Monday, November 9, 2009

Bad, Better, Best

BAD
Kid comes home from school today after TWO WEEKS of holiday and complains, "I have to write TWO essays by Thursday!"

Me/The Spouse: "Um, when did you get the assignment?"

Kid, wailing: "BEFORE THE VACATION!!!!!!!"

Me/The Spouse (in unison): "Oy!" [smacking foreheads]

Actually this was a Play in Two Acts with me (Act 1) explaining how this assignment would certainly require a five-paragraph essay with
  • an introduction, 
  • three points of support or examples (because we are a Christian culture) and 
  • a conclusion. 
Act 1 was followed by Act 2 or The Spouse explaining how this assignment would certainly require a five-paragraph essay with
  • an introduction, 
  • three points of support or examples (he left out the trinity references, but then again, he was a Poli Sci major and not an English major) and 
  • a conclusion. 

BETTER
Dinner.

I'm sorry but I KICKED ASS tonight.

Pan-seared pork tenderloins seasoned with salt, pepper, cumin, and chili pepper.

Oven-roasted Brussels sprouts with olive oil and sea salt.

My latest version of beet salad. I roasted a beet. Yeah, just one. But it weighed a pound and a half. It came from Chernobyl. Peeled it and cut into chunks. Added one grapefruit, peeled and sectioned. Salt and pepper. Fresh, grated horseradish. Lemon zest. And a sauce made of sour cream and the juice of one lemon. Damn, but it was GOOD. It was also yummy on the pork.

Yeah, I shoulda taken pictures. But sour cream on beets just turns PINK. Believe me: it tasted incredible.



I intended to serve it on a bed of posh mixed greens. But I got lazy. So sue me.

BEST
The Spouse came home early to help Kid with homework. Brought samples of chocolates and cookies that the office had sampled in planning this year's Office Christmas Gifts for Clients. My favorite was some sort of caramel/brittle topped with a layer of bitter-sweet chocolate, chopped almonds, and dried fruits.

Perfect end to a really delicious meal.

10 comments:

Elisabeth said...

I will have to try the new beet salad from Chez Beet. But all our beets here are anemic...

MoscowMom said...

Cool!!!! Gotta try that... Don't you love it when kids procrastinate? Or, um, adults??!

Tina in CT said...

Pork sounds yummy but I'll pass on the beet salad as I'm not a beet lover.

Good lesson for your daughter about putting off homework.

How come they have school as I thought all schools in Moscow were closed this week by the government?

I bet it was nice having the candy to sample.

Christina said...

It's like no one else noticed free dessert...

Free dessert! Yay for that!

Hope your week is off to a great start. :-)

I Wonder Wye said...

Yeah, that's a good meal, and easy to throw together which is best of all...and then -- hopefully -- left overs which anyone loves..

Andrea said...

Hey, I made pork tenderloin last night as well - a recipe I found on the net - soaked in bourbon.

valentina said...

God all of this food talk is killing, me, being on Weight Watchers, and the chocolate covered brittle was simply horrific torture!! But I am committed!

NO school on Weds for Vets' day and Monday is my last day of classes before finals... I have to write one between now and Monday... but at least I have plenty of time...

Hope the girls got their work done... yes it is a good lesson about procrastination... I must have been absent the day they taught that! xov

Major Allen Espy said...

Men like beets too! LOL

The Expatresse said...

The French embassy decided they would take it as it comes. Skittles did stay home today . . . she's not right, but it's not The Flu. Don't know what it is, but I fed them both Very Leftover Mashed Potatoes last night and both of them had issues, although Baboo's were certainly self-induced stress. And no one purged in a "I have food poisoning!" way.

Anonymous said...

I didn't realize beets could be so interesting. ANd I can relate to the procratination. Still working with my kids on it.

Stephen Tremp