Eating Gourmet!

With the decision to not use electricity for 3 days, came the question of what are you going to make for dinner, and how? The inevitable "What's for Dinner" question is always one that can be the turning point of my day. If something is planned by lunchtime then my day usually ends well, if it is 4:00 and I haven't made any definite decisions then I know Jason will be coming home and I will feel that overwhelming disappointment with myself when he walks in the door and I am still scrambling to come up with something, and usually fail miserably. It really is a timing issue. Jason doesn't care if dinner is ready or not. I just know that if it isn't in the process of being made when he comes home, then by the time we do finally decide what to eat, the kids are already hungry and grouchy and by the time we can actually get it assembled and ready to eat it is practically bed time, and the day ends with everyone feeling frustrated and irritable.

So I knew planning meals for the rest of this week was going to be a bit tricky. We have eaten food cooked in our fireplace before so I knew I was capable of cooking without the stove, but I made tin foil dinners, and aluminum foil was one of those things on my "shopping list" that is still waiting to be shopped for. So I pulled out the dutch oven and oiled the inside. I started a fire in the fireplace around 3:00 so there would be plenty of time to burn the wood down enough to make coal. I cut up chicken and potatoes and let them marinate in Italian dressing, while I rolled newspapers. Wednesday is always a little crazy because we have 3 times the number of papers to deliver, so it takes a little longer to finish. The boys delivered quickly today and we were finished by 5:00. We put the dutch oven in the fireplace to Pre-heat and then added the potatoes and chicken. It was exciting to hear the oil sizzle as we put the food in. It wasn't finished by the time Jason made it home, but we lit the candles and the boys all found sticks to roast miniature marshmallows over the candles until it was ready.

I felt like a queen, eating my green salad, homemade bread, roasted chicken and potatoes by candlelight. I never thought I would be eating fancy looking meals while "roughing it." The boys have been great eaters and have stayed at the table through the whole meal. When the only light in the house is where the family is, that is where you stay. All in all, I have really enjoyed these last 2 weeks. Jason has admitted to being a pansy today. He waits to get to work to use the bathroom so he can use warm water to wash his hands. And he says he feels guilty warming up his lunch in the microwave at work, knowing the rest of us are roughing it at home.

That's OK. The whole experience has been worth the enjoyment of snuggling next to a fire and reading Little House on the Prairie with the boys. These are memories I will cherish for a lifetime.