Saturday afternoon. The family is sitting on the sofa watching football. Susan and Wendy are folding laundry.
Me: What should we do for dinner tomorrow night? We could order in or cook something.
Mom: We could do one of those things.
Me: Yes, we could. Why don't we cook something easy?
Mom: It's supposed to be chilly tomorrow. Maybe a stew?
Me: That could be good. I've got salad stuff. We could have salad to go with it.
Mom: Barry, you like stew, don't you?
Dad (incapable of not being a smart-aleck): Who's Stu?
Me (looking to the heavens and starting to chuckle): Good lord, it's fucking relentless.
Dad (also laughing): Which Stu?
Me (pulling a random last name out of my brain): Jones.
Dad: I like Stu Jones! He's a good guy!
Me: Maybe he likes stew.
Mom: Or something with chicken thighs? The New York Times cooking app has those sheet pan recipes where you cook everything on one pan. (Reading through recipe names) Chicken thighs stuffed with chard ... sheet-pan chicken with squash and dates.
Dad: That manages to combine two ingredients I hate.
Me: Ew.
Dad: Susan, didn't we serve with Stu Jones somewhere? El Salvador, maybe?
Mom: Yes, that's sounds right.
Me (confused): Wait, who are we talking about?
Dad: Stu Jones! We worked with him in an embassy somewhere.
Me: He's a real person? I was just making that up.
Dad: No, he really exists!
Mom: Yeah, we know him.
Me: So random.
Mom: How about sheet-pan chicken with potatoes, scallions and capers?
Me: Ooh, that sounds yummy.
Mom: Let's do that. We can go grocery shopping in the morning.
Me: Maybe we could add some vegetables to the pan to roast along with the other stuff? Maybe some broccoli or brussel sprouts?
Dad (making a face): Broccoli?
Me: What's wrong with broccoli?
Mom: We can see what looks good at the store. Barry, does the chicken thigh recipe sound OK?
Dad: I thought we were having stew?
Me: I'm done.
