Fruitless Find

Have you ever thought, “I can’t believe I did that?!”  Well, that’s what happened to me Friday.

When I got back to Dot’s after being off for a long Thanksgiving weekend, there was a big bowl of gorgeous (and gigantic) fruit on the dining room table.  Enormous green apples, huge golden pears, and the biggest green grapes I’ve seen.  I thought how nice it was that Patti (or at least it had her signature) found such realistic looking fruit and arranged it for Dot, because it’s that type of thing that is so like Dot, and it makes her happy.  It wasn’t until Friday, when Dot’s son was in the dining room, and made the remark that he was having a hard time eating all that fruit.  I turned around to see him eating grapes, and said, “They’re real!?!”  Realizing that I could have done something with all of it, if I’d been just a little more alert.  I must admit, even on a good day my fruit radar is a little hazy.  So now I found myself scrambling to preserve it, because I was off to a wedding, then cooking at a lodge for three and a half days.  It wasn’t a pretty sight!

But in my defense, the dining room is always dimly lit, and I rarely even pass through there.  How’s that for a rationalization?!

Friday I was not, well at the top of my game.  After my fruit frenzy, I made some perfectly wonderful vegetable croquettes that literally fell apart in the pan, so you obviously won’t be seeing that recipe.  And to top my day off, when I left Dot’s, I spent 3 hours grocery shopping for the lodge.  Now I love grocery stores, but even for me, that’s at least 2 hours too long.  I still can’t imagine what took me so long, I mean I didn’t get detained for sampling grapes, nor did I stop to use the restroom, or sit down to have some fabulous coffee drink.  At least I got some good exercise pushing a basket that weighed at least 300 lbs through the store.  I had considered getting 2 baskets, but I have trouble maneuvering the narrow aisles with one, and I figured organization was the key, completely forgetting total weight might be the bigger issue.  So, I counted my blessings that I didn’t run over one of the very MANY small children running around that store, because clearly it would’ve caused serious bodily damage.