As long-time readers may recall, I used to post every Thursday what we were going to eat the following week. I knew what we were going to eat the following week because every Thursday I sit down with the grocery store sales circular, a pad of paper, a pen, some Post-Its and whatever recipe resource grabs me that day (foodie magazines, cookbooks, the computer, recipes I’ve clipped, etc.) and plan what we’re going to eat for dinner every night starting with the following Saturday. (Saturday is grocery day). I still do the menu planning routine, but I had stopped posting menus because it occurred to me that probably no one cared what we were eating for dinner.
Until
I ran into a friend and regular reader at a community event, and she told me she really missed the weekly menu. I asked her if she missed it because she was using it to help her plan menus, and she said no; it was just because she likes to know what other people are doing. And that, friends, is why I love her. I like to know everything about everybody, all the time, and I always have. On the plus side, it makes me an attentive listener; on the negative side I may sometimes appear to be a stalker. I am nibby like that (first definition, please), and while everyone does not have to be quite as nosy as I am, I think that a strong curiosity about other people, what they think, what they cook, what they read, if they get on with their parents, and what they named their dolls is deeply connected to living passionately and joyously in the world.
Now that I have concluded my sermonette, on to the menu for the week. I guess I’ll do this again for a while…let me know what you think about whether it’s useful or not, interesting or dull. You KNOW that I want to know what you think.
Saturday
Turkey and Cheese Panini, Potato Chips, Fresh Canteloupe
Saturday is a busy day; grocery shopping, haircuts, errands…dinner needs to be easy and both deli turkey and deli cheese are on sale.
Sunday
Bean Soup?
Sunday is strange and complicated this week. There is a neighborhood potluck, oddly scheduled from 3-5 PM so as to be not really dinner, but more like high tea. Additionally, I am scheduled to take dinner to a friend whose daughter was hit by a car last week. My current plan is to make double batches of macaroni and cheese and no-bake cookies, and take macaroni and cookies to the potluck, macaroni, cookies and a salad to the family, and have bean soup on the stove, making use of the Easter ham bone. That way, since Rob and Sam will be starving mid-evening after eating dinner before 5:00 I can whip up some biscuits and give them soup and biscuits. There is something about this whole plan that makes me want to dress either in a shirtwaist, pearls and heels, or in an ankle-length dress with a calico apron and a bonnet. Coming right after the post about gardening and canning, this all makes me feel that my inherent, black-wearing cynical self is being weakened in the night by wholesome aliens carrying jars of Ovaltine and copies of “Woman’s Day.”
Monday
Grilled Cheese Sandwiches & Cream of Tomato Soup
Rob will be out of town, and Sam and I would probably eat this every night, if we could get away with it. It’s also Vegetarian Meal I for the week.
Tuesday
Broccoli Cheese Potatoes and Fresh Fruit
Rob will be gone again, so there will be another low-key, vegetarian nursery dinner. My version of the potatoes does not, you will be relieved to know, involve canned soup. I steam broccoli, bake potatoes, make white sauce and add sharp cheddar, then stir steamed broccoli florets into the cheese sauce and pour over the potatoes. Plus, it’s Vegetarian Meal II.
Wednesday
Something Scampi-esque with a Green Salad
On Wednesday night Rob will be back, but Sam will be gone for dinner, which is the signal for seafood. I kind of know how to make scampi, kind of; I’ll have shrimp and garlic and butter and pasta, and I’ll figure it out. I guess I could look in a cookbook….
Thursday
Shredded Mexican Beef, Tortillas, Refried Beans, and Fresh Pineapple
We loved this last time, the meat is on sale, it’s incredibly easy, and it’s a busy day. That’s all I’ve got.
Friday
Braised Pork Tenderloin with Mushroom Sauce, Asparagus Risotto, and Salad
This is the Dinner Deluxe. Pork tenderloin and mushrooms were both on sale, which is a sign from the Kitchen Gods, asparagus is in season, and risotto is my second favorite food. Sam will pick the mushrooms off the meat. If it’s beautiful, I will take pictures and post recipes.
Forest Street Kitchen 
Ok, so what night am I coming for dinner?
Julie, Friday looks like your best bet – plus you just had grilled cheese, didn’t you?
Ann,
The whole ‘nibby’ thing is an easy out (or in for that matter) regarding information sharing between people you come into contact with. You have mentioned your tendancies before, but this actually explains what you have been sayin, clearly.
I guess you have to keep it within etiquette guidelines standards, which sounds like a challenge. Still, the idea of asking insanely personal questions and justifying it as ‘nibby’ is intriguing………….
Truthfully, I always enjoy reading your weekly menu because it is an abstract idea for anybody to be THAT organized. Glad somebody is.
I will, in person, ask anybody anything (except maybe “what is that thing on your cheek” or “is it true about your husband and his secretary?”). I’m not rude, just really interested. I know that not everyone shares my deep and inappropriate interest in the business of others. I am not all that organized, although I am about this particular thing, and about work.
Yea! Menus! I found a blog that I thought was supposed to be about what the Obamas are eating, but it was more about food policy, etc – – which is interesting, but not quite the voyeuristic cannonball for which I had hoped. This can satisfy me for now.
PS I vote for the calico and bonnet.
I thought you’d like this. 🙂 We’re no Obamas, but I promise I will always talk about actual food and not about policy issues. Well, except for this week because of Earth Day. I am going with the calico and bonnet because I won’t have to wear heels.