More of a concern than possibly breaking up my parents was this... what do I cook for a woman who cooked for me everyday for 18 years? It's a lot of pressure to try and perform a rap show in a room full of great rappers. Cooking for an experienced chef was along the same lines. Except this rapper birthed me, took care of me when I was sick, loaned me money when I was broke and offered emotional support in hard times.
Having chosen none of the meals up until this point, Erica came through with a perfect suggestion: Yakisoba noodles. I had not only never cooked this dish before, I had never eaten it. And I am positive that my Mom has never cooked it either. Otherwise, I probably would have eaten it. So I was up for the challenge.
Erica printed off a recipe she found on line. It called for the following ingredients to serve four people: 1/4 teaspoon sesame oil, 2 teaspoons canola oil, 1 tablespoon & 1 teaspoon chile paste, 1-1/4 cloves garlic chopped, 2-3/4 skinless boneless chicken breast halves cut into 1 inch cubes, 1/3 cup soy sauce, 5/8 onion, sliced lengthwise into eighths, 3/8 medium head cabbage coarsely chopped, 1-1/4 carrots, coarsely chopped and 5 ounces soba noodles cooked and drained. We had the soy sauce. That was it. So we drove over to Whole Foods in the Ravenna area to pick up the rest.
Whole Foods was one of the best grocery shopping experiences of my life. We loved it. But we did completely drop the ball on getting actual Yakisoba noodles... which are buckwheat noodles. Erica and I are white over wheat people. So we picked out the similar looking Udon noodles. This would cause a little more improvisation on my end than anticipated. But I will touch upon that in the cooking description.
In previous dinner parties at their place, I noticed my parents always have appetizers ready to eat, but the dinner only prepped and ready to cook. I figured I would try this method out. Especially since the appetizers we chose were just three different pieces of sushi: cucumber rolls, salmon rolls and tuna rolls.
When Mom and Dad arrived, at 6:00pm on the dot, they had arms full of gifts. They brought us one bottle of Scotch, two bottles of wine, cookies and two kinds of gelato. They also brought a visitor for Lola, their cairn terrier Monticello. (Dad is a huge Thomas Jefferson buff, and Monticello was the name of TJ's mansion. He jokes that they should get a black cairn and name her Sally. If you don't get that reference, read a history book.)
They obviously already had the house tour, so they didn't need to experience that social norm of the dinner party. But, in a very helping-parent fashion, the first thing they did was clean off our unused inherited BBQ grill to make sure it would be functional for our summer dates. Then we sat down to a bottle or red and some sushi rolls.
I started to cook the Udon noodles with a Yakisoba recipe, and I noticed that the prep instructions for the Udon noodles on the package suggested adding the veggies in with the noodles. I started with the oils and the garlic and cooking the chicken. I decided to do the onions on top of the chicken, but mixed in the carrots in with the noodles. I didn't add the cabbage until the chicken was fully cooked and mixed in with the noodles. Despite adding extra chili paste and doing things out of order, the dish turned out really great. It was something I was proud to serve to my Mom.
Dinner was pleasant, but also seemed very routine. We eat dinner at least once a month with my family. I consider us very fortunate for that. Not everyone has a family, or gets to see them frequently. When you live within arms reach of relatives, you should make a point of seeing each other an a regular basis. And Mom and Dad's efforts to stay in touch are more than ample.
As we sat and discussed things, Erica left the room for a moment, and I dropped the most recent disappointment bomb on them. Erica and I have amounted quite the credit card debt from decorating the house, covering bills, and putting on the double dates. Mom and Dad have been awesome about helping us out, and continue to offer support both financial and otherwise. However, we decided we needed to develop a plan to reach zero on our own, without assistance. A situation arose and we will be taking on Aaron (Week 4) as a roommate. He will temporarily rent out our basement, which will help us pay the mortgage, and watch Lola during the day, which will save us money on dog care.
I winced as I let out the news. I wasn't sure how they would react to us moving a roommate into a house they helped us buy and fix up. All my life, the last thing I wanted to do was disappoint my parents. And all my life, as long as I was honest to them, I never did. The Tune family lives by a strong code of integrity. And if you are open with your feelings and actions, almost everything is okay with them. They are truly great parents. Accepting, proud and supportive.
Dessert proved my largest culinary failure of all time. They knew Erica and I didn't own an ice cream scooper, so they literally brought their own to serve the gelato. Yet, some how, I brought out sliver rectangle portions, barely more than a few bites per plate. And I was accused of not knowing how to operate an ice cream scooper. If anything could possibly disappoint parents, it would surely be their offspring's failure to execute the simple function of a one-action device. The shame.
We continued to talk for a while, and Lola fell asleep on top of Monti. As Mom requested the Table Topics treatment, Dad decided to call it a night, and they were off. Another Tune family dinner in the books. I was very happy to host them, and it will likely mark the start of us cooking food for them. This is the point of no return. They changed my diapers in the beginning, but in the end, I will change their diapers. Circle of life.
And because I know they will be reading this, because they read every week, I must say... I love you very much Mom and Dad. You are the most amazing parents ever and I like you as friends as well.
Next week, a friend from Roosevelt High School, Toby, stops by with his fiance, Erin. If you haven't told your parents, brother, sister, or whomever is closest to you that you appreciate them today, then you should call them up and do that now. See you next week!
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