Originally posted on Multiply August 29 2010
Rats, I never got around to taking pictures yesterday. Daughter forgot to bring her camera, mine was full and I was too busy to deal with it. A written description will have to do.
Both my offspring have turned into serious foodies. We have enjoyed some amazing feasts at daughter's house.
Son has not had the right accommodation till now but is apparently making up for lost time. Anyway, yesterday it was my turn. Daughter and partner drove over to get their son back. We had an almost-traditional end-of-summer gathering here with our fellow grands and their daughter and family, eleven in total. The kids count for full servings now!
I am getting better at pulling stuff like that together, but still nowhere near as smooth as I'd like to be.
The vision is for me to be a gracious relaxed hostess enjoying the company and good food, surrounded by a clean house and colourful gardens. We don't aim for Martha Steward standards, but I'd like the whole thing to be smooth and effortless. Yeah, right. I had a good head start. Saturday morning the house was ready enough (thanks, FlyLady), all the dips and a lemon cheesecake were made. Guests were due at 5.
I dashed to town in the morning to get some supplies at the market and store, had coffee with a friend, home by noon. I wisely resisted the temptation to spend an hour in the garden and started to leisurely putz in the kitchen right away. By now I know it always takes me longer than I think it will.
Even so! Four-thirty still found me running up to the veg garden for lettuce and changing out of grubbies at the last moment. I had been doing dishes as I went, so why did the kitchen still look like a hurricane had struck it by the time dinner was served? How do normal people do it?
Nevertheless, by the time the co-grands arrived exactly at 5 the appie course was on the table. Which was good because go-gramps is diabetic and can't sit around waiting. We had Focaccia, a raw veggie plate, Baba Ganoush, Hummus and yogurt-based herb-garlic dip, store-bought Spanakopitas and sesame rice crackers. Non-alcoholic punch or herb tea for kids and tee-totallers.
Meanwhile Greek-style potatoes with rosemary were roasting in the oven and I was finishing the salad, haricots verts, (very young green beans from the garden), yellow beans, and doing marinated tarragon chicken breasts in the grill pan. I love that thing! Somehow I had managed to forget making the raspberry topping for the cheesecake. My SIL was kind enough to throw that together. The combination was incredibly good.
I could have achieved total relaxation and enjoyed it more if I had picked and cleaned lettuce the day before, instead of getting fixated on having it super-fresh. Oh well. Next time. All in all it was an excellent meal, worth the effort.
So what about the wages of sin? For some dumb reason I forgot my algae several days the last week. Strike one against the immune system. On Friday I had a small amount of left-over ice cream. Chris wisely declined. His potential portion was the last in the carton, and it seemed silly to put it back in the freezer, so you guessed it, I ate it too. Strike two. Sugar depresses the immune system. Because it was feeling fine I kept forgetting to apply Tooth and Gum tincture to my ailing tooth, strike three. Add yesterday's wine and cheesecake, and this morning I woke up with my almost-gone dental abscess acting up and feeling very dopey indeed. I so know better!
Today I am being very good, very lazy, and very grateful for the knowledge that keeps me in health most of the time. There is so much unnecessary suffering due to ignorance!
Both my offspring have turned into serious foodies. We have enjoyed some amazing feasts at daughter's house.
Son has not had the right accommodation till now but is apparently making up for lost time. Anyway, yesterday it was my turn. Daughter and partner drove over to get their son back. We had an almost-traditional end-of-summer gathering here with our fellow grands and their daughter and family, eleven in total. The kids count for full servings now!
I am getting better at pulling stuff like that together, but still nowhere near as smooth as I'd like to be.
The vision is for me to be a gracious relaxed hostess enjoying the company and good food, surrounded by a clean house and colourful gardens. We don't aim for Martha Steward standards, but I'd like the whole thing to be smooth and effortless. Yeah, right. I had a good head start. Saturday morning the house was ready enough (thanks, FlyLady), all the dips and a lemon cheesecake were made. Guests were due at 5.
I dashed to town in the morning to get some supplies at the market and store, had coffee with a friend, home by noon. I wisely resisted the temptation to spend an hour in the garden and started to leisurely putz in the kitchen right away. By now I know it always takes me longer than I think it will.
Even so! Four-thirty still found me running up to the veg garden for lettuce and changing out of grubbies at the last moment. I had been doing dishes as I went, so why did the kitchen still look like a hurricane had struck it by the time dinner was served? How do normal people do it?
Nevertheless, by the time the co-grands arrived exactly at 5 the appie course was on the table. Which was good because go-gramps is diabetic and can't sit around waiting. We had Focaccia, a raw veggie plate, Baba Ganoush, Hummus and yogurt-based herb-garlic dip, store-bought Spanakopitas and sesame rice crackers. Non-alcoholic punch or herb tea for kids and tee-totallers.
Meanwhile Greek-style potatoes with rosemary were roasting in the oven and I was finishing the salad, haricots verts, (very young green beans from the garden), yellow beans, and doing marinated tarragon chicken breasts in the grill pan. I love that thing! Somehow I had managed to forget making the raspberry topping for the cheesecake. My SIL was kind enough to throw that together. The combination was incredibly good.
I could have achieved total relaxation and enjoyed it more if I had picked and cleaned lettuce the day before, instead of getting fixated on having it super-fresh. Oh well. Next time. All in all it was an excellent meal, worth the effort.
So what about the wages of sin? For some dumb reason I forgot my algae several days the last week. Strike one against the immune system. On Friday I had a small amount of left-over ice cream. Chris wisely declined. His potential portion was the last in the carton, and it seemed silly to put it back in the freezer, so you guessed it, I ate it too. Strike two. Sugar depresses the immune system. Because it was feeling fine I kept forgetting to apply Tooth and Gum tincture to my ailing tooth, strike three. Add yesterday's wine and cheesecake, and this morning I woke up with my almost-gone dental abscess acting up and feeling very dopey indeed. I so know better!
Today I am being very good, very lazy, and very grateful for the knowledge that keeps me in health most of the time. There is so much unnecessary suffering due to ignorance!
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