We had a moment the other night, a unique event in the long history of the Tucker-Eikenberry alliance.

We had kale for dinner – just kale. That was dinner. It was an odd night, which could be said about a lot of nights these days. Our social engagement was a 5:00 to 7:00 kind of thing and we found ourselves back at the apartment around 7:30, our night done, with neither of us a thought in our head as to what to do next.

We didn’t want to go out again – although I heroically offered run up to the Peace Food Café on Amsterdam, Jill’s home away from home, for some take-out. “No,” she said. I’ll make some kale from Alison’s recipe.”

“You’ll make?” I thought. This whole thing of Jill’s cooking is very new. There’s lots of territorial shit going down right now in the kitchen.

I took control: “All you need is an inch or two of water under the steamer.”

“Don’t chop the walnuts too much. Various sizes are nice.”

“Get your brown sugar out and ready. You don’t want to be looking for it at the last moment.”

“Garlic burns very easily.”

Well. The Italians would say, “Allora.” She did great. One plate, two forks — kale with garlic, walnuts, salt and sugar for dinner.

Kale, by the way, is closer to steak than it is to spinach.

Michael Tucker is an actor and author whose third book is the recently published Family Meals: Coming Together to Care for an Aging Parent.  You can read more about his food adventures on his blog Notes from a Culinary Wasteland.

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