Chicken Cordon Bennie/ You get what you give
If you ever wondered what made me who I am you just have to meet my family. We aren't the most sensitive bunch but if you need a good laugh we are the dinner table to sit at. Making fun of each other is how we express our love. If you are looking for a group of people that will coddle and placate you, we are possibly your worst choice. There is a Christmas story that really gives you a glimpse into how we work in our own dysfunctional way.
My Dad had a Mazda RX7 (it's like a sporty hatchback) and two kids. It was always a fight between my brother and me about who got the front seat and who had to hunch in the back ( don't be judgey - it was different times then.) We start heading out to our family Christmas gathering and of course, my brother hops in the front seat. I start yelling and trying to physically remove him. It was my turn! Although... let's be honest I don't think anybody ever really knows who's turn it is, it's just never your siblings. That you know for sure. Finally, Dad has enough and outyelled us and orders us to get in the car (I'm sure it was more colorful words than that). As I hunch over in the back glaring at my brothers head I decide that he will pay for his deceit. I devise a plan to annoy him on a continuous basis until we get to Maw-Maw's. So I start with a constant stream of blowing into his hair, flicking his ear, shoving his seat, making repetitive and annoying noises ....you get the picture. I'm so concentrated on his demise that I barely notice him pushing in the car lighter in. Five minutes later my brother cool as a Russian Mobster leans over pulls the lighter out and presses it perfectly on the tip of my nose. I of course scream. "Look what he did, look what he did," yelling at the top of my voice. My Dad without a blink says, "Well who let him do it?"
What sucks is he was right if I hadn't been so damn obsessed with my revenge plot I would have noticed his own revenge plot and could have easily avoided it. We show up and there I am with these perfect red rings on my nose. Was it an "Oh my god, you poor thing" moment? Nope, once they realized it was not a serious injury and heard the story, they all got a good laugh. Did they let it go at that? No, they called me Rudolph throughout the entire day, never for a minute letting me forget my new position in the family portraits. Now some may say this is cruel but if you know my people you know that this is who we are. My family is full of some of the strongest people I know. Come at us, we are a tough bunch. I truly believe not being allowed self-pity and having to own up to my part in a mistake is how I got through some of the roughest parts of my life and also learned to find the humor even in the worst situations. Including being the family Rudolph due to my brother branding me like a cow.
One of our traditions is Christmas breakfast so I thought I'd share one of my favorite recipes. This recipe looks complicated but don't be deceived it's an actually pretty easy to put together and other than the eggs all the ingredients are forgiving of taking your time.
