Recipe angst

I love those recipes in magazines sent in by readers that say, "Oh, I just created this gourmet dish with 17 ingredients from what I had on hand." If I created something just from what I had on hand, we would be eating peanut butter and potato chip crumbs on toothpicks. In fact, my husband says I have enough potato chip recipes to write an entire cookbook about potato chips. (Hey, at least you always have the crumbs on hand.)

And what's with cooks always having drop-in visitors, whom they inevitably need to feed? "This dish is great to keep in the freezer for when unexpected company drops by." Who are these people? Are we talking about the FedEx delivery person? Your mother-in-law? Who drops in unannounced and expects to be fed -- a gourmet meal to boot, to judge from some of these meals people keep "on hand"? The only unexpected company dropping by my house are stray animals, and they aren't looking for anything fancy. I have enough trouble keeping up with making meals for two, let alone making extra for people I didn't invite. I say, if someone comes to your house without being invited and wants to come in, they should expect no more than MAYBE a glass of water, and even that is dependent on whether you keep a clean glass "on hand" for just such an occasion.