Thursday, April 17, 2008

Pollyanna

Tonight I broke one of my cardinal culinary rules. In an attempt to provide the preferred comfort food of each member of my still sick family, I cooked three different meals for supper.

It was nothing complicated, but I usually refuse on principle to start conjuring up alternative options when anyone doesn't like the proposed meal. They can eat part of the meal or have some bread or yoghurt if it is really impossible for them to swallow.

Youngest and Oldest have been sick for nearly a week though, so some pandering (à la Pollyanna and the calfsfoot jelly) was in order. Our son always demands rice and baked beans, his idea of a perfectly rounded meal. Youngest likes pasta. Middle daughter, the only one not sick, but suffering from a sore tummy (maybe so as not to feel left out, who can tell!) really wanted an omelette and isn't too keen on the other options. I made a deal. She could have an omelette if she laid the table and then I would tell her how to cook it herself.

This solved the problem of my brain fusing as it can do when dealing with too many different saucepans at once… I am definitely not applying for the post of short order chef any time soon.

So to the chorus of coughing, she turned out a very respectable one egg omelette, while the invalids languished and waited for their appetites to be tempted.

They've both had three days of a fierce flu, knocked out on the sofa. Both recovered briefly only to relapse back into a temperature accompanied by cough and loads of mucus and congestion. A visit to the homeopath today provided us with an array of remedies, so I'm hoping we can get by without resorting to antibiotics. We'll see how they are doing tomorrow.

Oldest is desperately disappointed to be missing school. His class had just embarked on a project to do with animals and he was really looking forward to it all. A foray into Google today to research his animal - the zebra - turned up enough information, but he wasn't too impressed when I suggested that he should write in his own words and not just copy the whole site!

I've just realized that with all the coughing and doling out remedies and presiding over a stoveful of saucepans, I've completely forgotten to go to my belly-dancing class tonight. Bother!

10 comments:

  1. How serendipitous to find you today when I've just written about Italian cookery books!

    Really enjoyed your blog - hope you are all feeling better soon.

    DC

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  2. Sorry to hear about everyone's unwellness, and hope they all get better soon. I bet your daughter enjoyed eating and making her omelette.

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  3. Separate meals...you are a good mom :) And belly-dancing? Sounds like fun...what sparked the interest?

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  4. I hope you have everyone feeling well soon. I definitely try and avoid the multi-menu unless we have extraordinary circumstances!

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  5. And here I am, worrying whether I have found a cat food that contents the whole feline population in my home...

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  6. I am nice that way when they're sick (and mean the opposite way when they're not!) too. So much so that for a few days after I know they're feeling better they try to pretend -- but I don't make that worth their while.

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  7. Oh and Kit, I've been thinking about you as I'm just bombarded with information about South Africa lately! I'm reading the memoirs of J.M. Coatzee - first one about growing up in South Africa all about his experience with race, class, etcetera. And then my kids and I have started piano lessons and our teacher is from South Africa and used to be a teacher there and loves to tell me stories -- it's fantastic. I wish I could visit you!

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  8. yes, when family life gets out of routine its hard to remember what day it is let alone where you should be and when.

    I hope their health has improved. If TLC was the cure, they'd all be better by now!

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  9. Praying for a quick recovery for all...You have your hands full with mothering these days. Your doing a great job of it as always! The belly-dance class sounds like loads of fun! I have always had the secret wish to have been a ballerina or professional dancer...however my clumsiness and ungraceful bodyframe kept that yearning in check. Have a good week.

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  10. I'm with you--I don't usually do multi-menu options, but sometimes it's necessary.
    Hope everyone is COMPLETELY better soon!

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Thanks for your comments - I appreciate every one!