Dinner Guest #5 - Ms. S.

The voice of an angel and a personality bubblier than the bottle of Martinelli’s Sparkling Cider.  This Sunday we invited pure happiness over for dinner.

That’s how I describe Ms. S. 

A voice teacher by trade, she agreed to sing for a ladies-only Christmas party I coordinated at my church last December.  I honestly had no idea what to expect, but WOW, her solo of “In the Bleak Midwinter” gave me chills that night.  She has a gift.

It seems that my children always want to tear my home apart 15 minutes before our guests arrive, so I often send them off to guard the front door (and stay out of my hair).  They are the official watch dogs.  They look through the peep hole, open and shut the door to check for approaching cars, and wait for the knock.  Tonight, unfortunately, the watch dog assignment backfired a bit as Kate (7) enthusiastically opened the door right into Rock’s foot.  Ms. S. was greeted by Rock (3) screaming and Bakugan toys spread all over the front entry rug.  I tried calming Rock with an ice pack on his foot but couldn’t get him to stop screaming until I offered him a Life Saver.  Candy is powerful stuff.

Ms. S. was easy to cook for because like my daughter Kate, she eats GLUTEN FREE.  After living the last six months relatively gluten free, it has become easy to avoid wheat and use substitutes.  Tonight I prepared grilled chicken, potatoes au gratin, sweet potato casserole, sautéed broccoli and cauliflower, and gluten free blueberry muffins.  Ms. S. brought yummy grapes.  For dessert, we pulled out the cotton candy machine my children got for Christmas and gave it a whirl.  After several batches, almost everyone’s teeth and tongues were light blue and Rock had a blue, sticky candy beard.

My guests frequently offer to wash dishes.  Honestly, it’s a little uncomfortable for me to watch someone wipe the plates, soap up the serving dishes, and scrub knives differently than myself.  A little voice inside of me wants to yell out,

“You’re doing it all wrong!”

Ms. S. washed all my dishes while I loaded the dishwasher.  My inner voice stayed quiet and was not at all uncomfortable.  From her sink-side manner, I could tell Ms. S. has obviously had a lot of experience.

After five dinner guests, I’m a little sad that I set a goal to invite a different guest each Sunday.  Without fail, each guest has been interesting, and enjoyable, and made me wish I could have them over again soon.

I may have to break that rule—especially for Ms. S.

Dinner Guest #4 - E & J

She does hair.

He makes movies.

They are so much cooler than us. 

But, as fate has it, we get to be friends.

Our church has a program called Home Teaching.  Adult men, if willing, are assigned to visit a specific family once a month, share a spiritual message, and ask if the family needs help with anything.  A few years ago, Ryan was assigned to E & J.

This fun couple came to dinner Sunday night.  I fixed my usual Brazilian rice and beans and threw in a Latin dish called Ropa Vieja, a spicy shredded beef served inside corn tortillas.  At the last minute, I made friend bananas.  Before you say, "YUCK!" just try dipping a banana in egg, then roll it in Japanese bread crumbs, cinnamon and sugar, and pan fry it in butter.  Delicious!

For dessert, I unearthed the coveted box of Sees candies my father gave me for Christmas.  I knew that if I opened the Sees on my own, I would eat the entire box myself.  It has happened before.  Opening the box among friends, I was able to limit myself to three or four pieces of pure chocolate joy.

Not everything ran smoothly.  Kate spilled her entire cup of sweet, sticky soda on the table, placemat, chair, and floor before anyone got a chance to fill their plate.  The same floor I mopped one hour before.  Rock (3) refused every dish but the rice, so I quickly threw a strawberry Gogurt on his plate to stop the whining.

While I’ll admit all this cooking and cleaning is tiring, I’m totally enjoying the company.  Ironically, I have almost nothing in common with E & J.  E doesn't read books.  He once had dreadlocks and admits to having a problem with authority.  J's favorite food is hamburgers and she likes cats.  They both have tatoos.  I'm a book loving, rule follower with boring hairdos whose favorite food is sushi and I think cats are worthless animals.  However, I love that it takes no gigantic effort to have a conversation with either of them simply because they are interesting people.

While I suppose the Home Teaching program sent Ryan to E & J to help them, I think our family has benefitted much more from the association.

Friends are God’s way of taking care of us. - Anonymous

Dinner Guest #3 - The Missionaries

Each Sunday at church, a sign-up sheet is passed around on a clipboard.  On the top, it reads:

MISSIONARY DINNER CALENDAR

I’m a little ashamed to say that generally, I pass that clipboard right along to the person sitting next to me without batting an eye.  I know I shouldn’t do that.  It’s just with missionaries, I never know what kind of dinner guest I’m getting.  Over the years, I’ve had all kinds at my table:  the polished and the socially awkward, the mute and the talkers, the eaters and the allergic, people who can hold a fork and others who eat like cavemen.

