Hope Everyone Enjoyed a Wonderful holiday Week!
Ahhh... it's nice to have it behind us... and nice to be back at Spice Place...
The l'il event last Sunday with my Mom and her guests went really nicely.
I had planned to host my Mom for a quaint l'il turkey dinner on Sunday. When she accepted my invite, she asked if she might in turn invite a couple of friends from the assisted-living facility she lives at. Of course I extended a "the-more-the-merrier" spirit and assured her that room could easily be made at the table!
I baked my pies the night before (pumpkin, pecan and carnberry/eggnog), placed my 7 lb. Butterball turkey breast in the oven the next morning- then made the drive to and from - to pick-up Mom, Lois & Trudy.
When we came back home, as I took the lady's coats, they all remarked on the aroma of the roasting turkey... (I observed Trudy wearing an inside-out velour shirt- and mis-matched socks...) and I seated them all in chairs near the open kitchen so they could watch me rustle-up the vittles at the stove as they sipped hot cider and chatted... (Lois wore a napkin bib-style as she noisily blew her hot cider to cool it, being as lady-like as she knew how... a napkin she would need to change twice more during the meal.)
Like my Mom- Lois & Trudy also suffer mental/emotional impact/impairment, each with their specific whacky quirks and nervous tics... (in case you hadn't guessed from the above...), so I wasn't quite sure what to expect. But as it turned out, all women were in very pleasant moods- and all went quite nicely.
Not only were my guests all warm company- but they were fantastically hungry and appreciative of the spread- which is enuf to warm any cook's heart! I've never seen elderly women all put away SO much food! Watching them eat took me back to my days of feeding ravenous oil field workers in Alaska! Their manners were top-notch... the most anti-social thing that occurred was Trudy eating with her mouth wide-open, and Lois noisily stirring scoops of green-bean casserole and corn pudding into a dish of gravy, soup-and-cracker-style...
After eating, chatting, doing our best to play a few rounds of Trviial Pursuit, eating more dessert, then packing-up care packages for each of the women to take back to the living facility- we made the drive back, taking the fun scenic route thru neighborhoods that had already starting decorating with Christmas lights and such...
I cut the engine, took the women inside and escorted all to their apartments. As Mom and I said our goodbyes, she was beaming. I told her she need not try and rub the ruby-lipstick marks from my cheek as I winked and went back to the car. I imagine this was Mom's first hosted dinner-party in years... and I was thrilled to be part of it with her! Now to plan a nice l'il Christmas menu for her next event...
