Wednesday Writings: Guess who's coming to dinner

Sooooo . . . . this morning I checked my email to see what prompts mama kat had dished up for us this week.  I slowly read through the prompts turning over in my mind words that I could write.  Prompt #1) Tell us about something you punched.  Hmmm . . . I remember that time I punched a boy in Jr. High for knocking me down the stairs and I was wearing a dress.  He ended up being my brother in law.  Prompt #2) Top Trends of 2011 I want to forget . . . already forgotten.  Prompt #3) Your life is being turned into a movie . . . ummm my life wouldn't make a good movie, skip this one.  Prompt #4) Your (mother-in-law) is coming over in two hours . . . think about what's in your kitchen.  Now quick, what's for dinner.  My first thought was if my mother-in-law stopped by at dinner time I could open a can of peaches and make some toast.  Easy peezy.  But then my heart stopped.  I checked the calender--it is January 4th.  Mama kat reminded me inadvertently that I am having company for dinner in just a few hours time.  On Sunday I signed up to feed our local missionaries.  It isn't a big deal, I feed them off and on all the time.  It's a little like playing dinner roulette for them.  You see every night they eat at someone's home so they may get roast beef, or spaghetti every night.  Anyway I digress, I'm off to the kitchen to see what I have.

sausage

roasted Mediterranean vegetable medley

tomatoes and beans . . . oh and some pasta on the bottom shelf

I think that sounds like I can make

The Pioneer Woman's Roasted Vegetable Minestrone

yummy--it sounds good to me.

I just love shopping at home :)

I'll post pictures of the finished product later.

Thanks for the reminder Mama Kat.

While I'm cooking I'll tell you a couple of stories about a few other times I fed the missionaries.  One of my favorite stories was when I signed up to feed the sister missionaries.  I actually talked to them the Sunday before they came and they both told me they would love to have hot dogs.  Nobody ever fed them hot dogs.  I thought great! Hot dogs are easy.  So that's what I fixed.  That evening when the sisters arrived for dinner one of them had gotten transferred to a new area and so I had a brand spanking new sister missionary for dinner.  She was from China and had only been out teaching for two days.  She had never had hot dogs before and to be polite she ate the whole thing.  She hated it.  How could I tell?  Tears were streaming down her cheeks as she forced herself to chew and swallow.  It was so sad.

Another time I fed the sister missionaries I looked in my freezer and found some deer steaks.  I don't usually fix game for company but it was available.  So I fixed a dish my mother made all the time.  A layer of venison on the bottom and a layer of sliced potatoes and onions on top, sprinkled with flour and paprika and then beef broth added up to the potato line.  It is a yummy dish that we like very much, I wasn't sure how the sister missionaries would like the venison.  The moment of truth arrived.  I was astonished as one blond haired, blue-eyed Swedish sister ate serving after serving after serving.  She cried out in astonishment that it made her homesick because her mom made the same dish.  She asked me where I had gotten the reindeer meat . . . .

One of our favorite moments with the missionaries was when a young man from Spain dined with us.  My husband served his mission in Spain so the two swapped stories--in Spanish--true Spanish from Spain.  It rolls off the tounge like music.  I couldn't understand them but it was a pleasure to listen to them and watch my husbands face as he lived in the past for an hour.  At the conclusion of the meal this young man (who was also a concert pianist) insisted on giving us a mini-concert in payment of the meal.  It was a pleasurable evening all the way around.

*     *     *     *     *

Well the missionaries arrived a little early so they set the table while the grand kids entertained them with conversation about the events of the day . . .

1.  A dog got the duck and bit her in the bum and broke her leg, mom was with her at the vet getting her fixed up. She'll live.

2.  Little Bear was playing wall ball at scouts last night and collided head first with another boy and then fell forcefully to the floor.  He spent the next couple of hours vomiting and ended up in the emergency room where he had a cat scan to see if he had a concussion--and then he started going from the other end.  It was an expensive way to find out you have the stomach flu.

3.  Katie the daughters dog who is just barely hanging on to life developed an infection, the doctor gave her an antibiotic and says she'll live.  The family is divided on whether they are happy about that or not.

(Yeah, we were off to a great start--but hey the missionaries were laughing so all was well)

One missionary was from Texas.  He has a twin brother on a mission in Indiana and a grandmother on a mission in Paris who also previously served in India.  The other missionary was from Salt Lake City (2 hours away from here) but lived previously in Mexico. 

The soup was good.  I didn't get any pictures until I was cleaning up.  There was only one bowl left so I guess that means they liked it.

Oh and just as dinner was ending sweetings came up from the basement with a bright orange Popsicle stuck to her tongue . . . .

Mama Kat posted about some trends she'd like to forget

funny stuff

Missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints serve voluntarily for a period of 1-2 years teaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Young men serve at age 19, young women at age 21. Retired couples also volunteer to serve. Read more about missionaries and what they teach at Mormon.org