P.E.O. CONVENTION DELEGATE

As president of my P.E.O. chapter in Lewiston, I was a delegate to the 95^th Convention of the Idaho State Chapter P.E.O. Sisterhood in Boise over the weekend. Mike drove me to the convention center and then he visited with Milo and family while I attended the convention sessions. The camera went with Mike, so available photos have more to do with travel and grandsons than the convention venue.

Most of us like food, so let's talk about the banquet menus.

Friday night banquet: leaf lettuce salad; variety rolls; salmon steak with sauce; plain white rice; steamed vegetables (baby carrots and two slender broccoli spears). Dessert was alternated by place setting at the table – a small piece of plain cheesecake or a huge slice of some decadent cake involving four layers of chocolate – dark chocolate, sweet chocolate, a dry cake layer, and a soft frosting. I got the chocolate cake. This was altogether the best meal we had. The salmon was delicious, though some diners grumbled about having fish.

Saturday lunch: spinach salad with a few toasted walnuts and a dressing I wished I hadn't applied; variety rolls; chicken breast (very plain, as in microwaved); white rice mixed with some wild rice; steamed veggies (two baby carrots and two slender broccoli spears); and a lemon tart (the kind in a store-bought shell).

Saturday dress banquet (husbands invited): leaf lettuce salad with two weird olives and two small mozzarella cheese balls, strange dressing; variety rolls (yes, the same variety); prime rib; twice-baked potatoes (at least twice!); steamed vegetables (two baby carrots and two slender broccoli spears); alternating desserts (lemon tarts and dry chocolate cake). I got the lemon tart. The prime rib at our table was in varying stages of rareness. Mine was so rare as to be inedible in my opinion. I took one bite and deemed that entrée a lost cause. Besides, I didn't like the way the fat looked – raw – and there was plenty of fat. Another person at my table asked the waiter if he could zap her portion in the microwave, and he said there was no microwave on that level of the hotel and carrying it to the kitchen was not feasible. From there she inquired about the recurring steamed vegetables, and he said broccoli and carrots were the only vegetables they ever serve and suggested she complain.

Questioning other diners about the Saturday dinner, I learned that there was great variation with the prime rib. One said hers was so overdone she couldn't slice it. Another said hers was done to perfection and delicious.

So, that's the way the food was – prepared elsewhere, frozen, and delivered for mass preparation. Gone is the pride in providing a culinary experience – at least at that venue. By the way, as a convention delegate, I was not aware of the monetary value placed on my meals, but had Mike attended, the cost would have been $48 for his. I was sorry not to have had him at my side, but we agreed that we made the right decision. Mike said, however, that the lasagna I fixed for him to take to Milo's was very good and that Milo made delicious hamburgers Saturday night. And my grandsons thanked me for the home-baked cookies as soon as they saw me.

We were home by 7:45 Sunday night. Nellie was waiting in her kennel and glad to see us, though her eyes demanded an explanation for being thus separated from her pack. Ken took care of her food and exercise and the neighbors played with her in our absence. KW

[Photo 1: From a point on the Old White Bird Grade overlooking the Nez Perce Battlefield; part of the Seven Devils also visible in the distance. Photo 2: Mike retrieving a geocache, this one placed as part of a Boy Scout educational project. Photo 3: Son Milo with grandsons Mason, 9, and Gage, 6, on a geocaching excursion with Grandpa Mike. Photo 4: Mason mowing the lawn. Photo 5: Gage in a tree.]