Friday, March 1, 2013

Hey honey, what's for supper?



I spend most of my day thinking about
two things. Blog subject matter and
dinner. You see, in my new life,
those are my two key responsibilities.
When you no longer punch the clock,
mundane things like menus take on a
strange importance! It's a lot of work
figuring out several days of meals.
Leftovers have to be re purposed into
tasty entrees. A roast leg of lamb must
transform into a spicy lamb curry!
No wonder Mom was tired!

All leaders know the formula. 
Plan, prep, execute. That 
requires having all you need 
to prepare a week of feasts!  
I'm still an urbanite at heart.
So I continue to go to the 
market every day. However 
I can no longer be capricious. 
I must stick to the plan!

Somehow I seem to be busier than I ever was when employed. My day starts with the blog. Then e-mails, phone calls, and bills. All of a sudden, it's lunchtime. Afternoons I often visit the Money Pit and run errands. Before I even start dinner, I'm exhausted! Thank God for the oven. Like our mother's before us, I've figured out that a slow cooked meal is not just about traditional comfort food, 
it's so damned convenient!

My mother felt that how one ate was more important than what one ate. Every night we dined by candlelight, in the dining room, in full regalia. Honestly now that I'm a "homemaker", that tradition is pretty hard to live up to! While I'll never sacrifice pressed linen napkins, I have recently been known to ask Frank to belly up to the kitchen bar. I do try to spice things up with china, glassware, and linens. 
Dinnertime should be special.

Nowadays I'm exhausted by the end of the day. I've written, rushed, gabbed, and cooked. So, why must I also clean up? Don't get me wrong, Frank is more than ready to help. But after years of taking care of me, it's his turn to be pampered. So, I do my best to clean up as I go. I've streamlined which means that on most evenings, I will do anything to
avoid hand washing at all times. 
Frankly it's all quite challenging.
One can quickly tire of the 
standard fare. Fortunately it
just got easier in Montana. Our
honchos in Helena recently 
made it legal to eat road kill. 
Now, rather than heading to 
Albertsons, I may just drive and 
see what's along the road.