• i just realized i didn’t go outside at all yesterday. #
• Studying for tonight’s japanese class. There’s a $25 sushi gift certificate on the line. #
• The guy behind me on the train has 14 new voicemail messages. From the sounds of it he’s going to play every boring one of them on speaker. #
• Challenges: snow, bus accident on the way to work, floods by the el and the kicker: construction accident knocked out power to our building. #
• facebook – my dad just added me as a friend on facebook. how awesome is that? #
• @ttakeo thanks for the input – guess that’s another reason to switch from the blackberry. cheers! #

When I see $6 a bottle balsamic vinaigrette at the local Whole Paycheck, I ache to try it. Why? An unanswered spiritual need, perhaps. Or maybe not enough attention from my mother when I was a child. Or perhaps too much?

Or maybe it’s the hope that for just $6 I can find that one special sauce that is the plenary indulgence to my many culinary sins.

Whatever the reason (or reasons), the bottle that caught my eye this time was Cindy’s Kitchen All Natural Balsamic Vinaigrette. Did it work? Was it worth the $6?

Let me state first and foremost that this is good dressing. It has a bright, sweet (but not too sweet) flavor that was really tasty on last night’s salad. It’s smooth, almost velvety. But the question isn’t, is it good? It’s, is it $6 good? Is it better than a similarly sized $4 bottle of Newman’s Own?

They both have xanthum gum in them. (Ooooh — polysaccharides – you know I love them.) Cindy’s lacks the spicy chunks that Newman’s sports. Cindy’s is fat free, with 35 cal per serving, while Newman’s has some oil and 45 cal per.

The verdict? Despite the fact that Cindy’s maker, Custom Blends, is expanding, I’m probably a little more in the Newman’s Camp.