A Winner

On Sunday night, I went over to the home of a friend for a nice Easter dinner. He has a peculiar mix of traditional, well-fashioned food and fraternity-level drinking hi-jinks. It's a good fit for me. I wasn't going to bring anything, which is bad, but learned at the last minute that another friend going to the dinner was making tortellini. Dismayed by that discovery, I resolved to bring something, even if I couldn't match a home-made item in so little time.

I walked over to the grocery store, reasoning that I couldn't look too bad by bringing booze. I decided to find something that fit the theme of a Christian holiday, and first looked in the hard liquors. Finding nothing there, I checked the beers, and finished in the wine section. There I found a red wine called "Cardinal Zin". I thought it was funny, and it fit the bill. It looked to be popular, and indeed I believe it was consumed in its entirety.

About as popular was something else I picked up on a whim. Fearing that the bottle of wine might not be enough, I went over to the aisle set up for Easter, and looked for some kind of novelty that might garner a chuckle, or maybe candy. I found the sweets available wanting, and decided on a toy. It was a  chicken which you wound up so that it waddled around and laid eggs (which were little gum balls). I thought it might be a hit when the old lady in line before me liked it enough to rush back and grab one of her own.

It was a hit with my crowd as well, and it was good that I decided not to push it until everybody had been well-lubricated. The guests were utterly captivated by the little whirring chicken and its production of eggs, and even came to the brink of panic when it threatened to fall over the edge of the table on which it was dwelling. Their delight was my delight, and so it was two or three dollars very well spent.