Fish Fingers and Waffles

‘Would you like fish fingers and waffles for your tea?’ said a loud voice behind me. It was a well meaning voice, a woman walking back from her place of work asking someone she shares her home with. It made me smile because at the moment, I am on a career break, which means I am a homemaker. I’m the one asking the equivalent to my husband and my children on a daily basis. There are so many things that popped into my mind from the question this passer by asked. This is how my brain works so bear with me;

1. Fish fingers are really the only original freezer food I keep at home that I know will be eaten by the kids if we are in a rush. I reflect regularly on whether I need to buy more convenience food so I don’t feel like I am in the kitchen all of the time, but it doesn’t work and it just gets thrown away and I have to cook anyway (P.S. 00 Flour is number 1 on my list now for making the best thin pizzas- use it, what a difference!)
2. Waffles, this word makes me laugh! I knew about potato waffles growing up as this was something that was part of school dinners at one time believe it or not. When I first dropped my eldest to the school breakfast club, she insisted that she really liked waffles and I found it weird it was considered a breakfast food. Then I found out what a waffle was, a breaded grid that goes in a toaster that they serve with honey or in an ice-cream parlour, and now I know there are two waffles. It also didn’t make me happy that she would eat waffles at breakfast just before school, so I used to try and feed her porridge before we got to breakfast club so she didn’t need to choose a waffle there. Actually, on reflection, it’s similar to a pancake or a croissant, so I suppose I should have relaxed a bit more.
3. ‘Tea’, I still say Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner with Tea being a small snack after school, whereas Tea up here in the Midlands is Dinner, and also Lunch is Dinner… so many confusing days when my eldest was three telling her that we would go home to eat and she would ask if that was lunch?! We are all sorted now and she gets it.
4. Finally, the thing that stuck out was the unsaid. This was a woman asking about preparing a meal. It seems to be a natural thing that women worry about the care of their family and spend more time on doing this. I didn’t realise how much until this career break has shown me how much I worry about mealtimes, getting the right vitamins in food, lowering sugar, ensuring a correct balance, ensuring a diversity of foods. Covid19 has made me think about this so much more with the emphasis being on Vitamin C! In some situations, this is enforced that this is a woman’s job, but in my situation it has mostly been my job because I understand it more and in a tedious way quite enjoy it (my husband is a brilliant cook, just can’t do desserts).

The funny thing about growing up any multicultural city is that you absorb so much from others around you and now more-so when everything is available online. You borrow words and language through greetings, you swap foods and recipes, you go to a restaurant and try something new, you invite your friends over and cook together. I miss being able to do all of this during the lockdown with concern about the spreading of the virus. It’s funny how one question asked by a complete stranger on the phone raised so many thoughts in my mind. Has this happened to you recently?