Last week, Nicholas and I were at Target, and he spied a blue disco ball-type ornament that he quickly became obsessed with. He pleaded for me to buy it – its sparkly, glittery appearance going to the heart of his inner John Travolta. I said no, giving the usual spiel of excuses … it’s not going to match anything we have, we have enough ornaments, every time we enter a store it doesn’t mean you have to buy something, etc.; all very truthful excuses. I mean, hello? What about a shiny, spinning blue disco balls screams Christmas? Yup, nothing.
But then later in the week, my Mom and I were on a quick shopping excursion, and I spied a box of mirrored ornaments in a variety of colors. I immediately thought of Nicholas. How could I not? They weren’t nearly as garish as the blue one he so desperately wanted, yet I knew they would make him happy. And so, some six boxes later, him and my sister set out to decorate a small tree we had on hand last night, starting a new tradition, our disco ball tree. Definitely not something I planned on adding to our Christmas decorations, but he is certainly allowed to be part of choosing new traditions … so the disco ball tree it is. And I have to admit, it looks rather pretty. Between his idea and my interpretation of it (read: toning down of it), we have another new tradition.
Now jumping to dinner … any time we go to a restaurant, if The Husband sees an Argentinean Steak with Chimichurri Sauce, he immediately orders it. The man knows what he likes. Luckily his wife knows too. Catching up on my magazine reading today, when I spied a recipe for this steak in a Gourmet issue, I knew exactly what I was making. But now, what for Nicholas? He is picky about steak. Not necessarily about the steak in general, more so the times he’s interested in it. Some days, he’ll out-eat me in terms of steak; other times he can’t even feign interest. So a few pages later, when I saw a recipe for Grilled-Chicken Caesar Salad, I knew it would be perfect for him, and a menu was born.
He wandered into the kitchen while I was cooking, and asked what we were having for dinner. I told him, and when I mentioned salad with “white dressing” (his favorite), he immediately ran to the refrigerator. “But mama, I have an idea. I can have the salad from the red star restaurant instead. That will be good.” Yup, I do believe soggy, day-old salad is a close contender for the salad I just spent making for him … grilling the chicken, making homemade Caesar dressing, HAND-GRATING the Parmesan cheese. But, of course, what was I thinking? Luckily by the time dinner was ready, he forgot about the salad-in-styrofoam and not only polished off a plate of the one I made, but pounded through a bunch of steak as well.
I asked The Husband how the steak was, and in between mouthfuls, I got, “Very good. Better than the restaurant’s.” Now, of course, that smacks of your Dad telling you you’re very pretty. Of course he’s going to say that, he’s your Dad. Not biased in the least, right? But I agree with The Husband. If tonight’s recipe wasn’t better than the restaurant’s version, it certainly comes quite close. It was packed with flavor, and super quick to make. What better combination do you need? So all in all, a great eatin’ night and everyone was a member of the Clean Plate Club.
Now onto the Weekend Dog Blogging roundup.
Until tomorrow…
A year ago today … eating, Cuban style!
There’s already snow over at Farmgirl Fare and it looks like Lucky Buddy Bear is enjoying every last flake of it! While you’re there, be sure to read up on the great cause that Susan highlights.
The sleeping trio from Dispensing Happiness in Tennessee pop in for a visit:
More snoozers … this time, it’s the pups from Is It EDible?, all the way from sunny California. Talk about snug as a bug in a rug!
Oh the face! How can you not love all that squishiness? Sophie from You Gonna Eat All That? gets a visitor, Java:
Simba from Up a Creek Without a PatL enjoys a quick romp in the last of the leaves:
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. We had all seen #1, but somehow all managed to miss #2, which we’ll schedule for the next movie night. This is a great gross-out movie, and as it progressed, we found ourselves swearing off doing certain things in the future … roller coasters, visiting tanning salons, and more. A fun Friday night flick. Any movie recommendations for our next movie night?