Tropical Mum: Catch as Catch Can

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Catch as Catch Can

Eggs: A staple ingredient in
catch-as-catch-can dinners

In the pre-teen years, once I was competent enough to scramble an egg or whip up some Kraft dinner, I came to learn the term "catch as catch can". This was the response I would receive every so often, when I posed the question, "What's for dinner, Mom?"

Dictionary.com states the definition as:

catch-as-catch-can
[kach-uh z-kach-kan]
adjective
1. Also, catch-can. taking advantage of any opportunity; using any method that can be applied: a catch-as-catch-can life, as an itinerant handyman.

But what she really meant was, "Do as you like, I'm not cooking" and everyone in our family had to rely on their own resources to rustle up a bite.

I'm the Chief Cook around here and since becoming a parent, the possibility of having a catch-as-catch-can dinner is very remote. I don't think my 7 and 9-year-old boys are ready to fend for themselves just yet. Yes, I know there are Junior Masterchefs younger than my oldest, so maybe it's me who's not ready to relinquish my kitchen to the mess and mayhem they would cause*. Regardless, the closest I come to catch-as-catch-can is to prepare something quick for the boys and then let Will find some two-minute noodles if he gets hungry.

I do enjoy cooking some of the time, but a lot of the time it is just one of those mundane tasks that always gets put off until the very last minute, which makes the task even more undesirable. So I long for the day when I can simply say "Catch as catch can" in response to that age-old question, "What's for dinner, Mum?"

Did you ever have catch-as-catch can meals when you were growing up, or are you lucky enough to be able to enjoy them now?

*I do plan to teach those boys how to cook the minute I think they're mature enough. That way, when I just can't be bothered, my boys can take turns doing the cooking for me--good plan right?

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