When I was in junior high, there was a bulletin board just outside the typing room that advertised the school cafeteria’s menu for the week. The plastic letters got swapped weekly to spell out things like “Sloppy Joes” or Tuna Noodle Casserole,” but the slogan that remained along the bottom all year long promised, “Every…
Category: Life With Ben
BENeficial Intelligence
Suppose you combined artificial intelligence with Ben’s sensibilities. The resulting product, BENeficial Intelligence, would confound the most logical minds in the world because it would apply an infinite number of catch phrases in random incorrect situations. If you lard an outrageous amount of food on your plate, BENeficial Intelligence would advise you to say to…
We’ll Take a Cup of Kindness Yet, for Auld Lang Syne
As 2025 comes to a close, we reflect on our many blessings. We revel in the large and small moments that make up our lives together. Here is a quick photo review of our year. Thank you to everyone who was a part of it! 2025 passed before our eyes in a flash! Here’s to…
It’s the Hap-Happiest Season of All
As our holiday festivities wind down, Ben gives his Christmas experience a 5-star review. While the Christmas Eve meal of soup and grilled cheese was not his top choice, he mostly put a sock in it to avoid a lump of coal (or a sack ride to Spain), focusing instead on spending time with family….
Great Expectations
Ben has been running his Christmas meal plans by us for months. Most of his ideas are formed by what he really enjoyed in past years. I think, the beef with yarn. (He means the trussed beef tenderloin with a reverse seer.) This time, no choking. (Amazing that Jake still married into the family after…
Dutch Treat
When Phil was 4, 11, and 18 years old, he and his family lived in the Netherlands while his father researched English Puritans in Holland, and their ties to the country remain strong. The aspect of Dutch culture that has made its strongest impression on me from family lore is the no-nonsense approach. If any…
Burn, Baby, Burn
Sometimes, in the course of human events, we burn our nuggets. This note, left for us by one of Ben’s DSPeeps, made me laugh out loud, followed by quickly texting that the plates are old and chipped anyway – a little char is nothing. We have all been there. Teachers live this every day. One…
This Little Piggy
Some weeks we have a smart plan for executing balanced, diverse meals. This week it was the all pork all the time channel. First, Phil made pork tenderloin satay with peanut sauce, rice and edamame. Declicious! Ben had his heart set on biscuits and sausage gravy, so that was the next supper. Tonight, it was…
Secretary of Peanut Butter
On the surface, I haven’t much to say this week. My nose is worn to a nub from its perpetual position on the grindstone, but when you live with Ben, you find that staying alert for the wisdom he dispenses pays dividends. A couple weeks ago we had a large group at our house and…
Strike!
We seem to be in a super busy stretch (known as September) so our meals have not been as orchestrated as sometimes. I’ve been asking Ben for cooking ideas and asking him to step in on any meal to do simple tasks. This week I asked him to shuck two ears of corn outside, but…