Clock watching from the freezer

Grumble grumble grumble grumble. And grumble a bit more.

I keep trying to be happy that I have an extra hour of weekend, but I hate the time change and see no reason why we can't be on Daylight Savings Time all year long. I don't do anything fun or interesting at 7 a.m., so why should it be light then, especially if it means I won't get to go for an evening stroll in the park because it's dark by 5:30?

In an attempt to lift my spirits, I got out Good Housekeeping's Clock-Watchers' Cook Book, hoping it would have some clock watching I can appreciate. (To be honest, the fact that they got their apostrophe right for the plural possessive "Clock-Watchers'" is already kind of making my day. That's how much of a nerd I am.)

Before long, I was intrigued by a picture of what is apparently an ice cube tray full of seasoned meat, with a backdrop of a skillet full of hash, black olives, and rolled-up lunch meat.

I love the old-fashioned metal ice cube trays loaded up with some weird orange-y concoction. The extra effort to remove the cubes could help prevent an interesting mistake if one were prone to grabbing a few ice cubes without looking. Even die-hard carnivores don't want lumps of meat in their drinks.

The cubes clearly have something to do with the skillet in the background since the color is so similar. And what is the pepper in the middle about?

The skillet is rice seasoned with "1 tray Magic Barbecue-Sauce Cubes," corn, green pepper, and tomato. The green pepper ring in the center holds extra canned corn. (Since I'm still getting over Halloween, I will imagine the green pepper to be Frankenstein's monster's head full of corn "brains." The olives are trying to keep him from escaping, but they are too edible to be of much use as guards. You are free to skip the step of imagining the picture as a Halloween tableau, particularly if you don't read this line.) (Ha!)

I'm most curious about the cheese, though. What I mistook as rolled lunch meat is actually rolled-up American cheese. Since it is one of the meltiest cheeses available, that means the skillet must have been stone-cold when the food stylist took this picture. I wouldn't even bother rolling the cheese up; it would be a series of cheese-colored puddles within seconds anyway.

So what are "Magic Barbecue-Sauce Cubes"? They're handy helpers for clock-watchers:

The cubes are indeed loaded full of meat, along with onion, celery, ketchup, and seasonings that you wouldn't want to find in your glass of Coke. Just in case you didn't realize that the freezer can help save time, the book thoughtfully includes a picture of Eskimos staring at a polar bear who has swallowed a clock.

Have to admit, that cheers me up a little.