Saturday, August 04, 2012

on a saturday evening

Lately we've been exclusively eating frittata on Saturday evenings.

Eighteen or so eggs, a dollop of full fat cream, chives or sauteed onion or something, a golden mound of some kind of cheese, sometimes some sausage, all whipped together and plunked into a pan and into the oven at 350 for a while--until its golden and puffy and a knife comes out clean.

And a massive loaf of bread sliced up and lathered with butter. And a big salad.

Doesn't it sound all golden and lovely?
But here's the thing. Tonight There Were No Leftovers.
Let me repeat....There Were No Leftovers. The wretched children ate every single scrap of food and then cast their eyes about for whatever else there might be.

Which just, well, it just made me angry. Leftovers are such an integral and necessary part of a well functional household. If you  don't have leftovers, well, where are you? Stuck making a dinner every single night, that's where.

Its a crying, as they say, shame. Two nights ago I made gorgeous mounds of strawberry shortcake. Two cups flour, one tablespoon baking powder, pinch salt, two-thirds cup lard, one cup milk, and, just to be really special, a spattering of cinnamon and a Whole Third Cup of Real Sugar, mushed together onto a baking pan at 350 for a while till a knife came out clean. And then a whole glorious bowl of strawberries with sugar until they were  running with juice and sweetness. Only three of the six children were there so I figured there would clearly be a chance to nip in well after dark and just finish it up. What? You don't bake with an eye towards that last closing of  the fridge whenever everyone else isn't around?

Anyway, There weren't Any Leftovers. None. Three children, one vat of strawberry shortcake, No Leftovers. It was almost enough to make me give up. Really, what's the point. I might as well just crack open a can of spam and climb under my bed.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

ROFL
art

Dr. Alice said...

I feel your pain. Were it not for leftovers, I could not survive - and I am not cooking for seven other people!

Kat said...

If you want leftovers, you will need to cook even more massive amounts than you think you need- and then prepare for when you have Teenagers, and even that won't be enough.

On the weekends, we've taken to cooking 2 meals at once. Our current hobby is the newly built Smoker, and once the charcoal is going and it's at a steady temperature, it's easier to keep going than to stop and start again the next day! But it's not as much work as cooking allll day, making meals for the week ahead, either.

Anonymous said...

Amen, sister. This weekend Sam grilled chicken- enough for two families of 6 (so we thought)... and even though it was just our family in the end, THERE WERE NO LEFTOVERS. Which just goes to show that we shouldn't have friends over. Ever. Let me know if you figure out a way around this.

lissla lissar said...

I'm not sure what breaks my heart more- no leftovers or when almost everything is left over because THE CHILDREN REFUSE TO EAT because the food contains something icky, like eggs or vegetables or spices.

It makes me want to give them takeout for the rest of their lives.

But I don't because that would be expensive, and besides, if we ordered the kind of takeout I like they wouldn't eat it anyway. Sigh.

Kathy Rooney said...

Lard! You are making me long for the days of sitting at my grandmother's kitchen after school. To her Hungarian mind lard was a basic food group.

Julie said...

Oh my, wait until the boys become teens! I have one boy and when he hit middle school, I had to join Sam's Club to buy in bulk just so I wouldn't have to do a grocery shop twice per week!

The frittata recipe sounds divine! I plan to try it this week! With far fewer eggs, though!

Anonymous said...

My grandmother use to say, "Children are an ungrateful lot." Indeed.
They are messy, dirty, demanding, sniveling at times, snotty most of the times, hyped when you are not, sleeping when you need them hyped and I am convinced that the legs are actually food storage containers because they amount of food these suckers can pack away is just amazing.

Yet, we love them more than they will ever know and would gladly give our lives.

Our lives - of course - but strawberry shortcake leftovers - not so much.