SINGLES CAN REALLY COOK???

Back to Pet Peeves -- only this isn't a devotional pet peeve. It's a real-life pet peeve.

Last night my husband and I took dinner to a friend who recently fell down the stairs and suffered a most severe broken ankle. She's now flat on her back with strict orders to keep her foot and leg elevated. At church Sunday, they announced we should help out by taking in evening meals. Since no one volunteered for last night, I did. I called to let her know I would take care of her supper (or dinner, if you prefer), and she asked us to join her husband and her for the meal. Said she was not sick, just incapacitated! And she was able to come to the table in a wheel chair.

So I fixed pork chops, mashed potatoes and gravy, sauted squash, green beans, and cottage cheese/jello salad.

In the meantime, her step son's girlfriend and daughter unexpectedly came and at the last minute (after we got there) decided to stay the night. Fortunately we had plenty of food once we cut the four pork chops in half!

So what's my pet peeve? The unexpected guests? No way. That didn't bother me at all. Then what was it, you wonder.

As you know, I was single for 75 years before I found my Prince Charming. And somewhere along the line, people -- multiple upon multiple people -- have gotten the idea that single gals can't cook! I've put up with comments to that effect all my adult life. Comments such as, "I didn't know you could cook." Hey, singles have to eat, don't they? Or, "Your cooking prowess surprises me." Yeah, cooking has always been more or less a hobby of mine! Or, "How did you ever learn to cook like this? You don't have a family." And therein lies my pet peeve--that folks thought I couldn't cook!

Last night was no exception! I've been married five-and-a-half years, now, and my husband and I do a lot of our cooking together as he, too, enjoys cooking. But last night he didn't do a thing except turn the pork chops a time or two! Our hostess was graciousness personified and complimented me over and over on how good this, that, and the other was. Maybe I over reacted, but in the tone of her voice I heard, "I had no idea you could cook!"

Reminds me of when I attended the Swedish Salvation Army back East. And those Swedes, let me tell you, knew how to cook. Then one day for a potluck I tried a new meat ball recipe, one given me by a single attorney, no less. And would you believe my meat balls disappeared before anyone else's? Talk about feeling good to the point of bragging! And again, the comments came, "You can cook!"

Yes, I can cook. That's why the scales go higher and higher and higher until now they read -- well, never mind! Even my husband's clothes fit tighter since we've been married!

That meat ball recipe? Make your favorite meat balls (a little smaller than usual). Mix a 12-ounce jar of chili sauce and a 12-ounce jar of grape jelly and cover them. Bake for 45 minutes. (I usually brown the meat balls, then dump everything in a slow cooker.) Sounds yucky but is absolutely delicious.

Gotta go. A piece of cake with coconut carmel icing is calling me!

Preacher's Kid
P.S. Maybe Christmas dinner will be better. We'll be with the same couple plus their extended families. I'm taking Waldorf salad. Anybody can cut up apples, celery, grapes and walnuts! That doesn't take skill. So maybe I won't have to endure unwanted compliments!