Mari's Notes: Sammy and Ilna - once again, so, so thankful for you. Ilna, our 1st co-write was a blast and went very quickly. As a pretty much lifelong vegetarian, this was a fun one.
REAL McRollers - also thankful for your support and love every day!
Ilna's Notes: Mari - I can't believe this is the first time we've written a story just the two of us! And what a great experience it was. Thanks for letting me join you in writing your fabulous idea. Sammy - thanks for your help and support, always. You're the best!
Readers and REAL McRollers - thank you for your amazing support, particularly of our original characters. It truly warms my heart.
Hope you enjoy!
Choices (A McRoll in the REAL World Story by Mari and Ilna)
Wednesday, November 22
Joan held her swim floaties in one hand and an Ariel towel in the other. "Weady, Mama!"
Mary rolled her eyes and grinned. "Let's go then, peanut, everybody else is at the pool already. Do you want to say bye bye to Kaitlyn and Daddy?"
Joan nodded and ran across the living room. "Bye Kaitlyn, bye Daddy! We'e coming back aftew we swim!"
Aaron stepped out of the kitchen and kissed her head. "Have fun. And maybe let Mama carry the towel so you don't trip over it?"
Mary took the towel their daughter held up and gave him a quick peck. "Have fun, you two. Kaitlyn, I promised Alyssa pictures so make sure you guys take a few."
"We will!" Kaitlyn nodded enthusiastically. "I can't wait to try a new recipe. I don't know anyone who's been a vegetarian a long time besides Mom's friend from her work. She doesn't like to cook much but she gave me a recipe for homemade veggie burgers I'm going to try making with Aunt Elizabeth and Grandma Ang."
Joan was bouncing near the door and Mary winked at Kaitlyn. "Now Miss Pokey who couldn't decide between her two bathing suits is impatient." She grinned. "Knock 'em dead, kiddo. We'll be at the pool."
When they re-entered the kitchen Kaitlyn was bubbling with excitement. She pulled her hair into a ponytail before turning to Aaron.
"I'm ready!"
"Ready to wow the family? Because we have some seriously delicious recipes here." He grinned. "Alyssa's a good cook. She doesn't love it like you do, but when she has time, she makes some great meals. The kind where people don't miss the meat at all."
"That's awesome. I like when people who eat meat can hardly tell it's a vegetarian recipe." She smiled. "Everyone's been great at home. We have two or sometimes even three vegetarian dinners a week."
"You have a special family, Kaitlyn, I'm happy they're so supportive."
Kaitlyn nodded. "Aunt Elizabeth took me to a vegetarian restaurant for lunch a while ago. It was so good Uncle Joseph went and got take out last Wednesday night. Jacob had spaghetti and even Dylan said he liked his veggie chili dogs so much he'd help me make them if I got a recipe."
"Let's get started, then, because I know they'll both like what we come up with today." Aaron reached for a purple folder he'd placed on the counter. "I think we're gonna need this."
"What's this?" Kaitlyn asked.
"Open it and see."
She opened the front cover and gasped. "When you said Alyssa gave you some recipes, I thought you meant she emailed them to you or something."
"She did, but I thought it would be easier to use and easier for you to keep if you had your own copies."
"Ohh, that is so nice of you!" Impulsively she gave him a quick hug. "Thank you!"
He smiled, hugging her back. "You're very welcome. I thought one of those folders with the three-hole punch would be best so you can put more recipes in there as you find them."
Kaitlyn flipped through the pages, her eyes widening. "There's so many!"
"I know you got some good ones from Grandma Ang and Nonna, but my sister has been a vegetarian for years so she has tons of recipes."
"I can't wait to try them all!"
He smiled, pleased that she liked his little gift. "I thought we'd do empanadas today. First, because they're my favorite, and second, because we can make a few different fillings to suit everyone's tastes, and third, because the recipe involves both baking and cooking." He grinned. "But mostly because they're my favorite."
She grinned back and pulled the recipe out of the folder. Cocking her head, she studied the picture. "Kinda looks like a Hot Pocket."
Aaron laughed. "Maybe a little. But trust me, these are much, much better. Does that work for you?"
She nodded.
He straightened, clapping his hands once and rubbing them together. "So, first–"
"Wait!" Kaitlyn cried. She dashed over to her bag and dug around inside, finally pulling out her gold apron.
"Hey, is that from our cupcake competition two years ago?" he asked.
She nodded. "Yep! It still fits." She slid it over her neck and tied the straps around her waist.
