So comes the word.There is a safe haven from the swirling miasma of Beck and Bachmann and Caribou Barbie: making dinner.
Making dinner, I tell you--making dinner!
Leveling a cup of flour, breading the chicken and steaming the broccoli. It's beautiful, really. And so goddamn satisfying: You cook, you serve, the people eat and everything is as it should be. All the boxes are checked, neat as you please.
The mere idea of Wesson oil makes me inflate with a joyous sigh. A rubber spatula is a placating miracle.
Deliver unto me a vapid Stepfordian life! Dissipate the black cloud of Limbaugh from my life. Let me acquiesce. Allow me to flip an omelet with ease, courtesy of a girl named Pam.Hand me a can of Campbell's condensed cream of mushroom soup and 20 minutes later, I shall present you with a platter of Chicken Rotini Supreme worthy of the pages of Family Circle, Redbook or Woman's World.
I turn on the kitchen stereo. Burt Bacharach and Dione Warwick pour from the speakers like Heinz Gravy over meatloaf as I slide the 4-quart Corning Ware casserole dish from the shelf and turn to the world of simmering, braising and stirring occasionally.
Heal me. Absolve me. Free me from the talons.
Amen.
30 comments:
Yes! A good dinner is definitely the salve for a world weary soul.
Amen...and pass the gravy boat.
RJ
I was with you up until Dionne Warwick.
We don't have a kitchen stereo, so I have to turn the living room one up. But the amp is broken and so all I can play is the tuner, so H have to take what 96.9 serves. Fortunately for me, this is seldom Dionne Warwick. Unfortunately for me, it is equally seldom Aretha Franklin.
We never use mushroom soup. Some people here don't like it.
Cook on, Erin.
Word verification: inneri.
When you don't have the inneri to do anything else, go into the kitchen for revival.
Makes me want to cook dinner tonight but my spouse says " absolutely not".
I agree wholeheartedly.
Looks scrumptious!
Can I take that to go? :)
cooking and politics. had not considered them connected before now. it is curious how difficult it is to get away from the personalities you don't like. you would think that by tuning into cnbc or cnn you would get away from rush, glenn, michelle, ann, sara, etc. but...... without them, what would msnbc, cnn talk about? I like to watch reruns of cops and eat potato chips. a hot meal does sound good though. goat is a lucky animal. lots of sex, wit, and hot meals.
word verification: cattiona: the fear of fur balls
Nailed It!
WV: swers-Tag swers you nailed it.
Lovely.
My ex's mother used to play the same music Annette Benning insisted on playing in AMERICAN BEAUTY.
My ex-father-in-law, whom I still have a soft spot for, would save the day by sticking Louie Prima in the CD player at family dinners.
What time is Supper? Man you made me hungry!
On my way to speak at a local college today, I listened to rightie AM radio.
These people are beyond belief. Also, there's lots of ads for things like "free trials" of menopause herbals and injury lawyers--not my kind of demographic, but what's that say about the listeners?
Anyway, do know that I do not cook with Campbell's cream of mushroom soup (well, not very often) and that the "rotini suprmeme" thingie was also a construct (but now I am sort of curious). I do, however, find making dinner oh-so calming. Simple processes with simple results--pure heaven, that.
I sure hope we make it to the other side of this mess my friends.
I'm surprised a right-wing radio show had commercials for injury lawyers. They're usually associated with the Democratic Party. One ran for president not that long ago
If that stations' listeners are unaware of that association, and, in fact, looks favorably upon such lawyers, maybe the Left can win them over, after all.
your getting skinny
I can not cook my way out of a paper bag.
If we pay you well, would you consider being our wife?
Hey, Erin, look who's here. Finally managed to sign on but have no idea how I did it. That's an ever so cute pic of you, standing at your stove. But shouldn't you also be barefoot and pregnant? Hell, no!!! I so enjoyed this post. Your writing was positively lyrical! It read as though it just flowed from your very being. Your mom is famous for her cooking prowess but I don't know if that's where you got these feelings about cooking. Seems to me, you were more apt to be with your dad, tinkering with his machines. I gave up cooking many years ago; I was a good cook but I never got much enjoyment from it (there's a story in here; maybe by phone). I believe Sarah feels as you do, thank heaven, or what would we do on Thanksgiving and Christmas. Now I'm going to read about your dentist's doll. xoxo
erin: why do you do that to yourself, listen to right wing radio? my friends on the left listen to npr and watch hgtv. they seem blissfully content with the state of everything. about your chicken. i'm making the same thing (approximately) and making an apple pie with the last apples from my tree. i never cook. my wife is very suspicious.
I listen to right-wing AM radio too. Lots of ads for legal resources for mesothelioma (sp?) patients, which is sad and seems sort of ironic
off topic. sorry e. but, do any of you listen to left wing radio? what do they advertise? i'm sort of serious about this.
Word verification: pletspi. i have no idea. maybe they seel pletspi on left wing radio
Erin,
Nice sweatshirt. And glad to see you in the kitchen.
As I always say, when in doubt, cook.
Al
TRAG
Bill, we don't get much leftie radio here. I listened to Stephenie Miller a few times when she was broadcasting in NE Ohio. That was a year or so ago. I found the show biased, but I don't remember specifics.
I don't listen to rightie stuff often, but whenever I turn it on, the fearmongering disgusts me. The Goat tuned in Beck the other day and told me he was advising listeners to buy gold and make sure they had at least 2 weeks worth of survival supplies on hand--now that's fearmongering.
Yesterday, Rush was telling audiences that Gitmo detainees released to max. security prisons near the Chicagoland area would put the skyscrapers at risk. That's just dumb: Hey! The terrorists can see tall buildings from their cells!
Here's a list of some of the podcasts I listen to and why. I don't listen to Dan Savage much anymore, but those are still my fave political podcasts. I also dig "This Week with George Stephanopoulos" and "Stuff you Should Know."
Thanks for asking.
50 Million Americans are Hungry
You know, at first glance, I thought the title of that piece was "Salavation". Which, having read it, I find somewhat ironic.
Nicely placed product endorsements ... they should all put you on the payroll. Can I change the soup to creamy chicken with broccoli?
What exactly is the orange... sculpture? up over the oven? Just curious...
Word verification: "grave". Actually got a real word today.
It's a dried painted gourd, Matt.
Ah, ok. I thought it may have been a big maraca. I'd seen something similar many years ago that was used in african chanting, though it had a beaded mesh wrapped around it. Made an interesting scraping sort of rattle when you shook it.
Funny, the things that trigger odd old memories.
e: Thanks! i agree with you about the fearmongering. however, i do try to keep a weeks worth of food and stuff. they don't happen very often but we've been through a couple of big quakes that left us without power and long lines for days. oh. the chicken was good! pie. not so great.
Love the picture of you in the kitchen, Erin. Now all we need is the bedroom picture! ;)
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