Where's the Beef?

My family decided to make me dinner yesterday for Mother's Day, which is no small feat considering the fact that we have no kitchen at the moment.

Hubs was proud of the menu he had planned: Grilled steak, stuffed mushrooms, and a salad. Not bad. Not bad at all.

With grocery list in hand, he headed out the door with the kiddies to get the supplies.
Twenty five minutes later, my cell phone rang and I knew that it couldn't be good.

"Honey?" hubs questioned.

"Yes?" I answered wondering what culinary question it would be this time. Grocery trips from hubby usually yielded at least 2 phone calls. It was pretty normal.

"How much do you usually pay for 4 steaks?"

I mentally did some calculations and then gave him my answer. "Well, that would depend on which kind of steak I am buying, how many pounds total it is, etc.? Why?"

I could sense his frustration when he came back at me with, "Aaaan . . .nnie!" Then he sighed. "Can you just ballpark it for me?"

Trying to diffuse the situation I answered, "Well if I am going cheap, maybe 10-12 dollars and if I am going for a nicer cut of steak, maybe double that."

I only heard silence at the other end. Then, "Oh."

"Oh what, hub?"

"Oh . . . . then $89.oo is too much."

I almost choked on my chewing gum! "$89 dollars!!! Are you serious? What did you pick out?"

And then he patiently explained that he went to the butcher counter, picked out the best looking, beefiest steaks and then asked for 4 of them. Only after he put them in the cart did he realize that they were $20 a pound.

So, he returned them to the counter and chose a more moderate steak for dinner.

All in all, my Mother's Day steak dinner was great, and I even resisted the urge to comment, "Where's the Beef?" when I was given my steak.

I'm good like that.

Sometimes.