Evening Edge
What’s For Dinner?
Home > Feeding Frenzy
Does that buzz drive you mad?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
As much as I love grilling and the reduced kitchen cleanup it allows, the mosquitoes make outdoor cooking a type of guerrilla warfare. I can barely open the grill lid without being attacked by a swarming mob!
It seems like the mosquitoes at my house get worse as the summer goes on, and by late August and September they’re actually following me inside if I leave the door open for more than a second or two.
I hate to cover myself in bug spray just to throw some “shrimp on the barbie” (as they say down under), but I am not sure of any other way to protect myself from becoming their meal.
Even if I do manage to get my meal cooked with only a few welts, I long for the days when I can actually dine alfresco in my own backyard. I write off July and early August as opportunities to enjoy outside dining because of the sweltering heat. But as the evenings begin to cool off a bit, I wish I could actually use that expensive outdoor furniture I got as an anniversary present.
What are your secrets to being outdoors when you’re the prey? Have you found any secrets to being able to cook and dine without mosquitoes making you their dinner?
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment |
How do you feed a friend in need?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
At back-to-school registration I noticed that a favorite teacher was missing. When I asked around, I learned her husband was in surgery for a torn ACL, a tennis casualty. The timing couldn’t be worse! For a teacher, the week before school is one of the busiest times. Not only did she have two kids home waiting for school to start, she now had to act as nurse for her hubby until he was “back on his feet” - quite literally. While we are not close friends, both of my kids had this teacher and we run into her family in the neighborhood. I wanted to do something for her family without feeling like I’ve overstepped boundaries.
No matter what the situation is, it seems when time is limited due to illness or unusual circumstances, not having to deal with making a meal is a good thing. But because it’s not being served right way, I feel like I need to prepare something that can withstand travel and can be either reheated or eaten chilled as well.
I usually go with a roast chicken or sliced flank steak. Both of those appeal to most palates and even better, usually yield enough for leftovers as well, which helps out for lunches too.
What are your go-to meals when you are helping a friend in need? Do you go the casserole route or do you prefer something more along the lines of a meat and three?
Permalink | Comments (18) | Post your comment |
Do you believe in adult-only dinners?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
With our kids at overnight camp, my husband, Rich, and I have been enjoying Atlanta’s fabulous dining scene while catching up with friends for quiet adult dinners. Our son Jack’s non-stop spring and summer baseball season ate up almost every weekend and we haven’t been able to socialize with our friends in ages.
We moved to Atlanta with young children, so many of our friends are people we met through our kids. But as siblings age, or new siblings arrive, we sometime reach that moment of family inequitably, where the kids don’t really mesh either because of gender or age differences. Since there’s that awkwardness of incompatibility, we often try to schedule adult dinners out with those friends when we really want to be able to connect in a stress-free environment.
We have some friends who don’t believe in going out without their kids and always insist on a family-oriented event, even though our kids don’t match on gender, age or interests.
Do you believe in going out without your children? How do you handle it when families don’t fit when it comes to socializing?
Permalink | Comments (4) | Post your comment |
How do you handle restaurant mishaps?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Let me just say this now. I am not a spiller. My kids are spillers, my husband is a spiller. There’s not a week that goes by where some drink doesn’t get knocked over, leaking all over the tablecloth and floor. But I luckily, have been spared. Until last week that is.
While my kids are enjoying cool days and even cooler nights in the mountains of their overnight camp, my husband, Rich, and I have been hitting the town, trying new restaurants without the added cost of babysitting.
We were at Holeman & Finch, a truly yummy place, catching up with a friend and enjoying small plates and excellent wine. There is a sort of communal table placed in the middle of the restaurant, which leaves about 2 inches between you and your neighbor. It’s not a sardine situation, but it’s “intimate”.
During an animated conversation my hand gesture aligned exactly with my wine glass, causing the red wine (of course) to act as a projectile, splattering not only Rich across from me, but the two people to his right.
Needless to say, I was mortified as I watched red wine spray the pale pink sweater on a beautiful Carolyn Bissette Kennedy look-alike and dot the shirt of the handsome young husband sitting next to her. Who knew wine could fly that high?
It was one of those humiliating moments when there is nothing you can do but apologize profusely and offer to pay for their dry cleaning (which they refused). I have to say, they couldn’t have been more gracious about it, waving off the incident as a minor bump in between courses. It was a lesson in courtesy, one that I hope I remember if I am ever on the other end of a rogue wine glass.
We told the waitress to buy their table a round of drinks and apologized again when we left, but I still was absolutely mortified. Have you had an embarrassing moment in a restaurant? How did you make amends?
Permalink | Comments (21) | Post your comment |
Are you ready for school to start back?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It’s funny. Even though it doesn’t seem to really bother me during the year, when school lets out in the spring, I find I am so ready to throw structure out the window. I love not planning every meal and only shopping when I need to instead of doing the massive Sunday binge to buy enough to get me through packed lunches and dinners for most of the week.
In the summer I love the freedom to go with the flow, ordering pizza if we’re at the pool too late or stopping by the store after work to pick up something to throw on the grill. It seems so easy without a steadfast schedule.
But now it’s back to reality. I’ve spent the last weeks coordinating carpools and after school activities, which will allow very little time to “wing it” anymore. It’s now a lot of go, go, go leaving me little, if any, time to be spontaneous when everyone has someplace to be and needs to be fed. I know in time there will be a comfort to the routine and to being more organized. I think it’s the sadness of saying goodbye to the freedom of coming and going and the reduced stress of no meetings, sports schedules and homework.
What about you? Are you ready for back to school? Does the structure help you plan and get meals on the table easier or do you miss the carefree ways of summer?
RELATED: Back-to-school photos | Submit your pictures
RELATED: Collards and okra? Blog about new school lunch rules
Permalink | Comments (4) | Post your comment | Categories: Family foibles
Latest comments
Thank you everybody!... read the full comment by Amy | Comment on How do you feed a friend in need? Read How do you feed a friend in need?
Yes lots of people do still look after neighbors and friends and fellow parishoners here in the south——in our church throughout the world—- we actually are assigned a few families each, that when somethning happens that they need a meal... read the full comment by MOT | Comment on How do you feed a friend in need? Read How do you feed a friend in need?
A husband recovering from non-life threatening surgery? Is that really covered dish-worthy? If you really wanted to help, you could offer to watch the kids for a while. Such meals should only be brought for a death or birth in the family (because... read the full comment by Lissa | Comment on How do you feed a friend in need? Read How do you feed a friend in need?
I like to make a meal that’s nourishing and comforting. My go-to is homemade, from-scratch chicken and dumplings. I’ve also made roast chicken with vegetable side dishes. I always include something baked, like muffins or brownies, and something... read the full comment by Lucia | Comment on How do you feed a friend in need? Read How do you feed a friend in need?