...Yet Another adventure Outside of My Comfort Zone!!

   Living in this complex, peopled by self-important, rude people is quite a mind trip, indeed!  With all of the lovely ameneties, services and conveniences one still has to put up with the residents!!  As described in an earlier entry, although this is not a specifically a senior residence, it seems that... it is!  Younger people, people with childen and young professionals seem to eschew the conveniences here in favor of living in a more pleasant, less selfish atmosphere.  Let me describe a recent experience...

Among the ameneties of living here, there is a diner style restaurant right in the building.  One need only step into the elevator, press the button to the arcade level and you will walk out only feet from the door of the eatery.  Mostly patronized only by residents, it is actually open to the public, but with a menu that is filled with badly prepared, old-fashioned diner food, it is usually a convenience for those of us who live here as a last ditch choice when you don't want to cook or the when weather is particularly foul making driving the more difficult option .  For the less discerning it is a place for meals for those unable to cook or for get-togethers for a cup of coffee and conversation.  The decor is straight out of the 70's, with lots of formica, wood, mirrors and naugahide.  A cadre of middle-aged waiters in white aprons and black vests serve the tables with varying degrees of pleasantness.  (*The restaurant has recently been purchased by a new owner and will undergo renovation in the near future).  

And now, the scene is set....

Last summer my cousin visited from Florida.  She was our guest for several days and it was such fun having her company.  The weather was so bad that her return flight had been cancelled and she had to spend some extra time with us (a treat, indeed for this cousin starved for her company!!).  One morning we decided that instead of preparing breakfast we would go downstairs...after all...what could they do to an egg?  Since my cousin is a very early riser, we were downstairs by 8:00 a.m.  Only one other patron was there, finishing uo at a table on the other side of the space, sipping the last of her coffee, alone. We proceeded to an empty round table and sat down.  A waiter came at once, took our orders and brought our coffee.  What fun to have my cousin here, sipping hot coffee on a nasty, rainy morning and chatting animatedly.  Suddenly I was aware that somone was standing over me...

I looked up to see an elderly man with a huge scowl on his face just standing and glaring at us.  I looked up and smiled...nothing...finally he took a deep breath and informed us..."You are at OUR table".  I looked around the restaurant and saw that every table but ours was now empty.  He remained standing there with that nasty scowl as if expecting us to get up, move our pancakes and find another table.  We remained seated.  He continued to scowl!  "We sit here every morning..."  he grumbled.  I smiled and said that today he would just have to choose from any one of the many EMPTY tables, and he stormed off to a nearby table...just as another old man arrived...Oy!  He was headed straight for us. "This is OUR table!!"   he shouted. 

His face was becoming crimson and he waved his cane over our heads as if to delineate the boundaries of his table!  Now I was getting annoyed and said, "Sorry, we missed seeing a Reserved card with your name on this table when we sat down!"   ...  and before he could reply, in came another of The Knights of the Round Table!!!  Red faced, seated in a wheel-chair pushed by an aide, he rolled up and asked the cane waver, "Why are they at our table? Where will we sit?"  ...and before I could say that perhaps they could choose from one of the many empty tables surrounding them...the last of the Knights arrived.  

A look of total disbelief clouded his face..."They're at OUR table?"  he asked.

 At this point our little party of three was laughing so hard we could not answer him.  In a room full of empty tables they could not get past the fact that we had the unmitigated gall to sit at "theirs". All through the meal the four of them glared at us repeatedly, incredulous that we could have made such a faus pas.  Even the waiter mentioned it when he brought our check.  I suppose it would be too easy to suggest that a simple "Reserved" card be placed on the table every morning so that the spectre of four coronaries did not loom so large...however, THIS morning the Knights of the Round Table had a ready-made topic of conversation with which to do battle!

And this is my life outside of my comfort zone...sometimes a little further out than others and a lot further out than I'd like!!

Since it was breakfast what is better than a frittata?...here is a wonderful Potato/Basil Frittata from one of my favorite chefs...Ina Garten, The Barefoot Contessa...

Ingredients

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, divided

2 cups peeled and 1/2-inch diced boiling potatoes (4 potatoes)

8 extra-large eggs

15 ounces ricotta cheese

3/4 pound Gruyere cheese, grated

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

3/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves

1/3 cup flour

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

Directions

Heat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Melt 3 tablespoons of butter in a 10-inch ovenproof omelet pan over medium-low heat. Add

 the potatoes and fry them until cooked through, turning often, about 10 to 15 minutes. Melt

 the remaining 5 tablespoons of butter in a small dish in the microwave.

Meanwhile, whisk the eggs, then stir in the ricotta, Gruyere, melted butter, salt, pepper, and

 basil. Sprinkle on the flour and baking powder and stir into the egg mixture.

Pour the egg mixture over the potatoes and place the pan in the center of the oven. Bake

 the frittata until it is browned and puffed, 50 minutes to 1 hour. It will be rounded and firm in

the middle and a knife inserted in the frittata should come out clean. Serve hot!