The daffodils hung their heads Sunday. Will we ever have spring?
We enjoy the children, grandchildren and greats at different times; getting everyone on the same page is difficult.
The question is what to cook. I thought I was getting smarter and let others do most of the work. I replaced the customary home-made dinner rolls with some out of a can. (Not very good). Someone else did the pies and the meat and the noodles. We didn’t have deviled eggs. It was my task to do vegetables, easy.
This time it was different..
I recall the wonderful creamed lima beans at grandmother’s house. Some of my children like limas. We’ll have limas instead of green beans. One of the toddlers loved eating corn at my table. Corn, plain corn, no casseroles. Just the plain stuff. No question about the mashed potatoes. So that was it. Stay with mashed potatoes, the beef and the noodles, I’m not crazy. There was blueberry pie, strawberry-rhubarb pie, and ice cream for the children.It was a wonderful time. The egg hunt was limited to two rooms. The little ones emptied the eggs of the coins and the most fun was their hiding the plastic eggs and getting an adult to hunt them. One adult after another was chosen to search behind the pillow or the flower pot. Then they did it all again.
All too soon the babies were wrapped up, children got their boots on and off they went.
There were left-overs. The piece of pie disappeared before the basketball game was over. But, Lima beans, corn and mashed potatoes? What did they eat?
By Monday I was beginning to think more clearly. Potato cakes are a cinch and delicious. Lima beans, a big bowl full was a challenge. I thought they tasted good. Soup, yes, you can make a soup out of anything.
Into my Big Boy blender went a lot of Limas, I tossed in some minced garlic, not a lot, a spoon full, then some fresh parsley to tame the garlic down and that wonderful basil in a tube for a little zip. I added a little milk, limas make their own thickening. It looked great and didn’t taste bad.
But as the evening wore on, I got uncomfortable. Stomach uncomfortable. Nothing serious, just uncomfortable. The garlic, for sure. But what to do with the left-over soup. Must I resort to the compost pile?
You guess.
The potato cakes fared better. To about a cup of left-over mashed potatoes I added an egg and a small squish of basil. Mixed them up and dropped a tablespoon onto a mound of flour. Then gently moved it to a hot, greased skillet. That was good for several meals.
All that left-over corn, still in the frig!
In a few weeks I’ll have another round of family. What do you think the menu will be this time?Later
Someone else did the planning. We had ham, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, noodles, salad,
fruit, and lots of desserts. Great. Just a little ham left-over.
Two month old, baby Pierce didn't make the picture cut, but next year!
