Chopping up veggies for The Family Thing tomorrow. It alw...

Chopping up veggies for The Family Thing tomorrow. It always looks so cook-like, to whip together a tasty vegetable dish (snap peas, snow peas, asparagus, and water chestnuts) in minutes... because I did all the chopping the day before (except the asparagus, of course) and can just nuke the peas and dump them in the fancy dish. Ditto the pre-choppable bits of the salad, as well as making the dressing in advance. Saves time, looks easy, and gets one a reputation in one's family of being good at cooking. Besides, as one gets older there are more friends and family who need to stay away from this or that (anything with the slightest connection to olives, in this case; or to vinegar... salad dressing made with walnut oil, tangerine juice, and a little powdered mustard is the answer to THAT riddle).

Now I get to grade exams for the rest of the afternoon.