Salons and soups...


I was raised in a home where dinner time often reflected the French salons of the Enlightenment (minus the powdered wigs and corsets). Our meals lasted for hours because of the incredibly engaging conversations that took place around the table. This was true of our immediate family and, more so, during one of the many dinner parties my parents hosted. When I was younger, I continued this tradition and hosted many dinner parties over the years. Because of that history, I find solitary meals incredibly boring and, to an extent, depressing. Cooking a full dinner, complete with all the necessary nutritional requirements, is a real chore. I love to cook, but I find cooking for myself quite boring and tedious. And I rarely do more than a main course when cooking for myself. And that makes me worry about eating properly. Despite the fact that I have a wonderful wheelchair-adapted kitchen, there are still limits to my abilities because of pain. I refuse to return to frozen prepared meals. They are high in salt and fat and they bore me. I have been searching for a remedy.

One dish I have always loved is soup/stew. Of course, preparing a good soup or stew requires prep time, but most of the time is spent with the delicious concoction simmering away on the stove. I have adopted the soup/stew as my default meal now. I enjoy prepping the veg and meat and the final step of blitzing, if the recipe requires. Every other Saturday has become "Souper Saturday." So far, I have prepared Greek Red Lentil Soup, Cauliflower, Gruyére, and Mustard Soup, and a version of one of my favourites, Boeuf Bourguignon. My list of soups/stews still to prepare includes Broccoli and Stilton, Irish Lamb Stew, Portuguese Kale and Chorizo Soup, Black Bean Soup, etc. All of the recipes are jam packed with nutritional superstars. I have no doubt that adopting the habit of making these all-inclusive bowls of goodness will please my body and my palette. I can make enough that I can skip every other week for prep. Nutritional problem solved. (I discovered an amazing healthy alternative to using milk/cream in soups - substitute white beans and cashews! Once blitzed, you would be hard pressed to tell the difference between using those and using milk or cream.)

Now, to address the social problem. This past week, I had invited some good friends over for dinner on my birthday night. Unfortunately, a cold-that-has-turned-into-a-sinus-infection postponed that dinner. But I am moving forward with the idea that I need to have at least one dinner party a month. This will keep my mind nourished as well as my body. I have been fortunate in meeting some really lovely people here in Oban and hope that I will meet more people by taking part in art classes and coffee mornings. The approaching Spring and the easing of restrictions mean there will be more opportunities to get out and meet new people. Completing the decorating of the apartment and having newly crisp vision has gone a long way in lifting my mood. An active social life will complete the changes I need to make me feel alive again. Nothing in this world is more wonderful than breaking bread with friends and lively dinner conversation!



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