guests

by

Inevitable Dinner Guest Stress, Dinners This Week

We’re having friends over for dinner this week, so I am of course fretting over what to make for dinner. My main priority is prep-ahead-able – I’m sure there’s a better word for that, but eh. The point is, I want to have everything made and ready to assemble before they arrive; I do not like to cook under pressure. A salad seems like a great option. Maybe a this copycat of California Pizza Kitchen’s Thai Crunch Salad? I’d want to include a protein, though, and I’m not sure how to do that. Teriyaki chicken in the crockpot? 

I wish I felt more confident grilling stuff. Our grill is not great. It needs to be replaced, but it’s a big built-in unit and I don’t even want to think about what a replacement costs. It works, sort of (the ignition switch no longer ignites and one of the burners has a broken gas valve, so no gas comes out), so maybe we could grill chicken or something and have that with a big salad. This chicken fajita salad sounds tasty. 

Our friends aren’t coming over because they want a gourmet meal, I do know that. I am also aware of things like delivery pizza and takeout. But I still feel stressed about the food. (How much of my life have I devoted to Stressing About The Food? So, so much. How does one not stress about feeding guests when one seems to be wired for stressing?)

Onto feeding my own family this week. Once again, I am stumped beyond all reason. Dinner? Sounds familiar, I guess. What does one make and eat for dinner? Surely there are options, but none are occurring to me… 

Dinners for the Week of July 7-13

  • Slow Cooker Honey Chipotle Chicken Tacos: My husband volunteered this idea, and I am not one to turn down dinner ideas so this we will have.
  • Air Fryer Chicken and Waffles: Carla’s newest obsession is chicken and waffles. I asked her if she had any ideas for this week’s meal plan, or if she wanted to make anything for the family, and she suggested chicken and waffles. It sounds complicated but I am not one to turn down dinner ideas OR voluntary help in the kitchen, so on the menu it goes.
  • Lemon Butter Ricotta and Zucchini Pasta: There’s too much chicken on the meal plan already, but are there other proteins? Have I ever heard of a recipe that uses beef, pork, or fish? Probably not. Maybe I can get away with this vegetarian pasta by pretending zucchini are full of protein?
  • Slow Cooker BBQ Pork with Coleslaw: The last time I suggested this to my husband, he declined to approve. This time I may just make it anyway. I have my reasons: It’s not chicken, we haven’t had it in awhile, it’s easy, I have thought of it.

It took me an hour to come up with this list. Reminder: two of the items were provided to me by my family members. So I’m going to call it good; we’ll figure out what to eat for the rest of the week when we get there. 

Anybody else suffering from dinner-related amnesia???? 

by

Dinners This Week, Gratitude/Anxiety

We are having an especially long weekend, what with Rosh Hashanah following Labor Day. That’s just one thing I am feeling thankful for, this morning. I am also thankful for the beautiful weather – sunny and warm-but-not-hot, with that characteristic rim of cold on the edge of the breeze that signifies the beginning of fall. We have had a lovely weekend so far – I saw a dear friend on Saturday for my second-since-the-pandemic-began attempt at dining at a restaurant (we ate outside and sat at a table that was blissfully distant from any other diners), Carla stayed home with a babysitter (a vaccinated student at Carla’s school who was one of her counselors at camp this year) and had a blast, and then the three of us went to a friend’s house for (outdoor) dinner, which was so so lovely. (This particular friend is an amazing cook.) (Also I still feel compelled to note that everyone is vaccinated except the kids, all of whom attend the same school anyway.) I am thankful that I got to go to a salon and have a professional dye my hair for me, and that she also kindly offered to trim my single, enormous white eyebrow hair. My husband is no longer on call as of this morning, for which I am DEEPLY grateful. And tomorrow, Carla and I will have the house to ourselves as my mother-in-law undergoes surgery. I am grateful for the alone time, but I am also grateful that my mother-in-law is getting such quick treatment. If you can spare some good thoughts for her, please do; we are all expecting the best, including her doctors, but obviously we are all also QUITE ANXIOUS. 

