Forget Chicken Soup

Have you ever heard of funeral potatoes?

I had, because Cam's family is Mormon. But it wasn't till this past weekend that I actually got to try them. My beloved almost mother-in-law died Thursday from kidney cancer. We got less than a year with her after her diagnosis, and I'm still very much processing things. One thing is absolutely clear: We're all missing her like crazy, already.

But back to funeral potatoes, since food definitely equals comfort around here. After an incredibly emotional service Saturday, Cam's family's church held a private reception for family members, a place to decompress away from the well-wishers. I was really grateful for it, and there I got finally got to try the famous funeral potatoes. They're sort of like scalloped potatoes, but seem to have cream of chicken soup playing the role usually reserved for dairy. They were good. Comforting. And funny. "Funeral potatoes." Always feels good to laugh after lots of tears.

Cam and I volunteered to feed a crowd of his gathered family members Sunday night, and this recipe, for baked ziti, worked perfectly. It's a total cheat - bottled pasta sauce, combined with ricotta, mozzarella, and egg, mixed with mostly-cooked pasta (I prefer penne rigate to the de rigeur ziti), slopped into a baking dish and covered with parmesan. We doubled it, then froze it in foil pans. It bakes beautifully and easily, and is incredibly crowd pleasing. Good to have on hand, good to take to someone who needs a meal, just plain good.

Another crowd pleaser that takes just a bit more effort is this chicken sausage casserole. We commuted to Cam's family's home, where his mom spent her last weeks, frequently over the last month or so, and cooked for them whenever we could. We tended to arrive too late to do the cooking, but this recipe comes together so quickly that we made it work. And it smells heavenly because of the browning sausage. We used a rotisserie chicken and Jimmy Dean sage sausage, and added broccoli. Everyone loved it. So that's another one to tuck away in case you need that sort of thing. We tend to spend hours on complicated recipes that require tons of attention, and hope to do some more of that soon. But sometimes, quick, easy, hot, delicious and nourishing is the order of the day.

So Here's To The New Year

Hello, 2010.

In spite of everything, Christmas was wonderful this year. Someday, I may even write about it -- write write, though I'm not sure I could do it justice. Suffice it to say, the food was wonderful, the family was even better. And the gifts?


The gifts were pretty good too. We had incredible snow, just a week before Christmas, which we weathered, for the most part, at my parents' house. But because Cam and I drove Lucy over, we had an advantage over the masses of snowed-in shoppers.


We went to the mall, oh so carefully, and had the place to ourselves. Kinda cool. And then there was the undeniably hilarious injury of the season, sustained by yours truly. On Christmas Eve, I leaned down to place an armful of just-wrapped packages beneath the tree. And stabbed myself in the eye with a pine needle. It was late, and so absurd that after some "Owwww!"-ing, I shrugged it off, in spite of the redness and swelling. The next day, it was much worse. Very painful, swollen and red, and constantly tearing. I made it through Christmas morning, then hemmed and hawed, and called my doctor*. My Dad whisked me away to my appointment (Cam was just putting the finishing touches on his family's prime rib roast dinner, I couldn't ask him to leave), which could not have gone more quickly or smoothly. Scratched cornea, check! And I got a swine flu vaccination, too! Then home to my parents' for more Christmas. It healed pretty quickly, and I had a great time explaining my injury to anyone who'd listen.

And, oh yeah, I tried on wedding dresses! I think I've got it, in one trip. Pretty neat.


So here's to the new year. It's not going to be an easy one, but I'm hoping to embrace this amazing song. Well, let's explain it thusly.

2009 has been a year of the best and the worst, literally. You may know, if you're a close reader or friend, that I got engaged. I could not be more thrilled about that. Unfortunately, on the flip side, there's been some equally bad news. It's all swirled up to make 2009 of those years I'm not sure how to address -- "Good riddance" isn't right, but neither is "Best year ever!" So, instead of trying to label it with a blanket sentiment, I'm instead carrying Grant-Lee Phillips' indomitable song, "Strangest Thing" and its unbridled optimism with me into 2010.

Strangest thing

Days I feel like dirt

And then I see the diamond dust on everything

Strangest thing

Something plucked my nerve

And then I hear 100 chords a-shimmering

It gives me hope ("hope can hide behind the walls of anything"), and I hope it does the same for you. Happy New Year.

In Media Res

So, yes. I've been absent for quite some time. Last Tuesday, I finally started writing again. And last Tuesday, we got some pretty terrible news about a beloved family member. It's turned things upside down.

Now, the sunshine and light post I have saved in my drafts folder, the post I was literally in the middle of writing when I got the awful call, isn't right. But at the same time, this isn't blog material, and as weird as it always seems when you get that sort of news, life does go on. So, onward. Post in a minute with some Christmas-y stuff.

He Put A Ring On It!*

Remember how Cam woke me up the other morning with "Good morning, beautiful. When you're ready, it's a great morning for a run?" Well, every morning since then I've woken up to something even better, infinitely better... Variations on "Good morning, my future wife."

Yup, that's right, Cam proposed on Monday night, and I am over the moon. I had no idea he was going to do it that night (or ever, really -- I mean, I hoped and hoped, and even had a couple false alarms, and I had no reason to doubt he would, but still, it was never something I'd let myself count on.), and never in a million years imagined so perfect an evening.

We went to dinner Monday night with my parents, at an island restaurant where we had a great meal last year. Cam and I walked in a few minutes after my parents, and the table was set for six.

"Hey," I said, "How come our table's so big?"

