Covered Dish
Hello, fellow human!
I hope your week has gone well. The most fun of the week for me was dining with my younger child and attending the Margaret Glaspy show in Cleveland on Tuesday. Magical meal, conversation and music. On the drive to Cleveland, hints of yellow and red were expanding across the green tree canopies. The trees in their seasonal burlesque, tempting us with exotic color changes, leaving nothing to the imagination by Thanksgiving. Warm Fall is shifting to Cool Fall…perhaps temporary, but the cool air yesterday prompted me to make a nice pot of beef vegetable soup.
Our friend lost her father this past Monday. I was on standby to cook some food for her whenever doing so would be helpful. I received the text message on Wednesday, and got to work. The night before I enjoyed a wonderful Pasta Bolognese at Gigis on Fairmount. It was so satisfying and comforting, that it made sense for me to make something similar for my friend and her assembled family.
One of my favorite comedians is Rob Delaney. His early tweets from 2009 or so made me laugh out loud so many times. It was comedic love at first tweet. He was able to leverage his social media notoriety into acting gigs, Catastrophe being a wonderful example of his work. In addition to his comedic sensibilities, I have felt bonded to Delaney because he too named one of his children Henry.
Henry Delaney died in 2018 at the tender age of 2 1/2. A brain tumor that formed on his brain stem was the cause. Last year Rob published a book about Henry, the process of caring for him, grieving his loss and figuring out how to move on without him. It’s title is A Heart That Works. Rob was interviewed by NPR this past week to talk about Henry, and the book. In the interview, Delaney mentioned that people often ask him for advice regarding what to say to people who are grieving. His response: “The answer is it doesn't matter what you say because no words are going to help. And that's OK. Don't be afraid of that fact, because what is going to help is a casserole, a foot massage, that type of thing. Going into their house, forcibly removing them from it, locking them out of their own home and making them go for a walk around the block while you play with their kids and take out the trash. That's what helps. That's what love is and looks like when people go through tragedy.” It’s an amazing interview. You can listen to it here (have a tissue handy).
So, I made a casserole Wednesday (and a salad). Acts of service. Deeds rather than words. I’m so lucky to have been in a position to help when the request came. Words will always fall short. So will food. I don’t know if our taste buds even work the same when we are grieving. It feels wrong to enjoy anything too much. But I did put love into it, trying to make it as delicious and comforting as possible.
If you find yourself caring for people with food, this collection of recipes from Pinch of Yum can be helpful.
Sunday Supper
Of course I have to share the lasagna recipe for this week’s Sunday Supper - here is a link to it. FYI - I did not make the fresh pasta. I simply substituted no-boil lasagna noodles from Barilla. In addition to the pasta, this copycat Olive Garden salad is a great accompaniment. Enjoy!
Sunday Music
I stumbled across a new artist this week that I am so happy to share with you. Her name is Madison Cunningham, and her artistic range, both melodically and lyrically is really impressive. Some of her performances remind me of Joni Mitchell, and others evoke memories of the late Jeff Buckley. This collaboration with Lake Street Dive is what put Madison on my radar. One year ago, she performed at NPR’s Tiny Desk, and I just couldn’t leave out this cover of the Beatle’s song In My Life. Enjoy!
Have a great week ahead! Offer support to others. Make good use of this day. And let me know how I can help.
Peace & Love,
Neal