Monday, April 23, 2007

What's For Dinner?

The weekend was BEAUTIFUL! Sunny and warm. We turned off the furnace and opened all the windows. Lovely, just lovely. I woke up on Sunday morning feeling motivated to get outside and clean up the yard. I picked up sticks, pulled weeds, laid mulch, trimmed the shrubbery, scrubbed the outside table and chairs and played with the dogs. All in all I had a pretty productive day. To say I was exhausted would be an understatement. However, we must eat. Now mind you, Jason was asleep the whole time, while I'm slaving away, since he worked the night before. When he wakes up, I ask him would he like steaks on the grill for dinner. He says that sounds great. So off I go to the local Convenient store.

Upon arrival, I realize that everyone else in town must have had the same brilliant idea (a steak cookout) because my only purchasing option was New York Strip Steaks. This is fine by me, I happen to love a good strip steak. However, I know this is a potential problem for the husband as he's a t-bone or fillet lover. But what is a girl to do? The selection was limited. I choose the best looking from the bunch and head home.

When I return to the house, Jason is outside prepping the motorcycle for a ride. He informs me that he's going to pay his aunt a visit and asks when dinner will be ready so he can be back in time. Then comes the conversation I prepared myself for during the 3 minute drive home:

Jason: What kind of steaks did you buy?
Me: Strip steaks.
Jason: (rolls his eyes)
Me: That's all they had.
Jason: I didn't say anything.
Me: You didn't have to, you rolled your eyes.
Jason: It's just that strip steaks don't grill up nicely because they're not that thick. Fillets would have been better.
Me: The steaks are plenty thick enough and they'll be fine.
(Jason makes his way to the refrigerator and pulls out the package of steaks.)
Jason: Where's the meat? This isn't enough?
Me: There is more than enough for the two of us. You always tell me that I don't make enough meat and then you retract your statement after you've eaten by saying how full you are. Stop thinking you always have to eat like a pig.
Jason: This isn't enough.
ME: (I'm angry now) Well, go over to Aunt Francine's house and eat. Maybe she made steak that is the right cut and thickness and cooked properly. I'm going to make this for MYSELF. And it's going to be good!! I'm serious, Jason, I'm not cooking you a steak!


Before he left for his aunt's house, he asked me again when dinner would be ready. In a not very polite way, full of expletives, I promised him that I would not be providing him with dinner in any way, shape or form. I reminded him that what I chose to prepare was not high enough on the "Jason's meat standard list" and he better find some dinner somewhere else. Period.

He left. I cooked MY steak in my favorite Calphalon pan, INSIDE, because now I've been sucked dry of any remaining energy and don't want to wait for the grill to heat up or have to be bothered with running in and out while it cooks.

Dinner was scrumptious. The steak was juicy and cooked to perfection, medium rare. I enjoyed it thoroughly along with a baked potato smothered with butter, sour cream and cheddar cheese. I also prepared myself a nice crisp salad. I ate my dinner, ALONE. And just for the record, I did not finish the steak. I'd eaten about half of it when my belly said it was time to stop. Apparently, the steak WAS big enough.

After dinner, I decided to take a hot bath laced with baby oil to soak my aching muscles and quench my sun dried skin. I've got it all planned out. I can stay in the tub for about 30 minutes and when I'm finished it'll be time to cuddle up in bed to watch the Sopranos before nodding off for the night.

The bath was refreshing for my muscles but relaxing for my mind. I laid down, willing my eyes to stay open just a bit longer so I can catch up with the happenings of Tony and the gang. I never even heard the opening theme song. But somewhere along the way of my blissful dreams, Jason came home. He woke me up asking, "Where's my steak?" I gave him a groggy response of, "Still marinating in the fridge." He said, "You really didn't make me any dinner? I can't believe this!!" I rolled back over, anxious to return to dream-land, thinking...did he really think I wasn't serious? I thought I made myself clear when I told him to eat while he was out. I vaguely remember hearing him in the kitchen cooking the steak he didn't want. This morning, upon further investigation, my suspicion was confirmed when I found the refrigerator void of the supposedly unwanted, not good enough for Jason, steak.

