Leftovers
17/06/23 03:35
This weekend is a time of larger gatherings for meals at our house. Last night we had a taco bar for 20. This evening we expect at least ten more. We’re at a point where we aren’t quite sure who is and who isn’t coming. That’s not a problem. We have been planning for quite some time. In addition to the grocery lists we’ve made for numerous trips to various places to pick up ingredients, there are lists of what foods we’ll prepare and when to prepare them. We made a lot of lists as we were thinking about a special weekend with family and friends. I don’t know how many times I’ve said, “If we run our of food, we run out of food,” or “When we run out of food, there are restaurants and stores. No one is going to starve.”
As we were cleaning up and doing dishes last night it was obvious that we had over prepared. The meal would have been a success with half of the chopped tomatoes and half the rice and half the refried beans. We had leftover food in every category that we prepared. It wasn’t just that we generated enough dirty dishes for two loads in the dishwasher plus a number of items we washed by hand. It is also that we have three major meals with lots of people in the next three days and the refrigerator is full of leftover food, the freezer is full of food for the next meals, and we are running out of containers for extra food.
We’ve been doing this for a lot of years.
When we had been married for two years we became managers at our church camp. We were responsible for meal planning, grocery shopping, and food preparation for the campers who came. The camp was 42 miles from the nearest grocery store, and we purchased large quantity pantry items such as flour, sugar, cereals, canned goods and more at stores that were an additional 80 miles away. Needless to say we had to plan ahead because there was no time to make a run to the store once the campers arrived. We had to be ready for a week’s worth of meals. And we learned to be good at improvising. When we planned a taco bar and the tortillas didn’t arrive with our food order, we made tortillas from scratch by the hundreds. It was a good thing we were buying 100 pounds of flour at a time. When we ran out of syrup for pancakes, we made our own with sugar, water, and maple flavoring. We did a lot of making things from scratch. We learned a lot of life lessons. We learned to work together. We learned not to panic. We learned to have a really big first dinner when campers arrived. If they rave about the first meal at camp, it is harder for them to complain later in the week.
We didn’t learn how to cook for smaller groups.
In our regular lives, we learned how to cook for ourselves when we were just a couple. We can still make a meal that produces very few leftovers. And we can plan a week so that the leftovers are consumed in the next couple of days. When our children were at home, and when we had elders of our family living with us the challenge was bigger, but we adjusted quite well.
However, when we have 20 or 30 for a meal, we overshoot every time. We seem to be able to imagine running out of food. We’ve awakened in the night and decided to rise early to get to the store before breakfast just in case. But we don’t actually run out of food. We over purchase groceries and we over prepare every time.
I’m a bit nervous about tonight’s barbecue. I’ve got all of the groceries. I’ve got two grills ready to go. I’ve got the coolers ready to ice down the beverages. I’m wondering what I’ve forgotten. I’m trying to imagine our “Plan B” in case it rains.
But I haven’t really made a plan for what to do with the leftovers. Leftover barbecue isn’t quite the right fare for tomorrow’s open house where we’ll be serving cake and ice cream. And the leftovers from that aren’t the same things we’ll want to have on hand for Monday’s brunch. The refrigerator is nearly full of leftovers from last night’s taco bar. I think there is leftover sloppy joe in there somewhere as well. At least we have enough buns for the barbecue. And I know I said to someone last night, “Well, if we run out of hot dogs or burgers, we’ll just run out.” I’ve got chicken patties and black bean burgers and salmon burgers as well, and I’m pretty sure I’ll have leftovers of all of those items. We aren’t going to run out of hot dogs or burgers.
In our time as camp managers and cooks, we learned to repurpose leftovers. Some items can go into soups. Some things can be frozen and make another appearance as part of a different meal. A main course can become an appetizer or a side dish with a bit of creative thinking. This weekend is different. A few of the leftovers can be given away. The rest will be appearing on our regular menus for the rest of the summer. After all, because of unrelated items, the farm is not going to raise meat chickens this summer. That means more freezer space will be available in the early fall. And we surely will be through the leftovers before we really need the freezer space. I’m not even worried about the monotony of repeated menus. We’ll have plenty of time to think of some new variations on old themes.
