Made my day...

When we got home from our walk, we were greeted with such a creative gift from one of my primary children (and his amazing family). So thoughtful. It just made my day!

OCD

I must admit, I'm a little OCD when it comes to wasting food. I think it is a familial disorder which I attribute to parents impacted by the great depression.

When people deliver food to my house, I feel compelled to eat every bit - both to honor the gift and to avoid waste. I make cookies to use eggs that are getting old, scour my cookbook for a way to use dated sour cream, make banana bread when the bananas are fit for nothing else, and am thrilled that I found a way to use ice cream that is past its prime.

For the last several years, I've found a new way to avoid waste without it going to my waist. I leave it in the student break room in the department. Of course, I have made scotcheroos or taken chocolate milk mix for the express purpose of sharing, but usually I take food I just can't consume. Garden produce is loved, but they will eat anything. I've left ramen noodles that were nearing expiration, excess cereal that had been opened, cookies that were leftover from FHE, and even half-bottles of pop. While you can hardly take a half bottle of pop to your neighbors, when you leave it in the break room, everybody just assumes that someone else had the first glass - which of course, they did. It just wasn't the same day. Yesterday, I took a half bottle of coke, added a full bottle of Sunkist, threw it in a bowl of ice, and graced it with a stash of plastic cups. That afternoon, there was a party as a bunch of students sat around drinking pop and visiting.

My "treats" are left before students arrive - both because I get there early and because I don't want to advertise the fact that they are just getting left-overs. Thus, it isn't clear who is bringing stuff.

A few weeks ago a fellow knocked on my door asking if I was the one who brought the hot chocolate mix. He wanted to let me know how much he appreciated it. Another day, someone posted a note in the break room "Thanks Dr. Allan".

Pretty nice when you can be thanked just for being OCD.

Grandma must be smiling

This weekend, we made the trek to Boise for chocolate dipping. For Kimberly's new family, it was a first. Lori has never dipped for herself (being as she is allergic to chocolate), so it was a first for her too. From the evidence of missing chocolates, Kim's kids appreciated the tradition.

Michelle, Trisha, and Greg are planning to dip this weekend.

Grandma would be so proud. It was always so important for her to pass down the skills. Since chocolate dipping always hit at the cross section of the term winding down and holiday events picking up, it was hard to find the time to make it happen. I would start to get phone calls. "Smiths is having a sale on peanuts." "There is a coupon in the paper for the good kind of sweetened condensed milk." "Do you want me to order your chocolate with mine?" I was slow, but I got the hint. How proud she must be that so many of her offspring keep the tradition alive.

As we got home from Boise, Greg cooked a gourmet dinner for us: grilled pork chops with blackberry sauce, baked asparagus, baked sweet potatoes fries. Yum! He must have inherited some of Grandma's love of recipes and cooking.

Smile away, Mom.