what is a family?
On Friday, I had a twelve-year-old girl ask me a very poignant question. She said, “Mrs. Bruneman, do you think you must have children to be considered a family or are can just married people (2 men, 2 women or a man and a woman) be considered a family?”
She phrased it just like that.
Did I mention she’s twelve?
I told the little girl that I thought two married people were considered a family even if they did not have children. I asked her what she thought. She said she wasn’t sure and was polling people to find out.
She volunteered to show me her research. Which was really just a piece of notebook paper with tally marks under the headings Must Have Children or Do Not Need Children To Be a Family.
Based on her scientific evidence (and my eye balling abilities) about 70% (so far) thought that you do not need children to be considered a family. Which was just what I thought.
Intrigued by the other 30% I asked Keith when I got home that day the same question. His response shocked me.
He thinks you must have children to be considered a family. He thinks we’re a happily married couple but we’re not a family….yet.
I don’t know how I feel about that because I think we’re a family and Lord knows I am trying to have that child. I know Keith didn’t mean anything hurtful by what he said, it is just his opinion. Everyone is allowed to have different opinions; it is what makes questions like this little girl’s interesting and debatable. But secretly, on this issue, I kind of wish Keith had agreed with me. Maybe it is just my struggles with maintaining a pregnancy that make me more sensitive to it.
But be HONEST, what do you think? Must you have children to be considered a family?
wrap me up
After work yesterday I had to stop at the store to get hummus and pita chips. Two necessities in life right there people. While getting said items I thought about dinner. What to make? What to make?
Then as if descending upon me like manna from heaven I thought lettuce wraps. It was all downhill from there. I took my cart and got everything I needed for dinner.
I chopped, diced, opened and sautéed as visions of P.F. Chang’s danced in my head.
And I impressed myself. Craving #2 solved!
Lettuce Wraps
Serves 4 (appetizer) or 2 (main dish)
1 Tbsp. toasted sesame oil
1/2 Tbsp. fresh minced ginger
1 Tbsp. mellow white miso paste
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 small of bunch of broccolini, chopped
1 small can sliced water chestnuts, drained
1 can bean sprouts, drained
1 can straw mushrooms, drained
4 cooked chicken thighs, diced
1 egg, scrambled
2-3 Tbsp. low-sodium soy sauce
1 head of bibb lettuce
Heat oil over high heat in a large skillet or wok. Add everything, except egg, soy sauce and lettuce, into skillet or wok. Sautee until everything cooks down and is hot.
Create a well in the middle of chicken mixture, pour egg into it. Let it set quickly and then mix into chicken mixture. Add soy sauce and quickly mix it around to make sure it is well incorporated.
Then pile it into lettuce pieces and eat it up.
Lettuce wrap success!
the hunger games
I finished The Hunger Games trilogy.
I realize most of you have read them so please indulge me with your opinions because I plan to indulge you with mine.
If I ranked the books in order of how much I liked them then it would follow exactly the order they were written. I loved the first book! It was dynamic and interesting and then I thought the series got progressively weaker and lacked any original idea(s) that weren’t already explored in book one. But the entire idea of the hunger games was so impressive and so new…that’s why I think book 1 stole the show.
I didn’t particularity love how the series ended either. I am not sure exactly how I would have wanted it to end. I felt like the author tried really hard t give us everything all tied up in a neat little package with a bow and it just fell flat. I am super interested in those who have read it to tell me their opinions about the ending.
As for Katniss herself. She was obviously a bad ass but I sometimes got a little annoyed with how she believed that every bad thing that happened to anyone in Panem was her fault. That “it’s all my fault…I don’t deserve to be happy” attitude got on my nerves. Hence why I didn’t like the ending because I felt like even at the end she put others’ happiness above her own and never really got what she wanted. But I did love that she was one tough cookie. She was fierce!
I think my three favorite characters were Gale, Finnick and Cinna. I could have done without Peeta. He bugged me every single step of the way. Seriously. But overall I really did like the series. It was a fast read and like I said book 1 was AMAZING!
What did you think of Katniss? Peeta?
Who was you favorite character?
Did you like the ending?
when the craving hits
This past weekend Keith and I attended his nephew’s bar mitzvah. The night before Keith’s parents were gracious enough to host a dinner at their house celebrating the bar mitzvah boy and welcoming any out-of-town guests!
The whole event was catered. Now I am going to be honest in that I wasn’t expecting too much. Not because catered food is bad but because when you are cooking for 50+ people in a small home kitchen I feel like the margin for error is much greater than under other circumstances. But hey, I’m not really that picky so I assumed whatever was served would be fine.
We had two protein options: chicken, salmon or both. The salmon looked better on the eyes so I went with that. It was amazing!! So good that four days later I can’t stop thinking about it! The lesson here: sometimes you should definitely make choices based on looks. Sometimes.
Anyway, upon my return from the bar mitzvah all I could think about was recreating that salmon. I even kind of asked the caterer how he made it. All he said was it was a soy-glazed salmon. I thought at that moment…I could do that!
Of course Keith was wondering why I couldn’t have fallen in love with the chocolate cake or lemon bars. Oops.
So tonight I gave it my first attempt:
Bar Mitzvah Salmon
2 salmon fillets
3 Tbsp. low-sodium soy sauce
2 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 Tbsp. rice vinegar
Combine everything in a ziploc bag and shake to coat. Let sit in the refrigerator to marinate for 30 minutes.
Turn oven onto 500 degrees (or Broil). Place fish on baking dish (toss remaining marinade) and roast for 12 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork.
The verdict?
Chocolate cake and lemon bars, what? I may enter the catering business.
What Kelly Said 