February 20, 2021

WEEKLY MENU 02.21.21

Dragons, real or imagined? Oh my. We’re not eating any of those during the Weekly Menu 02.21.21, of course, but they do feature prominently.

The Weekly Menu 02.21.21 picture is a (very) stylized dragon. I didn’t realize that until I had downloaded it, turned it on it’s side and made it part of the menu. I just picked it because it was beautiful and very colorful. This is how it is supposed to be viewed:

Dragon from Weekly Menu 02.21.21 — Photo by Alexander Ant on Unsplash

Do you see the dragon? I think the snout looks a little more like a horse head to me, but it would be a very pretty dragon. Game of Thrones (Affiliate links follow – see disclaimer page for Details.) brought dragons back into the public consciousness again, but do you ever wonder how they got there in the first place? Dragons have been around in myth for a very long time.

Are they really imaginary?

The earliest attested reports of draconic creatures resemble giant snakes. Draconic creatures are first described in the mythologies of the ancient Near East and appear in ancient Mesopotamian art and literature. Stories about storm-gods slaying giant serpents occur throughout nearly all Indo-European and Near Eastern mythologies. Famous prototypical draconic creatures include the mušḫuššu of ancient Mesopotamia; Apep in Egyptian mythology; Vṛtra in the Rigveda; the Leviathan in the Hebrew Bible; Grand’Goule in the Poitou region in France, Python, Ladon, Wyvern, and the Lernaean Hydra in Greek mythology; Jörmungandr, Níðhöggr, and Fafnir in Norse mythology; and the dragon from Beowulf.
The popular western image of a dragon is based on a conflation of earlier dragons from different traditions, and of inaccurate scribal drawings of snakes. In western cultures, dragons are portrayed as monsters to be tamed or overcome, usually by saints or culture heroes, as in the popular legend of Saint George and the Dragon. They are often said to have ravenous appetites and to live in caves, where they hoard treasure.
Wikipedia

Sure, dragons might be based on dinosaurs.

Maybe. But what if the reason they keep showing up is because they’re real? And perhaps more importantly, if you were serving them, would they be meat or fish?

We have both meat and fish on the Weekly Menu 02.21.21.

We’re picking up some of it, and making fast meals of others. Good friends of ours sent us a gorgeous Virginia ham for Christmas, so we’re pressing that into service Sunday night. It’s a salty, savory bite that is best served thinly sliced with rolls. We’re all licking our chops over it.

Switching up meatloaf into Meatloaf Meatballs makes everyone happy – who doesn’t love a meatball? Plus they make fabulous leftovers. (Spear with a fork and you’re good to go.) If you’ve never made them, be sure to check out the recipe. Of course, we’ll bake them in the oven at the same time as the potatoes that we’ll mash with a bit of buttermilk and salt. We scoop them out of the skins, which become a favorite side too – a smidge of butter inside a still warm potato skin makes a nice switch up from bread.

Sammies on Thursday are simple and filling. That’ll be a tv dinner for sure! The Long John Silver’s Fish? It’s a Lenten staple: once a year we indulge in crispy fish, hush puppies and fries. We’ll try for a healthy meatless meal on Friday next week.