October 14, 2024 Breakfast - Bagels with cream cheese. Lunch - a bagel with Cream cheese, onion, and whitefish salad Dinner with Mts. Lindemuth.

October 14, 2024 Breakfast - Bagels with cream cheese. Lunch - a bagel with Cream cheese, onion, and whitefish salad  Dinner with Mts. Lindemuth.

Jean had bought pretzel bagels for us.  I toasted two of them and spread them with cream cheese for breakfast with a cup of tea for breakfast.

The plan the girls had made was to serve their mother, Sara Jane, who lives in the Masonic Nursing home a dinner of Crab Cakes, Creamed corn, and creamed asparagus with bits of bread at her regular dinner time at 4:30.

At 10:30 we drove to Oregon Dairy to shop for crab and bought a can of lump meat crab from Indonesia, plus a lb. of Scallop pieces, three shallots, a package of sugar snap peas, a package of snow peas, and a lemon. I also picked up a six pack of everything bagels, a small container of whitefish salad, and two lb. loafs of fruit cake.

Then we drove to the Wies Supermarket in Ephrata to buy wine for tonight’s meal and those we might make later. We bought a Franciscan and another Sauvignon Blanc, a Josh rose, a Mondavi Pinot Noir, a Riscal Reserva Rioja, and a Trapiche Malbec.  We also bought a carrot cake roll stuffed with a cream cheese icing.

When we returned to Jean’s at 1:00 I toasted a slice of everything bagel and spread cream cheese and whitefish salad on it and garnished it with a couple of slices of onion for lunch with a cup of tea.

Then I went up to nap until 2:00 and the girls made and cooked 7 crab cakes that were mostly crab meat with some crushed saltine crackers and egg sautéed them in butter. They also packed five of Mrs. Lindemuth’s Noritake Azalea pattern plates, some of Jean’s preserved asparagus, a small container of milk and two slices of toasted bread, the carrot roll, and the bottle of Franciscan Sauvignon Blanc and we drove to Elizabethtown to Don and Bev’s cottage and picked a cooler Don had left with a bag of creamed corn and drove to the Health Care unit at the Masonic Homes. Jean had packed all the items in a large plastic storage box and we also took the small critter Suzette bought for her mother at Brandywine Museum yesterday.

When we arrived at Masonic Homes we carted all the food and plates and critter to the third floor where Mrs. Lindemuth lives and arranged the plates on a round table in the room adjoining the dining room/TV room. Then the girls gave their mother the critter and placed it on the window sill of the window where Mrs. Lindemuth sits by the bird feeder outside the window. They then rolled Mrs Lindemuth from her normal place by the window to the table set for dinner and placed a hospital table in front of her so she could reach the plate. The attendants who were serving dinner heated the corn and asparagus and Jean tore the toast into bite-sized pieces and added the bread to the container of asparagus and poured the hot milk over the Aspragus to create the dish of creamed asparagus that Mrs. Lindemuth loves. I then served everyone a crab cake and we passed the creamed corn and asparagus with milk around, and Suzette poured glasses of the Sauvignon blanc and we enjoyed the Lindemuth’s favorite meal.

The crab cakes were excellent. I consider them the second best I have ever eaten. The best were with my cousins at the Baltimore Tennis Club made with only Maryland crab lump meat, a little Old Bay seasoning, and egg white.

After we finished the main course zsuzette served us slices of carrot roll for dessert.

After dinner we pushed Mrs Lindemuth out onto the balcony and the girls and she talked for a few minutes while they enjoyed the late afternoon light and fresh air. 

Then we rolled her back to her window seat and packed up the plates and containers and said goodbye.

This wonderful experience is the type of thing Suzette excels at; recreational therapy conceived and executed to perfection.

Suzette even wore the German necklace her Dad brought back from the war for Mrs. Lindemuth that Mrs. Lindemuth had given her.

I have never seen such family love and solidarity in any other family.

We drove about 45 minutes back from Masonic Homes to Jean’s house in the 5:00 rush traffic. When we arrived I was tired and emotionally drained and drank a Cherry Pepsi with Knob Creek Bourbon cocktail and I made Suzette a Dewars on the rocks.

I also ate a few bites of the fruitcake as we watched Ari on MSNBC.

At 6:45 I was tired and napped until 9:00 and then blogged this blog.

This was yet another amazing day demonstrating family love and dedication.

Bon Appetit