Sometimes it's hard to be like Julia

Yesterday we came home from Shakespeare class long enough for the girls to take Hershey and Zuzu for a quick walk around the block, then the three of us humans piled back into the van, leaving the dogs disgruntled and wondering when anybody was ever going to be home to pet them and serve tidbits from the dinner table.

Mee, Aisling and I were gone until 9:00; we've been invited to help provide child care for a local church's Wednesday night small group meetings. We do get paid, and since we're saving up for the trip to the Stratford Festival in early September, we're taking every opportunity we have to rake in some extra cash.

Last night's dinner, then, suffered a bit. I'd already been planning on breakfast for dinner, and don't let me imply that I was going to make my own sausage or anything, but as it turned out, both parts of that little supper I served up at 9:30 yesterday evening featured synonyms for "rapid" in their titles: Fast Shake pancake mix and Bob Evans Express pre-cooked sausage patties.

Both tasted okay. It's hard for Bob Evans to goof up a sausage patty, and these were nicely spicy and easy-peasy to warm up in a skillet. The pancake mix needed about 3/4 of a cup of water MORE than the instructions said it did, but once I got that figured out, all was good. It made about fourteen pancakes. We slathered them with butter (injudicious) and syrup (sugar-free for me and the girls, high octane for my husband) and it wasn't bad at all.

HOWEVER. If I had to make a choice between that food and the Julia chicken I slaved over and basted and cuddled and coddled a week or so ago? Even though it didn't turn out quite right?

I'd go with the chicken every time. But I'm glad of having the option of using FAST and EXPRESS food when I absolutely need to.