It was my turn to fix dinner yesterday. I had procured some rockfish for only $6.99 a pound, that may have been strategically placed next to the $29.99 a pound halibut. A simple budgetary decision. Seeing the rockfish, I remembered a recipe I have probably not made in over a decade. It’s an easy and tasty recipe I found at a fish counter or in a magazine – I don’t recall. All the vegetables as well as the potatoes (except for a red bell pepper) were readily available in Patrick and Hannah’s garden and basement respectively, so my shopping list was of a short nature.

Mushrooms, the aforementioned red bell pepper, and zucchini seasoned and sautéed in olive oil, mashed potatoes, a butter and orange cream sauce – all complementing the fish which I baked in foil.

As we started to eat, I noticed that our napkins were missing, so I got up, turned around, and grabbed a few paper towels from the paper towel roll holder and tore them into three sheets to use as a substitute. Now I’m guessing I may have been a bit fatigued from cooking as I handed them out automatically, first one to Hannah, then one to Patrick, and a third to my cat Calvin who was sitting upright on the couch next to the dining table. I then caught myself retracting the paper towel for recipient number three and started to laugh as did everyone else. If I may interpret the surprised look on my cat’s face, it may well have been a response of “rather kind of you, but I don’t think I will be needing one of those”.