Yes, a chef, my dears...
Let me say this. I never led a luxury life even when we were in the chips. And the only chef I ever had was myself (aside from my fastidious and discriminating best-cook-ever mother, in my early years). I am that chef still. I decide the menu and one thing I have definitely decided on is this:
NO PACKAGED FOODS OF ANY KIND.
All those luxury places, with chef-planned meals, are, I am quite sure, serving up meals --however beautiful they look--that are quite poisonous, especially for old people. Well, for anybody, but right now I am thinking of old people.
So, if I ran the Old Folks' Home, here is what we'd eat.
For breakfast, we would have organic non GMO oatmeal and fruit. Period. Even if we had to order the oatmeal from Europe. For the sake of my favorite food, we could have a piece of toast (white of course) with butter.
Coffee and tea would be allowed, but if you wanted orange juice you'd have to eat the orange. These suggestions (mandates) are from the latest of health and dietary discoveries, and they are surprisingly unanimous in their findings.
OK, could there be sugar? Why not. We're old, we deserve it. Our teeth are already about as shot as they're going to get. But if we have diabetes we could only have saccharin, the pure chemical, as a sweetener instead. Saccharin is sweet enough to please us a bit, but NOT full of the additives and extra chemicals that affect our brain. Nobody who eats a saccharin-sweetened product would ever be confused as to what it is. This knowledge is important; it reflects what our brain/body knows.
Could we have milk? Well, heavy cream is so fat-heavy that the amount of milk solids is very very small...so, even on a dairy-free diet it couldn't hurt to put one teaspoonful in a cup of coffee. Argue with me if you must.
Luncheon will be served promptly at noon. "Anyone who is late will not get fruit cup." That's a quote from High Anxiety, one of my favorite nutty movies. You won't get fruit cup in any case, but you will get a first course. My reasons for having a first course are these: it slows down the meal (everyone complains that three hours are spent on preparation and the meal is wolfed down in ten or fifteen minutes. If you have a first course, the meal is immediately made more leisurely.
What to have? There are myriads of great first courses, but I think the best ones will focus on using lots of vegetables in some form, because everyone is ravenous and will eat them. Bruschetta with tomatoes, a plate with asparagus and lemon, broccoli with a brown butter sauce...lots of ideas come to mind. Shake out your napkin and dig in. You can always have soup (half a cup is the usual serving standard), or salad with plenty of celery, cucumbers, and so forth to add different vitamins to it....
After the first course will come the "second plate," where the main protein offering will be served. Any meat, fish or fowl accompanied by some rice or potatoes or Italian-grown wheat pasta, plus another vegetable or two. This course will be the main protein of the day, so it should be adequate for the needs of the elderly, who need more protein than one might think.
Dessert will be fruit. Yes, fruit. Here is a fried apple dish I made last night...sliced apples including the peel, simmered in a little clarified butter or ghee, with a couple of dates cut up, sprinkled with real cinnamon and a few specks of nutmeg. Add a very few grains of salt and your recipe is enhanced for natural sweetness. It's true.
How good that dish is! There are other good dishes like berries cooked with arrowroot, that will make you think of pie without the crust! Or, put on the crust in the form of a small triangle of crispy baked pie dough to garnish the top. Yum. In the summer, sliced strawberries with balsamic vinegar...
At my old folks' home,e veryone will want a snooze after that meal, but by four they'll be up for tea, and tea will be served. This is the time to bring out the cake or cookies or other pastry offering. Just enough to remind us that there will be a heaven.
At five thirty, supper will be served. "Breakfast for Supper" was always a favorite in our old age, so you 'll get your eggs now. There 's an infinite variety of egg recipes from boiled to baked..all good. And one or two pieces of toast, a dab of jam to make it all worth while...More fruit if desired but not too much.
And that's it. Unvarying from day to day, but always good. Nothing pre-cooked, pre-packaged, or instant. Everything from scratch every time. Does that not sound heavenly? If they could promise me that at some aspiring "Manor," I'd put my name on the list tomorrow, give up my chattels, and GO.
Yes, I would. YAZZYBEL
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