My parents are coming soon

The friendliest place on the web for anyone that enjoys cooking.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

VeraBlue

Executive Chef
Joined
Jul 10, 2006
Messages
3,683
Location
northern NJ
T-minus 30 hours and counting. My mom was completely packed on Monday. I suggested she start walking and by the time she got here, her luggage would have arrived. I understand her excitement prompts her packing frenzy. Having been safely swaddled in the womb, I can only imagine what her nesting habits were like before she gave birth. Picture, if you can, a diminutive woman, great with child, beehive hairdo, red lips with a dangling Virginia Slim...ordering my dad to wallpaper, change the carpeting, move the window to another wall to get better light, etc....

I'm sure my dad is packed, by now, as well. That scene would have been something like "Jim, don't forget your jeans" (an item he's worn every day since his mother put him in long pants) There would also have been comments such as 'what are you taking that for?', or 'you're going to need this' and 'if you think you're going to wear that shirt with those pants you're nuts'. At some point, he'll suggest she just pack for him, at which time she'll remind him that he's a grown man, capable of packing his own bag:wacko:.

Most of you know that when I'm working (oh, how I remember that...:neutral:) I don't really bother with dinner. Considering I'm not, and I have company (they'll be here for 11 days. Did I mention I was having my head examined on the 17th?) I needed food, more food than usual. Between shopping for dry goods last week and perishables this week I've spent $400 on stocking this house. With proper planning and frugal toilet use we could survive in here for 6 months. Easy. My mother insists on drinking bottled water. It could be whatever medicine she takes makes her thirsty, but this bottled water thing kills me. You know me, I'm a decrease the landfills sorta gal. I have a pitcher of filtered water in the fridge, plenty to fill a nice big glass. So, I bought one six -pack of water. She'll have to refill as she goes or I'm apt to pull my hair out.

I have a tentative menu in my head for the week, too.
Friday: pumpkin soup followed by homemade pappardelle with short ribs. Apple pie and strufoli for dessert.

Saturday we're going into the city to see the tree. Dinner will be at Delta Grill for cajun and creole.

Sunday: Pernil with fried plantains, sauteed collard greens, yellow rice with pigeon peas.

Monday: chicken cutlets, mashed potatoes, baby peas

Tuesday: macaroni, meatballs, sausage

Wednesday: some type of fish with rice, etc...

I cannot even think as far ahead as Thursday. Just getting the aforementioned menu together was daunting. Even scarier will be trying to cook it while someone keeps my mother occupied and out of the kitchen. That someone will have to be my dad. Unfortunately, all she has to do is say "Jim, why don't you rearrange all the summer furniture in Roseann's garage before it get's dark?" and that will be the end of my buffer. I'll be elbow to elbow with her. All she'll want to do is help, and all I'll see is that the peeler is in the wrong drawer. She does keep a spotless kitchen, so putting her on clean up is usually the solution. But...there's that everything's in the wrong place problem to deal with. The good thing is that I can look her straight in the eye (well, I do have to look down a bit now...funny how older people shrink, hmm?) tell her get the **** out, and she'll go read the paper for a while. Then she'll ask me if I've calmed down and can she come back in. We'll do that dance till dinner is ready.

So, here's my plan, for anyone who cares to watch this show. I've got to pick them up at 2pm tomorrow. I'll pop in here as often as I can to let you know what we're up to, if the house has been painted a new and exciting colour, if the oven has exploded, if I've buried anyone in the garden, and if the authorities have been called.

Oh yea, both Marianne and Jim quit smoking over 40 years ago. Still, I think the damage has been done, don't you;)?
 
She'll be comin' round the mountain....

Surely you will kill the old red rooster, and have chicken and dumplings one evening....
--- Cornbread on the side?
 
Actually, I saved a hunk of the cornbread from Thanksgiving in the freezer. I'm planning to make crutons out of that for the pumpkin soup.

The rooster ran away last week.
 
That's about it, QSis. I use a bit of brown sugar in the rub, too. It's an inexpensive cut of meat that comes out magnificent when done.
 
Sounds like it's going to be quite the show, VB! As for the pernil, "cutting it into uniform slices is almost impossible; rather, whack it up into chunks.", that's my kind of recipe! :)
 
:mrgreen: Vera sounds like your going to be very occupied for the next little bit. And here the liquor cabinet is going to be unguarded as we head off for a long-ish weekend in northern Michigan. A pity.

Still, it sounds wonderful and I'm sure you'll have a great time. If you need a place to hide though, we'll have room up north. (We'll be north of Detroit but south of Goodweed.. In what's referred to as the "upper lower")

(We'll have drinks and a hot tub, too)
 
Ha....this sounds better than reading a good book!! I'll have to get nice and comfy on the couch, a little cooler beside me and watch the fireworks. lol
I'm sure it will be a wonderful time with your parents.

Barb
 
VB, do you have room for 12?????? You sound like a great hostess with fun plans....and I know that you're a great cook........I have 7 coming but my brother in law and sister in law and their families are more than happy to stay at a local hotel....we just don't have the room..........I remember when we'd have all the grandkids at my mother-in-law's spend the nights and just being wasted crawling into bed after running after them.......have fun!!:):)
 
Ok, why did the title of your thread change???

