FOOD

That was quite a fuss yesterday. All I was doing was my small part for Alison’s health. Chocolate is a health food, isn’t it? But that isn’t what I wanted to talk about.

I got into the habit of eating as a small child. Before I was married, and lived alone, I became a pretty good cook and fixed most all my own meals. When Am and I were married, it turned out that she was quite a good cook. She used to say that I was easy to please. Well, with what was put on the table, I was easy to please. Then after she had her stroke, and Eric started doing dinners for us, she said she liked doing breakfasts. Hot cakes, waffles, scrambled eggs, muffins, omelets --- yum! And she also served up a dish of fruit and orange juice with banana blended in.

There was one breakfast we did together. Poached egg on shredded potato. She would shred the spuds in the cuisinart. Then she would chop up onion, mushrooms and bell pepper, saute them, and add that to the potato. I would do the poached eggs. (I got the easy part).

Now that she’s gone, I get to do it all on my own. I do prepare a hot breakfast -- eggs with toast, juice, fruit and tea. (Tea? That's another story). (That fruit dish contains honeydew melon, grapes, strawberries and banana). I did try her hot cake recipe with pretty good results. But I’ve missed the poached egg on potato. I’m leery of trying the cuisinart with only one hand, and one day recently when I was in the grocery store, I happened upon a box purporting to be a mashed potato mix. Hmmm, poached egg on mashed potato. Sounded intriguing. So I bought a box, and the other day I tried it. I can follow a recipe, and it called for the mix, water, milk and margarine. Mix well in microwaveable bowl. Oops. microwaveable bowl? Flat dishes, I have, but bowl? I remembered we’d had a big glass Pyrex bowl that Am used in the oven, but I couldn’t find it. And then -- Eureka! I remembered the Corningware bowls with the funny name -- the grabits. That's what they call them. Even comes with a plastic lid for refrigeration purposes. Worked just fine. The end result? Quite good. The potato was a trifle on the heavy side -- I think it needs a bit more milk.

Now if any of you out there are drooling over this, and want me to invite you to breakfast/brunch, please say so. A mind reader I’m not. I do need a little advance notice because I do some of the setup the night before. Now, please, wipe your chin.

From food to fun:

"DEAR ABBY" REVISITED
Dear Abby, I was married to Bill for three months and I didn't know he drank until one night he came home sober.
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Dear Abby, My mother is mean and short-tempered. I think she is going through her mental pause.
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Dear Abby, I have a man I never could trust. He cheats so much on me I'm not even sure this baby I'm carrying is his.
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Dear Abby, I suspected that my husband had been fooling around, and when I confronted him with the evidence he denied everything and said it would never happen again.
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Dear Abby, I joined the Navy to see the world. I've seen it. Now how do I get out?
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Dear Abby, My forty-year-old son has been paying a
psychiatrist $50 an hour every week for two-and-a-half years. He must be crazy.
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Dear Abby, Our son was married in January. Five months later his wife had a ten-pound baby girl. They said the baby was premature. Tell me, can a baby this big be that early? Signed, Wondering.

Dear Wondering. The baby was on time, the wedding was late. Forget it.
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Dear Abby, I have always wanted to have my family history traced, but I can't afford to spend a lot of money to do it. Any suggestions? Signed, Sam

Dear Sam, Yes. Run for public office.
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Dear Abby, I am forty-four years old and I would like to meet a man my age with no bad habits. Signed, Rose

Dear Rose, So would I.