Meals On Wheels

This morning was a good example of why I made specifications on my eating habits for the NYR, because today was the “Mayor on Meals” breakfast on the Athens Area Counseling on Aging, helping to bring awareness that there are older adults in our communities that are going without food. Today I found out that there are 93 older people on a waitlist in Clarke and Barrow counties to receive food from the Meals On Wheels program. I was shocked and a little ashamed when I heard that number, and I am still not too sure why that came as such a surprise. So, on April 1, look for a posting about me doing my first Meals on Wheels ride-along. Today’s event which was re-instituted and implemented by a woman, that I would GIVE a MSW to this minute (and plan to heavily recruit into the MSW Program), with such passion and engagement that the ability to not be infected by her excitement was unimaginable. With Pride in her, and current MSW Starfoot (okay, it’s a cool nickname bc my kid reads these cat Warrior books and they all have names like that and he thinks it’s the living end) Carter, it turns out that today’s event and the signatures that have been collected for http://www.mowaa.org/Page.aspx?pid=480 were the most collected in the US, and by our little city! The event was well planned, well attended, and Readers, it was well catered!
This is my plate, and Readers, I did not take any Chick-Fil-A biscuits that were available because today is also National Meat Out Day (http://www.meatout.org/)and I thought I would give it a row. (BTW, which was successful, as I had fruit salad from a phd student for lunch and noodles in vodka sauce for dinner). I also did not hit up the pastry table, though I grabbed one powder donut hole. We know I am a fan of some biscuits and Mama’s Boy is not too shabby in the biscuit department, even when they are small because they forgot until the last minute about today’s event, but seeing as they pulled off one might good spread, you’re not hearing complaints from me.
Readers, I forgot about eggs, I just forgot about them. I love eggs (okay, not the powdered vegan ones that were there) and whoever made the egg casserole, egg mushroom pie and vat o’ eggs… well, they just stuck their foot right up in there, because it was all so delicious.
Readers, I do see the irony in a post about eating such a varied and abundant meal when people are going hungry around me. So, I made a meek donation and will be participating in a ride along, but I am also encouraging you to get involved too. Next year the first of the baby boomers will be hitting the “official” age of retirement, the face of aging (and the understanding of it) will change in our lifetimes, we should be armed with information and as much passion for our older adults as the 2 mentioned above to prepare for it. Maybe we could throw a few dimes at it too, and if you would like to do so, here is the website for https://athensacca.ejoinme.org/MyPages/DonationPage/tabid/1672/Default.aspx
Thanks you guys!

The Meals on Wheels program run through the Athens Community Council on
Aging will host a “Mayor for Meals” event Wednesday, in which current and former
mayors are invited to deliver meals with a regular volunteer.
The council
also will host a “March for Meals” event, in which local restaurants will donate
10 percent of their proceeds on specified dates to benefit Meals on
Wheels.
In addition, the council will host a volunteer appreciation
breakfast, followed by meal routes to be led by Athens-Clarke Mayor Heidi
Davison and Winder Mayor Chip Thompson.

Guilty (& possibly gross) Pleasures

This is a brief timeout to let you in on a secret. I love bad food, and you know what I mean. I have already confessed my adoration of sour cream and how I know if you have two rotisserie chickens that one of them is simply for eating the skin off of. Now, I just need you to know that I have not simply been cooking with more butter because of how incredible it seems to make everything, but also because… I sneak a bite every time! It’s just soooo good. Yes readers, that means that I take a bite of the butter, or slice myself off a tab of it. In fact, when I was trying to take this picture of myself eating some butter, I had to slice a second piece because I just could not get the picture I wanted, and just like most things in life that I attempt to make decisions upon, I used the very first picture I took.

What are your guilty food indulgences?

