A Recipe of Love
I was hungry the other night, and while my pantry was pretty-well stocked, there was nothing on hand that didn’t need to be cooked. That’s kind of something I do purposely as this, more than anything else, keeps me just reasonably overweight.
Now I love cooking, and do so for myself almost every day, but this wasn’t a day I wanted to spend time in the kitchen. It was cold outside, and I was warm and snuggly in a chair with an Inspector Gamache mystery. Well, I guess I could have had a peanut butter sandwich, but that didn’t appeal to me. I wanted something tastier, with good seasonings and texture.
As if by magic, my granddaughter Shanna popped in my front door. After being enthusiastically welcomed by my canine companion Scamp, she informed me that she had hot wings from Firetruck, a local pub.
“I just thought you might like a treat,” she said.
I think I literally drooled, then I ate one wing heavily drenched in the pub’s homemade ranch dressing while Shanna gave Scamp a walk – another treat for me. Afterwards, we worked together for a little bit on the 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle in progress on my dining room table before she left.
I had two more wings, and then settled back down in my chair to read some more. And then, even before I could think that something sweet might be a perfect ending to the wings, my friend Jean appeared with a huge piece of lemon cake that had been baked in the high school culinary class she teaches.
“It’s the best lemon cake recipe I’ve ever come across,” she said, as I cut off a small piece and ate it. My taste buds immediately agreed with her. And she had brought a big enough piece that I knew I would enjoy it again with my morning coffee.
Later that night, I thought about how much love was shown to me this evening. I mean, nothing spells love better than hot wings and lemon cake. Wouldn’t you agree?
Pat Bean is a retired award-winning journalist who lives in Tucson with her canine companion, Scamp. She is a wondering-wanderer, avid reader, enthusiastic birder, Lonely Planet Community Pathfinder, Story Circle Network board member, author of Travels with Maggie available on Amazon (Free on Kindle Unlimited), and is always searching for life’s silver lining.
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