Salmon

It's Sunday and we've had a quiet, relaxing day.  After a great church service and lunch with friends, we came home to escape the heat and relax.  With Audra home from camp, she is enjoying catching up on her rest this weekend while the rest of us needed a quiet weekend to recharge our batteries. At least I did. As the day climbed quickly into evening, the familiar question rang from the mouths of those who live here. What's for dinner and when are we eating? I bristle at the question. Dinnertime, for me, is usually a chore. I feel bad saying it out loud, but I've got a million other things that I'd rather do than make dinner.  It's more than the making of the dinner, it's the planning and the making sure that we have everything we need for the dinner. I love making dinner when we're having people over or planning a special occasion. It's the daily grind of the daily dinner that becomes a thorn.

Perhaps some of it has to do with the fact that I'm just not a big eater. I can usually go without dinner and I'm really not that into food, in general. This alarms and concerns my husband, whose internal clock rings at all mealtimes throughout the day. Another thing that grates on my husband is my attempts in combining meals. I think that brunch makes a lot of sense as does linner, my favorite. It seems like everyone is starving between 3:00 and 4:00, so why not have a meal? I call it linner and it should take us right into bedtime.  With a midmorning brunch and a late afternoon linner, I think we'd all be a lot healthier eating two meals a day along with some healthy snacks. My family, on the other hand, has not adopted this theory and they rebel at my attempts to promote this agenda.

This evening, as the internal dinner bell rang for those around me, I decided I better get in the kitchen and whip something up.  I had some Alaskan salmon that I really wanted to make. I love fish and it looked so perfect for a hot summer night. My family is not so crazy about fish, but it's a healthy choice and I'd like them to learn to like it.  

So, I baked the salmon and cooked a vegetable with some potatoes to go with it. My husband noticed it first and made a special trip to the kitchen to voice his concerns. He did it discretely, but I stood firm. If we are going to be forced to eat the tons of beef (T-bone) that he's brought into the house, he can occasionally choke down some fish. With a smile. We made a rule in our house long ago that no one could say anything negative about dinner. It's a good rule that I highly recommend.  

I dished the six plates of excellent food and everyone sat down to say grace.  Our oldest, Audra, loves fish and the two of us were very excited about the choice. Buck told everyone it was chicken and I didn't have the heart to correct him. My husband, I was watching, was careful to eat around his piece before going back for a second helping of vegetables. Colton asked what it was and I told him that it was salmon. He said he had never heard of salmon but would try it.  Sierra did exactly what her dad did and creatively ate around the main course.  Finally, Buck wanted to know why his "chicken" was flaking off into little chunks and did not need to be cut with a knife. I explained that his "chicken" was really fish. Colton put two and two together and exclaimed with a question and and a statement that the salmon he was eating was really fish. He told me that I told him a fib, which really I had not. Buck, sensing that people were now agitated with what I had prepared, was sweet to compliment me every ten seconds on how delicious the salmon was, although he completely stopped eating it when he discovered it was not chicken. 

After everyone had explained how full they were and how delicious the salmon was, I gave them the good news that I'd be fixing fish once a week for dinner. 

Comments

[Randall]

Sheila,
Torturing your family under the guise of keeping them healthy! Very clever of you, but not very original. My wife has been trying that same trick in our family for the past couple of years, and getting the same mixed reviews. I have tried my best to explain to her that God gave fish to the world for bears to eat and He gave cuddly little cows to the world for humans to eat. If He had wanted humans to eat fish, He would have given fish a better flavor and a sweeter smell, and most certainly a different bone structure so we wouldn’t choke to death when trying to consume one. I have a great idea. The next time you want to have salmon for dinner, let me know and I’ll bring Dianne over to keep Audra and you company. In the meantime, just so they aren’t in your way, I will take Wade and Sierra (and Buck and Colton if they want) back to my house so they can have some dinner with Ryan and me……….and, to be sure that we are eating healthy, we’ll stick to the cuddly cow diet. Randall

[S]

I'm sure that our family would jump at the chance to switch houses for dinner. Wade especially! I like your wife already....it's nice to confirm that great minds think alike. Your description of fish sounds like you and Wade have much in common when it comes to meat preferences. I'm a bit concerned that his diet is too rich in T-bone - he's definitely a meat and potatoes guy.

Sierra got such a kick out of your comments on her blog. As did I. Sounds like you have both a smart wife and a smart older sister!