Blog.EmealsForYou

I was doomed from the start, born into it you might say. I come by my obsession with making sure others enjoy my food naturally. You see I was born into a family presided over by an old-country Slovak grandmother. Grandmom spoke very little English, when you went to see her she would say, “somethink (her mispronunciation) for you?” Then she would take you into her kitchen and show you all the food she and my aunts had prepared. There was everything from hams and turkeys to sweet breads, cookies and pastries. You would get a plate and she would follow you around the table saying, “eat, eat, eat.”

So you see, now when I am cooking for friends and family I am “forced” to provide as many choices as possible, just in case someone wants something different. The reason this all came back to me is that I am on my way back to New Jersey next week for a family reunion, in-laws, and delayed wedding party. I volunteered to cook for the group. Here is where it gets tricky, some don’t eat meat, some don’t eat fish, one is gluten and dairy intolerant and I am just crazy. I had to come up with a menu for Friday’s dinner, 9 people, with the above conditions in mind. This involved two appetizers, two main courses, including sides and two desserts. Everything has to be cooked from scratch as gluten and diary are hidden in many pre-prepared broths and canned goods. I am cooking the consommé as I write this and freezing it to take with us.

Saturday’s party was a little easier to plan as I had many more choices and a guest list of 35. The secret here is to cook and freeze as much of the food as possible in advance. I chose fairly quick and easy food to prepare on site. This will require some effort but it is doable; the main concern is timing everything to be ready at the same time.

I guess the point of this rant is to say some of us “just have to” go out of the way in our preparation of what we offer our families to eat, our obsession has been bred into us.