Valentine's Day Dinner

At $12.99 per pound the rib steak was 50% higher than pre-pandemic, but:

1) We hadn't splurged on this cut since last fall;

2) Home-cooked steak would still be cheaper than dining out, which is what we usually do on Valentine's Day.

COVID-19 and inflation seem to have caused long-lasting changes in the shopping and dining habits of Americans:

Americans continue to stockpile food and household goods.

Many are spending more time at home and remain uncertain about product availability. Some have moved from tight-spaced apartments in cities to more spacious suburban homes, and inflation is spurring a search for savings by buying in bulk.

After more than 20 years of steady but slow sales growth, sales at bulk retailers Costco Wholesale Corp., Walmart Inc.’s Sam’s Club and BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings Inc. rose 26.6% in dollars and 18% in volume during the fourth quarter of 2021 compared with the same quarter of 2019

Though restaurants have reopened, Americans are eating billions (!) of meals more at home than before the pandemic:

At the height of the pandemic, Americans ate 88% of their meals at home, according to retail research firm NPD Group, up from 83% pre-pandemic. Meals eaten at home have since leveled off to about 85%, but the 2 percentage point increase from 2019 levels is equivalent to an estimated 2.9 billion meals and snacks per quarter, NPD says.

BTW, after two years of working on our skills in the kitchen, the steak turned out a perfect medium rare.