Oh, happy Saturday! So what if it was raining when I headed out on my errands? My large and obnoxious golf umbrella would keep me dry. A visit to a friend’s house was also on my itinerary; I had no complaints.
My visit, ill-timed, was right in the middle of some impromptu parenting. Then it was over and my friend apologized. I don’t have children; what could I say? My friend is an engaged, loving, and selfless parent. She wants her children to grow up to be responsible adults — engaged, loving, and selfless.
The house cleared of children and my friend shared the details of her recent parental struggle. I listened, because that’s what friends do. Several times during the conversation, my friend apologized for elaborating on topics she thought I wouldn’t care to hear about. I was happy to listen. I reminded her of the many times the conversational situation had been reversed and I was yammering on about something far more trivial than raising the next generation. Things like an injustice at a nail salon or being ignored by an hors d’oeuvres passing waiter at a cocktail party.
Our visit flew by and then I was back in the car, heading home. I thought about my friend and out of the deep recesses of my brain, unlocked from an Aqua-net hairspray mist, came a memory of her kindness.
It was 1985. Senior year at the University of Maine at Orono and the whole year was one slow plod towards graduation. There were classes and papers, but mostly there was coffee and waiting. Coffee in big cups from 7-11 in Orono, coffee in the Bear’s Den, and even coffee in the Damn Yankee, a hang-out for graduate students and off-campus characters with big knapsacks and bags. Granolas, we called them.
I don’t remember the price of a cup of coffee back then, but I never seemed to have any money when my friend would suggest “let’s get a cup of coffee.” Why was that? I had a work-study job.
“I’m broke. Can you spot me a cup?”
She always said “sure.” Sometimes, she’d spot me a cookie or a sandwich, too.
It felt awful being broke, without money for a cup of coffee. I’m sure it was some type of financial mismanagement on my part. Maybe I took my friend’s largesse for granted for a time. It can happen. I don’t think she kept an accounting of coffee cups, but deep within me, I knew I needed to overcome the empty pocketbook financial shortfall.
1985 merged into 1986 and we graduated from college and the coffee klatch dispersed. I was living in Portland, trying to become responsible. Once in a while, my friend Ed would ask me if I could “spot” him a cup of coffee and I would.
I don’t remember making any kind of Scarlett O’Hara oath, vowing that me and mine would never go without coffee again, but as time has passed, I’ve always tried to have enough money in my pocketbook to buy another person a cup of coffee or a cookie.
Coffee, cookies, empty pocketbooks. Why was I telling this story?
Oh. It was about investments and investors. “Angel investors.”
Friendship, listening, and yes, sometimes cups of coffee are sort of like investments, albeit of a spiritual nature. Like anything in life, friendship is risky and speculative. Prior to investing in friendship, one must consider carefully whether it is suitable, in light of one’s circumstances and resources and in light of the risk. In friendship, one should be able and willing to assume the total loss of the investment.
There is an alternative to such risky investments. It’s called loneliness.
Decide for yourself.
Gnomes and pajamas…the spam bots are going to have fun with this post.
Julie-Ann Baumer 
Maraschino Moxie Minced
This week, I started working in earnest on the details for the Moxie Recipe Contest. Some of my newer readers may not know this, but last year I “hosted” a cooking contest during the Moxie Festival in Lisbon Falls. Excitement, food, new friends, all stirred up with a splash (or a gallon) of Moxie soda. We had fabulous prizes, celebrity judges, and swag bags for entrants.
I was even on Tee Vee!
It was so exciting that I’ve actually been dreading this year’s contest. What if it falls short of last year’s thrill-a-minute food fest? OF COURSE there will be wonderful prizes to win again (like an orange Cuisinart immersion hand blender or two)! Yes, and celebrity judges! Swag bags? But of course. New this year, ribbons for the winners. But what certain something or special twist will make the contest new and fresh?
My first brainstorm, given that I’m an apron-loving throwback to another time was “Mid-century Moxie.” “Mid-century modern” is a term that applies to architecture, products, and the zeitgeist of the middle of the last century (including the 50’s). The Atomic Age, baby! By extension, it could include the food of suburbia. After the privation of World War II, Americans moved into the suburbs and cut loose. Their desire for convenience lead to casseroles, grilled nibbles on a stick, and inventive main dishes fortified by crushed breakfast cereal, Lipton onion soup mix, and Jell-O. The Moxie Recipe Contest could be a showcase for cooks to create recipes that captured the Mid-century modern flavor and spirit.
Can you see it?
I ran the idea by a few of my trusted advisors and friends. They’re so kind, never saying things like “that’s the craziest idea you’ve ever thought up” or “it’s completely unworkable.” They say things like:
“First off, you know I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE any recipe that calls for potato chips, a can of cola, mayonnaise, and tomato soup (in cakes), etc. I have even seen a casserole that you top with (no lie) Funyuns. My only concern is that the category might be too limiting. And I foresee a lot of cocktail weenies in crockpots with Moxie sauces (NOT that that’s a bad thing…). How about something like the television show Chopped.”
I did a little research and ran it by my trusted advisors again. Another said:
“Oh, I love Chopped. That could be difficult, though, because it requires a time limit, a provided pantry, and cooking live instead of at home. But we could adapt it!”
So here I sit at sunrise under my kitchen surgery light, testing half-baked ideas for the Moxie Recipe Contest with a toothpick. Thank goodness for my trusted advisors! But I need a few more suggestions. Are you a fan of Chopped? How would you adapt the show’s rules to the Moxie Recipe Contest? What ingredients (besides Moxie soda) would you require for the “basket?”
The Moxie Recipe Contest will be held on Friday evening, July 11, 2014, at Chummy’s Restaurant in Lisbon Falls, Maine. The judging begins at 5:00 p.m.
More to come!