Saved For Super Bowl Sunday

First of Random Thoughts on SAVING STUFF for ROSE'S RULES FOR RETIRING

If you save what you love, someday you will love that you saved.

If the saved stuff becomes more valuable, (gold comes to my mind right now) your heirs will also love that you (are dead) saved. The caveat: You must actually have the space to store these loved objects that does not impinge on the foot traffic in the living areas of your home; for example, if you live in a tent city in Haiti, do not save your favorite football team memorabilia.

Our friends J & J downsized a little to move to a condo a few years back. An avid sportsman and collector, J. had his moment of joy and glory as his long-beloved Packers won the big game this year. I'm sure his wife helped a little setting up these displays for a first-time ever:

 BOOK CLUB/SUPERBOWL PARTY

Packers helmet, center-staged on dining room table

The coffee table

Art of the Mantle

In order to accommodate the game, the book club discussion was moved to 4:00 PM. The  book pick was Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese, a 657-page epic tale of love and surgery and love of surgery; betrayal, pain and death; and pain and death from surgery.

 It was set primarily in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. This book also happened to be Martha Stewart's pick on her Sony e-book for February and I devoured (enjoyed) every single page of the lengthy book. I also watched Martha interview the author last week on her show on the Hallmark Channel.

Cutting for Stone was not picked by the Green Bay Packers packrat. He likes books on sports topics, like Pat Conroy's My Losing Season, which was really a very richly layered and well-written book that our club read in 2005.

The book club food . . . (I can't stop thinking about/taking pictures of food!) included a rich lasagna with plenty of accompaniments and drinks (I had diet A&W rootbeer--I have long been aware of the hyprocisy in choosing sugar-free drinks and then indulging in a carb-laden casserole, chips and multiple desserts; and I also continue to, occasionally, eat large quantities of pizza with a diet drink--a decades-old practice). I also photographed the White Texas Sheet Cake (recipe readily available at allrecipes.com) and the delicious turtle cookies (available in a local grocer's fridge in break 'n bake form).

After all this food, when the game started, more game food was brought out! Who was hungry? Chips, fruit, beer, wine . . . it's all a blur now. Historically, Super Bowl food consumption is second only to the Thanksgiving Feast in this country, so give us a break!  Thanks, J & J for a SUPER party. The Green Bay Packers collectibles--GOOD SAVE!

White Texas Sheet Cake