Modern Day Miracle in a Pot of Noodles

So if there is one thing that you must know about me by now it's that I am a little extreme - a little "all or nothing". I’m not saying it’s an admirable quality, one that you should strive to attain in your own life. In fact, I think this attribute (or oddity) has brought me more grief than gratification over the years. I’m not saying it’s a good thing, I’m just saying…well, that’s me. I was in true form today. As a follow through on our church goal for the New Year to increase our visiting, I decided to host a dinner party. This may seem like no big deal for many of you quality hosting type people, like my mother or my sister, but for all my moaning about being a “Martha” – I put on a shockingly small number of dinner parties. To tell you the truth, I don’t think that I have ever cooked for more than four people. So – extreme girl as I am … tonight I was cooking for eight – and that was two less than originally invited.

I spent a lot of time today bemoaning my choices and asking myself “What was I thinking?” I poured through recipe books and carefully calculated my options – looking for maximum ease and minimum stress. And really – there was only one option…the choice for this rookie chef was quite evident – Spaghetti and Meat sauce. No one can screw up Spaghetti and Meat sauce…can they?

So I’ll bet that you are anticipating that I will be regaling you with great tales of woe and disaster - stories of the spaghetti turning to rubber, the meat sauce catching on fire and the garlic bread being used for batting practice. Would you take such joy in my trauma? Well, sorry to disappoint, but it was not a disaster – I did say I had some Martha blood in me didn’t I? I did however, experience I lovely modern day Biblical miracle right in my very own kitchen. Do you remember the story of the widow’s oil…the oil that kept growing and never ran dry? Well, who would have thought, but the modern day equivalent to the widow’s oil is Shirley’s spaghetti pot.

I have been aware for some time now of my inability to determine the desired amount of spaghetti for the right amount of people. Harv and I have been known to have spaghetti in gargantuan proportions as I happily keep adding to the pot. Five years of marriage and cooking has not added to my wisdom in the spaghetti making department. Add to my lack of wisdom, the pressure of feeding 8 people, and a very large stock pot, and… well I’m sure you can well imagine the picture that I am painting for you here. I don’t know if I have ever seen so much spaghetti. Did you ever see that scene in the movie Patch Adams – where one of the senior’s life long dreams was to swim in a vat of noodles? They filled a pool with noodles, and in she jumped. I was reminded of that scene tonight at supper. I'm planning to jump into my bathing suit right after I write this.

Maybe we will watch that movie tomorrow as we eat supper. You can just guess what we will be eating.