What Happens to an Aioli Deferred?

As part of a lovely collection of condiments, I received a jar of Aioli (god, I almost typed "Olio" and we all know I abhor margarine). To be specific, I received a Spanish Aioli by d'elite - Ali-Oli, Ajo Y Aceite De Oliva Virgen Extra. Can you hear the castanets? Aioli is basically a thick rich sauce comprised of whipped olive oil and garlic. Oh, and egg yolks. It's like a more garlicky hollandaise. Because I've been trying to watch my weight, I've been letting this jar sit on the shelf along with it's 22 GRAMS OF FAT PER SERVING (2 TSP). That's right. It's like a hamburger in a yellow savory custard.

Finally, this weekend, to celebrate Mr. Mustard's 120th birthday (he's extremely well preserved), I opened it for consumption along with cocktails (mmm...chocolate martinis). It's delicious swabbed with french bread (listen -- do you hear the screams of my crazy German naturopath who has made wheat verboten in my life?) and a few salty olives to cap off the cream. I enjoyed it tremendously, along with the spring rolls, the salami, the smoked salmon (!), the chocolate martinis, the cake. Ahhh...I feel early onset gout hitting.

I had the jar opened and, as is often my dilemna after I open a new non Norman Biship Dill Garlic mustard, I fretted that I wouldn't finish it before its expiration date. So, I took it along with me to a Wild Game night where I consumed, and I am not making this up, about 39844 different animals. I feasted on the flesh of yaks, llamas, elk, duck, octopus, veal, lamb, beef tongue, chicken, turkey, frog, quail. I was too full for the sea urchin cream puffs, so I just looked out the window and contemplated the fall of Rome and the current state of American affairs.

However, Baby Balsamic accompanied me and she makes it perfectly clear when her expiration date is and we had to scuttle from the party before she turned into a gamey pumpkin (she particuliarly enjoyed the elk). And I plunged the jar of aioli into her bag, rushed her home, then realized the next morning that I had forgotten to take the jar out of the bag.

So, my question is Do I Feel Lucky? Should I attempt to continue enjoying this fatty saucy treat? Or do I, with a tear in my eye, say goodbye prematurely to this gift of my ancestors (I'm 1/4 Spanish, mija)? I'm not sure. I'm staring at the jar on my desk as I type, thinking of all the small and large risks we take in our lives. Or we ignore the temptation and wonder what would have happened if we had said Yes. Yes to the question. Yes to the possibly bad aioli.

I don't know. I just don't know.

Condiment Grrl.