Meals, Ready to Eat

for the MRE project (before)
Originally uploaded by Amelia PS

I received this e-mail Monday afternoon from my coworker and friend Matt.

"I'm working on an article about military MREs. As part of our extensive reporting on this very important topic, we've invited some of Utah's top chefs to come and review 20 of the military's infamous travel-ready meals.

"And I'm going to need some help.

"I need three people to help me cook & plate the MREs, beginning Monday at 9:30 a.m. and lasting for about two hours. Experience with these nasty things is nice, but not necessary. (I'll give a quick crash course on the preparation of these fine meals and then let you go at it.)

"If you're interested, please check with your editor to make sure it's OK to burn a couple hours this way and then let me know if you can lend a hand. The expressions on these gourmets' faces should be enough, but I'll also make it worth your while in other ways (read: booze.)"

Not noticing the email's timestamp, I assumed the request was for the same day (one of my days off) and I blew it off, looking forward to hearing about the results.

Apparently, response wasn't what he expected (or editors wouldn't OK the time), because he tapped me to help out next Monday. He thought it might be worth bloggin about. I hope so.




The Italian challenge went well – eventually. Pictures and a longer post TK.