Night One: A Simple Meal

Last night (Wednesday May 20th) was my first night cooking for my family.

Photo of the dinner table from last nights meal

To begin the meal I asked every member of my family a few questions, here is what they said:

1) How many times a week do we eat a family meal?

• Dad- 2 times
• Jesse (my brother) - 4 times
• Mom- 4 teams 

2) How many times a week do we eat a home cooked meal? 

• Dad- 1 time
• Jesse- 1 time
• Mom - 1 time if you're lucky 

3) What do you hope to gain from these family dinners? 

• Dad- I hope for you, Emily, to gain respect and enjoyment for the process of cooking, and also this whole process is a good reason to spend time together as a family. 
• Jesse- I hope to gain insight about everyones day and have productive conversations.
• Mom- I hope to take time to be together and try and experiment new types of food. 

4) What was your favorite dish that your Mom or Dad made for you as a child?

• Dad- Lasagna 
• Mom- Tuna casarole 
• Jesse- Dad's risotto! 

After discussing these questions, I presented my family with the meal.  

1. Avocado, Grapefruit, and Orange Salad with Mixed Nut Pesto - This salad was a huge hit. It had the mixed nut pesto with pine nuts, walnuts, and mustard which added a nice taste to the Arugula. I added in some strawberries because we had some lying around the fridge and they blended into the salad perfectly. I watched a few videos on youtube to learn how to "filet a fruit." It took a few tries but I ended up filleting the orange, and it looked pretty damn good.
   
   
2. Cornbread Muffins - This was my favorite thing to make by far. Not only was the recipe extremely straight forward, but the muffins turned out to be moist and delicious. My dad ended up taking some extra muffins to work the next day and they were a HUGE hit!
3. Chicken Wings with Paprika and Garlic Seasoning- The Chicken Wings were a little complicated. I started the wings a little later in the evening so they couldn't marinate for as long as they were supposed to. When I put them in the oven, they didn't really brown on the top so they were a little gooey on the inside. The dipping sauce was delicious but overall the wings were not my greatest success.  

After dinner I asked each member of my family to rate each dish, this is what they said: 

Muffins: 

• Dad- 9 
• Mom- 9
• Jesse- 8, they could have been moister 
• Me- 9.5 

Salad: 

• Dad- 8, too much dressing
• Mom- 8.5 
• Jesse- 9.3, my brother likes weird ratings
• Me- 8.5

Chicken: 

• Dad- 6
• Mom- 6
• Jesse- 6
• Me- 6

So far the first night was a great success. I can't wait for 6 more days of meals! 

- Emily

The delicious salad!

 

The Chicken Wings look better than they tasted :(

My personal favorite- The cornbread muffins!