He beamed. "That's awesome! And a good idea. I wonder if Elizabeth or Grandma Ang has an apron I can borrow …"
"I know where they keep them," Kaitlyn said, going to the pantry and opening the door. Hanging on a hook were a few different aprons.
"Ah, excellent," Aaron said, joining her and looking through the choices. He pulled out a blue striped apron. "I think this one is probably the most manly, what do you think?"
She giggled and nodded.
Once he'd put the apron on and tied it, he turned to her. "Ready, Master Kaitlyn?"
She smiled broadly. "Ready, Master Aaron."
"Let's make empanadas."
"So we'll work on the dough first," Aaron said after they'd washed and dried their hands. "This is the part that's like baking so I bet you'll like it." He placed a large bowl in front of them and gave her the measuring cup.
Kaitlyn, standing on her little step stool, checked the recipe she'd placed on Elizabeth's freestanding clipboard on the counter. "Three cups of flour." She carefully measured the required amount. "And ½ teaspoon of salt."
"Okay, go ahead and mix that together before we add the butter. Now you can use a food processor to make the dough, but I've always thought it was more fun to do everything by hand."
She nodded, smiling. "Me, too."
They traded off stirring once the butter was added, both ending up with a little bit of flour on their fronts.
"Aprons were definitely a good idea," Aaron commented, looking down at the specks of white.
She grinned at him. "Definitely."
"Okay, time for the egg," he said and handed one to her. "I thought you could do the honors since I remember you telling me your nickname when you cook breakfast with your family is Egg Woman."
She smiled brightly, clearly pleased he'd remembered, then expertly cracked the egg against the bowl.
"You keep stirring," he said, "and I'll add the water little by little so we get the consistency just right."
"How will we know when it is?"
"We want it to be a nice smooth dough that we can roll out into circles."
"Got it," she said with a nod and focused on stirring as he poured the water.
Once they'd both tested the dough with their hands and were satisfied with it, Aaron covered the bowl and put it in the fridge to chill while they worked on the various fillings.
"I'll cut up the onion," Aaron said, reaching for it. "That way I'm the only one with stinging eyes."
"Actually, I know a trick," Kaitlyn said and bit her lip, glancing up at him.
"Oh yeah?"
"Grandma Ang showed me when I was making eggplant parmesan with her and Nonna. It makes it go faster so your eyes don't sting so much. I could show you?" she offered, her voice going up at the end in a question.
He smiled and held out the onion to her. "I'd appreciate that."
Once their fillings were prepared, they rolled out the refrigerated dough on the counter. "If you're short on the right size cookie cutters, you can also use a bowl or a plate," Aaron said. "But since we're in Aunt Elizabeth and Grandma Ang's kitchen …"
"We have cookie cutters," Kaitlyn finished with a grin.
Aaron grinned back. "A wide selection of cookie cutters in several sizes."
"Which size should we use?"
"What do you think?"
Kaitlyn caught her bottom lip with her teeth and looked at the options thoughtfully. Finally she said, "I think we should use this smaller size. That way people can try more than one kind. Or even one of each if they want."
Aaron smiled. "That's exactly what I was thinking."
She beamed, standing up straighter on her step stool.
"All right," he said, handing her the smaller circular cookie cutter. "Go for it. I have a feeling you're going to be very good at this part."
Kaitlyn smiled. She took her time placing the mold, leaving as little dough in between circles as possible. When she was done, Aaron gathered up the dough scraps and rolled them out again so they could use every bit.
"Okay, let me show you how this works. There are a couple ways to fold up the empanadas, but they all start the same way."
"Putting some filling in the middle?"
"That's right." He picked up the bowl of sweet creamed corn filling and scooped a good-sized spoonful into the middle of one of the dough circles. "One way is like this. You can lift both sides up to meet at the top, then curl the edge over and press with your finger to seal it." He demonstrated and she scooped some of the filling into another circle to give it a try.
"Like this?"
"Exactly." He reached for another bowl with tomato, basil, and mozzarella cheese mixed together and scooped some into another circle. "You can also fold the dough over and pinch the edges, like this."
Again, Kaitlyn copied his motions perfectly.
"Or, you can use a fork." He used a scoop of the third filling, a sweet potato and black bean mixture, and demonstrated the last method.
"Like that?"
"You're a natural!"
She beamed proudly.
"Now we just have to fill the rest of these and bake them," he said.
"Hey, I have an idea," she said, stopping him before he could make his next empanada.
