I was helping my mother-in-law Wilma clean up after Thanksgiving. My job was to put leftovers in Tupperware. She tutted me and said,
“When I was a girl we were taught to never waste food. The nuns called it ‘Feeding the Devil.’ And look at this, look at all the food you’ve left in this pan.”
True, I had left the burnt edge of cream of mushroom soup that had adhered itself to the green bean casserole corningware. And Wilma did scrape off a tablespoon of it and added it to the easily-spooned up leftovers. And that is admirable. However, I now have a new term.
On throwing the burnt edge of pie crust into the sink: “I am feeding the devil some pie crust.”
On consuming a Christmas box of Williams-Sonoma Salted Chocolate Covered Caramels now that Gary has been told he brings too many gifts, “We don’t want to feed this good candy to the devil.”
We don’t stop at feeding the devil. We did not shop carefully and bought the devil a pair of knee socks. We have considered buying a Kinect though it would be just giving our Wii to the devil.
I thought of this today after I cooked a 4.5 pound short rib roast, which Gary spat out because it was too rich for him. So, fine. Good enough for me and the devil.
10 responses to “Feeding the Devil”
My room mate feeds the devil all the time. My mom used to call that “wasting food”.
I love that expression.
I’ve never heard that expression; it’s hilarious. I wonder if the Devil likes stirfry leftovers?
It’s feeding the devil when a suite at the Ritz-Carlton goes unoccupied!
Actually, Becs, that’s housing the devil.
However much of this, especially the chocolates, seems to be a devil of a good time…..
jack sprat could eat no fat.I got some really bad truffles and melted them down and they made great chocolate sauce. And various odd tropical fruits make great jam!
Tami- You really need to lose this roommate.Magpie – Nun sayings. I wonder if there are more.Amy_In_StL – I bet he likes Chinese best of all. He always gets the white rice at our house. Becs – Well, I think the devil prefers the Four Seasons, but yes, that is just as much of a waste.Benchmark – Or hosteling the devil. Hattie – I think Wilma’s made bread pudding out of any number of bad cakes.
Hmm- in that case, in our house “the devil” is a pair of incredibly spoiled fat cats. *nods*
Last night I solved the problem by eating the food that she took but decided not to eat. “Give me your bowl,” I said, “I’m eating that.”
And then she did!
I can’t lose her, I actually like her. The things that she does that are amenable, though, don’t make entertaining stories. Like, for instance, there’s not much humor value in “last night Trixie emptied the dishwasher”.
Elisabeth – But the dogs are sainted creatures in the S_____ house. Not the devil. But fat.Tami – I like Steve From Work’s line: “Eat it or wear it.”