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A week like this one finds many of us pulled in even closer to our families, even more grateful for small wonders, simple joys, and suppers together.

Last night we had "International Night" -- sort of a take on "think globally, eat locally." To spice up supper some evenings, we mix and match cuisines. In this case, we put Italian, Chinese, and Mexican fare side-by-side.

For starters, I came up with a quick pizza dough that we dressed up with fresh tomato sauce; shredded, part-skim mozzarella cheese; and sliced kalamata olives. Next was a version of that Chinese restaurant appetizer -- chicken lettuce cups --- handily created with leftover roasted chicken that was minced and sauteed with chopped shiitake mushrooms, sliced water chestnuts, a splash of low-sodium soy sauce and some grated fresh ginger. The kids loved lumping that into iceberg lettuce leaves. For a Mexican component, we rolled shredded chicken and salsa into corn tortillas, and then baked them at 400 for 12 minutes, and served them alongside fresh guacamole. And, for a vegetable dish, I added some simple green peas (defrosted from frozen).

Fittingly, the vegetable was my nod to that bumper sticker with a twist on the sentiment we all long for:  "whirled peas."