liar’s poker

Some days it’s hard to channel your inner June Cleaver. When I am completely downtrodden. I cheer myself up by pretending to make dinner. We all have our quirks and this is undoubtedly one of mine.

I drove my daughter to the Dayton airport this afternoon and did a piss-poor job of hiding my tears as she went through the non-existent security line. One of my mottos has always been when the going gets rough the tough entertain. Thankfully we are throwing a party for my husband’s office this Sunday. Lord knows this empty nester and apparent Midwest real estate baroness needs distraction.

Feeling beyond crummy and knowing walking into an empty house is only going to make things worse I decided to go to Kroger’s to pick up some things for the upcoming party. The key to throwing any party is planning and making things in advance.

Going down the aisles, feeling my blood pressure drop, and the puffiness recede I brought forward the mental picture of the menu my daughter and I had created on the drive down. On the list were two great make ahead apps- Olive Bites and Cheese Puff Cups. Totally fifties, can be made weeks in advance and reside in your freezer- what’s not to love. If I got the ingredient’s today I could wake and make them tomorrow morning. Keeping busy, busy...

While planning for this weekend’s party lifted my spirits, the thought of preparing tonight’s dinner did not. Doing takeout would only make me feel worse. The solution- DiSalvo’s Deli in Dayton with their daily specials. What downtrodden Swede doesn’t secretly want a true Italian to save her day?

I walked into DiSalvo’s (still a little puffy) and the owner, Ronnie, greeted me with a big smile and sincere recognition. “Great to see you again, what can I do for you?”

Honesty being the best policy I replied, “I want to pretend I made dinner”. He winked at me and said he had the perfect thing- chicken marsala pasta. He added that I looked like I could use one of his salads too.

I thanked Ronny. His buddies at the bar waved and I genuinely waived back. Right then my cute husband called and asked if I wanted to go out for dinner. I said I had it all under control. And for the first time all afternoon I did.