"What's that?"
"It's pretty hard to tell which one is which once you fold them, right?"
"Yeah, we'll have to try to keep them separate as we go."
"What if … we use the different ways to fold them to tell? Since we've got three kinds of filling and three ways to fold the empanadas?"
"Kaitlyn, that's brilliant! I love it!"
Her eyes widened at his enthusiasm. "Really?"
"Really. That's a fantastic idea. You want everyone to know which ones are which and you thought of a great way to do that while also practicing your new empanada folding skills."
"I just want everyone to know what they're getting."
"Of course you do. Because you are one of the most thoughtful, considerate people I know."
Kaitlyn smiled, blushing.
"It's true," Aaron said. "And those are wonderful traits to have."
"Thanks, Aaron," she said, just a trace of bashfulness in her voice at the compliment. "I think you're pretty thoughtful and considerate, too."
He nudged her playfully with an elbow. "Maybe that's why we make such a good team."
"I think Jacob will like this one," Kaitlyn said as she made another tomato, basil, and mozzarella empanada. "It's kind of like pizza."
"Exactly! That's Joan's favorite," Aaron said. "And she likes the corn one because it's a bit sweeter."
"I can't wait to try them all!"
Smokey wandered into the kitchen and Aaron grinned to see Kaitlyn wasn't the slightest bit ill at ease. She even took a treat from the jar on the counter and placed it on the floor for the happy dog.
"Aunt Elizabeth said it was okay for him to have a treat if he comes in while we're cooking," she explained as Smokey took the dog cookie into the living room for a snooze on the overstuffed chair. "Aunt Catherine bought kitty treats for Midnight. He loves them." She giggled as she quickly washed her hands. "He plays with them first. He's silly sometimes. Last week Mom left a little dish of dried apricots on the coffee table for like a minute and went to the bathroom. Midnight thought they were cat toys."
"Did he try to eat one?" Aaron stirred the sweet potato and black bean filling and scooped some out.
"Nope. He just kinda batted it around and brought it to me." She filled an empanada, folded the dough and carefully forked it closed.
"That means he's giving you a present. He loves you."
Her eyes lit. "Really?"
He crossed his heart. "I swear. When we were kids, Alyssa's cat used to bring my mom mice as a thank you gift."
"Oh, I don't think my mom would be too thankful for that." She filled another empanada.
Aaron laughed. "Neither was ours. And my sister got a her cat a collar with bells so she could warn the mice. Alyssa didn't want them to get hurt." He smiled fondly at the thought of his compassionate sister.
"Aww, she's nice." Kaitlyn thought she wouldn't want any mice getting hurt either. "If I ever go to California I hope I can meet her."
"You may not have to go all the way to L.A.. She and her family may come here for a vacation next year."
Kaitlyn brightened, already excited. "If they do, I'll bake cupcakes to thank her for the recipes."
Aaron smiled. "She would love that. And you know what else?"
"What?"
"I bet she'd love to cook some vegetarian recipes with you."
Kaitlyn beamed. "I'd love that, too!" She looked at him and smiled. "But you know what, Aaron?"
"What?"
"I think you'll always be my favorite person to cook and bake with."
He put an arm around her shoulder and gave her a hug. "Right back at you, partner."
With the first batch of empanadas in the oven, Aaron and Kaitlyn began to clean up the kitchen.
"So are you excited about Thanksgiving tomorrow?" he asked, washing out a bowl that had once held the sweet potato and black bean filling.
She nodded. "I was a little nervous at first because I know turkey is, like, the main part of Thanksgiving dinner, and that's okay because I know everyone else likes it, but I wasn't sure if I'd have enough to eat."
"Oh, there's gonna be tons of food there," he assured her, "and most of it will be dishes that are vegetarian, actually."
"That's what Mom and Cody said. Then we all started listing our favorite Thanksgiving foods and I realized that I can eat pretty much everything."
"Good." He handed her the bowl to dry and started on another one. "And the weather looks good for the family football game in the morning. Are you going to play this year?"
Kaitlyn bit her lip. "I don't know. I haven't really decided. I've never played before. Two years ago it was raining and last year I was too nervous. It looks like fun, but I'm just not very good at throwing and catching. Not like Casey is. Or Dylan and Cody."
Aaron shut the faucet off and turned to her. "You know, I'm not that great, either. I love to watch football, especially my favorite team …"
"The Cowboys, right?"
He grinned. "That's right. I love to watch, but that doesn't exactly translate to being a good player myself."
