Lighten Up!

Coming off a weekend of unseasonably warm, beautiful weather, our Ben’s Day Wednesday session was brimming with energy. We made ginger-soy steak with pear-cucumber salad while whooping it up with a kitchen dance party. 

Ben’s Play List:

1. Can’t Stop the Feeling – Justin Timberlake
2. Shake It Off – Taylor Swift
3. Firework – Katy Perry
4. Poker Face – Lady Gaga
5. Moves Like Jagger – Maroon 5
6. Who Let the Dogs Out – Baha Men (though because we live in central PA, he asks Alexa for “Who Left the Dogs Out”)
7. All About that Bass – Meghan Trainor
8. Chicken Dance
9. Baby Shark

You think Baby Shark is the trough? Nope. I think of it as the wrap-it-up music at the Oscars. If you know what’s good for you, you will wrap up meal prep by “Baby Shark,” or suffer the consequences. Of course, Justin Bieber (who is likely to follow Baby Shark), is a double-edged sword. Don’t want to hear me sing along? You best not play it. Think my singing is bad? Watch me dance. 

Here’s my advice. If you ever find yourself singing and dancing in the kitchen with Ben, and he shakes his head, casting his gaze downward, muttering, “I don’t think so,” it might be time to wrap it up.

Likewise, you may be zooming with your students, when one kid says, “Hey, look at me, I’m the teacher!” She has changed her name to “Liz Yoder” and her profile pic is an unflattering screen shot of you from about 7 seconds earlier. While you take this in, you realize that now there are three Liz Yoders, all with terrible screen shots of you, and they are multiplying! I guess I should have cracked down, or something, but instead, I cracked up, and took it as a sign that it may be time to wrap up the zoom meeting.

Both these experiences today were great reminders to not take myself too seriously. Once, when I was teaching second grade, some of my students were developing a skit during indoor recess time about a classroom full of second graders. I was trying to get some grading done, but they had other plans. They begged me to try out for the part of Ms. Yoder. They cued me on my lines for the audition, and I thought I was convincing, but they went a different direction. Yes, I auditioned for the part of myself, and didn’t get the part!

Sometimes it takes a second grader, or a fifth grader, or an unsinkable son, to remind me to laugh at myself. It is good for the soul.

Even with all the dancing, the meal came together really quickly, and the steak has Ben’s full Bendorsement. He liked the salad, but he didn’t love it. He said it was kind of sweet from the pear, and kind of not from the cucumber, so he wasn’t sure what to make of it.

Here’s our very slightly modified version of Christopher Kimball’s recipe from Milk Street Tuesday Nights:

Ginger-Soy Steak with Pear-Cucumber Salad

1/2 cup soy sauce

2 tablespoons finely grated or chopped ginger

2 tablespoons sugar, divided

1 tablespoons toasted sesame oil

4 medium garlic cloves, finely grated or chopped

Kosher salt and ground white pepper

1 1/2 pounds sirloin steak, cut into 2-inch pieces

6 tablespoons unseasoned rice vinegar

1 English cucumber, quartered lengthwise, thinly sliced on the bias

1 firm pear, quartered, cored and thinly sliced crosswise

1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds

Steamed white rice

Stir together the soy sauce, ginger, 1 tablespoon of the sugar, the sesame oil, the garlic, and 1 teaspoon pepper, mashing the ginger and garlic, and dissolving the sugar. Add the beef, and stir to coat. Cover and let sit at room temperature for 15 minutes.

In a separate bowl, combine the vinegar, remaining tablespoon of sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Stir in the cucumber and pear. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Heat the broiler with an oven rack about 4 inches from the heat. Remove the beef from the marinade and pat dry. Place on a wire rack set in a rimmed baking sheet. Cook until medium-rare, about 7-10 minutes, flipping the pieces halfway through. Transfer to a plate and rest for 10 minutes.

Drain the cucumber mixture, and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Serve steak on rice, alongside salad.