Cooking is like love. It should
be entered into with abandon or not at all. ~Harriet van Horne
Am I overly compulsive? And just what the heck does “overly
compulsive” mean anyway? Isn’t that just some procrastinator’s term for those
who plan ahead, who like to plan ahead, who plan waaaay ahead?
Okay, so maybe I’m a tad on the compulsive side when it
comes to food. (Certainly that is NOT the case with dusting, vacuuming, etc.)
When the kids were at home, family vacations were often in
the wilds. Bring in your own water. Dig a hole for the latrine. That sort of
wilds. Loved it!
But that meant no grocery store to pick up another stick of
butter or Oops! No meat? Sorry. Let’s eat what we can forage. Planning ahead,
making menus, stocking the cooler--that’s what fed my men.
They ribbed me, of course. But none of them ever turned down
the shish-ke-babs and rice followed with chocolate cherry pie. No way. They
made fun of my lists and menus, but that was the thin line that separated us
from starvation. (Okay, maybe not starvation, but it did save us from the Dinty
Moore canned stew my husband “prepared” on our first camping trip. That’s when
I knew I had to take charge.)
So whenever anyone is coming to dinner or to stay with us
for an extended time, I make menus. And file them. I wouldn’t want to serve the
same thing twice to guests. Heaven forfend!
As we approach the holidays, the company is piling up.
Pattycake and Jimbo will be here in a few weeks. Served them orange marmalade
pork tenderloin, special marinade salmon, and cocoa chile chicken among other
faves. So, I am scouring my recipe stash for some dishes I haven’t made in a
while. Like chicken cupcakes for lunch. Avogolemono and lamb souvlaki for
dinner.
Same with my sons and their companions. I have to serve them old favorites like
French Dip for lunch and our traditional-always-the-same Christmas dinner. But
I want to try things with them I haven’t served in a while, like Mongolian
Hotpot (see my post on “The Girlfriend Test”).
Though they kid me mercilessly, as a working mom, planning
menus was imperative. I had nutsy hours some weeks, so making sure they had
good food options meant we rarely resorted to fast food like pizza for dinner.
So does that make me OCD? If so, I’ll take it because the
stress of not having food organized would put me in the loony bin.
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