By I told Sarah. We were at dinner Thursday and there was a quiet moment and she started to fill it and I said, "Can I say something?" She said yes. I said what Gary had told me to say, more or less: sometimes I need the quiet to process. It's not about you. It's how I work. I'm not going away. I'm just somewhere inside for a minute and then I come back.
She looked at me for a while. Then she said, "I know. I know that about you. I just get worried when you go quiet that I've said something wrong." I said, "You haven't. You haven't said anything wrong." She said, "I know that in my head. My nervous system doesn't know that yet." I said, "I can tell you when it happens. I can give you a signal." She said, "What would the signal be?" I said, "I'll put my hand flat on the table. It means I'm still here, just processing." She said, "Okay." And we had the quietest dinner we've ever had and three times I put my hand flat on the table and each time she nodded slightly and left the quiet alone and it was better. Not fixed. Better.
I drove home and told Gary the whole thing. He said, "You did that right." I don't know if I did it right. But I did it.
Halloween tomorrow. I don't observe it beyond acknowledging the date, which is just a marker: October is over, November is here, the year is winding down. I made a pot of cowboy beans tonight with a ham hock and dried chiles and let them go all day on the stove. The house smelled good. I ate two bowls and felt something in the neighborhood of okay.
The signal — hand flat on the table, still here — was its own kind of quiet meal: simple, unambiguous, enough. I wanted to cook something that worked the same way on Halloween night, no ceremony required, just everything thrown together and left alone to do what it does. A cream can dinner is that. You layer it, you seal it, you trust the heat, and it comes out right without you hovering over it — which, as it turns out, is something I’m still learning to let happen in other parts of my life too.
Cream Can Dinner
Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 45 min | Total Time: 1 hr 5 min | Servings: 8
Ingredients
- 3 lbs small red potatoes, halved
- 1 medium onion, cut into wedges
- 4 ears fresh corn, husked and cut into thirds
- 2 lbs smoked sausage, cut into 2-inch pieces
- 1 small head cabbage, cut into 8 wedges
- 1 can (12 oz) beer or 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
- 2 tablespoons Old Bay seasoning
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces
Instructions
- Layer the pot. In a large heavy stockpot or cream can, layer the ingredients in order: potatoes on the bottom, then onion wedges, then corn, then sausage, then cabbage on top.
- Season and add liquid. Mix together Old Bay, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper. Sprinkle the seasoning blend evenly over all the layers. Pour beer or broth down the side of the pot so it settles at the bottom without washing away the seasoning. Dot the top with butter pieces.
- Seal and cook. Cover the pot tightly with a lid or foil. Cook over medium-high heat for 10 minutes, then reduce to medium-low and cook for an additional 35 minutes, until potatoes are fork-tender and sausage is heated through. Do not lift the lid during cooking.
- Check for doneness. Carefully remove the lid away from you to avoid steam. Pierce a potato with a fork — it should give easily. If not, re-cover and cook another 5–10 minutes.
- Serve. Scoop directly from the pot into wide bowls, making sure each serving gets a bit of everything. Serve with crusty bread if desired.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 520 | Protein: 22g | Fat: 28g | Carbs: 45g | Fiber: 5g | Sodium: 1120mg