I’m sure I’ll be at the grocery store sometime today. I’ve already got three items on the list, and the grocery store is not far away. I suppose, if we have to, I could always make a quick trip to Home Depot or Lowe’s and pick up another chest freezer. (Just joking!)
As we were cleaning up and doing dishes last night it was obvious that we had over prepared. The meal would have been a success with half of the chopped tomatoes and half the rice and half the refried beans. We had leftover food in every category that we prepared. It wasn’t just that we generated enough dirty dishes for two loads in the dishwasher plus a number of items we washed by hand. It is also that we have three major meals with lots of people in the next three days and the refrigerator is full of leftover food, the freezer is full of food for the next meals, and we are running out of containers for extra food.
We’ve been doing this for a lot of years.
When we had been married for two years we became managers at our church camp. We were responsible for meal planning, grocery shopping, and food preparation for the campers who came. The camp was 42 miles from the nearest grocery store, and we purchased large quantity pantry items such as flour, sugar, cereals, canned goods and more at stores that were an additional 80 miles away. Needless to say we had to plan ahead because there was no time to make a run to the store once the campers arrived. We had to be ready for a week’s worth of meals. And we learned to be good at improvising. When we planned a taco bar and the tortillas didn’t arrive with our food order, we made tortillas from scratch by the hundreds. It was a good thing we were buying 100 pounds of flour at a time. When we ran out of syrup for pancakes, we made our own with sugar, water, and maple flavoring. We did a lot of making things from scratch. We learned a lot of life lessons. We learned to work together. We learned not to panic. We learned to have a really big first dinner when campers arrived. If they rave about the first meal at camp, it is harder for them to complain later in the week.
We didn’t learn how to cook for smaller groups.
In our regular lives, we learned how to cook for ourselves when we were just a couple. We can still make a meal that produces very few leftovers. And we can plan a week so that the leftovers are consumed in the next couple of days. When our children were at home, and when we had elders of our family living with us the challenge was bigger, but we adjusted quite well.
However, when we have 20 or 30 for a meal, we overshoot every time. We seem to be able to imagine running out of food. We’ve awakened in the night and decided to rise early to get to the store before breakfast just in case. But we don’t actually run out of food. We over purchase groceries and we over prepare every time.
I’m a bit nervous about tonight’s barbecue. I’ve got all of the groceries. I’ve got two grills ready to go. I’ve got the coolers ready to ice down the beverages. I’m wondering what I’ve forgotten. I’m trying to imagine our “Plan B” in case it rains.
But I haven’t really made a plan for what to do with the leftovers. Leftover barbecue isn’t quite the right fare for tomorrow’s open house where we’ll be serving cake and ice cream. And the leftovers from that aren’t the same things we’ll want to have on hand for Monday’s brunch. The refrigerator is nearly full of leftovers from last night’s taco bar. I think there is leftover sloppy joe in there somewhere as well. At least we have enough buns for the barbecue. And I know I said to someone last night, “Well, if we run out of hot dogs or burgers, we’ll just run out.” I’ve got chicken patties and black bean burgers and salmon burgers as well, and I’m pretty sure I’ll have leftovers of all of those items. We aren’t going to run out of hot dogs or burgers.
In our time as camp managers and cooks, we learned to repurpose leftovers. Some items can go into soups. Some things can be frozen and make another appearance as part of a different meal. A main course can become an appetizer or a side dish with a bit of creative thinking. This weekend is different. A few of the leftovers can be given away. The rest will be appearing on our regular menus for the rest of the summer. After all, because of unrelated items, the farm is not going to raise meat chickens this summer. That means more freezer space will be available in the early fall. And we surely will be through the leftovers before we really need the freezer space. I’m not even worried about the monotony of repeated menus. We’ll have plenty of time to think of some new variations on old themes.
I’m sure I’ll be at the grocery store sometime today. I’ve already got three items on the list, and the grocery store is not far away. I suppose, if we have to, I could always make a quick trip to Home Depot or Lowe’s and pick up another chest freezer. (Just joking!)
