Food by Jude   Eat well, live long and have more fun!

FETTUCINE WITH CRAB, ALA ALICE & GOLDEN GATE ONION DRESSING

At a recent dinner party, a friend asked my husband, “Do you always eat like this”?  “No”, the jokester replied, “she usually just heats up a can of soup”.

I will deal with him later.

However, it started me thinking about my love of cooking and entertaining, and how it all got started.

When I was a little girl, my Mom, would occasionally plan a fancy dinner for just the four of us, Mom, Dad, sis and I.  We would eat in the dining room, with the pretty plates, and not watch TV.  Sinatra or Ella, Mom and Dad’s favorites, would be playing on the stereo and, as she served the dinner, she would be singing along. This was as much a treat as the special meal.  Her voice was, and still is, as good as any of the big band singers, rather like an early Christina Aguilera.

I learned a lot from those dinners:  How to plan a menu, how to time it so all the food is hot, the importance of a centerpiece, not to use the chipped crystal, and to always serve a salad.

As I got older, I would design and create a paper menu to commemorate the occasion.  A simple task, but it meant the world to me.  I was also assigned the dubious task of preventing my little sister (aka HER) from feeding the shrimp cocktails to the cat.

Mom was famous for her Christmas Eve parties.  A very close friend of mine loved them, and once said to her, “your parties make me so sick, because I always stuff myself”.

I will never forget the day of my twentieth birthday.  I had worked a fashion show in town, and as I walked down the hill from the bus stop, I could smell the tantalizing aroma of Chicken Parmesan emanating from our house - a block away!  Until that day, I had no idea I could run that fast in high heels.

There was another dinner I remember quite well. This time I had just arrived home late from art school, “What’s for dinner, Mom?”, I asked as I came through the door.  She turned around, holding a large shallow bowl of pasta, “Fettuccine  with Crab”,  she said, and tilted it slightly for me to see.  Gravity took hold, and the contents slipped out, all over her brand new designer shoes, onto the kitchen floor - crab and all.  Luckily, there was a burger drive-through down the street.

That was a lot of years ago.   Mom is cooking just for one now, and the meals are on the leaner, healthier side.  But she’s still using the fancy plates and still wearing those designer shoes.  What a gal!

Meals make memories. Plan a special one for your family soon.  Just make sure you keep the pasta in the bowl, and not on the floor.

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JOE’S SPECIAL FRITTATA & ORANGE MUSTARD GLAZED CHICKEN

At what point does cooking dinner become a drag - when you’re feeding six, ten or the entire clan?  Just how many is too many for you to get out the pots and pans, and turn on the oven?

The answer probably it isn’t ten or twenty, or even fifty.  The answer is one, and that one is you.

If you are asking just yourself, “what’s for dinner”, I bet it’s not a recipe from the Mayo Clinic cookbook.

There have been times, when “ol’ what’s his name” was on a business trip, and I?ve been home alone.  I’ve spent my life cooking for others, but somehow, when I have all this time on my hands, cooking for myself isn’t a priority. I usually grab a handful of chocolate chips and heat up some frozen taquitos.

There are a lot of you out there that are as free as a bird, and unfortunately eating like one too.

Once in a while we all get too busy to eat right and once in a while isn?t too bad, but chronic malnutrition can quite obviously lead to health problems.

So, what do you do, if it is just you?  Start at the grocery store, but don?t load up the cart

A good buy on canned fruit or frozen vegetables is ok, but stocking up on a side of beef is not.  By the time you get around to eating it, it will be long passed its prime, and a big loss of money.

Consider smaller cuts of meat, like chops which, even if you have to buy two or three in a package, can be wrapped and frozen without taking up a lot of room.

Your favorite pieces of chicken can be purchased in small amounts and frozen as well.

Lean ground beef can be purchased in one pound packages, divided up into four portions and frozen.

It’s tempting to buy all those strawberries ? after all, they?re two for one!  But, will you really eat them before they go bad, or you get a case of hives?  A quart of milk that you will finish before it sours, is much better than a 1/2 gallon on sale that will eventually curdle.

Shopping twice a week seems to work well for most singles. You will be buying less and can go through the express line.

Make sure you eat plenty of vegetables and fruits.  Pre-bagged salad is a handy option. Wash what you need, and dry on paper towels.   Use it on sandwiches, instead of a lettuce leaf.

A big salad is a meal in itself, and can be your own creation; add leftover steak, chicken, sausage, shrimp, etc..  Supplement it with some wheat rolls for extra fiber.  Many markets have their own bakeries where you can purchase one or two rolls, bagels or focaccia.

The supermarket is stocked with frozen, canned and packaged meals.  To keep your daily total fat intake at 65 grams or lower, and keep the sodium less than 2,000mg, READ THE LABELS.  This is where convenience foods live up to their name. It’s convenient to keep track of nutrition, if you read those labels.

Once in a while, spend an afternoon preparing several things you really enjoy, and freeze them in individual servings.

Entertaining is fun, and encourages us to do our best in the kitchen.  Why don’t you ask a friend or neighbor over to join you for dinner tonight?

Good conversation aids digestion, and you will have someone there to help with the dishes!

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