Chef Boyar-Dave

So, today was a busy day.  So busy that I almost told the crew they could just have cereal for dinner.  We had about an hour between picking Olivia up from Driver’s Ed and taking Mason to football practice, and I hadn’t started prepping anything.

However… I decided to try to throw together a quick pasta dish.  As I was loading this morning’s dirty dishes into the dishwasher and trying to quickly thaw the hamburger meat, I realized I wasn’t going to have time.  So…without any prompting…my sweet hubby offered to step in and take over. (Meanwhile, I went to go pick up Olivia from school.)

You have to really know my guy to appreciate the humor in this.  As you will see in the picture, (he is grinding metal to make a bike kickstand there…) his place is more outside in the barn fixing something, or out at the sawmill handling big pieces of wood.  He is the scruffy, sweaty, calloused-hands type of guy…which I LOVE.  And in his single-dad days prior to me entering the picture, I hear that the kids ate a lot of eggs for dinner.   I tend to believe what I hear because on about 75% of the times he has prepared meals since I’ve known him, eggs and bacon have been involved.  (The other 25% of the time, grilling of some sort.)  In his defense, they are farm-fresh eggs.

So tonight, the Chef was given simple instructions…boil the bowtie pasta.  Brown the hamburger, and add it to the pasta sauce.  Then mix the meat sauce with the noodles, put in the casserole dish, top with cheese, and bake until the cheese is melted.  Easy peasy, right?  No improvisations needed.

On my drive home with Olivia after picking her up at the school, I told her about Dad’s chivalrous gesture to take over dinner-making.  She said something like, “Wow…he is making… pasta?” with raised eyebrows.  I kind of giggled and said, “Don’t worry…I gave him specific instructions.  I don’t think he can mess it up.”

Fast forward 10 minutes…

(I’m literally laughing out loud as I type this….and he is sitting on the couch across from me with no idea why 😀 )

We walk in and he says that he and the other kids already ate…they couldn’t wait.

“How did it turn out?”  I inquire…

“Good. I did something a little different…I think you will like it.”  (straight face…which means…I can’t laugh yet)

“Oh?…like…what did you do?”

“I added the leftover bacon and eggs from last night in there.  And then I fried up a couple more eggs and threw them in too.”

(STILL HAS A STRAIGHT FACE)

“Oh ok! So…you put…bacon…and eggs…in the pasta?….”  (Still waiting for him to start laughing…)

“Yeah.  The texture will get you at first, …it looks a little unusual…but it tastes pretty good.”

(IS THIS REAL LIFE?? he’s still not laughing or smiling…dead serious)

Thankfully, Olivia wasn’t in the kitchen with us…or she and I would have both lost it.  But he soon left the room to take a phone call, and I got to fill her in.
“He said he put bacon and eggs in it!”
“Wait, what?!…Was he serious??”
“I think so!  He didn’t laugh at all!”

We snuck it out of the oven and poked around in it…sure enough…bacon…and eggs.

So at this point, I had a choice.

Do I try the bacon-egg-hamburger-marinara-mozzarella-bowtie pasta?  Or do I pass?…

Do I dare squash the creativity of Chef Boyar-Dave and ruin the chance that he ever creates such a culinary masterpiece again?

No way. 🙂

Haha…I ate it.  And it wasn’t horrible  was delicious!!

Why is this so hilarious?  Because it is classically him.  He makes bacon and eggs.  I ask him to make pasta.  He adds bacon and eggs to the pasta.  Of course!

And I love it!!  No joke…I think there is a lesson to be learned here.  These crazy every-day moments are when God speaks to me, if I stop to listen.
Dave stepped in to help me, all on his own…but he did it his way.  He didn’t have to help at all…But he did.  And he could have just done as I instructed…but where’s the fun in that??

As a writer, as a mom, as a Jesus follower…I want to be like this.  To see a need, step in to meet it, but add my own flare.  Not question myself so much, or overthink…just be willing and genuine.  I think that God would love to see us all live with more freedom…unafraid and unashamed.

I hope that’s what AddingJOY will be… me being me.  But not FOR me.  For Jesus.