Posts Tagged "lunch"

Mac and Cheese and What?

Dear Kid,

MacAndCheeseOnce upon a time, there was no such thing as macaroni and cheese. Hundreds of thousands of college students went hungry for lack of a blue box. Some of them ate ramen noodles. Most of them just drank beer and pretended to go to class.

Then in the early 1900s someone figured out how to create that amazing American invention: processed cheese food.

FACT:  Any food that actually has the word “food” in its name is not actually food.

So there was James Lewis Kraft, scrolling through his newsfeed, when he came across the idea of extending the shelf life of creating processed cheese. Then he made it magically delicious by adding macaroni and a blue box. In 1937, Kraft Macaroni and Cheese sold for 19 cents a box and enabled families to eat during the Depression.

Food needs during the Depression and during college are remarkably similar: dirt cheap, easy to make, inexpensive, minimal refrigeration required, and lack-of-budget-friendly. Ta-Da! Mac and cheese.

Not only is it cheap, it tastes good and glows like a flashlight. What more could you ask for?

What’s your favorite way to eat mac and cheese?

Love, Mom

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It’s Spring! It’s Winter! It’s Spring! and Food

Dear Kid,

March has me confused. What happened to Spring? Just yesterday it was warm enough to wear a T-shirt and today it is Winter degrees outside.

Therefore, I am doing the only reasonable thing: burying myself under 17 layers of blankets and cuddling up with the Puppy, my computer, and a cup of coffee. Maybe several cups.

Hopefully, you are staying warm. Personally, I don’t plan to emerge until that silly rodent follows through on his promise of a short winter.

Speaking of absolutely freezing cold, it was absolutely freezing cold in Pittsburgh and we still had a marvelous time.

We toured Fallingwater, the home by Frank Lloyd Wright. Interestingly, it was nominated for the 8th Wonder of the World (but lost to Manchu Pichu—another place I’d like to go).

Fallingwater is snuggled into the environment, right over a lovely little waterfall.

Fallingwater by Frank Lloyd Wright. DearKidLoveMom.com

And we ate our way through Thai food, Greek food, “eclectic” food,

eclectic food at Porch in Pittsburgh. DearKidLoveMom.com

Italian food, and (of course) waffles.

Fabulous Italian dinner in Pittsburgh. Girls' Trip! DearKidLoveMom.comThen we rolled home.

Love, Mom

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Work-Life Truisms

Dear Kid,

It is a truism that when you are running late for a meeting, every traffic light you encounter will turn red—for as long as technically possible.

It is equally a truism that when you are trying to paint your nails on the way to work and you are hoping for a red light so you can put polish on without having it land in your eyes and on your windshield, you sail through green lights like a hot knife through butter and arrive at your destination with 9 out of 10 nails completely naked. DearKidLoveMom.comIt is equally a truism that when you are trying to paint your nails on the way to work and you are hoping for a red light so you can put polish on without having it land in your eyes and on your windshield, you sail through green lights like a hot knife through butter and arrive at your destination with 9 out of 10 nails completely naked.

You probably have not encountered this particular problem, but let me assure you it is real. The Universe is watching.

It is a truism that when you bring your lunch with you, there is leftover food in the breakroom and it is delicious (so you eat two lunches).

It is equally a truism that one the one day when you don’t have time to pack lunch and you’re counting on leftovers from the training class, the class in question consumes every last morsel of food. Not even the proverbial Whoville crumb is left. DearKidLoveMom.comIt is equally a truism that one the one day when you don’t have time to pack lunch and you’re counting on leftovers from the training class, the class in question consumes every last morsel of food. Not even the proverbial Whoville crumb is left.

It is a truism that the day you have back-to-back calls scheduled and an IMMEDIATE and URGENT request lands on your desk, every single one of your calls happens—and most of them run over the allotted time.

It is equally a truism that the next day when you have several calls scheduled but no urgent projects, every call gets canceled or rescheduled.

The Universe is watching. And having a lot of fun.

Love, Mom

 

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Parsley, Sage, and Findlay Market

Dear Kid,

We had a great visit with Grandma and Grandpa.

On Tuesday I took the day off to play with them and after a leisurely start to the day, we went down to Findlay Market.

Findlay Market in Over-the-Rhine. A great outing! DearKidLoveMom.com

The first (and perhaps most important) thing we did was to walk over to the Samuel Adams mural and find the second hidden perfect pint glass and the word C I N C I N N A T I. I feel so much better! It was tricky and I never would have figured it out without help. (If you’re dying to know where the hidden letters are let me know—I will share the love).

I finally found the hidden beer bottle, two perfect pint glasses, the flying pig, and C I N C I N N A T I! Love this mural at Samuel Adams. DearKidLoveMom.com

Cold Nitro Coffee. Really. DearKidLoveMom.comThen we found Maverick Chocolate, and how could we not investigate? Especially when there was a big sign promoting Cold Nitro Coffee. Say what? Clearly we had to try some! They infuse cold nitrogen into coffee which makes it fizz up and build a foamy head (like beer). Either the nitrogen or the coffee was bitter so we added simple syrup. (Really? Not drinking coffee black? Yes, in this case really.) Summary: Grandma and I are trendy enough to try Nitro Coffee but not to order it again. At our urging, Grandpa tried it. Fortunately, I had a piece of gum to help him get the taste out of his mouth.

Then we found a spice place which had all kinds of interesting things (before you look, can you guess what was in the Simon and Garfunkle (spelled by the singer Garfunkel but by the spice people Garfunkle) mix? We bought a little bit of this and little bit of that and had a wonderful time.

Shopping for spices at Findlay Market. DearKidLoveMom.com

At the oil and vinegar place, we tasted and bought peach balsamic vinegar. Unlike some flavored vinegars which are, um, subtly flavored, this has a bold right-up-front peach zing. Yum.

From there we wandered around and eventually had Vietnamese food for lunch.

Lunch at Findlay Market. DearKidLoveMom.com

Our final stop on our outing was at Pet Wants where the store, the employees, and the puppy compete for adorable-helpfulness. We got some food for the Puppy (a mix of lean and salmon—quite yummy if you are of the canine persuasion), chatted a bit, and headed home.

It’s amazing how nice a day can be when you hang out with people you like.

Love, Mom

P.S. If you didn’t get (and can’t read the fine print), the Simon and Garfunkle (see note above about spelling) mix has parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme.

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