Sharing With Friends

Dorrie and I have been friends for 8 or more years. We have an interesting history that definitely should make the blog sometime. We've shared a lot over the years, including feeding our kids. During our summer tuna canning, Dorrie would sometimes make this recipe using Deluxe Kraft Mac 'n Cheese in a tuna noodle casserole which I mistakenly called tuna mac' cheese in an earlier blog. Milk, margarine, cream of celery soup, Deluxe Mac 'n cheese, tuna (we use our own, of course!), frozen peas, and bread make up the ingredients.

Like lots of moms, Dorrie is happy when she finds a recipe that her son, Tanner, will eat. Tanner is 10 - right between Robby and Katie. He is sometimes a picky eater, although sometimes he eats ravenously. She discovered this tuna noodle casserole recipe in the Kraft Make It Simple Recipe Collection. Tanner loves it and eats this ravenously. It has peas, lovely crouton topping, and creamy noodles and tuna. After blogging about tuna recipes, I asked Dorrie if she would make it for us so that I could write about it. We decided to make it a party!

It has taken me a while to share my writing - with friends or with anyone! I still have insecurities about writing, even though I've been writing since I was young. I haven't really shared my words. I wrote poetry when I was really little, but the only people I ever shared my little rhymes with were my mother and father. During my most formative years, of course, teachers were my audience. In my truly grown up life, however, I've kept my writing in my notebooks and electronic files until recently. Now, since I've been writing my blog, I've shared my writing with more and more friends. Dorrie's casserole was another way to share. Jennifer, Judy and Austin were there. And of course, Robby and Katie, Dorrie and Tanner.

One thing I definitely want to model for my kids is having friends. I remember the days that we hung out with my mom's friends and their families. Mostly I remember the Dempseys. They had four kids just like us. Really similar ages to us. I remember my mom and Mrs. Dempsey laughing and having a ball. The Dempseys lived on a lake, so we liked to visit in the summer to swim and lay around the dock. I hope that my kids have memories like this when they grow up. I know we will still be friends with Dorrie and Tanner. Robby, Katie and Tanner will tell stories..."Remember the time we made tuna noodle casserole for Mom's blog?"

I added to our casserole night by bringing a bottle of Desert Wind Ruah to the party. It is a red cabernet from Washington's Desert Wind winery that I found in the wine section by accident. I was so excited when I found it, I about did cartwheels in the aisle. Need some background? Judy asked me a couple of years ago to play piano for a church choir. I hesitantly agreed. I peck at the piano. I took lessons when I was a kid but really didn't keep it up. But, the church was in need and Judy is incredibly supportive (and persuasive), so I have persevered. Our choir is called "Ruah", which is an ancient word (which language, I don't know, but maybe Judy can help here), that means "breath of God". I was so excited to find the wine with the same name, I bought it for Judy. She poured it into Dorrie's eclectic wine glass collection for us to enjoy.

The casserole is a pretty compact recipe. My favorite part of the preparations was watching Dorrie's fancy noodle pot. Her lid is the colander. Fancy and smart. The casserole baked for a while filling the room with that homey noodle and cheese fragrance. Then we gathered around the table.

Look at the beautiful casserole. Tanner couldn't even get through Grace before he was picking the croutons off the top! He had at least two plate-fulls of it. We had a great night. We laughed a lot and shared a lot. The boys played a lot of Wii. They entertained us by throwing grapes up and trying to catch them in their mouths. A great idea that came from the night and hopefully our next childhood food memory blog - Judy's waffles.