Frying by the Seat of My Pants

Frying by the Seat of My Pants

Sometimes when I’m trying to figure out what to make for dinner, I turn my focus towards current events rather than what’s in my fridge and pantry.

I like to think of dinner as food for thought, something that will stimulate our family’s taste buds as well as our dinner conversations. Nourishment for the soul and all that jazz. It may not always be pretty, but sometimes a meal based on current events can be immensely satisfying.

Whether your children are young, teenagers or older than you like to admit, family dinner discussions about topical events are always important. You just need to adjust the spice levels accordingly.

Here’s what I mean. Economic and political shenanigans bombard our newsfeeds at a maddening pace. Putting together and understanding all the disparate interests and points of views is critical to making the world a better place yet mind boggling to us as adults, even more so for our children.

We could all use some guidance, some direction. Perhaps even a recipe to follow to make some sense out of it all.

Recently, while I was pondering the news of the day and trying to figure out what to make for dinner, I stumbled upon a blinding lightbulb of a genius idea …Korean Short Ribs – a meal that exudes finger licking flavor and couples beautifully with a wealth of dinner conversation topics tied in with headline news.

This was going to be a delicious and thought-provoking family meal. I couldn’t wait to get cooking.

A word of caution about impulsive family meal ideas. You may start out eagerly running past the starting gate only to find your enthusiasm lagging when you realize you lack many of the essential ingredients needed to finish the recipe.

In my case, I ran out of brown sugar, couldn’t find my back up bottle of gluten free soy sauce and my sesame oil and ginger seemed to be absent without leave. My missing ingredient list kept growing longer with each cooking minute. Not to be deterred, after all recipes often need some diplomatic intervention (food allergies, picky eater dislikes, you get the idea), my Korean Short Ribs dinner was now morphing into Short Ribs Without a Country Supper otherwise known as Clean Out Your Fridge Ribs.

My lack of required ingredients necessitated I get creative and look for viable substitutes.

Practicality dictated I could no longer ignore the remainder of the spicy tomato BBQ sauce sitting lonely on my refrigerator shelf, the crystallized honey feeling abandoned in my pantry along with the various other meal remnants lurking and longing for one last chance to be incorporated into our dinner before being tossed or disregarded.

As luck and a little, easy cooking know-how would have it, the meal was a resounding success. We dined on ribs with meat so tender it slid off the bone and directly into my kids’ eager mouths. Their grins being clownishly outlined with a rich, thick amalgamation of a sauce that defied definition.

When diverse seasonings and ingredients come together, a wonderful and uniquely flavorful meal can develop. 

Discussing how the initial recipe  morphed into an entirely different meal from that originally planned, as well as the current events that inspired it, can lead ones imagination down unexplored and interesting tangents. Sometimes all it takes to bring order to the chaos is some kitchen confidence and a willingness to experiment towards a common goal.

When current events inspire your dinner and table talk, unexpected, yet exhilarating paths of robust ideas, and new understandings begin to develop. It’s a winning recipe for a memorable meal spiced with meaningful family dinner conversation.

What did you cook that started out as a hot mess and ended up a memorable, tasty meal? Please share your flop to fabulous meal story in the comments below. Thanks, Smiles.

Sign up to receive cooking tips, tricks and drool worthy recipes made with speed and ease.
Serve it up with kickass conversations with your kids. Repeat.