The other night I decided to make something different for dinner. My family had drifted into a summer rut of eating whatever was quickest and most convenient, not necessarily what was actually tasty or healthy. So, I determined to make something from scratch.

After searching through some recipes (yes, I actually looked through the old recipe box, not online), I found two that I thought would fit the bill. One was for the main meat course and the other for a side dish. Both sounded delicious and, most importantly, included ingredients I knew my family members, for the most part, would enjoy. Oh, one or two would prefer the meat over the side dish and vice versa, but at least everyone would appreciate the extra effort of a quality meal.

Or so I thought.

The meat that I thought everyone would love was not a hit with the kids. My fourteen-year-old suffered through it and ate it because he was really hungry (when isn’t he hungry these days?) but my nine-year old wouldn’t touch it.

As for the side dish, let’s just say it got a little overbaked. Some of the noodles became quite crispy, resulting in the unexpected and disturbing sound of crunch, crunch, crunch at intervals around the table.

And to top it all off, the brownies I made for dessert were flat and oily because I forgot to add an egg to the batter. That remains our little secret. My family never asked why the brownies didn’t look – or taste – like regular brownies (maybe they were afraid to ask), so I never shared my faux pas with them.

Needless to say, it was not a dinner I would have wanted to serve a guest.Read More