Dad said it was all they had, and though I could see empty four-tops, I'm not the type to dig in too deep when there's a menu to peruse. But then Cam's parents, who also live hundreds of miles away from the island, walked through the door! I flipped, completely confused but happy to see them, and before I had time to connect the dots, I heard Cam in my ear, quietly repeating my name, trying to get my attention.

I turned around, and in an instant, Cam dropped to one knee, pulled out a ring, and asked me to marry him. I'll save his words for my memories, but though it was quick, it was so meaningful, and I flushed bright red, my eyes pricked with tears, and I sort of squealed "Yes!" I grabbed him and hugged him so tightly, and all around us the rest of the diners were clapping and cheering.

When we finally broke our embrace, he held up the ring, and our hands shook as he slipped it on my finger. It's gorgeous and fits perfectly, and sparkles like I can barely believe.

The rest of the night was, of course, a blur of toasts and blessings, with couples coming by the table to share their joy and memories. One gentleman and his wife bought us a bottle of champagne!

So,for the past few days I've been working the words fiance and fiancee into my vocabulary, and being absolutely disgustingly cute with my betrothed. He's been filling me in on the back story of Monday night -- the guest orchestration, the procuring of my vintage ring. It's magical, I can't pretend any different.

I am so happy.

*I really did ask him if it was Beyonce who convinced him to ask me. I can't say I'm disappointed it wasn't, but I still don't think she hurt our case!

baby love

another weekend, another several hundred miles logged on scratch's odometer. but, as usual, it was worth it! i love philadelphia, and never have a bad time there. enna&her husband's party was every bit as fun as usual, and had a huge turnout of folks who drove hours to celebrate with them. they're so worth it! plus, they're incredible hosts. this morning i woke up and told cam i had a deam enna had a freezer full of eggo waffles for everyone's breakfast, and it wasn't a dream! we chowed on coffee, hash browns, and eggos, and slowly came back to life after a long, late night. squidpants came by to catch a ride home, and the three of us got back to dc by 3. cam and i decided we wanted steak for dinner and lucked into an amazing special - ny strip, $5.99/lb! we got enough for 2 meals each - actually, more like four, but when he set that beautiful piece of beef down in front of me, i knew there was no way i'd leave leftovers. i barely touched my potatoes, but i ate every bite of that steak!

and now the kitchen's clean, and we've got fresh flannel sheets on the bed, and the tree's glowing and we watched elf and all's right in the world. i'm so thankful for all of that, the little things, and for my wonderful cam and family. and every second my mind drifts, i'm thinking of just one thing, and if you all would too, i'd appreciate it. here she is:


she's beautiful olivia helen cheek, born a little too soon and spending some time growing and getting strong in the hospital. things are a bit touch and go for her, so if you have a spare second - staring out the kitchen window washing dishes, or folding laundry, or whatever - think of little olivia and her wonderful family and send them wishes of love, health, and strength. i know i am, as hard as i can.

mea culpa

i goofed! i failed to blog last night. i have a good excuse, though - i'm not blogging from work, which is where i spent most of my day, and right after work i hopped a metro train to alexandria to meet cam. he was out of town all week, and made it back just in time for date night. and i certainly couldn't blog on welcome-home-cam-date-night, now could i? so, i think what i'll do is a make-up blog at some point before the month is over. i think that's fair, and i've been doing well so far so i'm not going to beat myself up for it (an accomplishment in itself).

and now we're in the car flying up the interstate to philadelphia. we're late, of course. we have three parties to attend today, the most important of which is enna & her husband's annual bash, in philadelphia this year! it's always a great time, and i'm excited to hurry up and get there! we first made a (an enna-approved) stop by my cousin miche's annual open house. he's an incredible artist and architect - be sure to check out his work. it's a great event, and right up the road from where we live. and miche's wife bakes the most incredible bread... mmmm! this year he had a painting of some ibis in chincoteague that i particularly liked. he's also got an iconic sycamore that hangs in countless of my family's homes, including mine, dedicated to cam. i'll get a picture of that at some point. anyway, it was a lovely, if too-brief, gathering.

on a more serious note

whoa. tonight i'm thankful for life, and longevity. cam's grandmother has been staying with his parents for a couple weeks and we still hadn't been to see her, so tonight, we picked her up and took her to dinner. she's an amazing lady. she has some mobility issues, but other than that is at least as sharp as i am (she saved me from leaving my purse at the restaurant). she's incredibly kind and gentle, but at the same time, she's no fool and when she has an opinion to voice, she does. i admire her greatly, and the relationship she and cam have is wonderful. anyway, we had just begun to peruse our menus when we heard a horrible, gasping, gurgling noise from just a bit across the dining room. it was terrifying. cam, of course, knows the heimlich maneuver, so he immediately jumped up just in case the man who was admistering it needed backup. i freaked out, mostly, i think, because the sounds so closely resembled retching, and i'm incredibly (and insensibly) afraid of all things vomit. first my hands flew up to cover my ears, and then i remember thinking i needed to be calm, and i needed to figure out how to help. it seemed like the man was getting as much assistance as possible, though i couldn't quite see clearly, so i decided my best course of action was to get away, stay clear and out of the way. i did, and soon things seemed to improve, cam returned to the table, and i did too, shakily. the poor man who was choking spent a long time doubled over just staring at the ground. i'm sure his life must have flashed before his eyes - it was very, very serious there for a bit. but as cam reported, later in the car, the piece of steak exited the same way it entered, and while the man was shaken, he was fine.

it was so, so scary. much scarier, sure, for the man who could have died. i'm a little worried about my own overreaction, but since i don't know the heimlich, i guess the best thing to say is at least i didn't get in the way. we went on to have a really nice meal and conversation, and it all turned out ok in the end. it's a good reminder, though, to be thankful for the most obvious thing: life.