When I thought about what I wanted to be when I grew up, short order cook was not on the list. Ballerina, Fireman, Princess, Astronaut, Doctor, Supermodel, these were all interesting choices to me, but short order cook, notsomuch. And even though I strive to be the best Princess I can be EVERY SINGLE DAY, I doubt I will ever get a title, although I do have a tiara, somewhere.;) What I have become ‘when I grow up’ boils down to a Short Order Cook and the Laundry Lady.

Dinner around here goes either one of two ways. I slave over some recipe that sounds interesting, serve it up to my family, they proclaim they LOVE it. Ethan goes on and on how this is a fancy dinner, he turns down the lights, says we need a candle and some music, says this is the best dinner EVER! Scarlett gnaws at bits of it just proud as punch that she gets to eat the same food as the rest of the family. Hubby says ‘this is great!’ Life is good, right?

Or we have the scenario where we have enough leftovers in the fridge to feed an army and we do leftover night. Ethan looks at his plate with disdain. Of note, this is the SAME dinner he proclaimed was THE BEST DINNER EVER just a mere 24 hours ago. Gone is the need for mood lighting and music. Just a look of ‘is this it, ma?’ remains. Even Scarlett looks pissy as she waves her tomato sauce covered penne in her tightfisted grip as if to say ‘I HAD THIS LAST NIGHT!’ And hubby knows better (most of the time!) than to open his mouth about leftover night, that just leads to trouble.

These are the nights I am reduced to short order cook. ‘Mom, I need ketchup.’ ‘Mom, can I have chicken nuggets.’ Aside, When did chicken nuggets become a food group anyway? ‘Mom, what is on this sandwich?’ hummus ‘ew, gross, I want mustard’ I whip up another sandwich. ‘Mom, what kind of mustard is this’ dijon ‘ew, I like regular’ Short Order Cook makes swift work of yet ANOTHER STINKIN SANDWICH. And I don’t even get tips for this.

So every day begins another quest for some interesting dinner option. Last night I decided I would roast some red peppers thinking that I could easily find a sauce recipe I liked and after scouring my favorite sources www.epicurious.com and www.foodnetwork.com I have only come up with ONE recipe that looks even halfway decent. So then I give it over to google’s hands and I stumble upon this recipe that sounds quite promising and simple.

Roasted Red Pepper-Basil Sauce

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 or 3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
6 red bell peppers, roasted and peeled *
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Warm the olive oil in a small skillet over medium heat; add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes, stirring from time to time.

Transfer the garlicky oil to a food processor along with the remaining ingredients and pulse to form a chunky sauce. Taste for seasoning. Serve at room temperature over pasta or as an accompaniment to grilled seafood, meat or poultry.

Thank you Karen for the recipe, let’s see if it soothes the savage beasts this evening and I can move on from my job as Short Order Cook and progress to Laundry Lady as Mount St. Laundry is slowly taking over the house and threatening to erupt.

Check out Karen’s lovely blog titled Family Style Food here: http://familystylefood.com/2007/07/garden-fresh-roasted-red-pepper-and.html