WIAW 198

It’s been raining… On and off cloudbursts and thunderstorms most of the week.

I have now had an introduction to North Carolina humidity. I did know, coming down here, that we only think New York City is humid…  (Well, we do have to explain “It’s not the heat, it’s the humidity!”  to people from the West Coast and Plains states – and those from the Southwest who happily suggest we should use swamp coolers!)  We have nothing on the Southeast.  “I think we should put on the air conditioner – I’m just sitting here and my glasses are fogging up!”  And I know it isn’t even really hot, yet! Of course, with the parents we need to be careful…

Speaking of the parents, I’m still working on finding the foods that appeal to them the most. I mentioned that they like sauce – it adds flavor and makes some foods easier to eat. They do like spicy things – they can taste them! And Barbara especially likes an attractive presentation…

I’d been thinking about getting mini-muffin pans, thinking that cute little pieces of food might be appealing, and then stumbled into a sale of these silicone baking pans! Pretty and decorative (as well as smaller and cute…) You’ll see muffins baked in them later, and the shape is not as clear as I’d like, but enough to be interesting – but I’m also thinking of using them as molds for jells and assorted other foods. We’ll see!

What I ate.

For breakfast – same old, same old. I have started to make myself muffins, but I did not happen to get a picture – don’t worry, you’ll see them as time goes on…  Right now, the usual grits and protein shake. (The shake will probably continue. It’s the easiest way to get my breakfast in reasonable time after I fix everyone else’s…)

We have started to get some lovely ripe fruit. This cantaloupe was so sweet and delicious! I enjoy cottage cheese with fruit every so often, and this was just perfect. I’ve found, though, that I seem to get hungry – apparently I don’t eat quite enough cottage cheese… so I spread a little hummus on my rice cake. (And was amused by the All Orange lunch!) I’d gone out right after breakfast and never finished my coffee – so I just added ice and drank it with lunch! (Didn’t even bother with a new glass, just the same cup…)

And I mentioned rotisserie chicken in my last post – one reason the parents want it is this salad.  I’ve skipped lightly over this – but there is a wonderful woman who comes in as an aide for them – some housework, some health care, the training to slide into more health care as it becomes needed (which may prove invaluable) and a really good relationship with them, which is already invaluable.  She makes this salad, and they want to eat her salad! And I’m all for continuing a winner like that. I’m also glad to know that a cold dinner is fine with them – as it gets hotter I will want to serve cold meals.

So, since we had chicken salad for dinner, I made corn muffins with the new molds to go with them. As you see, the design is a bit blurry – but they did enjoy the pretty muffins. Also – it made eight from my six muffin recipe, which works better, of course, for the four of us, so that was good.

And today it is actually sunny! Maybe I’ll walk over and see if anyone is using the pool…  And meanwhile, we can all head over to Laura’s for Jenn’s WIAW party!