Don't sweat it - dinner's on me!

Of course when one gives one's children the option to pick dinner, from somewhere, emerges the child you would be happy to send out into society. High society. Rich, snobby society. My eldest (14) was the first child to be given the opportunity to select what we would have for dinner our first night at the beach. The child, who's favorite meals at home include hamburgers, meatloaf, pasta and other benign options chooses SEA SCALLOPS (at $18.99/lb. mind you). Am I thrilled that she knows what sea scallops are and that she would willingly eat them? Of course! It shows a certain "elevation" so to speak in her taste. Am I thrilled that when finances are at such a low ebb that she chooses this however? Decidedly not. But I bought them anyway. Cough, cough. And I tried very hard to not let the anguish show on my face. But, I am secretly proud of her.

And they were really, really good. I dried them off really well (they had been frozen). Sprinkled them with a little kosher salt and pepper, and seared them in a hot pan with butter and olive oil. Let them cook for 2 minutes, turned them and seared the other side. At the end, I added a touch of white wine and let them steam up for a minute. Voila! Gorgeous firm and sweet scallops with a baked potato on the side; worthy of any restaurant. For the people in the family who won't eat scallops (God LOVE them!) we had popcorn shrimp, to keep with the seafood theme. At least most of the kids tried the scallops, but really, do I want ALL my kids to like them? They might want to eat them at some point! The best thing though, my oldest, the one who chose the dinner in the first place, also chose fried okra. That's my girl.