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How to Make Friends--with TNCW

When Daughter No. 1 was a baby, we were new to Small Town and didn't know many people. Quite often, it was just me and my little girl in the house all day while husband was at work. We developed a daily routine, and life was good although a little lonely.

Eventually I met other people my age with little kids. We were starved for adult social interaction, and we started meeting once a week at my church. I think between us all, we had something like twenty-five kids under five—we were a big group. Some of us would get together on different days for lunch and play, and since there were toddlers involved, the lunch was always something simple. It was usually Kraft Macaroni and Cheese and frozen peas. What a combination. It seems that when you have a toddler, you tend to eat like one.

One day when it was my turn to host a mom or two and their little kids, I made a batch of something I often threw together when it was just No. 1 and me. I mixed pasta of some kind with canned tuna, frozen peas, some mayo, and salt and pepper. Poof. A chilled lunch salad even an adult could stomach. The visiting mom was so impressed--she, like most of us, didn't get out very often and had forgotten what it was like to eat food that didn't look like mush. She wrote down my make-shift recipe and spread it around to the others in our group. Before long, they were all making it, but not just for kid lunches. They were making it for adult company. They were taking it to pot lucks. They were writing it down in their private recipe collections.

I think it isn't the level of cooking skill you put into the food you offer to guests. It's the effort you put into making something just for them. Even if you serve nothing more than a big bowl of pasta with peas and tuna, or even if you do nothing but make tuna noodle casserole served cold, you have made it as a gesture of hospitality. And that's how you make friends.

Comments

Fresh Hell said…
There is something to be said for seasoning your meals with affection, no?
dive said…
That's very true, Robyn.
The thought of a whole bunch of Moms sitting round eating mush is going to keep me grinning all day.
Gina said…
For years I ate like a toddler, you're right!

I have no comment on the tuna casserole.
Miz Minka said…
I'm really enjoying Tuna Noodle Casserole Week. :) Maybe you could choose a dish every month and devote one week to it.
Anonymous said…
Robyn you have redeemed yourself. I can do cold tuna and pasta but not heated together. I almost can't even typr it!
Mrs. G. said…
I love tuna noodle casserole....keep these posts coming. When are you going to explore mashed potatoes?

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