Anywho... I think this is the most appropriate icon to use for this occasion!!! (Thanks Jeeks!)

popcorn4jj.gif

Oh... and your menu sounds awesome Miss Vera!
 
Ok, why did the title of your thread change???

Anywho... I think this is the most appropriate icon to use for this occasion!!! (Thanks Jeeks!)

View attachment 6196

Oh... and your menu sounds awesome Miss Vera!


I have no idea who changed the title or why...:huh: No PM about it. I recall a thread a while ago titled 'leavin' on a jet plane' so it cannot be that I infringed on someone's copyright. I don't actually believe there's any infringement if you write the name of a song, so I have no idea why it was changed. Would have been nice to have been given the opportunity to change it myself. The 'my parents are coming soon' just isn't my writing style, ya know?;)
 
The owner of the site asks that we change any titles that do not fit a set of criteria he has spelled out to the staff. This is, in part, to make sure that threads are easy to understand what they are about when you look at them. Leaving on a jet plane or She will be coming round the mountain does not tell anyone what the thread is about unless they click into it.

Vera, if you would like to pick a different title then let myself or another staff member know what you would like. It needs to be clear from the title what the content of the thread is though. We would be happy to put up something that is more to your liking as long as it conforms to the rules we need to go by.
 
Last edited:
The owner of the site asks that we change any titles that do not fit a set of criteria he has spelled out to the staff. This is, in part, to make sure that threads are easy to understand what they are about when you look at them. Leaving on a jet plane or She will be coming round the mountain does not tell anyone what the thread is about unless they click into it.

Vera, if you would like to pick a different title then let myself or another staff member know what you would like. It needs to be clear from the title what the content of the thread is though. We would be happy to put up something that is more to your liking as long as it conforms to the rules we need to go by.


On an off topic forum, where I've already laid the story out that my parents were due in...a title like 'she'll be comin' round the mountain' was clear enough. I'm sure if I looked hard enough, I'd find plenty of topic titles that were vague and confusing, where people would post saying 'gee I had to open this up to see what it was all about'. Don't really want to get into that game though. You could have PMd me first. It's not like I'm not here. I'll get back to you on what I'd like the title changed to...or is there a time limit?
 
I think you should write a novel Vera when the visit is over. I really enjoy reading the posts, you give me the visual pictures. Have a good time and don't let them get on your wick too much - have a countdown card so you can mark off the hours left!
 
Just in Off Topic alone: Oh No, Please....Run. Sad and Pathetic. Don't really see how those tell you what the topic is going to be about.
 
I think you should write a novel Vera when the visit is over. I really enjoy reading the posts, you give me the visual pictures. Have a good time and don't let them get on your wick too much - have a countdown card so you can mark off the hours left!

Funny you should say that. I had to call her to confirm that she actually did smoke when she was pregnant. Don't want to print false stories, do I? I assumed she did because she smoked when she was 18, and was smoking when I was very young. Back in the 60s, people didn't quit smoking during pregnancy. Shortly after we hung up, she called again, asking why I wanted to know if she smoked during pregnancy. I told her "I"m writing a book, Mom.."
Apparently, great minds think alike, yes?
 
On an off topic forum, where I've already laid the story out that my parents were due in...a title like 'she'll be comin' round the mountain' was clear enough.
It is only laid out once you click into the thread. Based on the title alone without clicking into the thread it is completely unclear as to what the thread is about.
I'm sure if I looked hard enough, I'd find plenty of topic titles that were vague and confusing, where people would post saying 'gee I had to open this up to see what it was all about'.
Yes if you looked hard enough then I am sure you are right. Please do keep in mind that the staff here are volunteers and have our own jobs and lives that must come first before this site. We can not and do not catch every single thing that needs to be changed. When we do catch them though we act on it.
You could have PMd me first. It's not like I'm not here.
In a perfect world, yes that could have happened however like I mentioned, we have other things we need to do too. If we stopped to PM the OP every time a title needed to be changed then our lives and the moderation of this site would grind to a halt. We do not just change one title per day. There are times we are changing 30, 40, or more titles on a single say. There is a LOT that goes on behind the scenes that you never see and it takes up a LOT of our time each and every day. I am sorry that you feel so slighted that no one let you know your title was changed. It was nothing personal. We were just following the direction of the owner. Please do refer to the rules of the site that clearly state that threads or posts can be edited at any time with no notice.

I'll get back to you on what I'd like the title changed to...or is there a time limit?
There is no time limit. Let us know what you want it changed to when you are ready and we will be happy to make it whatever you want as long as it fits within the guidelines that Andy R. has given us. When thinking of your new title just think "can someone know what this thread is about without clicking into it?" That will probably help weed out any possible titles that might not work.
 
Sure I can see how "she'll be coming round the mountain' might not imply that a woman was about to arrive.

Let's drop this, okay. Talk about having lives...
 
If can mean any number of things Vera. It is not outwardly obvious what the thread is about. Is it about a song that you like? It is about a trip to the mountains? Is it about...???

Once again, these are the rules the owner of the site asked us to enforce. If you do not like them then you are free to discuss it with him. We will continue changing titles that do not fit his criteria until he tells us otherwise.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom