Mise en place

Now that the RV is ready for us to get going, and we do have short trips planned for 2020, I am struggling with feeling we are at a standstill.  We were so busy this last year restoring our 1975 GMC Motorhome Eleganza II it feels strange to start Saturday mornings with ‘what would you like to do today?’.  Of course regular life is back – like last weekend the dishwasher broke AND we had an irreparable flat tire.  Sighhhhh… not that we didn’t deal with ‘regular’ this last year but they were asides, just a moment until we could get back to our focus of working on our future.

With the holidays approaching and the loss of family we have had this year, in addition to the long time ‘cracks’ that seem to sting a bit more during this season of Hallmark expectations, it is difficult to fight the urge to put life on autopilot and just get through.  The last eight years or so we have chosen to travel on Christmas day – after all airfare on the actual holiday is cheaper.  Our family dynamic has changed in a good way too this year and I am happy we will be home to celebrate with our youngest and his wonderful lady and their dog and their cat along with our dog Olaf.

As the new year approaches I want to make sure we are living as much for today as we are looking forward to our fulltime retirement traveling plans.  As I was preparing the cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving the thought ‘mise en place’ kept popping in my head.  Part of our journey is putting things in place for tomorrow.  I am not a big believer in improv unless you are an expert comedian you just aren’t funny unless you have rehearsed your act.  I don’t think luck plays so much into your success as planning does, so I mise en place!  I like to have things mapped out but be open to detour, to have a recipe to follow but add different ingredients to make it ours.

So here is to a holiday season that is within reach and may we all set our expectations to a reasonable height of the Limbo pole, where we bend but not break our backs to make it a joyous occasion with no regrets.

#gmcmotorhome #eleganza2 #diy #thanksgiving #holidays #rvlife #practice #limbo #relax #prepwork

Per Wikipedia:

Mise en place (French pronunciation: ​[mi zɑ̃ ˈplas]) is a French culinary phrase which means “putting in place” or “everything in its place”. It refers to the setup required before cooking, and is often used in professional kitchens to refer to organizing and arranging the ingredients (e.g., cuts of meat, relishes, sauces, par-cooked items, spices, freshly chopped vegetables, and other components) that a cook will require for the menu items that are expected to be prepared during a shift.[1]
The practice can be applied in home kitchens.[2][3]
The writer and chef Dan Charnas uses the concept of mise en place as a “philosophy” and “system” for what chefs believe and do, even going so far as to call it an “ethical code”. In the kitchen, the phrase is used as a noun (i.e., the setup of the array of ingredients), a verb (i.e., the process of preparing) and a state of mind. All of these uses, however, refer to someone who knows to be well-prepared. In this view, the term’s broader meanings can be applied to classrooms, hospitals, and elsewhere.[4]