Apple Bread and Throw-as-you-go Stew

It was a Holiday no-school Monday when Kathe and I got together to cook. The kids hadn’t had a chance to play in a while and I missed our friend time. Kathe left me a message saying that she hoped to at least get dinner made while we were all together. So, I loaded up a tote bag with whatever I had left in the fridge — apples, onions, frozen shrimp, some chicken — and set off with no certain cooking goal in mind. When I got there, the kids ran instantly to the back yard and began an intense game of tag.

I unloaded my bag and Kathe took note of my apples since she also had several bushels from a family apple picking day. We decided to make apple bread, and with all of the other miscellaneous food items between us, we had only one choice for our dinner— a throw-as-you-go stew.

We set out with little direction except that we knew we needed something all of our kids and both husbands would eat. Kathe fired up her grill and began seasoning chicken with Cajun spices as I peeled and chopped apples for the bread. While the first batch of bread was in the oven, I began chopping onions, garlic and peppers for our stove-top stew.

Two pots were on the stove, a bit of sizzling olive oil in each. As I chopped, I threw things in. Between grilling moments, Kathe came into the kitchen to chop a vegetable or clean a dish. It was chaotic at times, but before we knew it, Kathe’s house was filled with enough good smells to tempt our children away from their intense game of tag.

We didn’t get a whole lot of talking done, but we spent time together and made a lot of food in a very short time. Neither of us spent a dime yet we each had several meals — breakfast and dinner.