To most Jewish males, the nine days means an endless amount of “lactose intolerant” complaints along with grumbling tummies and the endless slew of various pasta-forms with ketchup. And the women, after dealing with a day of full-time fussiness whether it be at home with children or at work with, well work stuff, come home to a very cranky husband who’s face tells you that fancy pasta dish you just spend a tedious amount of effort on is not going to cut it and “grilling something up” is just not an option. This is all on top of the usual scraping the kids' portion off the walls of the house as well as every exposed surface known to man. It’s a long night and I’m pretty sure this is the very depressive state intended to be felt during this time period but then again, I’m not a rabbi.
Solving the issue: well, its only 9 days, at least two of which are covered under the “Shabbat clause” which means that:
1. He can make dinner and clean up after himself if he isn’t happy about it. This is the 21st century and women tied to the kitchen is a thing of the past. No better time to pursue your feministic freedoms than during the 9 days.
2. Too bad son! The “I’m the mom and I said so” clause comes into effect and the grumbly husband gets treated like a child. Mom made it, so you eat it! Finish every last bite and wash your dishes after you are done, I will be taking a nap.
3. If you had planned in advance and made a siyum we wouldn’t be having this problem. (blame it on him, that’s always effective)
Totally not going to take this opportunity to mention my new career as a terrible marriage counselor....
4. Or of course, option 3, make him feel like a king and serve up something he would find in a restaurant but only put in a quarter of the effort. How, you ask?
Like this!
Prepare the silky delicious buttery cod as described below and plate it all fancy schmancy. Serve it on a clean non-plastic plate, on a clean table, with a full glass of water, and a clean cloth napkin- don’t think about the laundry or dishes right now. Chances are, after he finishes this, he’ll be so happy he will do it for you.
Let him know he can have as much as he wants and set a large sliced loaf of artisan bread with butter (bought, of course, cuz no-body got time for that) in front of him.
Sit with him, ask him about his day, tell him a couple of things about yours, laugh at his jokes like you did when you were dating and enjoy dinner together. This is not a nightly thing I’m talking about it’s a once in a while (miracle) occurrence.
Not only will the food be great but the experience along with it will be wonderful. And hopefully, he’ll remember it for the rest of the 9 days as you serve up all varieties of pasta again and again.
Why this will appeal to him even if it's not meat:
1. Cod is light, delicious and super not fishy (it really shouldn’t be) even the biggest fishaphobes will be okay with this one.
2. It’s got chilies on it. Spicy is good!
3. It's not a traditional salad when you spend an hour eating lettuce.
4. It makes you happy
Why this appeals to you:
1. It’s price conservative- cod doesn’t cost too much for fish, and its can be absolutely delicious if prepared right.
2. It’s healthy its light and its green
3. It’s got fruit in it
4. It’s so easy to prepare and it only takes about 10-15 minutes
Why this appeals to me: (not that you care)
1. It's got a wonderful combination of flavor and texture. The salad, in particular, has a crunch and creaminess along with sweet and heat which is perfect.
2. You can make it in both a salsa easy peasy version or dress it up to impress
3. It’s got flakey salt and buttteerrrrrr (fav!)
4. It’s pretty :)