A Little Note

This is just to let you know we haven't given up on this blog ,Mom keeps deleting my work ( not on purpose ) and we're having computer problems.

Catching up

Today I will just try to catch up on the last couple nights. Saturday night we had split pea soup that according to Zoey tasted "baked" and to Mom and I tasted slightly burnt. Dad wasn't there so I don't know what he thought. Mom had just made jam. I've gotta go now, but tomorrow you'll hear about tonight's chimichangas.

April 15, 2007

Let's hope that my first try at this blogging stuff is not as taxing to readers as the IRS on this least favorite of dates.

In any case, this April 15th has proven to be better than most. For starters, taxes aren't due for two more days. And for those of us who consistently push that deadline to its limits, an automatic extension is welcome. And even better, I actually got to eat a warm meal with my family.

The routine of the last few months has been a cold plate of food on an otherwise barren table at about 9 or 10pm, with kids snoring and Ruth either feeding Will in the other room or hurrying around using the kid-free minutes to their fullest. She always seems torn between two mutually exclusive desperations: meaningful contact with an adult and clearing the swath of destruction left in a 3-year-old boy's wake. Sometimes I win and she sits for a few minutes with me while I nuke my spaghetti. Othertimes the magnitude of the mess is too much to ignore. In anycase, that table sometimes feels sorta lonely. That's what I get for turning up late.

Tonight Ruth called to see if there was any chance of me making dinner (showing up, not preparing the meal, as she was forced to explain to her obnoxious husband). She used to call every day to ask that question, but has learned the futility of asking. Today being a weekend, maybe it would be different. I don't know if she was more annoyed or surprised when I walked in the door a few minutes later, despite allowing her to believe that I was hours away still. I was actually in the car on my way home when she called.

Dinner was a fabulous spread of pan-seared salmon with ginger lemon butter, spiced couscous, spinach salad, Rhodes rolls, and roasted asparagus. We always eat well, but this was above and beyond. I suspect it was Ruth's best effort at letting know what I've been missing when I fail to show for mealtime. Duly noted.

I also noted some other thing's I've been missing. There was a crescendo chorus of pig-oinking by the Lizzy and Zoe, an expert dissection of the asparagus that was a little too bitter for Zoe to eat, and a classic loss of sanity by John who never gets his nap on Sundays with our 1-4 church schedule. Along with these little doses of nonsense, there were huge doses of laughter, conversation, comments and questions. The time with my family was far more delicious and filling than the great meal on the table. Funny how the simplest, most basic things in life become the most delicious when we haven't had them for a while (like air, sleep, a restroom... or a chance to tease Lizzy). I quite consciously enjoyed a heaping serving of the companionship of my dear family. Not too bad for April 15th.

-Bill

Dinner: April 12, 2007 7 p.m.Take-out Greek FoodYesterday was Mom's birthday. I didn't get to write last night because I had to go to bed. Mom was going to make easy paella, but Dad said that making dinner on her birthday was out of the question. So he got Greek takeout on his way home from work.Zoey and I made a cake on Wednesday with some "help" from John. Then yesterday Zoey and I made chocolate frosting to go on the vanilla cake. The cake was going to have three layers but we didn't have enough frosting or enough time to make more.I don't know what else to say so that's it for now.
draft
by Mitchell Family
4/12/07
Delete
1 – 1 of 1

Intro to this blog

Lizzy, our nine-year-old, has decided we need a blog. Most of the time she will be typing this. But to save you from the random ramblings of a nine-year-old Bill thought it best that our blog have a narrow theme. Without much thought we stumbled on dinner. What we eat, what we said, when we have guests a little bit about them. We might share some recipes if Lizzy feels like typing them and there will be occasional pictures, though I found the camera at the table a bit distracting. Mainly this is a way for our friends and family scattered across the country to keep in touch and to join us for dinner.

Dinner April 11, 2007 6:39 p.m.
Ginger chicken over Chinese noodles, broccoli and bok choy saute

Two new new recipes from Martha Stewart Everyday Food--an October issue with a cupcake on the cover 2 0r 3 years ago. (I'm sorry I tore the page out of the magazine.) The chicken received 3 favorable reviews, John didn't like the veggies, Bill hasn't made it home for dinner yet--someone's having problems with their chemotherapy. The broccoli and bok choy wasn't so good. The bok choy was from our garden and I'd be so proud of it but it's the most bitter vegetable I've ever tasted. BIll's home now. He thought the bok choy was good and he also liked the ginger chicken. That recipe might be a repeat.

Conversation:
Zoey wondered if you could travel to heaven in a space ship. Lizzy said no and went into some deep nonsense about how 1:00 can never be 2:00 and it's the same with heaven and earth and space is obviously an extension of earth. I mentioned how Zoe's question reminded me of the tower of babel. Zoey didn't know the story and so I told it. But she wanted to keep talking about spaceships. John had no comments he was too busy picking the onions and ginger out of his noodles and throwing them on the table. Will was busy eating noodles.

--Ruth