KAREN WIGHT -- No Place Like Home

The other day my friend Stacy gave me a copy of an article that ran in

the San Francisco Chronicle. It is a delightful essay by Adair Lara

called “The Cat Years” and it talks about children and their changing

habits as they go from childhood through the teenage years and their

eventual metamorphosis into human beings.

The synopsis of the article goes something like this: In their younger

years, children are friendly and outgoing, eager to please and generally

fun to be around, much like a dog.

As they enter their teenage years their personalities become much more

catlike, aloof and, well, kind of snotty. If you are a patient parent and

handle the changes with alacrity, your cat will eventually become more

canine again and your world will once more be filled with enthusiastic

approval.

The article certainly rang true with the moods in our house. With one

daughter firmly entrenched in her “cat years” and a son teetering on the

edge of his, I have had to search for ways to handle their changing moods

and lifestyles.

The one variable that I can always hook them with is food. Any kind of

food. Meals, snacks, drinks, as long as it is consumable, I have

leverage.

Now before I begin to sound like Betty Crocker let me throw in a

caveat: I always take the easy way out, always. I would certainly rather

take a little extra time in the garden or with a good book than stand in

the kitchen. But when it comes to finding a “hook” to keep my kids coming

back for more, it’s always food that does the trick.

Do you have a Crock-Pot that’s still in a box from your wedding? Pull

it out. If you aren’t crazy about the pink and blue flowers that are

dancing on the sides, buy a millennium model with a stainless steel

exterior. Even Crock-Pots can be cool.

Throw in some Italian sausages, pour a jar of marinara sauce over the

top, turn it on low and head out to the beach. By the time your cats come

home for dinner (all at different times of course) dinner will be ready

at their beck and call. Have some rolls and a salad ready and they’ll

come home for dinner.

This simple equation works with almost any meat. You can use beef ribs

and barbecue sauce; chicken and gravy; pork chops and vinaigrette. The

meat is amazingly tender after it has cooked all day and dinner is warm

and ready when your family is hungry.

A few years ago I would have balked at this concept. I still like to

have a sit-down dinner with all five of us, but reality dominates. With

athletic schedules, work and school activities, I need to be ready for

any and everything.

Another old kitchen standby that has worked its way into my heart is

my mother’s old electric skillet.

Actually, I shouldn’t even call it my mother’s. My mother can count

the meals she has cooked in her life on one hand. But one long ago

Christmas she received a very large electric skillet from one of our baby

sitters, I think it’s circa 1961. It’s huge and it’s cool.

This old skillet can make four huge pancakes at once, fry close to a

pound of bacon or make a mother of a frittata in no time at all. Then,

you can turn it on low and keep it warm and tasty until the family makes

an appearance.

I know -- you’re tsk-tsking at me. You have your Viking range; you

have your takeout file, what else do you need?

Some times the old ways are the best ways. You need some of these

mainstays to keep your modern life in check and your family coming home

for dinner.

Like the saying “a way to a man’s heart is through his stomach,” I

just translate it to include my man and all other members of my

household.

Or should I say my cats and dogs.

* KAREN WIGHT is a Newport Beach resident. Her column runs Saturdays.