Pork and Saurkraut for Supper

Evan is hungry these days. Four days of chemo and a couple more days of tasting chemo coupled with one of my greatest culinary disasters (no kidding -- rice burned to the texture of gravel) on his first day of really wanting to eat again brought him to the point of talking recipes. So yesterday it was grocery shopping day.

Alyssa's cupboards are well equipped with all it takes to keep a single, health-conscious woman fed. As far as Evan and Paul are concerned, they might as well be empty. All that whole grain, organic stuff leaves them begging for "real" food. Too bad Paul headed back home on Monday ... he's not cashing in on the benefits of his griping here.

Yesterday was salmon patties, baked potatoes and fresh broccoli. Now that I'm finally getting the hang of Alyssa's stove, it was more than presentable; it was very good. Evan ate enough salmon for at least two people. It's always so good to see him eating again after the chemo days. Bulking up for the next round is what it's all about.

Today it's pork and saurkraut in Alyssa's brand new red crock pot. The apartment smells soooo good! Of course, yesterday's Christmas cookie baking created quite the pleasant aroma, as well. Alyssa asked if I'd bake cookies for her students. (Isn't it funny that I'm sending cookies to school again?!) I just happened to have the holiday issue of Cook's Illustrated here and volunteered to make the sugar cookie recipe listed under the "Easier Holiday Cookies" article.

Easier than what? Maybe easier splitting an atom, but I've never done that so I can't say for sure. Lesson learned (again): read the recipe through to the end! Although these cookies had a list of simple ingredients, with the exception of the baker's superfine sugar of which Alyssa now owns more than she will ever use in her lifetime, the instructions were absurd. Beginning with blending 2 sticks of unsalted butter 1 tablespoon at a time -- did I mention that my daughter's mixer is a piece of junk? -- to kneading the dough by hand to rolling it out and then refrigerating it before cutting it to baking it one cookie sheet at a time in her Barbie dream house-sized kitchen, this recipe was a ridiculous test of my patience. Before I began, I thought of making 2 batches back-to-back so that I'd have a batch to give Kit when he comes up this weekend. By the time I finished, I knew that Kit loves good old Mary's Sugar Cookies from my trusty friend and cookbook author, Betty Crocker. I'm sure he will happily wait until I get home to my Kitchenaid mixer and adult-sized oven to reap the benefits of some Christmas baking.

After all that baking trauma, Alyssa forgot to take the cookies with her this morning. Luckily she works just a few minutes away from the BMT clinic, so the cookies, along with the icing she made (I'd reached my limit by then) and the colored sugar for her students to use in decorating the most time-consuming cookies they will ever experience on American soil, were handed off in a quick drop off when the morning's appointments were finished.

Evan is resting this afternoon. Tiredness may be the result of his blood count dropping. The drop is expected and can really be viewed as a good thing. It will drop for a few days and then start going up again. That going up is what we're waiting for right now. Once the counts rise to the right levels, the collection of his stem cells will begin. His inner strength throughout his entire ordeal is amazing. He rarely complains (except about traffic) and keeps focused on moving ahead. The collection and transplant will depend on that strength as well as his physical strength. To that end, the saurkraut and pork is the least I can do. If you're in the neighborhood stop in, we have plenty to share!