This weekend there is another winter storm barreling across the continent, forecast to wreck havoc and danger nationwide. We have gotten so used to being cooped up at home that the storm doesn’t change our ordinary way of life much. Maybe I will scoop up an extra loaf of bread when I do my quick shop later this afternoon. Just in case. I don’t know why having that extra loaf of bread in the pantry or the spare box of Kleenex on the linen closet shelf gives me a little peace of mind. I guess we take our simple creature comforts for granted.
In the dark days of winter we rely on each other, and our memories of home. I go all June Cleaver in the winter, and like to have something warm in the oven when Mr. Sanders comes home from a long day of toil, like Ward Cleaver. Heaven knows that I haven’t been vacuuming in my pearls, or solving the Beaver’s problems, but I’d like to think that the aroma of a meatloaf baking feels homey and welcoming. The British have comforting nursery food to get them through the seasonal despair and darkness, we Americans, of a certain age, have meatloaf. https://chestertownspy.org/2019/10/18/food-friday-meatloaf-for-fall/
I fell back on cultural stereotypes yesterday. We had half of a meatloaf left from Monday night, so instead of merely reheating it, I got a little carried away. I Googled “leftover meatloaf”, and I found a recipe for Meatloaf Quiche. Doesn’t that sound Continental? Can’t you just imagine the little bistro table in my febrile imagination? Candle light, excellent bread and better butter, a rough, red peasant wine, a verdant leafy salad, and a plate with a glistening slice of meatloaf quiche. Quel charmant! Délicieux! Ugh. Total tripe! I say that theoretically, as I have never eaten tripe, but I have looked at it, and smelled it. I do NOT recommend meatloaf quiche, unless you plan to doctor the recipe. A lot.
The Meatloaf Quiche recipe I followed was bland and boring. It needed vegetables and texture and a good pinch of cayenne. Sometimes getting creative with leftovers isn’t worth it. Mr. Sanders would have been better off with a plate of warmed over everything: meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and peas. Instead he got a plate of hot, boring, bland. At least the house smelled inviting, almost as if dinner was going to be everything I had imagined. That is a smell I need to bottle. https://www.thekitchenmagpie.com/leftover-meatloaf-quiche-recipe/
We’ve been making dinners that will yield leftovers: shepherd’s pie, spaghetti sauce and all its progeny:lasagne, baked ziti, pizza. Also we have enjoyed roasted chicken, sausage and peppers, and chili that can be enjoyed again for lunches or dinners.
Sometimes dinner is inspired by lunch. Who says that grilled cheese is only for lunch? Sometimes there is nothing more satisfying than a tuna melt. You can make them fancy with cheese that appeals more to the adult palate than the noontime Kraft American Cheese Food Product. A little fontina or Gruyère adds yards of stretch and gobs of sophistication to a grilled cheese sandwich: https://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/slideshow/grilled-cheese-sandwiches-slideshow
Or some ham! Whip up a Mr. Crunch! A Crocque-Monsieur will evoke those four dimly-remembered days spent in Paris, when you were back-packing with that long ago Eurail Pass. https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/croque-monsieur-recipe-1916523
Was it the hot, crunchy sandwich? Was it the affordable street food? Maybe it was the cheap wine. Ah, we will always have Paris.
I draw the line at adding pickle relish to tuna salad, but this harkens back to my own childhood, walking home for lunch from elementary school. How nice it was to sit in the warm kitchen with my mother, before strapping myself back into snowpants, red rubber snow boots and wet mittens and heading back up the street to traverse as many snowpiles as I could before getting back to school. It was pretty nice of my mother to make me a warm lunch, now that I stop to think about it. https://homecookingmemories.com/grown-up-tuna-melts/
Last year, the most viewed recipe on the New York Times website was for a nostalgic, calorie-loaded macaroni and cheese. The chef who created it was inspired by the frozen grocery store brand, Stouffer’s Macaroni and Cheese. Imagine making that warm, gooey meal for your loving family. (Don’t get carried away and try to invent your own version of Hamburger Helper.) https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1022733-creamy-baked-macaroni-and-cheese?
So here is my bland exhortation to you – let’s be kind to each other. Sitting in front of our warm, glowing television, we enjoyed Ted Lasso so much because people were kind. The gentle PBS series All Creatures Great and Small has been making our Sunday nights happy ones. And you should try some Harry Styles and Phoebe Waller-Bridge on for size: https://youtu.be/L0X03zR0rQk
Make something for dinner that is warm and comforting, that might remind us of the before times, and if it turns out bland and boring, at least it was hot, and from the heart.
“Always try to be a little kinder than is necessary.”
― J. M. Barrie
Deirdre LaMotte says
Haha, the only way I would eat tuna salad as a child was if sweet pickle relish was added. I have not tried making this…
perhaps I’ll give it ago, thanks.
Jean Sanders says
It’s only because I prefer dill pickles!