Our family dinners are feasts.  My journey to visit my relatives in California is a once in a three or four year cycle.  That translates into a lot of food when we get a chance to get together.

We had so much food for dinner the other night that my brother and niece were inviting friends and neighbors to join us.  There was a long banquet table set up on the drive way.  It would be an outdoor festival.

My wife and sister were cooking inside.  My brother and brother-in-law were commanding the grill outside.  We had Cornish game hens, beef ribs, steak, trout, asparagus, green salad, corn, avacado, breads, artichoke, potatoes, and all of the extras to decorate anyone’s combination of Fong cuisine.

Timing is critical in such sumptuous meals.  Some of us who were not the chefs ferried the food to table.  I had made several trips. 

One trip is now an unforgettable memory.  I was carrying out the Cornish game hens.  They were baked to perfection and aromatic.

My Dad’s new Australian Shepherd puppy of four months is in his frisky year.  The smell was too temptying.  He leaped up into the air and grabbed the hot pad that I was using to carry the birds.

The entire dish flipped into the air and all of the birds landed in the dirt.  We about had an exchange of the birds for roasted dog.  Boy, was that canine Persona Non Grata!

All of the busyness of the family froze in time.  The only movement was that silly puppy licking up the sauce of his puppyish disaster.  He was promptly banished to his kennel for the balance of the evening.

Now, we Fongs have a reason for cooking three times more food than anyone really eats.  It’s a buffer in case a goofy dog launches into his dinner-destroying acrobatics again.  That’s the upside of a downer of a forgettable moment.

We’ll all cool off soon.  Who can stay angry at the big brown eyes of a puppy?  When you’re still stewing about a disaster and the puppy runs up to you with his tail wagging, tongue lapping, and sparkling eyes hoping, how can you do anything but forgive?

There’s always more food to pass around the table.  But, the life of a puppy and its unconditional loyalty has no parallel.  Good, dog, have some chicken!

photo credit: Bruce Fong Photography