For the backstory on this series of posts see here.

Remember something momentous that happened to you. Then write about what happened right before the incident.

My culinary skills back then were definitely not up to Chef Ramsay’s standards.  They still aren’t, but significantly better.  I could probably give the local chef at the Golden Corral a run for his money.  Anyway, that night my wife had to work late so I decided to fix dinner.  It was going to be one of my go to meals from my single days, Pizza Quicks.  Basically they were little pizzas on bread instead of pizza dough.  To do them right you really needed to use Texas Toast, but in California that was hard to come by, so I used hamburger buns instead.

My 7 year old step daughter loved Pizza Quicks and I enlisted her help in preparation.  I gave her the job of laying out the hamburger buns on a baking pan covered in tin foil.  While she was working on that I grated some mozzarella cheese.  Then I got the other toppings together; sliced pepperoni, mushrooms, and black olives.  I spooned out the sauce from the Pizza Quick jar onto each bun and spread it evenly, making sure not to make it too light or too thick.  I sprinkled the cheese on top of the sauce and then let my step daughter place the toppings.  Pepperoni first, followed by mushrooms, then black olives, and finally a little more cheese on the top.  We set the oven to bake and slid the pan inside.  We both crouched down and watched through the little window as the buns began to brown and the cheese started to melt.  For the last minute we switched the oven to broil to make sure the toppings and extra cheese would get thoroughly cooked.  Then we took them out and dished out a few onto three separate plates, which we placed on the table that my step daughtered had dutifully set.

Not the most gourmet meal you’d ever see, but we had a good time preparing it, and I was looking forward to sitting around the table as a family while we ate and discussed our day.  I looked at my watch and noticed that my wife was running a little later than she had planned.  I let my step daughter go play in her room and told her I would call her when we were ready.  A little while later I heard the front door open as my wife came in.  She looked at the table set for our evening meal.

“Thanks for making dinner,” she said.  “I’m having an affair….”

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