The second Sunday of every month, we have our young single and married student family members, plus a few extras, come join us for dinner. Jace and Salem Brinkerhoff, Brianne Barrus, Ruby Barrus, and Zach and Annie Burnett are invited, as well as the sister of a friend of Brenda's who usually brings a friend or two, Divine, Kaylee, and Gracious. They are young and energetic and bring sparkle and noise to our Sunday evenings. It has been fun to have them over this school year.
Today was the day they were coming and when I did menu planning and grocery shopping, I intended on making turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and a veg. I've had the turkey in the freezer since November, and it seemed a good reason to cook it. However, my good planning, was derailed by the ridiculous sense of drama and spectacle I seem to innately possess and which often overcomes me. Such was the case of dinner tonight.
Saturday morning, I was looking at Instagram and niece Michelle posted a Happy Chinese New Year picture. I said to myself, 'Oh! It's Chinese New Year. I should make Chinese food for dinner tomorrow.' So, I sent out a reminder text to the young people, and then began looking on the internet for typical things eaten at Chinese New Year. This is where it all went wrong. I began making a list of things we could/should eat in order to have an auspicious beginning to the year. Pot stickers, spring rolls, noodles, a whole fish (or two), rice cakes, meatballs, pork belly, various stir fry, ginger scallion lobster, seafood bird's nest, various vegetable dishes, almond cookies, tapioca. I was clicking on recipes and making a list of things I could make. It all sounded delicious and fun. I made shopping list and planned on getting lucky money in red envelopes (which we have at work) for the young people and imagined we would have a great time together.
Here is the menu I planned, assuming I could do all these things if I started after church and choir practice.
Dumplings, spring rolls, steamed fish, noodles, lion's head meatballs with bok choy, shrimp, tangerine beef, cucumber salad, almond cookies and small oranges for dessert, and as munchies either before or after the meal, a tray of togetherness.
Writing that out, I realize now how ridiculous that list is. I'm one person! But Saturday morning, I was full of energy and optimism and was certain it would all be fantastic.
On our way home from the aquarium, we stopped at an Asian market to pick up supplies. Recognizing I am only one person, I purchased frozen dumplings and spring rolls so I wouldn't have to make them. That's easy! I found some lovely looking fresh noodles and put those in the cart. I bought dark soy sauce and oyster sauce, some beautiful small bok choy, and several bags of crunchy things for the tray of togetherness. I was hopeful I could get a fish at the Asian market too, and they did have a number of different fishes that might have worked. I was looking at all the options when I noticed a sign that said, "Due to staff shortages, from October to March we don't clean the fish." That means I would be responsible for gutting, descaling, and completely preparing the fish before cooking could begin. That was beyond my time allowance (and desire), so we left fishless.
I dropped the kids off at home and then did a bit more shopping. I stopped at the bank to get envelopes and then went to Macey's. I found a few more things I needed, but no fish. I bought steak for the tangerine beef, almonds for the cookies, and dried fruit and nuts for the tray of togetherness. I wanted to get cash back on a purchase so I would have $5 bills for the lucky money envelopes, but they would only exchange twenty dollars' worth which wasn't enough fives for all the people I thought were coming. I thought I would try elsewhere.
When I was done, I still had no fish. Macey's doesn't sell whole fish, so I tried to think where I could go for a whole fish. The Mexican market is just up the street from Macey's and I know they sell whole fish, so that was my next stop. Only I didn't stop. I pulled into the parking lot and it was packed. Cars were circling to find a place to park and I didn't have it in me to spend an hour in the market in order to purchase a fish.
So where next? I know Costco sells fish, not whole fishes, but fish, and even though it was the Saturday afternoon before the Super Bowl, I thought I could brave it for the Chinese New Year experience. They have lovely salmon filets which, after trying three other places, I decided would be adequate. I bought two because we were going to be so many people, and then, when passing by the frozen meat section, threw into the cart a bag of tilapia filets. I began to realize that I was making more of this meal than it needed to be, and I was getting carried away. The tangerine beef recipe was complicated, involving the peeling, scraping, and drying of tangerine skins, and I smartly decided to scrap that and cook orange chicken from a box I could get in the same freezer section of Costco, just three doors down.
I got home and said to Kent, "I am an idiot!" I felt overwhelmed by this meal I planned to make, and it was completely my own doing. No one expected a huge Chinese meal with eight different dishes, dessert, and snacks. I had created an enormous amount of work for myself and I hadn't even begun to cook anything. So stupid.
I made almond cookies this morning before church, and with the oranges, dessert was done. After choir practice I got right to preparing, but I quickly realized I needed to scale back. Most of our guests were not able to come, so I was only preparing food for eight, not fourteen, and that helped a bit. I decided we didn't need fish and as time got closer to mealtime, I also scraped the spring rolls. They needed to be deep fried and I didn't have the time to stand next to the pot and do that. I asked Isabella to help me and she did, briefly, but then she got bored and became deliberately irritating so I would send her away. I did send her away, but told her I recognized what she was doing and didn't appreciate it. I ran out of time to make cucumber salad, so the cucs went back in the fridge.
The noodles were a complete disaster. I found a recipe for beef lo mien, but the noodles were not lo mien noodles. The preparing of the beef and veg that were in the noodles was all fine, but I made a mistake with the noodles. The package said, "Rinse in warm water to break apart before using," so I did that. I rinsed them and left them to drain in a colander. When the time came to add them to the wok, they had all glommed together and were a glutenous mess. I could not separate them at all and just threw them in the trash.
In the end, we had dumplings (which Kent prepared), meatballs with bok choy (which tasted completely Chinese), stir-fried shrimp, orange chicken, and stir-fried beef and vegetables, with the cookies and oranges for dessert, and bowls of munchies. We had no fish, no noodles, and no spring rolls, so no abundance, long life, or prosperity for us this year. But we did have a delicious meal and lively conversation, enough leftovers to send some home with the young people and leave some for lunches, and I learned a valuable lesson about not getting carried away. Not really. I'm certain I learned nothing and will continue to function under the DeMartini Family motto: Everything in Excess.
And after all that, I forgot to take a picture of all of us gathered around the Chinese feast, and that makes me sad.
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