As you all know, when I was required to fix dinner for the kids, the only thing in the cupboards was some kinda cereal like sugar frosted flakes, sugar puffs, cheerios with sugar sprinkles on top or bite sized shredded wheat. The only thing in the refrigerator was milk and the only thing in the freezer was ice cream… (and if we were lucky, some chocolate cake was leftover from a day or two ago that Mom had made)… so the kids were fed, they loved their Dad but the Mom-Lady was terrified.
She said that there was food in the house and all I needed to do was take a little time and effort and the kids would have a nice meal… ok… I put it/her to the test.
The next time she did dinner I went to look to see what she would make dinner with…. Shur-nuf, there was nothing but the cereal, milk, ice-cream, no chocolate cake… so I said, “Ok, let’s see you make dinner with nothing but this.”
Well, 45 minutes later, the call went out that “dinner’s ready!” Ok, this I gotta see…
Holy Smokes! The table was set with fine linens, dinner plates, knives, forks, spoons, goblets for water and juice, a center piece of flowers, all the nicest serving dishes, including the gravy boat with wonderful brown gravy! There was steak, potatoes, green beans, corn, salad with croutons, lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, and salad dressings! There was water in the carafe and juice in the pitcher, bread and butter (bread dish, butter dish and butter spoon included), and a chocolate cake in the oven. Amazing! Magic! Unbelievable! How’d she do it? Ok… did somebody sneak out to the store, the neighbors or something?... Nobody knows… it’s a mystery to this day, how she did it then and how she does it even now, still.
Well we ate like kings, queens, princes, and princesses and were very thankful for a grand meal and a Mom that was the best cook and a capable magician. We loved it then and still do today. I’ve often wished that we’d kept a cooking book of “Mom’s Meals from Nothing”. It would’ve been a best seller for sure. Mom still makes the grandest of meals. Me? I know where the cereal, milk and ice-cream should be, if some-one didn’t forget to buy some… The chocolate cake? We will always be dependent on the Mom-Lady for that… as she is all goodness and kindness… ya know….
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She pulled magic with leftovers too! On leftover nights, we were in charge of feeding ourselves. There were plastic containers lining the fridge with fragments of the week’s dinners – old meat, cheap bread, some canned green beans, maybe some milk… nothing exciting. So we grabbed a plastic plate, microwaved our leftovers, and grabbed a cup of milk. But when Mom came in to make herself dinner, she’d walk away with a gourmet meal! She’d have a beautiful dish of fancy, flavorful pasta, a side of green salad with cherry tomatoes, croutons and yummy salad dressing, some fruit salad and a goblet of juice. As we sat at the dinner table, looking at our pitiful plates and Mom’s delectable dish, we kids couldn’t help but feel ripped off. Where’d she get THOSE leftovers? I didn’t see those in there! Alas, as you said before, we don’t know how she did it. But I wish I could make food magic like that!
No kidding. I remember asking Mom what was for lunch and she said, "Peanut butter sandwiches!" So I made my own peanut butter and grape jelly sandwich and sat down at the table to eat. Then Mom came in and began making her own sandwich. When I was nearly done with my sandwich, she sat down at the table with her lunch. Holy Cow! (to echo Dad) She had a beautiful turkey or ham sandwich with tomatoes, lettuce and probably pickles and cottage cheese with a garnish on the side all served up on a glass plate, no less. Upon seeing my down-turned expression of self pity for my own meager lunch in comparison to her artful display, Mom began to snigger. Not surprised.
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