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Saturday, April 26, 2014

Eating alone--and some favorite foods

Yesterday was a lazy day at home for me--grocery in the morning and Jacob arrived about 8:30 at night--but I had lunch and dinner alone and some of my favorite foods. Small helpings, not too many calories.
For lunch I had an open-faced sandwich. Years ago the local country club featured a large, open-faced sandwich topped with ham and turkey and cheese and slathered with a Thousand Island-type dressing. I used to ask for extra dressing on the side. These days it's way too much food. I toast one piece of small, thin sandwich bread, put on one slice of good ham, one slice of turkey,(both slices fold over on the bread) and one slice of provolone. Then I make just enough dressing to cover the top--a mayo base with a tiny bit of mustard (Dijon) and a tad more ketchup. So good, I could have eaten two--but I had cherry tomatoes and a stalk of palm heart instead.
It took me an hour to fix my dinner, which seems extreme for one person, but it worked. I boiled a yellow squash, mashed and drained it; sautĂ©ed one chopped scallion and celery (half a stalk) in butter and added to the squash, along with generous salt and pepper. Then I beat one egg and stirred it in and added a generous handful of shredded sharp cheddar. It made one small ovenproof dish of casserole (about two servings) and I baked it at 350 for between 30 and 45 minutes (lost track of time).
Meantime I flaked a generous piece of ham (about one third of a thick slices) in the processor, added another chopped scallion and the other half of the celery stalk, chopped, and Dijon and mayonnaise, about two to one mayo to mustard.
Jam salad and squash casserole--an odd combination for dinner but to me delicious. Without bread crumbs in it, the squash dish puffed like a soufflé and had a mild taste. I think my daughter who shudders at the idea of both would like them. Did I mentioned here that when I said something about ham salad at Easter dinner, all six other adults at the table shuddered? Can't imagine. It's one of my favorite foods.
My day's menu demonstrates a couple of things to me: it's possible to eat creative foods by yourself--you don't have to have dry cereal for supper; and you don't need a recipe for everything. Yep, sometimes your experiments will flop but most of the time they're great. Enjoy!

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