End of Year Dinners

Prior to moving I was having dinner at my house for one or two people once a week. This gave me the opportunity to attempt to make food, while still sharing in the social activities that I thought mainly came from dinning out. Now in my new house (yeah, I'm still gloating, you would too & I would appreciate and respect you for that), and with graduation looming in a few weeks, I have decided to give it a shot again and have a meal once a week, open to whomever can come. readers, you how when you do the first one (or last) event, they tend to be the largest, people trickle out from there. I invited about 10 people, had a strong showing of 6 (not counting my fam of 3), and yet I made a VAT OF SPAGHETTI. I just did not know how to gauge it, so I made 2 pounds of pasta with 2.5 pounds of meat in it. What was amazing is that I do not possess a pot large enough to make 2 pounds of pasta, and so I was constantly turning it over when the top of the noodles were hovering over the water's rim. I also did not have the strength to strain the pasta and so that was a close call to the burn clinic for yours truly, as I decided to leverage the weight of a boiling pot against my forearm.

What was a greater feat of bravery, in my and probably her opinion also, was that Mrs. Weezy cut up a whole rotisserie chicken, in fact two of them, with precision and very little talking to herself. This was after being berated by framed prom photos. It also reminded me that I have to get more of these chickens in the future, they are just too good to not have only once or twice a year. (I also ate more skin than chicken! MMmmmm)

We sat around the smallest table in my house, I don't know how that happened, and talked, which is why I eat so I can talk. No judgement about elbows on the table or mouths full of food from me. Just be at my table and talk, and you and I will be best friends forever and ever!

Bootshoes = Tasty Reubens!

Just to start off, I am not even too sure where I have been this last week. I can catch you up with a little tale of a fella named Boatshoes. Boatshoes is a gentle giant, who reminds my kid to use his inside voice, when I can never recall that quaint phrase and yell for him to shut his freaking trap! Boatshoes also happens to be a good cook and someone who, unlike myself still, actually seems to enjoy it. Last Thursday, Boatshoes made us dinner, and what I thought would be more of a simple prep, as he was making reubens, really shocked the sin out of me.

Readers, he made the reuben meat, like it was a hunk of meat which he had made. I thought reuben meat came from the deli, foods like hummus or potato salad which simply exists because it is behind a counter waiting for me to pick it up. Now this picture above is not a good indicator of the magnitude of these reubens, because I don't eat anything, and so if I had a picture of Boatshoes or the hubs' reubens, they would also have the sour kraut, spicy mustard, dark rye bread, Swiss cheese, and whatever else I am forgetting accompanying their plate as well. oh, and of course.... a salad... la tee da, I am getting so sick of the salad thing, I either have to learn to eat them or I am going to start every meal with a squeeze tube of hot fudge which I will just hold over my head and squirt into my mouth while others are eating their salad. Take that! The meal was fantastic and it was great to listen to Boatshoes' stories. I will mention that Boatshoes also provided me with a side dish that I am keeping on the downlow because I plan on stealing it and making it my own. And it is such a cheat that I can not stand to uncover it, plus it could really gross out my foodie friends.

10 minute meals

I am a fan of these. Quite honestly, they only feed about two of us, so when the kid and I have to fend for ourselves for dinner, and I am still not in the swing of actually making it everyday, but alas can not eat out, we Bertolli it up. There is not a single Bertolli bag meal I do not like (though I do pre-pick out some of the vegetables). I bought one of every "flavor/style" when Publix had them on sale for $3.50 a bag (they are usually around $7-8). They have been the biggest help since I have not been cooking my own meals up lately. Two night ago (last night I simply ate Blue Box mac n' cheese because we played board games until 8pm without noticing), we tried the Chianti Braised Beef and Rigatoni. I was so impressed, did I pick out the yellow peppers? Yes, some of them.

I also like all the chicken styles, and where the boys can not eat them everyday (probably because they can not eat Italian food everyday either), I could/can/do. I KNOW this is not cheating but sometimes it does seem like I am doing this cooking thing wrong. I really only know about 5 meals to make for regular dinners. Those are as follows:

• Sheppard's Pie
• Spagetti with meat
• Chicken baked in barbq sauce
• White bowl (which no one else eats but me)
• ... that might be it.

