Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Dinner guests, no entree

I invited my sister-in-law and her kids over for dinner last week. She was alone with the kids for the week and needed a change in scene. I wanted to keep it simple since we were just back from vacation and not in the mood to do any serious cooking.

Everyone came over at about 5:15, which was great. I had the mashed potatoes rolling, salad ready, and was going to run to the store a couple blocks away to grab a couple rotisserie chickens. I show up at the store, and the chicken guy is handing out little slips of paper. Seeing no chickens on the rack, I say as calmly as possible, "When's the next batch coming up?" He responds, "Friday or Saturday. Want a raincheck?" As luck would have it, the chicken truck didn't arrive this morning.

Now what?

I don't feel like running all over town, so quickly browse the store for inspiration and find a sale on salmon. Fast to cook, everyone likes it (I hope). I get to the check-out and the clerk asks me if I found everything I wanted. I quickly recant my tale, and he says, "Yeah, it's such a shame we've gotten to be so known for our chickens." I scan the multitude of swag he's wearing, covering everything from loving plants, trees, bugs and other living things, to veganism, and manage to suppress a sigh. My charming clerk, we are clearly leading very different lives at this stage.

Home. Broiler on. Dinner 15 min later. I find out my nephew hates salmon, but he politely eats it anyway. I give him extra dessert.

2 comments:

  1. This survey made me laugh! :) Can one be considered a customizer if they frequently omit ingredients (sometimes intentionally, sometimes not) or miss instructions? Last night's dinner was a perfect example of my capabilities as a customizer, unfortunately a not-so-successful one. :/ While my turkey meatballs (with basil, tomato paste and flat leaf parsely) ended up tasting good, they endured time in the toaster oven, the stovetop grill pan (where I charred one side and set off the fire alarms), and finally the plate after Mike came home and rescued them! Nice!

    ReplyDelete
  2. If they ended up being eaten, you're a rock-star customizer! My attempts at customizing have resulted in crab-cakes made with Cheerios. Bad idea. Worse when you try to eat them. Bet the kids enjoyed the fire alarm going off!

    ReplyDelete