Meal For Moi

Today was my day to cook staff lunch at the church. I was still eating breakfast when I got a text from the associate priest. He gave me a heads up that the kitchen was low on eggs, said he wouldn't be around for lunch, and offered some of the brisket he made over the weekend if I wanted to serve it today.

I would normally jump on an offer of prepared food, but I had already planned out a meal based on what I wanted. The church has a tradition of celebrating people's birthdays; and since it's MY birthday this week I decided that I wanted frozen toasted ravioli, salad with sweet Italian dressing, and Italian bread. I know enough about this group to think that they would also enjoy the meal, so I sent a text back to the associate priest and let him know.

When I arrived everyone in the office wished me a Happy Birthday. I went back to the kitchen and got started. The only 'cooking' was to prepare marinara sauce for the ravioli. The recipe takes less than 10 minutes to put together, but then needs to simmer for 45 minutes. While it was cooking I opened the salad greens, poured them into a bowl, arranged tomato wedges on top, and put it back into the refrigerator to chill. I put stacks of plates, silverware, and napkins at one end of the island.

The toasted ravioli took 25 minutes, including oven preheating time. While it was baking I staged everything on the island for serving. I got the salad and dressing out of the refrigerator and dumped croutons from the bag into a small bowl. I placed the store-bought sliced Italian bread on a plate and put a container of butter next to it. When the ravioli was done I put it into a serving bowl and poured the sauce into a container. Just like that the meal was ready.

The one thing I did not do was worry about a dessert, because the office admin purchased one for me. Based on what I had told her I liked she chose a chocolate layer cake with chocolate icing. It was decadent, and a great end to the meal.

Five years ago: A Jewel Of A House