I am grateful, but anxious. While it felt so wonderful to see friends and do “normal” things this weekend, I still get this breathless giddy feeling of getting away with something. And then comes the worry that we are pushing too far, doing too much. I don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t know. 

I am grateful that we can provide a home base for my in-laws while they are in town, that we can offer comfort and love and support while my mother-in-law is preparing for surgery and recovering from surgery and determining next steps. But I am not accustomed to extra people in my home. I feel like all I do is vacuum and wash dishes and scrub counters and tidy and unload the dishwasher and prepare meals and clean up after meals. I cannot tell you how many times I have buffed the stainless steel into a mirror sheen this past week.  Why a gleaming refrigerator should do anything to soothe my anxiety is beyond my powers of comprehension. My mother-in-law, bless her, always offers to help with food prep and clean up. But even as I want help, I DON’T; I want to do it my way, and we have very different ways of doing things and I feel like I get (gentle, well-meaning) push back when I try to explain my preferences. And beggars can’t be choosers, right? Why should I even have preferences when the help is being offered? 

I am trying – really, really trying – to be laid back, to go with the flow, even though those things are contrary to my nature. Even though my means of restoring equilibrium is to be alone with my thoughts for long hours. Right now – with Carla crafting ten feet away, her audiobook playing another endless round of Socks by Beverly Clearly – is as close to “alone” as I can get these days.   

And, of all people, this period in our life affects me least. Everyone is worried, everyone is stressed. My in-laws are living out of their suitcases, worrying about my mother-in-law. My husband has been working nonstop for the past seven days; he too is an introvert who needs time alone; and this is his mother who is undergoing surgery and perhaps other adjuvant therapies. My daughter, accustomed to our quiet, three-person home, has had her routine – freshly readjusted, now that school has begun – upended yet again, and she too is worried about her beloved grandmother. My father-in-law was set for knee surgery when my mother-in-law’s health needs popped up; he’s climbing up and down our stairs every day on a bum knee, having to stuff his own pain and health concerns down while he worries about his wife of fifty years. 

Well. I am trying to be a good host, a good daughter-in-law. Trying to be welcoming, and warm, and doing what I can to make the house comfortable and to address my family’s needs. 

The main thing I have control over is food. Which brings us to dinners this week. 

THANK YOU, by the way, for all your suggestions about what to feed my houseguests. I have been asking literally everyone this past week what they serve to houseguests, and I have discovered two things: 1. Talking about food is, for me, endlessly fascinating. 2. It is very hard to turn wonderful, delicious-sounding suggestions into usable options for my particular family. (My in-laws don’t really eat pasta; I hate tomatoes; my husband and his whole family don’t really think of soup as a meal.) 

I still LOVE to hear suggestions, though. And want to visit ALL OF YOU so that you will make me your delicious houseguest meals. Please and thank you.

Here’s what I’ve come up with for this week. 

Dinners for the Week of September 6-12

Hamburgers: For Labor Day. Burgers are easy and everyone will eat them. My husband wanted potato salad from the grocery store, so I got some. I have the ingredients for my favorite chickpea salad, which I prefer to potato salad, and may or may not make it for myself (and whomever else wants it). We have no dessert, but I could whip one up if necessary; I even have a box of brownie mix if it comes to that. (I happen to love brownies from a mix.)

Lebanese Chicken with Charred Cauliflower: I may attempt to make this for the family, although I tend to avoid experimenting with new recipes on my poor unsuspecting in-laws. It sounds yummy and fairly easy, and I am fueled by Nicole’s love of cauliflower to eat more of it.

Steak and Potato Skewers with Rosemary Chimichurri: I made this once before and it was yummy (and surprisingly easy). 

Charcuterie Board: These are SO fun to put together and I tested the idea with the family and everyone was receptive. I have happy anticipation at the prospect of searching through the grocery store for fun little treatsies to include on the board.

TAKEOUT. God bless all the restaurants that offer wide ranging options and delicious food.

What are you eating for dinner this week?