Last night I made dinner in our condo rather than eat another conch fritter or raw oyster. Don’t get me wrong; I like both, but they seem to be the staple in every restaurant in the Keys. I wanted a break.
So Earl and I went to Winn-Dixie to purchase something easy to fix. What could be easier than baked potatoes, baked fish, corn on the cob, and salad? I couldn’t think of anything either.
At the appropriate time I started my preparations. Wanted to scrub the potatoes but didn’t have a potato brush. Wanted to season the fish, but didn’t have my drawer of herbs and spices. Wanted to wash and dry the lettuce but didn’t have a salad spinner.Or tin foil for the extra avocado. Or a colander to drain the corn.
But I managed. Used a sponge on the potatoes. Spread some mayonnaise and crushed potato chips as a rub on the fish. Wrapped the lettuce in a hand towel now dubbed “salad spinner.” Stored the extra avocado in a plastic bag cut side down for some other meal. And drained the corn with a slotted spatula held against the cooking pot. My mother would have been proud.
On the other hand, Earl loves gadgets, while I usually discredit them. But — regardless of making Mom proud — preparing dinner in a makeshift kitchen fifteen hundred miles from home makes me realize how much I’ve come to depend on some of his gadgets. Like a potato brush and a salad spinner. Like little handles for our corn. Or a gadget that actually butters said corn. Or stainless steel measuring cups and measuring spoons, instead of the solitary one cup measure I found in the cupboard here.
So, Earl, this is a public acknowledgment of how I’m becoming gadget-oriented. I’ll probably still question your choices, but just know that cooking dinner tonight showed me how much easier it is with the right tool.
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