We used to get the Lehman's catalog. It's the ultimate in wishful catalog shopping for people that live our kind of lifestyle.
One of the things I always used to see in the catalog was this extra-extra-large cast iron skillet. I always thought to myself, "Who in the world needs a skillet that can fit a dozen eggs?"
Hi!
When I fry eggs for my family, I have to cook nine--two for me, two for Cubby, two for Charlie, and three for A. And that's not even with any for the MiL, who usually isn't home when we eat. A. would probably prefer four for himself, but even nine eggs don't really fit in my biggest skillet. I could use that XXL skillet I used to scoff at.
It won't be long before Cubby and Charlie will be eating as much as A., and at some point they'll be eating more than him. Of course, at that point they can also cook their own damn eggs, so I won't be trying to cook, like, two dozen eggs at a time myself.
I'm going to have to start making bacon in the oven, because I just can't fit all the pieces we eat in one pan on the stovetop.
I made custard the other day, a recipe which requires a two-quart baking dish for cooking, and I got about half a serving after A., Cubby, and Charlie had all had a go at it.
A. made omelets for dinner a couple of nights ago. He used a dozen eggs total, plus cheese and ham, to feed the four of us. Each of the children ate as much as I did. If not more.
I made an enormous apple crisp in a 13x9 pan a few weeks ago--the one that the cookbook calls "Apple Crisp for a Crowd"-- that was gone within two days.
I used to joke when Charlie was a wee baby and Cubby still a toddler and not really the honest-to-God little boy he most certainly is now that in the future I would have a hard time keeping up with the demand for food.
The future is now. Start your stoves, folks--the feeding frenzy is on.
Oven-cooked bacon is totally superior to frying pan bacon, and a whole lot less work.
ReplyDeleteTeach them to cook now, there is no way you will be able to keep up with those boys as teens. I remember watching my brother eat. He was a bottomless pit. On his 14th birthday, I watched him eat a large salad and a gigantic plate of spaghetti and meatballs. Then for desert he at a cake. No, not a piece of cake, the whole damned cake! He was 6 feet 2 inches and still growing, weighed about 160 pounds at the time. That meal wasn't an aberration, it was the norm.
ReplyDeleteTeach them to cook now, there is no way you will be able to keep up with those boys as teens. I remember watching my brother eat. He was a bottomless pit. On his 14th birthday, I watched him eat a large salad and a gigantic plate of spaghetti and meatballs. Then for desert he at a cake. No, not a piece of cake, the whole damned cake! He was 6 feet 2 inches and still growing, weighed about 160 pounds at the time. That meal wasn't an aberration, it was the norm.
ReplyDeleteIt makes a difference that you make everything in your own kitchen. No fast food forays for your group - the good news and the bad news.
ReplyDeleteWe fear for the boys who will someday take our girls out for dinner. Winnie has been eating the adult portions of steak since about 5 years old.
ReplyDeleteI remember unpacking BAGS of groceries into the pantry when my stepson was living with us (from 14-till about 20 years old). I would look at my pantry and feel satisfied that I wouldn't have to shop for a week.
ReplyDeleteThen two days later it would be bare and he would be hovering around me asking - "Hey, Linds? Is there anything to eat?"
And that was just one boy in the house.
Treat yourself to the gargantuan frying pan! (And bacon in the oven is SO much better than stove top. I'm a convert, too.)
I am so there! I bought a giant cast iron skillet and I use it all the time. I can barely lift it with my weak wrists. We are a family of five and I make a dozen eggs in the big skillet and cook a pound of bacon in the oven. Like you said, it's just too much bacon for stovetop cookin' (and much easier, too). My kids are 10, 5, and 3 so I can't even imagine how I will feed them all when they are older.
ReplyDeleteGood freaking lord. Get the fry pan and another dozen chickens while you're at it!
ReplyDeleteScared.