Sarah's Day Off

From cooking, I'm still on camera duty.

As much as I love to cook, there are some days when dinnertime comes and I do not feel like it. I don't want to face chopping ingredients, handling slimy things like raw meat or stinky raw fish, and I especially don't want to be anywhere near the oven or stove. On those days I eat salad, or leftovers (I never mind using the microwave, it doesn't make me hot or need scrubbing after each use), or pb&j and a piece of fruit.

Boys though, boys are different. That kind of minimal, maybe even boring dinner is not high on the list after Ray's typical 11 hour work day. Not being a cook himself, there are a few things that I do not make satisfactorily for him. His man pasta is one of them. Tacos are another. These are actually kind of a treat to him.

Tacos were rare and special for dinner when I was growing up too. Why is that?

~

Ray's tacos require a very short list:

• lean ground beef
• taco seasoning
• shredded Mexican or cheddar cheese
• chopped lettuce
• taco shells

He browns the meat in my big skillet, chopping it finely with a spatula until well done. Then he adds taco seasoning. He doesn't measure, maybe a tablespoon or so, and a bit of water is added to moisten the mixture. Meanwhile, he chops up the lettuce. I never buy iceberg, but I always have romaine so he chops up a few leaves.

The cheese comes out of the fridge. This Mexican cheese blend is great; if we just have a block of cheddar he'll grate some up.

And the taco shells. Recently we've tried these new Stand 'n Stuff shells. They are the same price as the regular ones but much easier to stuff because they don't lay on their sides.

Ray makes three tacos for one dinner.

He spoons some of the meat into each taco, leaving plenty of room.

Then some lettuce,

And finally, lots of cheese.

Taste test. . .

Perfect thumbs up!

Hurray for leftovers and more days off! With enough meat and 7 more taco shells, there's at least two more meals to be had.

[I'm posting from Los Gatos Roasting Company today. My house is overrun with a dozen guys watching March Madness over the next three days, so I'm giving Ray his space and staying in Los Gatos until Saturday afternoon. He's taking me to dinner when I get home and I get some good time with my brothers and family. That's a fair trade!]

~:::~