For karma’s sake, I gave it another shot.  After all, my father was a missionary in the Western states of America many years ago, my husband was a missionary in Brazil in the early 1990’s, I have a nephew serving a mission in Jakarta, Indonesia right now, and someday, I hope that my sons serve missions.  Church members around the world have looked out for my family members.  I should do the same.

This particular Sunday, our dinner guests were two female missionaries from our church:  Sister Walker and Sister Argueta.  Knowing that Sister Argueta was from Guatemala, I found a few Guatemalan recipes on the internet and gave them a try. 

For the main dish, I made Pollo en Jocớn, a chicken dish with a green-colored sauce consisting of sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds, corn tortillas, cilantro, tomatillos, scallions, jalapenos, and broth, all pureed in my food processor.  Unfortunately, the final product looked like the contents of a newborn baby diaper, but the taste wasn’t that bad.  I also made an attempt at baked plantains, but they hardened into inedible, crunchy, chip-like coins that tasted so vile I hid them in the oven until the missionaries left.  Knowing my children would object to the chicken dish, I served side dishes of rice, corn pudding, orange slices, and edamame. 

During the meal, we heard stories of the missionaries’ families, home towns, and experiences in Las Vegas.  At the end of the meal, the missionaries shared a spiritual message with us.  As expected, they encouraged us to think of friends who may want to hear their message.  It’s their job.

These ladies were kind, sweet dinner guests.  They arrived on time, ate my bizarre food, made polite conversation, and left with a hug.  These missionaries are definitely welcome back.

Dinner Guest #2 - Ms. J.

Our 60-inch round, glass-topped kitchen table seats six.  There are already five of us.  My son Jack (4) can do the math. 

We have room for one guest at our table. 

Luckily, we know plenty of single people. 

For the last several years, Ms. J. has been Kate’s (7) teacher at church.  Every Sunday, for two long hours, Ms. J sits on hard metal chairs with a class of squirmy kids during singing time and then takes them to a smaller room for a spiritual lesson.  Kate has come home many Sundays with rings, framed pictures, and other cute treasures to remind her of Christian gospel principles.  Kate loves Ms. J.

As I prepared the meal in the early afternoon, a few woe-is-me thoughts crept in and I wished I hadn’t invited a dinner guest.  I wanted to crawl in bed and rest my achy back.  However, like so many other situations in life, my anticipated doom was completely off base.  I’m glad I pushed through the negative moment. 

Having Ms. J to Sunday dinner was the perfect distraction.

Over a simple meal of crock-pot beef roast, mashed potatoes, cooked carrots, fruit salad and parmesan rolls, we got to know Ms. J. better.  She grew up in California.  She’s a retired school teacher.  She has two dogs and two cats.  She met her husband on a blind date.  She’s been widow more than 10 years and lives alone.  She likes pumpkin pie.

I felt honored when Ms. J. revealed that she generally declines dinner invitations to avoid awkward social situations, however, she felt comfortable with us.  After she left, that compliment kept my spirits up as I tiredly put my cranky boys to bed and started the dishwasher for the third time that day.

Thank you, Ms. J. for teaching Kate important life lessons and showing her love. 

Dinner Guest #1 - Mom and Dad

The first Sunday of 2012 fell on January 1^st:  New Year’s Day.  After stuffing ourselves New Year’s Eve with shrimp cocktail, hummus and pita chips, Frank’s famous chocolate chip cookies, Brazilian cheese bread, coconut cake, and then toasting at midnight with Welch’s sparkling white grape juice, the thought of eating another large meal the next day made me nauseas. 

What easier guests to have over on such a day than Mom and Dad? 

No gourmet expectations.  No pressure to make a positive first impression.  I didn’t even make my usual mad dash around the house to clean each toilet.

My kind hearted Dad walked in our front door and said,

“Can we have rice and beans?”

I think my father is the first dinner guest ever to request leftovers.  On New Year’s Eve, I made a large pot of Feijuada, a delicious black bean stew, and a triple recipe of Brazilian rice.  Luckily, the day after, rice and beans always taste even better.  While my parents and kids munched on the previous night’s veggie tray and polished off the rest of the hummus, I put the microwave to work reheating everything else.

When my parents come to dinner, I make it a point to quiz my children on the details of their grandparents’ lives.  To Jack, I posed,

“What state was Grandma Mary born in?”

I asked Kate, “Where did Grandpa Glenn go to college?”

I want my children to take an interest in our guests and initiate conversation at the table.  However, it’s more fun for my kids if I turn the social training into a guessing game.  As the questions are answered, my children hear their grandparents tell interesting stories of days gone by.

Thank you Mom and Dad for being my first and easiest dinner guests of 2012.  I could serve you peanut butter and jelly on paper plates and you would not complain.  In fact, I think I have!