Mother's Day

My family usually goes to Olive Garden for Mother's Day, where the lines are long and the food delicious. I think eating out is fun, but honestly, I'd rather make food. So, I proposed that I cook whatever Mom wanted for Mother's Day rather than an outing to an impersonal restaurant. She chose pork chops. My family rarely eats pig meat because my father dislikes it. Ergo, I had never eaten pork chops, and had absolutely NO idea how to prepare them.

I got a few suggestions from the ladies at church, so I knew to tenderize it, put rosemary on it, grill it, and serve it with baked apples. My mom really likes apples fried in brown sugar, so I made those and mashed potatoes. Then I grabbed the "meat hammer" and had a ball with the raw slices of animal muscle. That was the best part (I don't like peeling apples or potatoes so much as pounding flesh *shrug*). After cleaning off the propane-fueled George Foreman, I grilled ye olde pork chops. Meanwhile, Mom had decided that she wanted green beans too, so she cooked those. In the process of draining potatoes, I poured boiling water all over me. Yow! Polyester was quickly exchanged for linen. I had chosen braided bread at the store, so I cut the nubs of the braid to separate it into "buns" and microwaved it to restore some freshness and warmth. Mom whipped up some dipping sauce for the bread. Everything took me about 75 minutes, with a little help from Mom.

Guess what? People actually ate my food! My family projects this opinion of my food: I pick weeds from the backyard to cook and do all sorts of dirty tricks with food, and that makes it bad. I dunno why. But this was the first "unusual" meal that I had cooked and the family had eaten. My dad ate the pork, and liked it! All the females ate a lot :-), but Matt & Mike were feeling rather lethargic and ate little. I got not-bad reviews, for which I was thankful. And I think Mom was excited to see my culinary skills stretch. :-)

"An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels...Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come. She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue. She looks well to the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: “Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all.” Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her works praise her in the gates."
~Proverbs 31:1, 25-31