The View From Mrs. Sundberg's Window

Just make up your own words and no one knows the difference

July 7, 2009

Listened to the show Saturday and it was not bad. Listen was about all I could do. I was resting on the couch, hoping for a second wind. It had been one of those amazing days where I got up and had no clue that before the day was over I'd not only witness a Fourth of July parade with 33,999 other people, but I'd end up marching in it because while I was following my son's marching band with my friend Angela from St. Paul, we found ourselves in the street with no way out because the crowd was so thick and I'd wanted to follow my son's band along the parade route. Our only real options were to climb over the people in their lawn chairs or join up with the next float which happened to be the Boy Scouts of America pulling wagons and throwing candy.

So we walked along for a few blocks, smiling and waving and I don't think anyone thought twice about it. I did look for something in my purse to throw, but there wasn't much there but pens and some gum and migraine pills, which, from the looks of it, a few mothers along the route might have appreciated. The waving seemed to do the trick, though, and by the time we found a hole in the crowd, the band was playing "Louie, Louie" for the fourth time and we were near the end of the parade.

After all of that excitement, I went to get the car which was four blocks away and had to literally talk my way through two police barricades in order to get to the band, and to my son, who was cordoned off behind a school building. I was allowed to park in a nearby lot, and Angela waited and took a mini-nap while I walked another two blocks, to where he was waiting patiently with shorts and a T-shirt on - his band uniform wadded up in his duffel bag. It was hot. Ice cream? I asked. He nodded.

I used to tell people I know the words to "Louie, Louie." I told enough people that I believed it myself. Truth is, I don't know the words, but marching along behind that band on Saturday, it came to me that "Louie, Louie" is the kind of song where you just make up your own words and no one knows the difference. You can even just do sounds. "Nah nah, nah nah, ooh la la la..." It works. I know. Because I tried it.

Meatless Meatballs
Now, I'm not one for vegetarian food every day of the year, but I have a few recipes that taste mighty fine. Try this one, and don't let 'em know these meatballs are meatless. My guess is no one will notice.

4 oz. lowfat cream cheese
5 eggs
1/2 cup chopped nuts
1 1/2 cups ground crackers
1/2 cup oatmeal
1/4 cup Italian seasoning
2 T soy sauce
Dashes of onion salt and garlic powder.
Mix well. Form into walnut-sized balls.
Brown in an oiled skillet.
Bake in a covered dish at 350 for 30 min, uncovered for 5. Serve with noodles or potatoes and whatever sauce you like, or in a sandwich with some pizza sauce and cheese.

Enjoy!

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