By Peggy Goodrich, Commentary
How long has it been since you spent an entire day doing just what you wanted to do?
Last week, on Veterans Day, we did just that. We attended the school assembly at Taft Elementary School, as Jim usually does on that special day. Taft has adopted him as their veteran, and he has attended that assembly every year for about 15 or 16 years. The students there are so attentive and appreciative. It is a joy to be with them. Our daughter, Linda Ridgway, teaches there so it is a special treat to see her in action with her pupils.
Right after the assembly we went to Oklahoma City with our special driver, Randy, and his wife, Kim. They are much younger than we are, but we enjoy their company and their positive outlook on life. They feel almost like our own kids. They happened to mention they were both off work for Veterans Day, so we began to make plans to go to Oklahoma City and have them drive us and assist with Jim in his wheel chair.
We spent several hours at the Western Heritage Center. We are always pleased and amazed at the art work on display there that is changed at various times to always keep things fresh and new. We spent some time in the gift shop looking at all the beautiful things. It was decorated for Christmas with the most gorgeous trees and decorations I have ever seen. The trees were huge and were adorned with deer horns, large copper Christmas balls, wire, grape vines, seed pods, and ropes. There were two of these trees in the large entry hall.
We enjoyed a delicious, beautiful lunch at the Persimmon Hill Restaurant located in the Heritage Center. There was even a guide describing the buffet and how each dish was prepared. The service was exquisite. It is one of the best kept secrets of the museum. I think Randy and Kim were pleasantly surprised at the array of beautiful foods on the buffet. We were pleased, too, but we had been there before and knew what to expect.
After we visited every area of the Heritage Center, we shopped at a mall. Jim and I had not been shopping for a long time just to see the stores and how they were decorated and stocked. We thoroughly enjoyed it. It was great to hear the sounds and see the displays and handle the merchandise.
It was a beautiful fall day to travel. The weather was perfect. The countryside was pretty and the wheat fields were green. Aren’t we fortunate to have green in our landscapes all year long? In the winter, we have green wheat fields and golden pastures. In the summer it reverses with golden fields of wheat and green pastures and trees. The trees were beginning to look like winter with all their leaves fallen and a bleakness creeping in.
I am convinced over and over we should make every day count but enjoy an occasional day when we don’t have to do anything we don’t want to do or be a certain place at a certain time. We just enjoyed the entire day doing just what we wanted to do. We came home tired but refreshed and ready to go back to routine. Don’t we all deserve an occasional timeout for ourselves?
One of the foods we enjoyed at the Persimmon Hill Restaurant was white chili made with chicken and white beans. It was delicious. I found and adjusted a recipe much like the soup we enjoyed there.
White Chili
1 tablespoon butter
1 large onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 chicken breasts
water to cover chicken
3 (16 ounce) cans Great Northern Beans
1 (4.5 ounces) chopped green chilies
salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons fresh chopped cilantro
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 to 2 teaspoon dried basil leaves
Cook chicken breasts in water with a little salt until tender. Cool, bone and chop cooked chicken. Cook onion and garlic in butter. Add to chopped chicken and broth. Add chilies, seasonings, and well drained and rinsed beans. Simmer until ready to serve with tortilla chip or corn bread. Complete the meal with peppermint ice cream or something cool.
Send your comments to: Peggy Goodrich, Food For Thought, P.O. Box 1192, Enid, OK 73702.
