So we finally bought an air fryer.
Look, we don’t have a massive kitchen. Despite compelling testimonials starting in Covid, I’ve resisted the thing just because I didn’t know where to put it. But Caroline took matters into her own hands this week after our recent holiday and seeing it in action with friends and family. So now we have one. And we debuted it with a chicken roast tonight.
And… It was glorious.
My wife, who cooks well, but never does (her time is better spent creating dazzling luxury African holidays for our clients) might have found the answer to work/life balance. The chicken was moist (the no 2 best word in English after circumnavigation), tasty… and easy to do! In fact, she just dumped the broccoli in there with the chicken at minute 48 and it was fine! Easy, tasty, epic. Especially when you add in the Nando’s extra hot sauce.
Here's the catch.
Matie, my eldest, dissected the beast. We picked at this chicken until 85% of the tasty morsels were consumed. The wings, the legs, the breasts, and all the teeny tiny tasty treats in between.
All under the watchful and unwaveringly focused eye of Leia, the Labrador.
She knows. She knows we got 85% of the goodness. We gave it a good go, but there’s more. Oh, there’s so much more. And she’s been ready for it. Not just tonight, but for a lifetime. Maybe tonight is the night we don’t toss the carcass, but give her free reign to attack it and liberate that other 15% of goodness.
Only, we don’t do that. We toss it into the bin, and it breaks my heart.
Because we know that chicken bones are dog kryptonite. If we let her, there’s a better than even chance of adverse consequences. A chicken bone punctures the tummy, we all end up at the vet, trauma for the kids, ridiculous bills for me, and good odds of bye-bye puppy.
Isn’t that life? It’s really really hard to set boundaries. The other souls in your life have wants and needs, and it’s tough to push back. Especially when they’re giving you the eyes. That’s when you need to be strong, stay with first principles, and do the thing that will serve them in the long term, even if it kills you in the short term.
My key takeaway? Chickens are wise. We would do well to read those bones.
Have a good one folks!
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