Friday, August 8, 2008

Left-Overs

One of the things in life I truly enjoy is cooking. I love putting a new twist on my old stand-bys and tweaking new recipes with my own personal touch. Normally, (well okay 99% of the time) there are only two of us in our house-hold. This creates a dilemma, as I've never mastered the art of cooking for a pair. My solution to this problem is to send the excess culinary components to K.'s workplace. He works rotating shifts with at least two other people, and the companion shift that relieves his group also consists of at least three people. Some of his coworkers have a two weeks on/off schedule, so they are able to reside out of state, commute and live here for their on-time. This can mean a lot of restaurant, diner and fast food. That can get get old, and kind of boring; not to mention unhealthy! So, most of the time I send enough food with K. for sharing, and I try to fix a shift meal when he works nights. Usually, this also feeds the other crew and any stragglers from other departments in the office. This is great for me because I lurv food preparation, ( AND eating as well) but space in our two fridges is always at a premium. I like to think that his workmates appreciate the home fare, and I get to nurture, albeit from afar. The down side is the containers sometimes get forgotten. The shuffle of passing on information about the operation to the next group at the helm, and the want to get the flock out after 12 hours usually leads to "Oops! I forgot the Glad Ware!" That's okay, because these convenient little receptacles make it back my way at the end of seven days, usually without fail. Sometimes, however I'm not so sure that I want them back! I know that these little vessels were meant to be disposable, but I find that wasteful. There are times that I think "Hmm. Maybe just this once..." I never get any closer than the thought of tossing the whole lot into the refuse, because I can still hear my Grama saying something to the effect of "Waste not want, want not!" or "What if you need those later?" (She's also the reason I can't seem to produce a common-sized spread!) Anyway, it is pretty amazing some of the science cultures morphing within! The trick to salvaging this mess is to dive in, breathe through the mouth, (if you dare breathe at all!) quickly scoop out the offending stuff into the bin. Next, immerse those plastic lovelies in some hot, sudsy water with a teaspoon of bleach, and you're good to go. You can run 'em through the dishwasher if you so desire, to assure complete sanitation, but I believe the bleach takes care of that, as well as the odor. I guess that clears the way for another mess in the kitchen! :)

5 comments:

kkryno said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Diane@Diane's Place said...

And maybe talking to yourself? ;o)

Thank you so much for your visit, comment and especially your prayers for Jessica and our family. I really appreciate it.

Nice tameetcha! I've enjoyed my visit here. :o)

Hope you have a great weekend!

Hugs,

Diane

kkryno said...

Oh, Diane! I do that all the time! LOL! Seriously, though; I'm alone for a good portion of the day. I DO tend to talk to myself, but I'm really not that interesting. I'm so glad that your daughter had the best news for the circumstances. I have periodic bouts of endometriosis, which is no walk in the park under the least severe of cases. I hope your Jessica is on the mend permanently. Love, Vikki

Diane@Diane's Place said...

Hi again, Vikki.

I just saw your comment about the refrigerator pickles. Actually, you can eat the pickles anytime, but obviously they take on more flavor after they've been in the brine for a while, say about a week. By the time they've been in the brine for about a week they've took on all the flavor they're going to, so they should be great to eat by then.

And don't worry: I talk to myself, and not only that, sometimes I also answer myself! And I don't have the excuse of being alone a lot. Most of the time my hubby or other family and friends are around. ;o)

Jessica is sore but doing well under the circumstances. Thanks for your kind words and concern. I do appreciate them.

Love and hugs,

Diane

Doug and Amanda said...

Send some my way! But only if they are connected to you guys and two one way tix to NM!