Old school

My sister called me Wednesday because she and my cousin were reminiscing about our old school mother's day dinners when we would cook steak, lobster, asparagus, and baked potatoes for our moms.  We're talking at least 20 years ago and I certainly miss those times so I thought, why not.

We determined a menu and she sent out the texts.  I estimated everyone's contribution and nominated myself to purchase the food at Whole Foods, all we needed was a venue. 

My house.

I was kind of surprised but apparently I have some sort of reputation which is why my cousin didn't want to host it because she was concerned that she didn't have the proper utensils or pots to prepare the food.  She's quite sarcastic.

When I picked up my cousin's contribution, she said she knew I wouldn't be interested in the lobster tails on sale at Pathmark because it wasn't clear what ocean they came from.  Then she went on to ask if I had iodized salt at home or only salt from a particular sea.  She was on a roll as she asked who was the fisherman and what kind of pole did he use to catch the salmon.  And she couldn't contain herself as she asked me the name of the farmer's wife that butchered the cows.  She asked these questions in jest, but we should certainly be aware of the origin of our food.

Last night I went to Whole Foods on South Street and the butcher cut 16 eye round steaks, I bought 5 pounds of local asparagus, grabbed a bag of russet potatoes, and a bag of sweet potatoes.  Then I went to Callowhill and bought 8 ears of corn, a piece of Alaska wild caught salmon, 5 pounds of 16/20 wild caught fresh US shrimp, a pound of lump crab meat, and a strawberry & whipped cream cake.  I seasoned the meat; peeled, deviened (with the help of my daughter), and seasoned the shrimp; and made up the crab cakes.

This morning my cousin called to ask me if granulated sugar was ok (her mom was going to make iced tea)and if it was ok to bring steak sauce.  She was cracking herself up.

When they arrived this afternoon, I put her on vegetable duty and she talked trash the entire time about a range of things from compost to aluminum foil.  My aunt asked if she should scrub the lemons and oranges she was going to squeeze into the tea - I think she genuinely believed (based on sensational information) that I had a bunch of rules and regulations in the kitchen. 

The potatoes and corn were convection roasting; the tea was finished; so I started the steaks and then the shrimp.  It seemed as if there was a house full of hungry people desperately waiting for food.  I felt like I was on Kitchen Nightmares as I was trying to get the food cooked, on platters, and on the table for 27 people.

Thankfully everyone enjoyed the food and commented on how it had a different taste - particularly, the salmon and shrimp.  I seized that moment to give a mini-lecture on aquaculture, which morphed into an overview of the factory food system.  No one seemed to mind that I had altered the original menu. 

I served dessert - of course my grandmother made a Hummingbird Cake, the strawberry cake, and Haagen Dazs ice cream (pistachio & coconut pineapple). 

Things slowed down a bit, the mad dash was over, the kids were playing outside...we were chitchatting, laughing, singing...like old times.  It was great.