of 34 items, 17 of them, or 50%, showed a price increase. We have no choice but to follow suit. As much as it pains me to admit it, what I’ve read leads me to believe that inflationary prices are going to be with us for at least a couple of years. I hope I’m wrong, but it doesn’t look like I am.
The lone bright spot on the horizon is the advent of warmer weather and its accompanying daylight hours and sunshine. Though, as I write this, it’s impossible to forecast what the weather will be when you’re reading it, but at least historically, I can reasonably assume that when I step out onto the patio tonight, I’ll hear birds chirping accompanied by the drone of lawnmowers and weedeaters!
The following recipe is just made for Spring and it’s fairly simple to make:
LEMON CHEESECAKE
| 2 cups part skim Ricotta | 2 – 8oz pkgs softened crm chs. | 4 eggs |
| 1 cup buttermilk | ½ cup sugar | 2 tbsp corn starch |
| 2 tsp vanilla extract | ¼ tsp salt | Juice & grated rind 1 lemon |
- Preheat the oven to 375°F
- In a large bowl, beat the cheeses until smooth
- Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition
- Add the remaining ingredients and beat until smooth
- Pour into a 9 inch spring-form pan
- Bake for 1 hour. Cool completely before removing the rim and serving
- Garnish with fruit yogurt or fresh fruit if desired.