Thank you and other things

To all who have dedicated their time and culinary skills to help alleviate the burden of cooking:  thank you!  Little did you know, your cooking has also spared Dad, Erin, Diane and Emily certain death.  In an effort to cut costs and spruce up our life with a little home cooking, we agreed to divvy up cooking nights, where one of us would prepare dinner for the others.  In the spirit of turn-taking, I volunteered to cook the first night.  Big mistake.  Records skipped and crows cawed when I volunteered to cook.  It was as if I just told the group that California was a city in Florida.  As we said in the 80s, “stupid say what?”

Unbeknownst to me, a certain opinion had already formed about my culinary skills – or lack thereof.  Granted, the last time I had actually cooked was before the Iraq war; I’ve been living abroad in kitchenless studio apartments since 2003.  For a good five years, my idea of dinner consisted of a can of tuna and a yogurt, which, after the mercury scare, was modified to a couple microwaved eggs and a yogurt.   I suppose I could understand their vote of no confidence, especially since, when I do cook, the ingredients trend towards some meat sprinkled with ketchup.  My favorite concoction is pairing corn flakes with tuna.  Why not?

But the tuna fish and the ketchup and the corn flakes were back in the day when I was cooking for myself.  To my credit, I know how to ‘clean up well’ in the presence of others (cue nervous grimace).  On my night, I cooked the ‘haters’ a chicken dinner complete with garlic red potatoes and veggies.  Granted, Diane had to teach me how to cook the potatoes, but that's beside the point.  It was edible, and to my knowledge, they’re still alive to complain about it.  Regardless, they've killed my inspiration. ;)

So, hats off to the folks who’ve spared the doubting Thomas’s another round of ‘Jill cooking’.  In all honesty, we deeply appreciate your support during this time; it’s nice to know we don’t have to cook in the midst of all this.

Lastly, a note from Diane regarding my various incarnations.  In addition to being a great ‘pioneer woman’ and looking like Dad if only I had a straw hat, I now would make for a great orchestra geek (this is not to say that all orchestra folk are geeky...I sure wasn't ;) ).  As Diane said, get my hair curly and stick me in a red velvet dress with a black satin bow, patent leather shoes and foldy-down socks, and I’d make for one heck of a cello dork.  At least I’m versatile.  -- J