I have never been that interested in food. If I could have just taken a pill that gave me all my nourishment, that would have satisfied me at most times in my life. Needless to say, I have learned over time to be more appreciative of the efforts Dana makes in the kitchen. She is a very good cook, in spite of the lack of support she gets from the three males she is forced to live with.
The tables have turned. Now that she is going back to the classroom, and I am scratching my belly, it falls on me to make at least some of the dinners, or to at least make some attempt at making some of the dinners. And what I am discovering is, I have no training, no education, no aptitude, that has prepared me for this.
She has always been in charge of aesthetics, shopping and food, and I get all infrastructure and maintenance. The lines often blur depending on who is working the most, but generally I have finances, cars, house repair, laundry, and some cleaning (we have had outside help there, but that may change). Dana often does laundry and cleaning, and the power struggle is ever present over who does more. The cease-fire created by cancer treatments is ending though.
Yesterday I did the laundry; watched the inauguration; went to Best Buy, Costco, Home Depot, CVS and Vons for various things; replaced the PC monitor; mounted an outside thermometer; fixed the window in the bathroom; walked the dog; and made dinner. That's where it all started to fall apart. I made the mistake of being in mid PC monitor replacement when I decided I needed to get the marinade going for the garlic chicken I was going to cook later, meaning I couldn't Google key words like 'mince' or 'clove'.
So, we ended up with a whole head of garlic, about ten times more than was called for. Well minced. This left me with the feeling that there was no way I was up to this task without frozen foods, I was too far behind. I last felt like this when we lived in Spain, and I would yell at drivers that cut me off "Was I born stupid or do I practice?" My brain's cooking area was like my brain's Spanish area, ossified. I could get a beer in Malaga and I can make a burrito or an omelet, but don't get complicated with me by using terms that you learned from your mother while I was mowing the lawn.
Anyway, this is probably going to be good for my brain plasticity, and we'll eat smaller quantities or suffer from garlic breath. Tonight I am preparing chicken parmesan, which should be okay as we rinsed off the 15 cloves of garlic marinade sauce from the two breasts nobody ate last night. I imagine this post will generate lots of helpful advice from all the chefs out there, but remember, I am ossified, I only absorb this info like I absorb new bone marrow, slowly and painfully and after months of beat-down. Bear with me, or beer with me.
We go back up to Stanford tomorrow for a checkup. I am fine except for the lingering cold (Dana's cold lingers also), so I expect more tapering of meds and Stanford visits. I have decided to ignore the cold, it's mostly just congestion. I actually played nine holes of golf on Monday. I had practiced my chipping three times in the prior week, so I totally sucked at chipping. It was great to get out on the course though, and 18 holes is not far off. I have to take a cart, but I'll be walking the course by July, I hope.
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Okay John, four words are in order here: GROCERY STORE DELI SECTION.
ReplyDeleteI think I have a fairly refined pallet. However, it never ceases to amaze me that there is such a minor difference in cost (and often, taste) between prepared food I can buy at the grocery store deli section vs. buying the ingredients and spending an hour and a half over the stove in the kitchen.
If you find that just doesn’t work for you, don’t fret. Christine told me to tell you that if I can learn how to cook, anyone can. Thus far, she has not doubled over in pain on the dining room floor, nor did we have to call 911 to have her delivered to the local infirmary for a stomach pump.
Build up the ho-spice supply, get on a first name basis with the folks in the deli section, buy a slow cooker and an expensive Le Creuset dutch over.
Mac
Wow, that's really good advice, Vons has that a mile away, I could DO that! I don't think I'd get full credit for that, though, so I'll have to be judicious and make helpless but heartfelt attempts.
ReplyDeleteEarl? I think this one's for you.
ReplyDeletebut John at least you have found something to learn like you were looking for a while back and I think it will be easier than the ukelele!
is Mo one of your twins? he finds it mysterious, too, though he can build a catamaran on 6 months worth of coffee breaks. though I have worked in many restaurants and caterers,and managed two take-outs store fronts, the best of what I've learned came from watching Earl or occasionally, calling Earl.
why doesn't he have a blog? most of the recipes come with uncle stories so it would be very educational. c'mon Earl, help a brother out here--he already broke law #1: there is no such thing as too much garlic!
so many ways to cook a potatoe
ReplyDeletegut neva with an e
ReplyDeleteDQ
John,
ReplyDeletePat always told me, eating helps. She might have gotten that from an Armenian guy, William Saroyan. I worked with an Armenian guy once who, as he drove me to work, bought me breakfast told me how he used to go hunting with his beagle.
It was winter, both he and his dog were enjoying the thrill of the hunt and the quiet bonding achieved during a good outing in the fresh air. Cy slipped going over a stone wall, the gun discharged. Cy said his dog never walked in front of him again, when he carried a gun, Cy, not the beagle.
I don't cook much. Though to my credit, I don't complain about other peoples cooking. I used to cook for myself, things that could be done in one pan or pot, and I was capable of eating the same dish several times a day until gone. I guess that isn't really a skill nor an art.
You see, I don't mind the shopping part, the randomness, of what I might find, the visuals, fragments of random conversations.
I wish I could say with all sincerity that you have inspired me to venture where I don't usually go, but Patty wouldn't buy it. Though it does smell good.
Mo