Maybe next time he won't be so damn critical of my choices. Or maybe he'll volunteer to cook dinner (Jason is an excellent cook) to ensure the food is to his liking. Hopefully, he'll just keep his pie-hole shut and be grateful that I even cook. Damn it!

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

I grieve with you. Yesterday I was asked to thaw some wings. when ding-dong got home from work, I was asked 20Qs about how I thawed them, how long have they been out, and why didn't I thaw more. After he finished about the food, god knows what else he asked about. i'm trying to figure out where a favor and a demand equal the same thing.

Anonymous said...

Amen, Nina. There is one department I can say I trained Todd well. If you don't want to go to the store and buy it, bring it home and cook it and then clean it up - shut up or I won't cook again. He does not say a word. Sometimes he wants to tell me how it needs to be seasoned or browned just so etc. I just pat his extremely LARGE belly and say, "I think I'm doing pretty good." True he'll say and just walk away. And yes, he does buy the steaks because I could NEVER select the right one.

Tera said...

Nina, loved the post!!! I am SURE that Jason (along with the rest of us) know you well enough to know that you weren't going to do something that you CLEARLY stated you wouldn't do!!! Ha! I love the fact that you rolled over in PURE unconcern...Hopefully that is a GOOD lesson learned for him!!!

Nance said...

I can remember actually GOING ON STRIKE when we were first newlyweds because Mr. Dept. thought I was simply going to take the place of his mother. I was not. I did no laundry that did not make it into the hamper, made a dinner that he was sure to dislike, and actually made a sign that said WIFE ON STRIKE and hung it over the apartment balcony to greet him when he came home. He figured it out pretty darn quick. That was the end of Privileged Character Time at The Dept. I'm happy to say it lasted about a day and a half and since then, pretty smooth 50-50 sailing. MAKE A SIGN, NINA!!!

Lisa Johnson said...

Hi Nina! First I just have to tell you that whenever I visit your blog and see Scrappy Doo's cute little face, I just have to smile! He is so adorable! And this is coming from someone who is not even a dog person! He could win me over big time. Actually I think he already did. ; )

Sorry about the strip steak incident. Yikes!

Nina said...

Nicole~ When and the hell is D going to get off the wing kick? Maybe you should have a look at Nance's comment.

Michelle~Jason and I cook very differently. He likes to critique my process often. I hate that.

Nance~I've gone on strike several times already. I stop cooking, I stop cleaning and I remind him, as you did your husband, that I am not his mother...I will NOT iron sweat pants. Or anything else for that matter. But I think next time, I will take your advice and make a sign!

Tera~I think the lesson may have been learned. Last night Jay helped cook dinner, MY WAY, and today I told him dinner would consist of Cheerios. He didn't even blink before saying that sounds good. :)

Anali~Scappy is a cutie! But on Sat. afternoon, he nipped my on the nose while I was bent over playing with the neighbor's dog. He's very jealous.

Anonymous said...

Maybe you should critque him with your foot planted firmly up his hind end!!! Todd said he would cook last night. We went to golden corral!!! hate the place!! I just shut up and smile!!

Induced Homomorphism said...

Awesome. Simply awesome.

Anonymous said...

Well, I had a good laugh today. Darrick asked what was for dinner. I replied,"IDK". So his easy way out of trying to help me figure it out was MCDs. I said, okay, whatever. When he hands me the bag of food, he asks me if everything is in it. I look and find that it's all there. When we got home, he opened his cheese burger to find that it was only bread, pickles,ketchup,and mustard! Very funny. So to tie this in with your most recent blog, we spent more than what it was worth!

Nina said...

Michelle~I loathe that place. It makes me sick to watch the greedy people graze the food.

I.H.~ LOL! You're not married, are you? :)

Nic~I love it, maybe today D will do some research as to what IDK means.

Anonymous said...

He's clueless!