Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I spoke with mom this morning and she says she's wearing green from head to toe today! I love remembering when we were kids, mom would serve us green milk and mashed potatoes. We loved it! Mom always brought our Irish heritage into our home in many different ways.

I delivered a batch of meals to mom last week. I included a corned beef and cabbage entree that I think she will like. The menu is as follows:

Cream of broccoli/cheese soup
Spinach frittata
Rotisserie chicken salad

Corned beef and cabbage with potatoes
Meat Loaf, mashed potatoes, green beans almondine
Scallops wrapped in bacon, lemon garlic spinach, brown rice

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

New Delivery

I delivered a new batch of food to mom last week. Mom is now enjoying a whole new selection of entrees. She called yesterday to tell me how yummy the frittata is—in fact, she interrupted EATING the frittata to call me about it! That was funny. I do believe frittata is turning into one of her favorite meals.

This time, I made the food in two sessions: I cooked on Friday for nine hours and then again for two hours on Saturday before driving to mom's with the food. It would have taken longer if I had made soup, but there wasn't time.

The current menu is as follows.

Three cheese spinach frittata
Tuna salad
Tri-tip roast with red wine gravy/turnips, carrots, onions, potatoes
Panko crusted chicken tenders/brown rice pilaf/green beans almondine
Pecan crusted Tilapia/roasted potatoes, pearled onions, and carrots

I had a very challenging work week, so I needed to try some efficiencies to shorten the cooking time. I cut out the soup. Also, I cut down on the number of different kinds of meals I cooked. Instead of four meals with three servings each, I made three meals with four servings each. It did save time to cook one less meal—one meal usually comprises three different recipes! So, it made a significant difference not to have to plan, buy extra ingredients, and cook three extra dishes.

It feels incomplete though: It feels as if I need to begin cooking again soon because I didn't cook enough for her this time.

Tomorrow is the beginning of Lent . I'll have to create more fish entrees next time. Mom will love that!

Elegant Dining

Mom called the other day upon the arrival of her food. She was crying. She had just tasted the chicken salad and was calling to tell me how incredible it was. She was overwhelmed with the food, the flavors, the work she knows I put into it, and the gift it is to her.

Her tears filled me with sheer joy. That made it all worth it. All of the planning, the shopping, the cooking, the packaging and the delivering. This is what it's all about, not just feeding mom's body--I want to feed mom's heart and soul. I want to feed her with love and wonder and excellence.

I'm only giving back to mom a fraction of what she has given me. Such a small offering. But all I have today, from my life to hers.

Mom cooked every single day of her married life, three meals a day and probably a heck of a lot of snacks in between. My mother even cooked over camp fires so that her children could have vacations and travel. Mom didn't especially like cooking over campfires. :) So many lessons my mom gave to me through her cooking.

Some of the items I choose to make for mom are dishes she cooked for us: broiled chicken, broiled steak, "red cooked." Mom's favorite cookbook was The Joy of Cooking. I love to pay homage to her dishes by returning them to her today. But I also like to make her things she's never tasted before, epicurian delights to send her taste buds dancing.

I like to choose for mom things beyond her imagination. But not beyond her sense of delicious delight.

Done and Dusted

Wine Braised Pork Chops with Acorn Squash and Brussel Sprouts

The first meal drop of 2010 is done and dusted! It feels so good to be finished with the cooking and know that mom's food is on its way to her door.

We had several weather delays this time. Snow and ice prevented me and my brother from making the trip last week. Each day we had to delay was frustrating because I knew mom needed a new supply. Fortunately, my brother and sister live close by and could make sure she had plenty to eat in this kind of situation.

The delay forced a few menu changes. Here is the final menu that mom will receive today:

*Pea soup with bacon

*Carmelized onion, spinach, and cheese frittata

*Walnut cranberry chicken salad

Entrees

*Lemon garlic halibut/sweet potatoes/asparagus

*Steak Diane/mashed potatoes/broccoli w/cheese sauce

*Broiled chicken thighs/spinach/rice pilaf

*Wine braised Frenched pork chops with Apple and onion compote/acorn squash/brussel sprouts

2010 First Meal Planning

Now that the holidays are behind us, mom will be needing a fresh supply of food soon.

During the holidays, mom had a lot of guests and her eating pattern was different than normal. She has about 4 meals left from the last batch. The trouble is she lives in a snowbelt region and it's been snowing there for 8 days! Getting the food to her in time will be a challenge.

Over the holidays, I gathered up most of the containers and brought them home. It took three loads in the dishwasher to clean them all!

I have developed a preliminary menu and have done 80% of the grocery shopping. So I will be cooking within the next three days.

TENTATIVE MENU

Spinach frittata
Split pea soup
Rotisserie chicken salad

Chicken paillards/asparagus/sweet potatoes
Garlic herbed rib eye steak/green beans almondine/mashed potatoes
Pork chops/acorn squash/spinach
Grilled halibut with lemon sauce/rice pilaf/roasted brussel sprouts

Now let's see if Mother Nature can give us a break in the snow so I can deliver the food...