When Farmer H and I lived in my $17,000 house, HOS (Farmer H's Oldest Son) and The (little future) Veteran came to stay on weekends and during the summer. Of course I was off all summer, being a teacher, so it was my duty to feed them. They weren't too particular. They especially liked grilled cheese sandwiches, which I made with Velveeta.
I guess Farmer H was lacking in the culinary arts, even though he'd been on his own for a while, post-divorce. I know he used to cook them scrambled eggs for breakfast, and load them with garlic powder. I'm not sure the boys liked eggs that way, but they didn't turn down any food. They even fought over the plate of boiled hot dogs Farmer H set in front of them, when they brought their older brother to Farmer H's apartment some weekends. Just because there were 8 hot dogs for four guys sitting at the table... didn't mean everybody would get 2!
I do remember a Saturday that I had something special to do, which left Farmer H all alone, taking care of his own children. They wanted grilled cheese for lunch. When I got home, both boys ran to hug me. They must have been about 9 and 7 at the time.
"HM! HM! You're back! We missed you SO much!"
My grilled cheese is what they were really missing, I found out a few minutes later, from HOS.
"Dad made us grilled cheese. I took a bite, and said, 'Where's the cheese?' It's like he didn't even put cheese in it!"
"I did too! I put a slice on each sandwich!"
"What cheese did you use?"
"Those singes. In the plastic wrapper."
"ONLY ONE?"
"Yeah. That's all you need."
"Did you eat one?"
"No."
"You have to put VELVEETA on a grilled cheese! To make it cheesy! The cheese should run out when you bite into it!"
"It's easier to use the singles."
It's a wonder they didn't starve to death! Farmer H should have stuck with his specialties: BBQ on the charcoal grill, and fish (caught from the lake) wrapped in foil with butter and lemon pepper, baked in the oven. Forget about the garlic powder eggs...
HeWho can flip eggs in a pan over easy. He does know how to make toast and he grills steaks and burgers and even ribs. The ribs are usually tough as leather. Left on his own, he will eat Chinese food every night. My son is an excellent cook and even cleans up. Both sons-in-law can cook and even my soon to e 15 year old grandson will take a turn preparing a meal. I will be heading north for Layla's graduation (4.1 grade average). I will not have to cook for an entire week …. or do dishes! I have a deal with my kids, they don't clean up my kitchen and I don't clean up theirs. Layla has me a bit worried. She is going off to college next year (Ohio State) and the child has never done her own laundry or cooked a meal.
ReplyDeleteKathy,
ReplyDeleteFarmer H has never made ribs. He doesn't eat them, either, not even off the old casino buffet before they shut down. He says there's not enough meat to work so hard to get it. Genius is a good cook, I suppose. At least he experiments and buys cookery stuff and uses recipes. He cooked for his college house of five guys, and he does the cooking at his apartment now, banning Friend, his roommate, from the kitchen.
YAY, Layla! It's so hard for them to go off as freshmen. I was worried about Genius, and he's pretty worldly. The Pony had me in a panic, and that was just on the 9 hour ride out there to Oklahoma! He started asking how to do laundry about a month before he went away, and had a few questions about cooking two or three items. I am still ashamed that he went the whole first semester of his sophomore year without dishes, because Farmer H forgot to buy him any when he went to Target for stuff to set up his apartment the summer The Pony moved out of the dorm.
Garlic powder in scrambled eggs? I like garlic but not in eggs. I put grated parmesan in my scrambled eggs, about a tablespoonful, and a bit of parsley sometimes.
ReplyDeleteI use cheese slices in toasted cheese, but not that soft stuff wrapped in plastic, the kraft singles. I buy sliced cheddar and it's not too thin that one slice isn't enough, but often I'll use two slices and put shredded ham between them or sliced tomato. It's more of a meal that way, to me anyway.
River,
ReplyDeleteYes, garlic powder. Then they were little kids with stinky breath! My mom used to get the best cheese from the deli of The Devil's Playground, a longhorn cheddar. Mmm...I want some right now!