Interruptions

This was not supposed to be my post.

This was…

I had a whole meal planned, bought the ingredients.

A hint: onions on the table and ovenproof bowls?

There was supposed to be a quiche to go with the French Onion Soup.

There was supposed to be an appropriate picture

propped up against the wall to hide the light switch.

The little crystal lamp was supposed to get cleaned.

Little gnats of interruptions happened,

not the big monsters of interruptions that some

of you are going through.

Instead, here is another meal I fixed recently,

a favorite dish I throw together quickly.

It's from Helen Exum's Cookbook, a 1982 favorite.

It's Beef Pilau but is pronounced purlo in the South Carolina low country.

While onions and ground beef are sautéing in one pan, I have mushrooms in another.

I add tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce, herbs and seasonings to the meat, beef broth too.

Then I add rice to the mushrooms and stir for a few minutes, then add to the meat mixture.

Helen Exum then bakes hers in the oven until rice is done but I keep it on the burner.

This time we were too hungry to take pictures at supper,

but I fixed a pretty table for one for lunch the next day.

Exum's cookbook is not just a cookbook but a fascinating story about Chattanooga,

Tennessee in the 1970's and early 1980's,

with lots of pictures of Chattanooga families.

Life is not always a bowl of cherries, is it?

There are lots of interruptions, change of plans.

Has life ever interrupted your plans?

Foolish question, right?

A friend of our son's has had his life interrupted;

his and his family's life will never again be the same.

Some of you have had your life interrupted in serious ways.

I'm thinking of you, and I'm remembering that my interruptions

are just little gnats.