Thursday, May 1, 2008

Leftovers-to eat or not to eat

He Said by Larry Oldham

Is there anything worse than looking forward to
a pleasant evening meal after a hard day at work
and coming home to LEFTOVERS?
I really like to eat and I'm basically a
meat-and-potatoes man. I don't eat quiche;
I don't eat broiled meat; I don't eat casseroles.
And I especially don't eat leftovers. If it wasn't
good enough to be eaten the first time around, why
would I want to give it a second chance to taste better?
I'm more than willing to go out to dinner rather
than eat a repeat from the night before. Maybe
these feelings come from years ago when I would
clean out the refrigerator and find what appeared
to be a science project waiting to have mold tested.
I won't even eat bread if it's more than a couple of
days old. I calculate the price of a sandwich from a
restaurant and figure I'm way ahead even if I throw
away half a loaf. You've tried to fool me by serving
rerun vegetables, but I can always tell, so I just
leave them on my plate. Get the message?
The only exception that I'll make is spaghetti. After
the seasonings have settled overnight, it actually
tastes better the second time. Sometimes I'll even
eat leftover biscuits if they're toasted and oozing
with butter, but I have to close my eyes and hold my
nose so I won't miss the freshness.
I had an aunt and uncle who farmed and grew all of
their food and raised cows and pigs. She made homemade
biscuits, gravy, eggs, bacon and sausage every day for
breakfast. Lunch was meat, vegetables, bread and dessert.
Dinner was even more meat, potatoes, vegetables, homemade
bread and dessert. She cooked and canned all day long.
She wouldn't dream of serving leftovers; everything was
homegrown and the meat was always fresh, not frozen.
The French still eat that way today. They take two hours
for lunch and shop every day so their food is fresh.
Their refrigerators are small because they don't store
a lot of food. Maybe I should move to France so my palate
will be pampered in the same way.


She Said by Dena Hill


This may come as a big revelation to you, but my
favorite day of the week is LEFTOVER DAY.
I can come home from work, go for a walk, play
with the dog, watch TV or whatever my little heart
desires, instead of planning dinner, shopping for
ingredients, cooking, and cleaning up.
I never serve leftovers the very next day.
You get a break by having at least one or two
days in-between. Hopefully, by that time you've
forgotten that we had it before.
(Oops! You're taking notes, aren't you? )
I have a friend who puts all of her leftovers
for the week into one big bowl and on Friday nights,
she makes soup. It never tastes the same because
all of her meals were different, and the soup is delicious.
You say you don't like casseroles. You really don't
like any food that has more than three ingredients
in it. I probably should be glad because it doesn't
take much talent to fry chicken, grill steaks, and
bake potatoes. Oh yes, as long as the can opener
works, we'll have "fresh" vegetables.
Your aunt and uncle worked their farm from sun-up
until sundown and didn't leave to go to public jobs.
I leave at 7:30 and get home between 4:00 and 5:00,
so daily shopping is not an option. I have 30 minutes
for lunch, not two hours like the French. Our lifestyle
is so different from Europeans that if you really want
to compare apples to apples (no pun intended) then you
need to look at a culture of people where both partners
work and there are no maids, butlers, chauffeurs,
nannies, but ordinary working folks like us.
All things considered, leftovers once in a while
can be considered a mini vacation. Readers?

larry.oldham0@gmail.com