Friday, June 6, 2025

Tender Moments

                                                  


An idyllic afternoon. John and I are on the porch sipping adult beverages while in the kitchen, potatoes are sauteing to accompany one of our long time favorites--fish Russian style. The salads are made, the hard-cooked egg, butter, pimento, parsley topping is ready, the English peas are in a saucepan, ready to cook, the catfish fillets are awaiting their triple dredging--seasoned flour, beaten egg, and panko crumbs.

Time for a little break.

We are reminiscing about the old pre-marriage days when we both had summer jobs and would meet for lunch on Fridays at Cuervo's in Ybor City. Trout Russian was our usual order--a bargain for under $2, and that included soup, salad, Cuban bread, sauteed potatoes, and flan.

We rocked and remembered and talked about the weirdness of being old people with various infirmities and the great good fortune we have to live where we do. And how neither of us wants to end up in a nursing home.

"As a matter of fact," I said, "if I drop dead this minute, I've still  had a very good run."

John looked at me and sniffed the air, getting a whiff of the sauteed potatoes.

"Maybe you could wait till after dinner," he suggested.

                                              


4 comments:

Anvilcloud said...

Ah, sweet post with a fun ending. You cause me to think of Friday night fish & chips when we first married. We’d carry them home for 50 cents each. Good times.

Barbara Rogers said...

When a conversation turned to bakeries yesterday, I reminisced about fresh Cuban Bread at the bakery on N. Florida (can't remember the name, in Tampa) where I'd purchase several loaves to take to the senior apartments and toast with butter for a coffee break with them. Simple fare...fresh bread. Cuban Bread with a palm frond baked across the skinny length.

jennyfreckles said...

Sounds lovely - the porch, the food and the conversation. I'm glad you didn't drop dead, especially not before dinner! I've never heard of Cuban bread but it sounds good.

Marcia said...

A precious moment. Hope all the dishes turned out ok. How do you make Russian fish?