FAMILY SUPPER

We had a lovely day together yesterday, with many forays out and about, walking around the neighborhood, stepping out the gate to visit our nearest neighbor, whose grandson was trimming her hedges and removing a few errant limbs from her backyard trees. He’s a nice young man, his tall stature usually causing Our Girl to become bashful and come running to bury her face in my apron, so to speak. She didn’t care for the hum of the trimmers, but when she saw him put together the two long poles with the little curved snip-saw on the end, she was so engrossed she walked right up to him to watch.

He snipped a few twigs, a few leafy little spriglets from up and down the trunk, and she asked if she could help---he showed her how to hold the rope and pull it to operate the blades, and she trimmed two small snips before I called her away so he could do his work. She was vastly proud of her labors, and told everyone she saw that she “cut limbs.”

We watered all the backyard flowers, giving the hostas a long cold drink, and she manned the big green watering-can, getting a couple of cups of water at a time from the hose, and giving the sidewalk more than she gave the flowers. Then her play in the water turned to standing in front of me, running her hands through the stream of water, and becoming thoroughly soaked, shorts and shirt. We came into the cool house, and I ran her a warm lavender bubble bath in her little yellow tub, where she played until I had lunch on the table.

A long nap whilst I put on a big pot of snap beans with sauteed onion and little chunks of ham, made a pot of mac & cheese with one of those packs of grated “four Italian cheeses” and just a little cheddar for color, and steamed a pack of baby carrots to glaze. About twenty minutes before we sat down, I added a couple of cups of tiny-cut potato cubes atop the beans, to steam tender and stir through the dish to absorb the flavors of all that good pot liquor.

Our son came by after work to do some straightening on the patio, for some of the bathroom-redo debris was still out there, and so Our Girl and her Mommy and Daddy stayed for supper.

I had chicken wings brining to fry, and was kinda dreading adding that heat to the kitchen right before we sat down to supper. Chris called en route home and said he had to run in Sam’s for a pack of printer paper, and Light-Bulb-Moment! So he brought two of the wonderful rotisserie chickens, which we really enjoyed with our vegetables and lots of the fresh red tomatoes from the garden.

I just don’t know of a more convenient, easier addition to a meal, especially when the group expands, and it’s WAY preferable to heating the oven and kitchen for a couple of hours. It’s also VERY inexpensive---$4.99 each, and comparing a plain old raw chicken in most grocery stores, plus the rub and roasting time at home---you just can’t beat the price. Convenience notwithstanding, it’s my very favorite takeout, of ANY kind. All that salty delicious seasoning cooked in and through the perfectly-cooked, tender chicken, and the jus in the bottom of the dish makes a lovely anointment for plain white rice.

And I'll make chicken salad tomorrow for Saturday's picnic.

I guess I’ll be frying up those chicken wings for supper tonight---he’s always preferred the little second-limb, with its tender stretch of muscles, and I like the drumettes. He pulls the two pieces apart, I pour the tea, and we serve our plates. Good team, we are.

Miz Sprat signin' off.