Yes, I have recieved recipe books but they can be daunting. With new recipes, I am trying to stick with trying them out on the weekends. So, besides for continuously loving on these Bertolli meals, Readers, what is your staple quick fix dinner, say for a family of 3?

Guess what I got!

It has arrived! It’s black and white, cut like my old swing dance dresses, has two pockets and I will really try to get it dirty.
Its my apron from da sis. Look how cute it is! Readers, there must be something taking control of my mind from this NYR because when I got my new apron, my first thought was, “this is so sexy”! Oh help me, I used to think food was sexy, rare steaks, ice cream in porcelain single size bowls, Jagerbombs. What? Are you sure? Okay, the hubs says that Jagerbombs are not sexy, its more that I think everything is sexy after a few of them. Thanks for clearing that up and reading over my shoulder. Is this NYR turning me into a domestic goddess?
I wonder if I can wear my apron when I am just heating things in the microwave. Oh, I wonder if I should name her. I name everything. My old car was Fiona Greenapple, my new car is Napoleon Bonacar, my elliptical is named Pacey, and the new house is named Lucille (though the security system is named Karen, which the kid named after the electronic wife of a SpongeBob character). What do you name an apron? Ok, readers, I need some feedback. What should I name this sassy lady of an apron?

Food w/ Love

I don't believe in the 11 years we have been married (or will be next month) that I have ever cooked a meal for the hub's folks (AKA;TMom and TDad). Wait... there was this one time, when tMom was working late shifts and I tried to make Hamburger Helper, and read the direction for to brown meat as "add enough seasoning to make the meat brown." So I served raw, uncooked hamburger meat in Hamburger Helper Cheesy Macaroni. I will say that the Adams' men cared about me enough to almost eat, or at least not mercilessly tease me about, it at the time.

Moving on, Readers, I really wanted to show TMom & TDad that we are so thankful for everything they have ever done for us, and it has been a ridiculous amount. I wanted to find a way to relate that we know we are where and who we are today because of them. I also want them to feel our home is there home, much like they have done for me (I think of their home as my home, as if I grew up there and not that my first time was at 18 in a pair of boy's overalls and a pajama shirt).

So I made dinner!

Readers, I did not expect when starting this NYR that I would realize how much food can represent tokens of love, admiration, compassion and care. Of all the pot lucks my (greatest) friends (ever) have held during the most beautiful times in our lives, during my Big Brain recovery, presented a funerals and babyshowers, it did not ring to me. What can I say, I am a little dense.I think its starting to click.

Probably my first big meal in my kitchen. I made salad, garlic bread, and the bowtie festival dish. I am comfortable with these, and did not want to mess them up on this day. I did still geek out a bit with attempting to time everything, and spent a serrated 3 hours doodling around the kitchen. I had the kid set up a pretty table, or whatever can be set from table composed of a random assortment of Goodwill plates and bowls. I think it still looked really good.

After we got pleasantly stuffed, I asked the kid to "help me in the kitchen" to which he responded, "I want to light the candles"! Obviously he is as tactful as his mom!

we were also celebrating TMom's birthday! We pulled out this, a red (or light easter egg pink) velvet cake that the kid decorated, and picked out twirly candles for. I got the recipe from Picky Palate (http://picky-palate.com/2010/03/04/lucky-green-velvet-baby-cakes/) and improvised on the food coloring, which was why that portion failed!

We played Balderdash, had coffee, cake and overall just a wonderful time. One of my beautiful friends asked if it was strange to celebrate TMom on MJC Day. It's not, here's why. My mom left this earth knowing that there was another mom taking care of me. My mom respected TMom, and would rather I spent that day in laughs and celebration of the moms in my life. So, that's what we did! Happy Birthday TMom!