So, I should probably give a little bit of forewarning here at the beginning (if of course you didn't already get it from the title), this entry has the potential to be a bit of a downer. On the bright side, this blog marks our entrance into not only January, but also 2008! That's right boys & girls, the blog is officially done with 2007. So I suppose I will explain the title and tell the story that the pictures will illustrate.
If you remember from the post about meeting Ronald McDonald, we had made plans to return to the new house and prepare a dinner for the families staying there. While we were in the house after the goofballs were born, it was very common for people or groups to come in and prepare meals for the families. While there is a pantry and you have a place to store food that you have purchased to prepare for yourselves, you spend a good deal of time over at the hospital. All of that time spent waiting & hoping is not only emotionally draining, but also physically exhausting. It was really nice to come back to the house and not have to prepare yourself a meal. I know that Christa & I really appreciated this small act of kindness, often provided by people who had also needed to make use of the hospitality of RMHC. Christa & I have decided that one of the ways that we can give back, is to take as many opportunities as we can to provide that comfort to others who find themselves waiting & hoping. We decided to make our first visit on the anniversary of the day that we lost Joseph, January 4th. We thought it appropriate to provide comfort on the day we needed it most, and will continue to do so from this point forward. We will also try to make it for several other occasions throughout the year. One of the reasons for making other visits is that it is very common for people to prepare meals around the holidays, but less so during other parts of the year. In fact, I recommend that if you are looking for an opportunity to do something for others, contact your local Ronald McDonald House and ask to prepare a meal.
Enough of all that, let's talk about the fun part, going to the house to cook. Christa, Emily, Grandma Kathy, Auntie Mandy & I came up with a menu and headed to the House on the afternoon of January 4th. My parents were out of town, so they were unable to attend, and because it was a weekday, Aunt Susie & Carl also were unable to help, but perhaps next time. After much consideration, we decided to make individual chicken pot pies, fruit salad, garlic monkey bread, apples with caramel dipping sauce and two trifles for dessert. Grandma Kathy had cooked the chicken for the pot pies and made the trifles ahead of time for ease in preparation. One thing we had not told you about was the B-E-A-UTIFUL kitchen in the new house. Two very large islands, four large cooktops, four ovens, four sinks for washing, four dishwashers, and a partridge in a pear tree. The countertops are black granite, and gorgeous, and they have very nice light fixtures as well. All in all, it was a pleasure to cook in this kitchen, especially compared to the closet I usually prepare meals in.
Once we got there, we started to divide up tasks: Christa would peel the oranges for the fruit salad, Grandma Kathy would start putting the fruit salad together, Auntie Mandy would get the tins for the pot pies ready and I would start making the rue and meat/vegetable mixture for the pies. Emily's main job was to look cute, something she does pretty well. I decided to make individual batches of the mix instead of trying to double, triple, or octuple the recipe, sometimes that can go horribly wrong and I wanted the meal to be delicious, not disastrous. Once the fruit salad was ready Grandma Kathy also started making the pie mixture. Once the pie mixtures in batches were finished and ladled into the tins Auntie Mandy would cover them with a biscuit and stick 'em in the oven. All in all we made 64 mini pot pies!! As the meal time arrived families started to trickle in, some stayed and ate in the dinning room, some prepared to-go boxes and either went back to their rooms or headed back to the hospital. Everyone seemed to enjoy the food and were very thankful for a warm meal that they didn't have to cook or clean up after.
On a somewhat sad note, one of the people that came to eat, looked very familiar to us. After she finished her meal she came over to thank us and say hello. She also wanted to say hi to Emily, who she commented has gotten so big. This girl had been at the house with us last year, and was back again, as her daughter had developed a respiratory illness. I am not going to go into her whole story, but I felt good that we had done a small something to make her day a little easier.
So there you go, another post, another day closer to being caught up. I know parts of this post were a bit of a downer, but as I have learned sometimes you have to take the good with the bad. With that enjoy the photos and I will have more for you soon . . .
Daddy was busy making the rue sauce for the chicken pot pies.
Grandma was cutting fruit for the fruit salad.
Auntie Mandy was organizing other supplies in preparation for the next step of the process.
Mommy & Emily had just finished peeling oranges, had passed them off to Grandma, and were waiting further instructions.
Our chicken pot pie assembly line.
There was a little bit of playing and goofing around happening to keep Emily happy and entertained while we cooked.
We had apples with caramel dip, fruit salad, garlic bread chunks, and the chicken pot pies. For dessert, we had prepared a chocolate trifle and a pumpkin/gingerbread trifle; both were equally delicious.
After we finished cooking and cleaning, we spent a little bit of time in the living room relaxing.
Emily showed Grandma Kathy & Auntie Mandy the scrapbook about the construction of the new house.
We then went to the Christmas tree to look for Emily & Joseph's ornaments that were purchased by Grandma & Grandpa B and Aunt Susie & Carl.
Emily had a lot of fun crawling around on one of the islands in the kitchen while we did dishes and got ready to leave.
