Signature dishes and house specials

Be careful what you become known for - you might be making it for years!

Hello! Hello!

I can’t be the only one who opens the fridge an hour before dinner and says, “What should I make?” Please tell me I’m not alone.

I know that in general, things would be easier if I could just make a decision and keep to it. In particular, I know that dinner would be easier. My husband, convinced that we’d be happier singly and together if we just made a menu for the week, has been urging me to do this for years. Sometimes he reminds me that when we got married, I grabbed 14 index cards, wrote a different main course on each one, shuffled the pack, put the cards face down, drew seven, and then, with no fuss or bother, cooked one of those main courses each day of the week. It wasn’t exciting but, according to Michael, it freed up brain power. I don’t know when I gave up on those cards or when I became as fickle as I am now.

Here’s how it goes now. I announce that we’re having kung pao chicken for dinner. I make a shopping list. I go to the market and somewhere between the pro…