October 13, 2009 This has been a lovely day, although not without a mishap! Persuaded Damien to carry my pressure-cooker pot of turkey soup—must have weighed 40 pounds-- to the car this AM, and proceeded to the Food Bank with no idea if anyone would be there to help me carry it in, as it doesn't open until 12:30; the lunch is served in the church about noon. A women's meeting was in progress, but there didn't seem to be anybody else there except an unfamiliar white-haired gentleman browsing at a bookshelf.
“Pardon me,” I said, “does your doctor allow you to lift heavy things?”
“I don’t look that old, do I?” he smiled. “Sure, I lift grain sacks all the time.”
Max was there to see the pastor, as a representative of the Michigan-based Our Daily Bread, which publishes small booklets with a Bible reading for each day of the month. True to his word, he hoisted the heavy pot and carried it down to the church kitchen, and accepted my thanks graciously.
This was the first time that I’d used the kitchen, as well as the first day that my church down the road was providing lunch. In pulling out platters to use for the bread and cookies, I accidentally smashed a nice glass one, just as the community church’s coordinator came through the door.
OOPS! Great way to start! She was very kind, said it had probably come from a garage sale anyway, and I promised to replace it. Just then the other three from my church arrived with home-baked bread and salads, and we all got busy setting things out. Our quartet became so excited about the process that we decided to try to set up a winter program in our own quarters to supplement this fine one.
I received good feedback on the soup, mostly favorable except for one man who said I hadn’t cooked the carrots long enough. He was right; I’d put them in this morning so they wouldn’t be squishy. But, as he explained, he didn’t have back teeth so they were hard for him to chew. Good to remember when doing this again.
A half-hour later, my cousin arrived. She lives on Social Security and the Federally-funded Senior Lunch, held on the same day as the Food Bank, at $4., is a bit pricey for her. Although the Senior Lunch is supposed to be by “suggested donation,” diners are shy about offering less than their friends are paying. Anyway, in the process of greeting her, I told her about smashing the plate.
“Don’t worry, I’ve a dozen I’ve picked up at garage sales,” she said. “You can drive me home after I get my food, and you can choose what you want.”
Back at her home, she pulled out two gorgeous dishes and I chose a clear-glass one with a heart pattern carved around its rim. BINGO!
After returning to bring the plate and help clean up, I picked up the mail at the post office, came home to freeze the remaining turkey soup as what Gourmet used to call “frozen assets.”
This blog is supposed to be about alkaline eating, so perhaps it would be best to end with what I ate today (including dinner plans): a sip or two of turkey soup (no turkey) to be sure it was seasoned properly, half a grapefruit, a big avocado, four handfuls of almonds, an apple, garlicky mashed cauliflower (cooked, then mashed with sautéed garlic), a cup of a stew made from diced eggplant, asparagus, red pepper, and red quinoa.
No comments:
Post a Comment