Praise and Effort, Inversely Proportioned

Jan and her kids were here for dinner tonight. I had to persuade them to stay by proposing the following menu:

*quesadillas with chicken shredded from the good 'ole roast from Sunday (which you won't hear about any more, I promise, unless I can't resist talking about the stock I made from the bones)
*cucumber sticks with ranch

It sounded OK in theory, but once it hit the kids' plates and then their stomachs, it quickly became clear that this is THE BEST dinner I've ever made for them. Interesting. I mean, I literally received lavish words of praise from the almost four year old Paul. I wish I had written down what he said, but it was something to the effect of "Jamie! This is the best dinner you've ever made for me!". Which is actually probably true, at least in his mind.

But I still felt a little silly, receiving such lavish praise for something that was so easy to do. It was so easy that I felt it needed a little more, so in addition to the above, for myself and Jan, I sauteed an onion and an orange pepper together and sprinkled them with a bit of taco seasoning. Then I opened a can of "Mexican Spice chili beans" and dumped some of them on rice. My quesadilla was extra delicious with the addition of Costco brand salsa.

Hmm. If I can receive this much praise for something so easy, should I stop trying on the other nights?!!