Ben's Day Wednesday

Ben: The Brunch Denier and the Maine Thing

Posted on by Liz

This week, the Ben’s Day Wednesday team cited creative differences in their nearly irreconcilable meal plan. Ben wanted shrimp teriyaki tacos. Definitively. Mom thought shrimp teriyaki tacos sounded shrimp teri-yucky. (I love shrimp! Why would I try to jam it in a taco with teriyaki sauce?) Ben’s position: I love shrimp! Tacos and sauces are great! Why wouldn’t I want to bundle it all in a tortilla?

I tried and tried and tried to get Ben on board with a Sunday brunch plan. Ben’s Day Wednesday request: denied. I went forward with making brunch, but Ben rightly surmised that brunch means the elimination of one meal. And then there were two. As I was making a beautiful lemon berry crepe cake and a chorizo frittata with bounty from the farmer’s market, Ben kept exclaiming, “Boy, this looks like a good BREAKFAST. So good! Just like the LUNCH we’ll be having at noon.” I tell you this, gentle reader, our brunch was insanely delicious, and eaten heartily by all family members, but hearing Ben deny the existence of brunch about every 7 seconds while trying to prepare it wears a person down.

Who wouldn’t want this?
Or this?

So, here’s what happened. We had brunch at 10:30 or so. Glorious! By about 5:00, we all got hungry and we made the (dreaded or highly anticipated, depending on your perspective) shrimp teriyaki tacos. Adequate! I grudgingly admit that the shrimp was teri-yummy, but I had no idea what I was doing, and it just didn’t belong in a tortilla.

Teriyaki Shrimp Tacos

Teriyaki Shrimp Tacos

1 onion, sliced into thin wedges

1 large red pepper, sliced into thin 1 inch strips

2 pounds shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 bunch scallions, sliced, greens and whites divided

1 12-ounce bag broccoli slaw

1 tablespoon lime juice (freshly squeezed)

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 tablespoon fish sauce

1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar

1/3 cup teriyaki sauce

Cilantro

  1. Preheat oven to 375º. Place onion and pepper on sheet pan and roast in oven 10-12 minutes.
  2. Place shrimp on top of onions and peppers. Bake 8-10 minutes, or until done.
  3. Meanwhile, make dressing for slaw, whisking lime juice, oil, fish sauce, and vinegar.
  4. Pour dressing over slaw mix and toss.
  5. When shrimp is cooked through, toss it (and onion pepper mixture) in a bowl with teriyaki sauce. If the shrimp is cooked right, it will have a snap. If you add sauce to an already prone-to-weepiness shrimp and veggie mixture, there will be a lot of liquid stuff happening.
  6. Assemble tacos with warmed tortillas, shrimp mixture, slaw mixture, and cilantro.
Squeeze
Add
Dump
Mix

We had a glorious week of vacation, which included Providence, Rhode Island and Ogunquit, Maine. We had less planning than usual, (holding out hopes into July that Europe might actually happen) but it was a wonderful week together doing what we do: Ben, Sophia and I trying to get to the beach, and Phil (not a beach guy) planning alternate family activities that get rejected.

The best exhibits at the zoo in Providence.
Elephant schemes way to eat hay while family poses. Human boy holds Pepsi and looks away from camera, thinking of his next meal.
Years ago, we instituted hotel dominoes as a vacation/beach thing.
Initially, Ben dubbed us Dead (Dad), Moon (Mom), Spohic (Sophie) and Buc (Ben) and I’m pretty likely to refer to my family members by these names when we’re vacationing. We never know what flight of fancy the names will take, but this year Benck was the big winner.
We spent an afternoon in Kennebunkport. I kept saying Kennebunkpaaahhhttt like a Kennedy. Nobody was amused (Except for me. It never gets old.
Lobstah Roll
Finally, the beach.
Ben being Ben.
Sophia: “Quit being a stinker!” Ben: “I’m not a stinker. I’m cute!” Waitress: “You guys are funny. What’s your name?” Ben: “I’m Mr. Ben.” Waitress: “Mr. Bad?” Ben: “That’s right.”
Just a boy eating wings, wearing a shirt saying, “Just boy who loves wings.”
We did a lot of walking and Uber connections were scarce. You know what else works? Laying down on somebody’s historic stone fence until your family caves and engages a taxi.
Selfie.
A stranger’s kind offer to save us from our selfies.
My Peeps.
Wild and woolly on the Marginal Way.
And there we have it, Folks. Our first family vacay since The Scourge.

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