Surprise guests

I don't know where I'm going with this post.  I'll just tell what happened. 

My niece and her husband showed up unexpectedly at our door yesterday morning.  We had talked to them when we visited in NY in May and invited them to visit (blackmailed, really) when they were so close to our vicinity when they were visiting Branson.  So here they are!  Now, in their defense, they talked about calling us when they got to their motel in St. Louis at 10 p.m. the night before, but decided it might be too late for us (yes, it would have been - we octogenarians go to bed at 9), then they decided they shouldn't call before 9 a.m. (in case we were still in bed (bad decision, we were up at 5:45, exercised, ate breakfast, and gone our separate ways to various activities).  Thus, the reason they appeared without notice. 

So, of course, my first thought was - what do I feed them?  We don't eat bread any more, there isn't a potato to be found in the house -  what to do?  Thankfully, I had some mini bagels in the freezer along with shrimp.  Nuke the bagels to thaw them, use the shrimp, add celery, onions, peppers and shell macaroni, dress with onion dressing and add some spices, steam some frozen veggies, put some strawberries in dessert cups, and voila - a passable meal.  Healthy, not very filling, but they didn't look like they were starving.

Best part - we were able to converse with these two folks who are both very interesting.  I really don't get to visit for a long time with them when we are in NY because there are a zillion other relatives around - so we are glad they came, and we hope they'll come again now that they know the way.