You're Eating What?!

One of the hallmarks of the Mormon church is food. It's the universal language of compassion among congregations worldwide. Sick? Had a baby? Lost a job? Overwhelmed? No worries - someone is bound to show up at your doorstep with a casserole, a Jell-o salad and a vegetable of some sort. It's second nature to LDS women. It seems they all come with a stockpile of family friendly recipes, an endless supply of disposable plastic containers and the ability to whip up something filling in seconds, whether it's for a family of four or a family of eight.

Not me. Here's the deal - I cook a lot (although not lately, for a myriad of reasons). I love to cook. I loathe leftovers and eating the same thing more than once or twice a month and I love to try new recipes, especially complicated ones. It means I am continually changing "what's for dinner." You want Indian curries, Pad Thai, Vietnamese rice dishes, homemade refried beans, California rolls, or a spice cabinet with more than 50 different spices? (On that note, ask me how excited I was last week when my gift from a friend travelling in Asia arrived - vacuum sealed pouches of 20 different Thai spices - I'm in heaven!) I'm your girl. You want basic, American family friendly flare? Insert blank stare here.

Several days ago, I received a request to deliver food last week to a family in our congregation. I failed to realize cooking a meal for a large family would require some culinary dexterity, not to mention a potentially large chunk of my food budget.

Sometime Thursday evening, the day before aforementioned food delivery was to occur, I placed a frantic call to my mother 2,000 miles away, pleading for failsafe family friendly recipes. Lasagna? No, neither Himself nor I are a big fan - I didn't want to cook two meals, and the only lasagna ingredient in my otherwise well-stocked kitchen was ground beef. Tomato soup casserole? (Mom reminded me how much my younger brother loved this - good family fare, she said). Potentially - I have loathed casseroles since my mom went back to school when I was in junior high and it was standard fare for two years, but I know the recipes to many by heart. Meatloaf? Not in my repertoire, and it was no night to expirament using new recipes. Soup? Hmmmm...a good potential.

I ended up making chili - it stretches the meat for miles (or many mouths), I had all the ingredients on hand, and I didn't have to cook a second meal (although Himself, the chili-making specialist, bemoaned the fact I banned all peppers and hot sauces of any kind from this batch). I added sides of cornmeal muffins and a bag of shredded cheese and delivered the concotion. I'm not sure it went over with great fanfare (afterall, I was running late, so there was no salad - Jell-O or otherwise), but it was food and it was enough to feed a small army.

I also provided a great chuckle for my mom for the day. She gleefuly giggled about her fiercely independent daughter, whose life's goal as a teen was to bury all cultural evidence of a Utah upbringing, calling to find out how to make "normal" food. Then she went on to ask me what was on my "meal planning list..." Balti chicken and basmati rice. Sometime this week is Red Thai Curry and steamed bok choy. I also have the ingredients to make a big batch of Chinese Chicken Noodle Soup. It was met with silence, an unspoken "You're eating what?!" dangling between us.

My mother's hope of me becoming some great Mormon domestic goddess faded in a flash. I still refuse to learn how to make meatloaf.