It's Official

Memorial Day has come and gone and today is the first day of June. Though it's still spring on the calendar, it's summer in our thoughts and practices. We had a somewhat laid back weekend, beginning with a trip to Corinth on Friday. Every day--almost everything we did revolved around food.

We have a favorite place to eat in Corinth. It's a down home type restaurant with daily lunch specials, senior citizen portions and really good catfish. It's called the "Dinner Bell" and it has one out front that gets rung on occasion. We went there Friday to satisfy a taste our friend Marge had for chicken and dressing, the daily special. Unfortunately, by the time we arrived, it was all gone. We try to arrange appointments so that we can get to the Dinner Bell before 2 p.m. when they quit serving the special or by 1 p.m. so they won't be sold out. So much of Southern culture revolves around food and the way it's served and daily specials at the Dinner Bell are a big part of that culture, one that's duplicated all around the South.

Over the weekend, we went from one meal to the next, laughing at ourselves for planning the next before we ate what was currently cooking. My children know me to be somewhat of a purist in the kitchen. I'm not opposed to shortcuts or tools that simplify a task, but packaged foods rarely find themselves onto my shelves. Why buy canned soup when what you make is better? Why buy frozen dinners when you can fill a plate with leftovers and freeze it yourself? Age and treatment have altered some of those attitudes! Now, we keep frozen dinners on hand for times like Friday night when I come home all washed out! Times have changed.

When I sit and let others cook it's a sure sign of fatigue. I belong in the kitchen! And, it's hard to sit back and let others do all the work. Tommy cooked burgers on the grill Saturday night, flank steak in his new stovetop smoker Sunday night and ribs at our house last night. I didn't contibute much--just a big potato casserole and cold slaw on Sunday and a place to eat last night. I miss cooking for my family, but feel pampered when they talk me down and do it all--and they pretty much did this weekend. It would have been perfect if Marty and her family had been here too!