In life and in death

It's been a rather serious week here at OSH, and as a result, I'm searching for an all-purpose sharing dish. A close friend of mine lost her Opa last week, and the visitation and funeral were this week. In addition, an acquaintance from church (whose kids I've looked after in the nursery) is pregnant and due in April, but is on bed rest because she was having copious contractions. Imagine bed rest with two little boys running around!

Anyway, when life begins and when it ends (and I guess at many points in between), the sharing of food is always appropriate and needed. Back in the fall, when I had little D, we had some great friends and family who brought us meals to eat right away or to freeze, and it was invaluable. My criteria for practical meals: they have to be delicious (something we ourselves would enjoy), free of common allergens (i.e. nuts), made from readily available ingredients, and, ideally, something that shows we care for the people on the receiving end. After much research, there are two dishes I've found that would work well, one sweet and one savoury.

The dish the first: Monkey Bread, brought to my attention by Deb, the genius behind Smitten Kitchen. It's like many tiny cinnamon buns that you pull apart. As an experiment, I made it with regular cinnamon bun icing (icing sugar + milk) instead of cream cheese, since it was easier. It does take awhile to prepare, but that fulfills the criterion of showing care. The only ingredient that you may not have readily available (unless, like me, you have a breadmaker) is yeast. I test baked it, and then made it again to bring it to dinner with some friends visiting from the States.

The dish the second: Cheesy Chicken & Rice Casserole. I came across a version of this recipe several years ago, and it's nothing original, but it's a good, hearty meal. I'm planning to test cook this before I send it out, because it's been awhile since I last made it.

Baby Dee is exclaiming quite loudly, so I'll have to sign off now.