On Red Meat
I brought my children to my parents’ house for a cookout. My dad, priding himself on his ability to overspend on meat, had purchased steaks from the grocery store. After seasoning and grilling the meat, the paper plates started to roll in from outside, piled with steak after steak after steak. I gathered one for my children to share and proceeded to cut it (for faster eating because they are ssslllooowww). My mom walks over, notices the slight pink of the meat in the middle and asks me if I would like to put the steak in the microwave to cook it longer. When I said “no, thanks,” she replied, “Ugh…no one can eat that! It’s not cooked!” She then fussed at my dad for not cooking the steaks “well enough” and marches back outside (to a now cold grill) and puts her steak back on. Fact-check: If you spend your time overcooking perfectly good meat, you will miss out on good food and good company.