SATURDAY
Hamburgers, probably chips and salad. Long time ago.
Friday we went to the CIRCUS and got home late, and Saturday we had a birthday party in the afternoon and a new trampoline to assemble and shopping and cleaning and First Communion Workshop and a bunch of other stuff, haircuts, new jobs, oh boy. By the time it was dinner halfway through this Weekend of All The Things, the only meal I could think of was hamburgers.
It was a wonderful weekend! We learned how to deal with a crisis as a family long before we learned how to have big, exciting, fun days together, oddly enough; but we’re definitely there now.
Here is the birthday girl:
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SUNDAY
Vermont Turkey Sandwiches; Potato Puffs; Corn on the cob
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Sandwich of the Week, week 2! We attempted to recreate the delicious sandwiches we had at a restaurant the other week.
Smoked turkey, lettuce, tomato, bacon, cheddar cheese, and green apple slices on ciabatta. This we could recall. But what was that dressing? We spent a good week returning again and again to the conundrum of the mysterious dressing. It had some sweetness, but a bit of an edge, too, and we both felt that we had tasted this particular balance of flavors before, but we couldn’t think in what context. Was it camembert and Vidalia onion? Was there buttermilk involved? We just couldn’t place it.
So we looked it up.
And.
C’est si exotique! Honey . . . and mustard. All together, in one place! We had to travel north all the way to central New Hampshire to have this unusual culinary experience. Someday, when I get the nerve, I hope to sample some authentic South American cuisine. I’ve heard good things about — and forgive me if I get the spelling wrong. These foreign names make my head whirl — Taco Bell. But I don’t want to shock my palate too much.
We gotta get out more.
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MONDAY
Pizza
I made four pizzas in the morning and instructed the kids to cook three of them while I was on the radio in the evening. To make pizza, I stretch the dough over the edge of the pans and let it stay there, and then I roll it back to make a raised crust before I put it in the oven. I did this with two of the pizzas, but forgot to finish the third. So when they pulled the third pizza out of the oven, this is what they got:
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A baked crust that was trying to devour the pan. So of course we had to turn the pizza over to get a picture. So of course when we put it right side up again, half of it had flipped over there and remained dangling like a cheesy sunburst of incompetence:
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And that was Monday.
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TUESDAY
Sausage, Mushroom, and Cheese Omelettes; Oven Roasted Potatoes; Salad
When you’re poor for a long time and then you stop being poor, it takes a while for all of your expectations to level off. I have finally stopped feeling guilty for buying avocados when it’s not even my birthday, but it only just now occurred to me that, yes, oh yes, I can have a two-burner griddle that costs $12. I don’t have to keep wishing and hoping and crossing my fingers that someone will leave one by the side of the road. I can just put it in my cart.
So, with my new griddle and my wonderful T-fal sautée pan, I cooked made-to-order omelettes for 12 13 (okay, yes, I cook special eggs for the dog because he’s my special guy) in under 15 minutes, rather than 40 minutes.
By the time I sat down to eat my food
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I wasn’t too shattered and footsore to care what it tasted like. Amazing! Money isn’t everything, but it is definitely something.
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WEDNESDAY
Hot dogs; Beans; Chips
The kids made this. I think I drove about 400 miles on Wednesday, all in about a twenty-mile radius.
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THURSDAY
Halmonee Chicken; Spicy Almond String Beans; Rice
Here’s the chicken recipe from my friend Elizabeth:
Put chicken thighs in a pot in a single layer. Pour this sauce over it so the chicken is covered halfway up:
equal parts soy sauce and apple juice
a squirt of honey
a dash of sesame oil
lots of garlic
Boil on about medium heat, but a good steady rolling boil for about 45 min, turning periodically. If you’re cooking with skin on, it will be loose enough to pluck off with tongs about halfway through.
I actually forgot the garlic — a phrase I never thought I’d utter — but it tasted great. Very flavorful, super easy. The key is to keep the chicken in a single layer (I used three pans).
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Just about everyone liked it!
I happened to have almonds in the house (I bought them to decorate the birthday cake but forgot), so I found this recipe for “tangy almond garlic string beans.” After I found the ginger under the trampoline (no, it doesn’t grow there. The kids just put it under the trampoline, for reasons) it was pretty easy to throw this together. I cooked the string beans and prepped the ingredients in the morning, and finished cooking it in the evening. Really zippy and flavorful. Definitely going into the permanent collection. A nice meal all around.
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Even if I did have to eat mine in (sigh) the van.
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FRIDAY
Penne with jarred sauce; salad
Oh, I forgot: when the kids asked what was for dinner on Saturday, I said, “Nice sandwiches, potato puffs, and corn on the cob.”
And my son says, “What on a cob?”
Because so many things come on cobs. Oatmeal on a cob; venison on a cob; fluffernutter sandwiches on a cob. How was he to know?
And he wasn’t even trying to drive me crazy. It just happens naturally.
