The Best Free Meal of My Life

I am super poor right now and whenever I am super poor, making interesting dinners becomes a challenge. But! Today while I was thinking about it, I decided to make myself make something fantastic for dinner, especially since Sister Meg's out of town and therefore I don't have to take her whims (cf. South Beach Diet) under consideration. So I did a complete pantry inventory, a complete freezer inventory and also I went down to the basement to see if there was any wine left from Mom and Dad's seven-month holiday visit. Success on all fronts!

I found a duck breast, the last one from a very generous Christmas gift of six duck breasts given to me by my friend Lauren. Some Yukon gold potatoes. Some Brussels sprouts. Some wisely frozen lemon zest from when I had a plethora of Meyers. A jar of pickled cherries made by my friend Ellen. A chicken bouillon cube here, a pat of butter there, et voila!. A five-star dinner. Seared duck breast with a cherry red wine reduction, roasted Yukon golds and Brussels sprouts with lemon zest.

I made it all up, no recipes. Sister Meg used to have a friend who would come over for dinner occasionally and at the end of dinner, she'd holler out a price, the amount she would be willing to pay for said dinner. "17.95!" "22.95!" Whatever. This dinner would have emptied her imaginary wallet.



Credits:

China: Villeroy & Boch Audun Ferme

Skillet: Martha Stewart Tri-Ply from K-Mart (retired)

Roasting pan: Lodge apple green enamel casserole

Flatware (not shown): "Fiddlehead," Pottery Barn (retired)

Linens: Brawny Paper Towels

Wine: Jessie's Grove Old Vine ZInfandel

Floor show during dinner: Ugly Betty