the care and feeding of politicians
You guys cook, right? Or at least some of you do; don't lie. I've seen the recipes you post.
Okay. So, I need some help and this is going to sound like pretentious name-dropping, but. Whatever. It's nearly four in the morning and I can't sleep, and I have to cook dinner for Senator Cleland on Tuesday night, and it's this or spend the next several days paging through every cookbook known to man because it's one thing to serve mediocre food to people I know, but it's another entirely to do the same to strangers with political influence.
Here's the situation:
1. My dad's a writer for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. His beat's politics-- works out of the state capitol, mostly, but he does a fair bit of national and international stuff as well. I'd link to his column, but that seems a little weird. Whatever. If you're clever, you can probably find it anyway.
2. You might not have noticed, but it's an election year. Which means Dad's hellishly busy right now, what with various campaigns' staffers being obnoxious and sending stupid mud-slinging text messages at dinner and trees falling through Jimmy Carter's house in Plains (clearly a slow news day. happened this evening, apparently. had to listen to Dad chat with Carter's insurance dude while watching the men's marathon) and then, you know, the conventions and actual election and such.
3. And there's the Democratic National Convention next week! Which is going to be awesome! But the paper's being cheap, and so they're only sending one guy out there, and Dad's going to be sticking around Atlanta instead, getting local responses, etc. Whee. He's thrilled. (They may send him to the RNC, though, which could be excellent fun.)
4. Enter Senator Cleland. (Nice guy. I still can't believe he lost that election because of those fucking Chambliss ads. Dear Mr. Chambliss: You may criticize Mr. Cleland's commitment to defense and security when you, too, have lost two legs and an arm in Vietnam. Until then, kindly go fuck yourself.) Dad's known him for a long time, and Cleland's usually willing to give him some interviews and such, so they plan to meet up on Tuesday evening and watch that night's convention coverage together.
5. But because Senator Cleland's in a wheelchair and he has various health issues, it's easier for him to stay in, rather than go out somewhere for dinner. So Dad said, "Hey, no problem, I'll just bring dinner with me."
6. Fact: my dad's a great cook. Fact: he doesn't have time on Tuesday to leave work early and cook dinner. Fact: my mother loathes cooking.
7. So, hi! I get to figure out what to feed a one-armed Vietnam war veteran and former United States senator. But it has to be something that you can (a) cook earlier in the day and reheat later, and (b) be able to eat with only one hand.
8. Initially, I thought: maybe something you can eat with chopsticks! That would be fun. And I'm good at Thai and Japanese! But alas, I then remembered that Cleland's right handed, but he's only got the left, and. That's not really a good idea. Thus I've pretty much settled on some kind of soup or chili or stew, actually-- apparently, the senator prefers that sort of thing because it's much less awkward for him-- and maybe some sort of fresh-baked bread with a good salad, with a sort of fruit tart cookie for desert. But I've never done much in the way of making soups, honestly, and as it's bloody August I don't think a stew or some chili sounds appetizing at all.
9. So: suggestions for soup, please? I've got plenty of ideas for salads, depending on what sort of soup I settle on. And I'm okay-ish with bread-- but if worst comes to worst, I can always get something from the local bakery, which is utterly fantastic. But soup: something good and filling and interesting? I need ideas. If you have any favorite recipes, I sure could use some ideas. I don't mind complicated recipes at all, but I'd just like some sort of assurance that the end result doesn't totally suck before I commit to making something.
Thanks for the help. You're all lovely people and I'm sure I'll be much less ridiculous about this in the morning. Or afternoon, given that I've hit the betwixt and between point of the night/morning, and will thus sleep until god knows when.
Okay. So, I need some help and this is going to sound like pretentious name-dropping, but. Whatever. It's nearly four in the morning and I can't sleep, and I have to cook dinner for Senator Cleland on Tuesday night, and it's this or spend the next several days paging through every cookbook known to man because it's one thing to serve mediocre food to people I know, but it's another entirely to do the same to strangers with political influence.
Here's the situation:
1. My dad's a writer for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. His beat's politics-- works out of the state capitol, mostly, but he does a fair bit of national and international stuff as well. I'd link to his column, but that seems a little weird. Whatever. If you're clever, you can probably find it anyway.
2. You might not have noticed, but it's an election year. Which means Dad's hellishly busy right now, what with various campaigns' staffers being obnoxious and sending stupid mud-slinging text messages at dinner and trees falling through Jimmy Carter's house in Plains (clearly a slow news day. happened this evening, apparently. had to listen to Dad chat with Carter's insurance dude while watching the men's marathon) and then, you know, the conventions and actual election and such.
3. And there's the Democratic National Convention next week! Which is going to be awesome! But the paper's being cheap, and so they're only sending one guy out there, and Dad's going to be sticking around Atlanta instead, getting local responses, etc. Whee. He's thrilled. (They may send him to the RNC, though, which could be excellent fun.)
4. Enter Senator Cleland. (Nice guy. I still can't believe he lost that election because of those fucking Chambliss ads. Dear Mr. Chambliss: You may criticize Mr. Cleland's commitment to defense and security when you, too, have lost two legs and an arm in Vietnam. Until then, kindly go fuck yourself.) Dad's known him for a long time, and Cleland's usually willing to give him some interviews and such, so they plan to meet up on Tuesday evening and watch that night's convention coverage together.
5. But because Senator Cleland's in a wheelchair and he has various health issues, it's easier for him to stay in, rather than go out somewhere for dinner. So Dad said, "Hey, no problem, I'll just bring dinner with me."
6. Fact: my dad's a great cook. Fact: he doesn't have time on Tuesday to leave work early and cook dinner. Fact: my mother loathes cooking.
7. So, hi! I get to figure out what to feed a one-armed Vietnam war veteran and former United States senator. But it has to be something that you can (a) cook earlier in the day and reheat later, and (b) be able to eat with only one hand.
8. Initially, I thought: maybe something you can eat with chopsticks! That would be fun. And I'm good at Thai and Japanese! But alas, I then remembered that Cleland's right handed, but he's only got the left, and. That's not really a good idea. Thus I've pretty much settled on some kind of soup or chili or stew, actually-- apparently, the senator prefers that sort of thing because it's much less awkward for him-- and maybe some sort of fresh-baked bread with a good salad, with a sort of fruit tart cookie for desert. But I've never done much in the way of making soups, honestly, and as it's bloody August I don't think a stew or some chili sounds appetizing at all.
9. So: suggestions for soup, please? I've got plenty of ideas for salads, depending on what sort of soup I settle on. And I'm okay-ish with bread-- but if worst comes to worst, I can always get something from the local bakery, which is utterly fantastic. But soup: something good and filling and interesting? I need ideas. If you have any favorite recipes, I sure could use some ideas. I don't mind complicated recipes at all, but I'd just like some sort of assurance that the end result doesn't totally suck before I commit to making something.
Thanks for the help. You're all lovely people and I'm sure I'll be much less ridiculous about this in the morning. Or afternoon, given that I've hit the betwixt and between point of the night/morning, and will thus sleep until god knows when.