What I Made for Dinner: January 28, 2009

Big sandwich, oven fries, mixed chopped salad.

I love big sandwich so much. I can't say why, but it makes me ridiculously happy. A loaf of sourdough, split sideways; muffaletta olive spread; whatever meats, cheeses, and veggies are in the fridge. Mash the whole thing down, wrap it tightly in foil, bake it until Chuck gets home. (I always get home first.)

Oven fries are a classic cheat for me. I think my dear Jenna taught me to make them when we were in college. I refuse to buy a deep fryer; Nothing good lies down that road.

(When I was pregnant with Eli, I craved homemade doughnuts. I mean, seriously craved them, and Dunkin' would not do. Having no deep fryer, I might have been discouraged; any normal person would have been. At the time, I was reading a Laura Ingalls Wilder book to Alex, and it talked a lot about doughnuts. I figured, you know, Mrs. Wilder made them without any special equipment. And by God, I figured it out. Since Eli was born, I don't make doughnuts anymore. Nothing good lies down that road, either.)

The salad surprised me, since I was really just trying to use up stuff in the crisper drawer. It was great. Parsley, canned artichoke hearts, red bell pepper, sun dried tomatoes, mushrooms.