Day 78?
These will now be numbered with question marks. I’m getting close to 80, but I know that there were a few whose counts were wrong. I apologize for this.
I like getting home and cooking dinner. It makes me feel needed. Or something. I’d defrosted some chicken thighs in the fridge. Got home, threw on some salt, pepper, worcester sauce, the juice from half a blood orange, and some honey. Threw them in the oven at 425 for enough time for them to get crispy. It was less than 10 minutes of prep, and about 25 minutes to cook, and dinner was ready when the wife got home. The boy ate a piece of chicken and just said “mmmmmm, yummy.” That’s my ultimate success. If I can get a toddler to eat, I’ve won. (yes there was also broccoli and some frozen potatoes, because I am human and we’ve been eating too much rice)
Get Michael Silver’s stories in your inbox
Join Medium for free to get updates from this writer.
I honestly can’t say how relaxing it is, after a day at work and then rushing home to pick up the boy, to cook dinner. I love it. It truly makes me happy. Also, I love each night that we don’t order food out. Even though I love take out, I love cooking more. We used to order delivery almost every night. This was before the boy. For a while, when the wife was at home with him, and he was still a baby, I’d rush home and cook dinner for her. And then for the three of us as he started eating solid foods. We’d just give him food from our plate. I’d had to learn to stop making things so spicy.
Getting home and making dinner isn’t easy. It’s good to have a rough idea what you’re doing before you start. I generally don’t use recipes. Especially not for weekday meals. Just don’t have the time for anything that takes that much preparation. So there is just a variety of protein, vegetable, and grain. Usually chicken, but sometimes steak or fish. Usually broccoli, but sometimes green beans, or cauliflower, or carrots, or asparagus. Usually rice, but sometimes potatoes, or quinoa. I used to love making quinoa, but for some reason, the boy is not that into right now. Hopefully we’ll get back to that soon. I like to cook it with left-over wine, mushrooms, and parmesan cheese.
It’s almost ramp season. mmmmm.
