Could we pause here just a minute to appreciate a meal well pulled together? I mean it’s delightful that the internet abounds in recipes, that cookbook authors put forth books by the series, that categories of cuisine fill shelves, but really, the home-cook does not jubilate over a single successful dish. No, the home-cook celebrates the satisfactory table. The table upon which each of her children finds something they enjoy, upon which there is something that does not demean the sensibilities of the adult, upon which tastes mingle and are sated.
On Friday, the fridge offered half a bunch of asparagus, sliced deli ham, 5 eggs, and some leftover cream too. The freezer was stocked with frozen berries, but no bananas. In a cupboard, dried dates had become this inconvenient pinecone-shaped leftover (from date-nut pinwheels) that shuffled between the sugar cubes and the chocolate. We’d already had pasta. I was loathe to go to the store (I always am).
This was Friday night’s menu:
Date Milkshake (from Jamie Oliver)
Blueberry pancakes (from Mark Bittman)
Asparagus and ham omelet (inspired by Mark Bittman)
Tasty Taters (from the freezer, by McCain)
On the surface, it might not seem all that much of a triumph, but what should be considered are the following factors: that the home-cook had no idea what to make for supper Friday morning, nor even Friday afternoon, and at Friday 1:00 considered texting her husband some words on the theme of mealtime despair. Fortunately, I resisted.
Sure, maybe home-cooking is an under-appreciated talent, or maybe home-cooking is undervalued, but when those grimy gremlin thoughts leave their swamp and start marching towards you, they can only be dispelled by a level of confidence wielded by professionals facing outside-the-home kind of problems, like the high-school principle who had, on her doorframe a magnet that read: “put on your big girl panties and deal with it.” (She was of a certain age, but no matter.)
Dealing with the problem created dishes, but also the tastiest omelet, one son’s favourite milkshake, satisfyingly crisp potato bites, and a pile of perfectly turned out pancakes that not only quelled my daughter’s hunger, but had that addictive quality where hands keep reaching to the plate for just one more, blueberry-studded and syrup-doused.