The Daily Saga -To Work and Home

When I was growing up in rural Illinois, I didn't have much of a concept of what a commute was. For my Mom's parents and the parents of many of my friends, their commute consisted of walking out the backdoor of the farmhouse and moseying over to the barn or machinery shed. Now, my Dad's side of the family had a longer commute. They had to walk or drive the 6 blocks from the house to the lumberyard. When I was a kid, Mom worked at the local newspaper and had about a 5 block commute until we moved out to the edge of town and then it soared up to about 12 or 15 blocks. I remember that Dad once worked in a nearby town and had to drive about 7 miles over 2 lane roads to work. But, all in all, folks worked close enough to home that going home for lunch was the norm, not the exception.

Since that pastoral upbringing, things have changed. Lots of folks in my hometown now commute 20 to 30 miles into the nearest big city for work. When I moved to Chicago, I learned that distance wasn't the only factor to consider in a commute. You had to factor in the traffic, too. Once I moved 11 miles from the hospital where I worked and still didn't leave the City of Chicago. On a good day, it took 35 minutes to drive those 11 miles. On a bad day? Well, it was bad, but not as bad as my friends who lived in the "burbs". I don't even want to think about their commutes. Of course, my husband (fiancé at the time) lived a 5 minute walk from his office. But, he was the exception rather than the rule.

Eventually, we moved to California. And, well, you've heard about that traffic. At first, it wasn't bad. I had a 15 minute commute to my first job. But nothing remains constant in California. Shoot even the land moves occasionally. First, my job moved and the commute went to 45 minutes. Then, I moved and it went to 30 minutes. In my next job, I worked in 4 different locations in 6 years. The last made my commute 48 miles one way. As bad as that was, my husband's 5 minute Chicago walk to work eventually converted into a 52 mile one way nightmare. The good news is that we both worked in the same direction so we could commute together. The bad news is that we would typically leave the house between 6 and 6:30 a.m., but not get home until after 7 p.m. That's a lot of time away from home and not real conducive to cooking dinner.

The result was a lot of dining out. Great for relaxation, but not really good for the waistline or the pocketbook. While one seemed to expand, the other one shrank. You guess which! On top of that, it's really hard to come up with recipes for this column when I'm not cooking. If this trend continued for much longer, you would have found a column with recipes like - "pull into the nearest fast food joint and order the quickest thing", "stop at the nearest restaurant and order the least expensive item", or "drive all over town looking for a really nice place, order an expensive meal, have a glass of wine, and fall asleep in your entree".

Well, I now have a different job. My commute is about 1 hour each way - some in my car alone, but most by rapid transit with thousands of my "closest friends". Unfortunately, it leaves my poor husband driving the 52 mile nightmare all by himself. Good news? I get home in time to cook and he gets home in time to eat.

I still remember the really long commutes and the need for really, really quick meals. I sometimes still use those recipes for oldtime's sake. Here is one of our favorites.

Chicken with Mustard Sauce
15 minutes to prepare.
Serves 4.

2 large chicken breast halves without skin
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 cup coarse mustard
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 cup chicken broth
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon water

Cut chicken into bite size pieces. Place in a bowl. Add 1 tablespoon of cornstarch and stir to coat chicken pieces. Place olive oil in a skillet. Add chicken and stir fry over high heat until done (about 3 to 7 minutes depending upon the size of the chicken pieces). Add coarse mustard, Worcestershire sauce, chicken broth. Heat to a strong simmer. Mix 1 tablespoon of cornstarch in water. Pour into skillet, reduce heat. Simmer until sauce thickens.

Serve over rice.

Peas with Onions and Peppers
15 minutes to prepare.
Serves 4.

2 cups peas -- frozen & defrosted
1/4 cup red onion -- chopped
1/4 cup red bell pepper -- chopped
1/4 cup chicken broth
1 teaspoon olive oil
salt -- to taste
pepper -- to taste

In a sauce pan, quickly sauté red onion and bell pepper in olive oil. Add peas and chicken broth. Heat covered over medium until peas are warmed. Add salt and pepper to taste.