Friday, October 24, 2008

A Perfect Fall Weekend

The perfect Autumn weekend consists of: A drive in the country to see the fall foliage, which this year seems to show the most vibrant in colors that I've seen in a long time. Friday night at the high school football game where the team my son is on wins 37 - 0. Thomas has scored 5 touchdowns in the first half of 3 games so far this season! Saturday is at the food festival at my church. Every year, my Armenian church puts on a food festival for 3 days where the retired women of the congregation who make up the Ladies Guild cook for 4 weeks making the most delicious shish kabob, ground lamb kabobs, stuffed grapeleaves and cheese pies. It is my mother's cooking all over again. I am in the kitchen Saturday helping with a dish that is called kefta. This is a ball of 100% fat free sirloin made into the shape of a meatball then stuffed with a mixture of ground chuck seasoned with onions, parsley, salt and pepper. It is cooked in chicken broth. It may not sound like much, but any Armenian would remember their roots and think of their mother when they have this dish. It is very typical Armenian and very delicious. I would have taken a picture of it but I was too busy cooking and eating. I look forward to the day when I retire and be a Ladies Guild member. I want to be the one who makes the kefta. Here is one of the tireless ladies that I cooked with. Gloria - she has worked in the kitchen for 4 weeks prior to the food fest making 3,000 keftas. Doesn't she look awesomely happy for a woman who has been up for 18 hours. The completion of my fall weekend came on Sunday with the Mother/Son brunch for the football players and their moms. I have waited 4 years for this day. It is the day when the senior football players get up and, in front of their peers, say how they feel about their mothers. The truth comes out. Some say how they love their mom for being kind when the coach and the father is somewhat hard on them. Some of the players thank their mothers for doing their laundry, making their beds and feeding them. Some cry about how much they care for their mother. Some are funny. My son said he loved me because I supported him, encouraged him, made the best dinners he ever had and put up with him when his favorite NFL team loses which seems to happen every week lately. All I can say was, the day lived up to my expectations. The weekend ends with the traditional carving of the pumpkins: It is October - my favorite month. I wish I could have this good of a time every weekend.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Damn, those pumpkins are amazing! And sounds like a great weekend. I love October too. It's the best of all seasonal worlds!!