Confessions of a Foodie

One reason I think people enjoy the holiday season is because of the wide variety of food available. Baked goods, specialty breads and candies are bountiful, tempting us to indulge. Typically, when January rolls around, we’re left with a sugar hangover while searching for the phone number of the nearest weight loss center.

Usually during the holiday season, we are invited to a company or other  organization party. These can range from the informal to the suit and tie affair. Because of the busy-ness of the season, this year CV Weekly had a small post-holiday party in January.

I wanted to do something special for my crew, something that maybe they hadn’t enjoyed before. So I called Lissa over at Dream Dinners on Pennsylvania to see what ideas she might have.

I’ve been a fan of Dream Dinners for some time. For those unfamiliar, Dream Dinners is a unique idea in meal preparation. It removes all menu planning, shopping, prep-work and clean up by moving the meal assembly process out of people’s kitchens and into specially equipped stores.

Each month, guests can choose meals from a menu that changes each month. They check off what meals they want to assemble in either three or six serving sizes, choose a session time, then head over armed with sacks or coolers in which to transport the assembled meals home to their freezer.

Upon arriving at Dream Dinners, guests will find cards printed with information on how to cook the meals that were ordered and are about to be assembled. Prep stations are set up with the ingredients for each of the meals selected. You take the instruction cards to the appropriate stations and start pulling together the ingredients. Once assembled, the meal is stored in a Ziploc bag and a staff member stores it in a big freezer until you’re done. While assembling your meals, generally staff will bring out samples of customer favorites, cookies or other items for you to try.

About 17 of us headed over to Dream Dinners for the CV Weekly party and boy did we have fun! Everyone was eager to assemble their meals while trying some goodies that Lissa and her crew made for us. The whole event lasted about two hours and, at the end of it, everyone left with several meals ready to cook.

Since January, I’ve overheard my CV Weekly folks comparing meals they’ve prepared and sharing their favorites. In fact, this past Saturday morning I was back at Dream Dinners, ready to fill my freezer with more of their meals.

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Dream Dinners was not my only culinary delight this past weekend. On Saturday night, Steve and I made our way to the annual Red Thunder Mid-winter Barbecue Bash. Red Thunder is the moniker of a friend of ours who has long dazzled us with his barbecue talents. Whether chicken, tri tip or macaroni and cheese, Red Thunder doesn’t disappoint. His mid-winter event is highly anticipated to say the least, not just for the food but also for the chance to catch up with old friends or to make some new ones.

This past Saturday was no exception. With a fire pit blazing in the side yard and live music playing, I quickly engaged in conversation with some new friends. At one point, I marveled that just a couple of years ago I had to wear snow boots to Red Thunder’s party whereas this year I didn’t even bring a sweater. You just never know what the weather will bring.

And of course on Sunday it was all about Founder’s Day in Montrose. We had dozens of visitors stop by the CV Weekly booth throughout the day to learn more about the community’s favorite newspaper. The best part came at the end of the event when Mary O’Keefe was honored with the Montrose Shopping Park Humanitarian Award – an excellent choice in honoree I must say.

To top the day off was the presentation of a 10-layer cake baked by Henry over at Montrose Bakery. Mary Dawson and I were the designated slicers and we kept Henry and my son Daniel, who works at Montrose Bakery, busy bringing the layers over to be cut. Thanks to the Prom Plus Club members and other volunteers who assisted us with the mammoth job.

After all that eating, I only have one question: where is that number for Weight Watchers?

  robin goldsworthy