"Oh," she said.
"But remember, this is a family game." His mouth twitched in a little smile. "Yes, some members of our family get a little … competitive …"
"Like Uncle Steve?"
He laughed. "Like Uncle Steve. And Aunt Catherine. Uncle Joseph. Aunt Kono. Carrie …"
Kaitlyn giggled, as he'd intended, and he smiled.
"But we're all there to have fun, and I promise that no one is going to make fun of you or judge you or anything like that. Okay?"
She nodded slowly.
He paused, thinking for a moment. "So maybe …" He gave her a little shrug. "Maybe you could play for a bit and see how you like it. You don't have to play for the whole game."
"That's true," she said, thinking it over.
They finished up with the dishes and Aaron wiped his hands on a towel.
"So you think you'll play for a little bit?" he asked.
She nodded. "I'll try. Uncle Steve says the only way you learn is to try. I just don't want to disappoint whoever's on my team."
"I can promise you won't. But how about this? How about if we're on the same team? We can try together. Deal?" He held out a hand.
Kaitlyn smiled. "Okay, deal."
Aaron took the last batch out and nodded. "They look great, don't they?"
Just as Kailyn was about to answer, the door to the patio closed and Joseph came inside with Jacob and Joan.
"Taste testers reporting for duty," he announced in an official voice, making the eight-year-old stand up straighter.
"We volunteered!" Jacob saluted before bounding into the kitchen.
"We'e hungwy for a snack, Daddy!" Joan announced, following on his heels.
"Well, you're in luck, because the first batch," he pointed to the counter, "is cool enough to eat."
" 'Panadas!" Joan squealed happily when she saw what they'd made. Joseph lifted her into a chair and Joan grinned while her father cut one in half, giving one part to her and one to Jacob. "Pizza 'panada is my favowite, Jacob!" she said as Aaron finished cutting her half into smaller pieces
"These are great, Kaitlyn!" her brother said at his first bite. "Uncle Aaron, you should open a restaurant!"
Just as Joseph sampled a sweet potato and black bean empanada and praised the chefs, Steve entered with Angie in his arms. "So this is where everyone went." He chuckled at his father-in-law's unrepentant smile and indicated his daughter. "She needs a diaper change."
Joan quickly ate the last two bites of her half empanada. "I help Unca Steve wif Baby Angie!"
Her father laughed as he helped her down and told Joseph, "That may be the fastest I've ever seen her eat." He took the napkin she'd hastily wiped her hands on and shook his head. "Listen to Uncle Steve, pumpkin," he called after her retreating form as she scurried down the hall.
"I listen!" she called back.
Jacob, tomato juice on his chin, eyed the plates of empanadas. "So what's in the other ones …?"
"Holy cow, these are good!" Dylan exclaimed as he took his first bite.
The rest of the pool party had returned and were enjoying an empanada picnic outside.
Casey chuckled. " 'Holy cow'? You've definitely been hanging around Grandma Ang."
Dylan grinned at Ang. "Sure have."
"And he's right," Ang said. "These are really good."
"They are," Catherine agreed. "And I'm already imagining what else to fill them with. The possibilities are endless."
"It's true," Aaron said.
Kaitlyn nodded. "I was even thinking of trying a dessert one."
Jacob's ears perked up. "Dessert?"
Beside him, Joan straightened. "Dessewt?"
Mary laughed. "Uh oh, the 'd' word."
"Look who I found," Elizabeth said as she opened the sliding door and stepped outside after checking on Angie.
"Mom!" Kaitlyn cried, and jumped up to give her mother a hug.
"Hi, honey," Jenna said, hugging her back. She grinned. "I got the pictures Aaron sent. Hopefully there are some empanadas left for me."
"We saved you one of each," Kaitlyn said, leading her to a seat.
"How was work?" Cody asked.
"Good. The day flew by."
"You don't have to work on Friday, do you?" Deb asked.
"Nope." Jenna grinned. "Four day weekend! And I can't think of a better way to start it than with a delicious meal made by my favorite chef," she said, wrapping an arm around Kaitlyn who stood beside her.
Kaitlyn beamed. "Your favorite chef and her favorite partner," she corrected.
"Well, thanks, partner," Aaron said with a little grin. "So what do you think we should make next?"
"I don't know," Kaitlyn said, smiling warmly, "but thanks to you and Alyssa, I've got lots of choices."
Hope you enjoyed! See you tomorrow for the start of the Thanksgiving Day festivities!
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