Monday, April 13, 2009

Family Holiday Dinner

Easter was at my house yesterday. Relatives drove three hours each way to eat lunch with us. Since I'm famously not a cook, expectations were low on their side and anticipatory tension notable on mine.

I served heated up take-out from a Whole Foods grocery, and Husband Bob, who is more of a cook than I, supervised the heating up.

It turned out great. People ate like sawmill workers, and asked where to buy the frizzled beans, (no kidding, that's their real name.)

I've decided to change from viewing myself as a non-cook, to being a great take-out shopper. It puts a whole new light on the process.



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6 comments:

Debra said...

Love it, Peggy! And when it comes down to it, it isn't about the food anyway. It's about the wonderful company and good feelings that being together should provide!

kenju said...

Tell me about the frizzled beans. What does frizzling do to them?

Peggy Payne said...

About the frizzled beans, Kenju: Here's a description from "Glossary of Medieval & Renaissance Culinary Terms (http://www.proz.com/kudoz/latin_to_english/science/14017-maccis.html


"Canebyns (sometimes called frizzled beans in sources translated from French texts, I believe) are favas that have been soaked until they swell up and begin to bust out of their hulls, after which they are dried again, rubbed free of the hulls, and chopped into smaller pieces with a sharp knife. These pieces are then slightly toasted in small amounts (recipes describing the process refer to holding metal spoonfuls of the chopped beans over a flame to toast them) -- (or am I mistaken, are they toasted and _then_ chopped?). Anyway, they appear to be designed to cook more quickly and have a longer shelf life than ordinary beans. "

Peggy Payne said...

Good reminder, Debbie. The point of it all is the company.

But I have to feel that I'm doing some serious getting-ready for their arrival. So I did a lot of weeding... No one commented on the weedlessness. I finally pointed it out.

Anonymous said...

u'r good!

Peggy Payne said...

u 2!