We Ate Well…

among many other things. But over the Christmas holidays, while all three kids were home, we ate well.

And that, for me, is a big deal.

Cooking is not my strength. I’m more likely to find myself at 5:48 in the afternoon thinking, “Crap, I forgot about feeding all these mouths in the house.” It just doesn’t really matter to me. I don’t think about it. I don’t even really like food that much. All of which I’m sure is not the kind of thing a dad should be admitting. Especially a dad who is charged with the responsibility of feeding his brood.

But things worked out well this holiday.

I went to our local Jewel store around 10:30 in evening on December 23. No crowds. No lines. And I even came equipped with a shopping list with a general plan for the next few days. And for the first time in a long time, I wasn’t embarrassed checking out. I was half-expecitng Chris, the late-night checker, to comment that I was missing the jumbo bag of Cheetos. Or my youngest son’s double box of Pop Tarts.

Lots of fruits. Vegetables. Some impressive canned goods. Balsamic vinegar. Skim milk. 1% Milk. 2% milk. Chocolate milk. Yes, my kids all have their own preferences.

Having a well-stocked pantry probably was a good start. But the best part was an anxiety-free time in the kitchen.

The scrambled eggs became outstanding eggs with the addition of a bunch of roasted potatoes I forgot I had made earlier in the week. And the addition of french toast – something I’ve never attempted – brought back great memories for us all of our favorite Uncle Jack who will forever be the king of breakfast menus. I surprised all parties with homemade pizza on the grill. And an improvised chickeny-linquini-broccoli-artichoke-sundried tomato thing (hint: balsamic vinegar makes everything taste good). Our non-traditional Christmas dinner was a pesto fish and steaks (long story, but between the four of us, we have a full-fledged vegetarian, a part-way vegetarian, and two who would eat red meat morning, noon and night). Our Christmas feast worked for us.

But hands down, the best was our traditional cookie decorating.

Rolled sugar cookies. My mom’s recipe. The cookie dough sat in the refrigerator while we were at church. It was only one batch. So we didn’t make too many. But that’s not the point. We made our cookies. A little over-baked. Perhaps. And my youngest two whipped up the frosting, colored it, and quickly spread it over the tops.

Adding sprinkles here. And there.

In random pattern.

Kind of like our weekend. Of eating well.