Rep Note:
Milk Shake
11 June 2018

In the middle of a lazy afternoon yesterday, Kathleen said, out of the blue, “What I’d really like for dinner is a chocolate milk shake.”

I often ask Kathleen what she would like for dinner. “Something easy,” she says, trying to be helpful, unaware that this reply is the least helpful of all. For her to volunteer a desire, without having been asked, was almost exciting.

So of course I went over to Fairway and bought the chocolate ice cream and the U-Bet syrup and even a quart of milk. I bought some ground chuck, a package of sliced shiitake mushrooms, two ears of corn, and a bag of Ore-Ida shoestring potatoes. When I got home, I prepped everything, and then sat down for a while.

This was one of those diner dinners, when everything takes about three or four minutes and has to be cooked at the last minute. I did prep the milk shakes, adding more ice cream and more milk just before we sat down. (The Breville immersion blender worked like a charm.) There were no disasters. 

The potatoes, which I deep-fried in peanut oil, were not great, but they were better than most of the French fries on offer in this neighborhood, sad to say. The burgers were a tad overdone, but that never bothers Kathleen. I topped them with the sautéed mushrooms and slices of Cabot cheddar. I realized later that I forgot to put chili sauce on the table, but Kathleen didn’t mention it. 

“I can’t believe you did this,” she gushed instead. And when she got to the bottom of the milkshake, she made as much noise as her grandson. Maybe more. 

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