All I want for Christmas is a set of 4 ramekins and some more glass mini-storage containers.
I normally run a tight ship when it comes to using food wisely, but last Thanksgiving tested my mettle.
It was our turn to host the extended family Thanksgiving buffet dinner. Then we decided to have our neighbors over on Black Friday for a soup party. Of course, everyone brought something to both occasions.
You know how it is — everybody wanted to bring the foods they remembered from their childhood Thanksgiving. Layer that with the food preferences and requirements of the assemblage — gluten-sensitive, vegan, paleo, and keto. Need I say more? Then there was my need to have enough of everything for everybody. By Saturday we had a frig full of odds and ends, many in small quantities – fresh vegetables, fresh fruit, potato salad, meatballs, pickled herring, 4 kinds of soup, assorted breads, and more.
We had leftovers for the next 3 days, emphasizing the foods that do not freeze well (anything with mayonnaise). I froze the rest. One can eat just so many fresh veggies (between the 2 parties, we had 4 veggie trays!) before one grows long furry ears! In the next 2 weeks we had 2 tapas dinners and a frittata one Sunday morning. I used the veggies in vegetable bisque. Who cares if freezing vegetables makes them limp? I pureed the bisque in the blender anyway. Leftover soups were packed in serving-sized containers and used in packed lunches to take to work. Breads and muffins were frozen to make toast and bread pudding.
Here’s a lesson I learned from the picky eater in my house. Things need to be stored and served separately. Mr. Picky does not like one food to touch another. Hence, the need for more storage containers. The ramekins? That’s for the tapas dinners. Remember? Different foods cannot touch.
Bottom line is one needs thoughtful communications (the answer to “what’s for supper?” is “tapas” not “leftovers”), adequate storage containers, and creativity! Did I tell you that stale muffins make a tasty “bread” pudding?
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