I was asked to make a salad for a luncheon yesterday. This was the first time I'd been approached to help prepare food and was happy to do so. I actually gave quite a bit of thought to what I would make and I enjoyed going through my recipes, java mug in hand, looking for just the 'right' recipe. My strategy is always to make something for others that I would enjoy eating myself. I settled on a salad that would be both tasty and visually appealing - utilizing dried cranberries, cashews, salad greens, red onion, and blue cheese crumbles. In my world this is considered very tasty.
I followed the instructions on where to bring the food and what time to have it there. Not wanting the salad greens or cashews to become wilted and limp, I brought the ingredients separately and assembled them at the last minute......or so I thought. As it turned out, the actual luncheon did not begin until about an hour and a half AFTER the published time and so my salad, along with any other similar dishes, had lots of time to absorb flavors and liquids.....a recipe (pun intended) for wilted and limp.
There was zero I could do about it except to be glad I wasn't there at the actual luncheon to see my salad or experience the textures for myself. But.....this did get my brain in gear about other experiences that are similar to soggy cashews. Little life-experiences that don't quite turn out as we hope for or expect.
For example, I recently bought an angel food cake from a local bakery. It looked fine until I took off the clear, plastic top and discovered that someone had done a masterful job of creating the appearance of a cake that was all in one piece. Obviously, when the cake had been removed from the pan, there had not been quite enough non-stick surface from which the cake was released. Soggy cashews.
About a week ago, SO bought a candy bar from a young man selling them door-to-door. The candy bar was from a well-known, national brand, but upon opening the wrapping, we discovered that the candy bar was either old or had been stored improperly. Soggy cashews.
I did several loads of laundry yesterday. One of them was a load of 'good' clothes that I wanted desperately to avoid becoming wrinkled. Guess who forgot to check when the dryer stopped? Soggy cashews.
And, my final example of life's 'soggy cashews' comes from Cranky Kitty, who left me an unexpected and UNNOTICED 'gift' on the floor near her litter box this morning. My shoe found it. Very soggy cashews.
May you have no soggy cashews in your life today.....or any other day, for that matter!
Ancora imparo
