Redemption

After the debacle that was last night's supper my daughters' faith in Dad's ability to prepare a meal was shaken.  I needed a strong effort for the Sunday evening supper, something that would make them forget the fish tacos and end our weekend on a high note.  I think we ended up stumbling into a keeper of a recipe.

For starters, we had a picture perfect gorgeous early summer day that morphed into an even more beautiful evening.  To this base ingredient we mixed in a team effort at preparing tonight's supper and tomorrow's breakfast; while a pizza crust dough rose in the bread machine two-thirds of my daughters and I prepped pizza toppings and an egg bake.  Next we added some efficiency by grilling the pizza (chicken bacon Alfredo) outside on the patio while cooking the egg bake in the oven that had been warmed to make the pizza dough rise.  Tossed in a splash of innovation when a daughter asked if we could eat outside, followed by another splash of pleasant surprise when one daughter cleaned the patio table while the other prepared the fixings for a fire in the fire pit.

With the base layer of the recipe finished we now began to add flavoring, starting with one of the best pizzas I've ever built...and I've built some dandies, I tell you!  With a crackling fire beside us my three daughters (Child One returned from her work shift) and I sat back and ate pizza, roasted marshmallows, passed around a tub of popcorn, crunched carrots, made s'mores, took pictures, made jokes....in short, we were present.  No place else we had to be, no jobs needed doing, no need to finish at all.  At the end of eating there was no move to clear the table, in fact for this hombre there was no move whatsoever!  The two youngest went to shoot some baskets while the two olders sat by the fire and enjoyed a serenade from Baltimore Orioles that were dancing around the branches of our oak tree.  The high blue sky that had been cloudless all day started settling towards it's evening grey, a crescent moon following the sun's journey west.  Not a wisp of breeze to disturb the rising smoke of the fire.....and only one mosquito!  The most delicious evening we've had in a long, long time.

We topped our evening delicacy with a team effort at cleaning up.  Nobody had to be asked, nobody argued about what needed done.  In nearly no time our meal was cleaned up and put away, and then it was off to bed for some, showers for others, the dishpan for Dad.  Which was where I began to write this, as I began to digest more than the food I'd consumed.

Sometimes what we eat isn't what makes the meal.  Sometimes the food isn't even the most flavorful part of a meal (I don't want to hear any fish taco jokes here).  Tonight I made one of the tastiest pizzas we've had....and it contributed very little to the burst of flavor we all got when the setting, companions, and activities created a slice of family time that we don't get to savor often enough.  A winning recipe indeed.

I'm not giving up on the fish tacos though.