Daddy! Come Home for Dinner!

Chapter 719: Chapter 719: Stronger Than Your Dad!

Having said that, he pulled up a chair to sit down and watched Cindy intently.

Although they had been living together for a while and were even married.

However, when cooking, being stared at non-stop by Adrian Zhekova like this, Cindy still felt uncomfortable, and even her hand movements were not as smooth as before.

“You better go out now!” Cindy said helplessly to Adrian Zhekova, “I’m more comfortable in the kitchen by myself. If you keep staring at me, I’ll be uneasy, and I don’t know when dinner will be ready.”

Besides, being stared at by Adrian Zhekova made her uneasy, and if the cuisine went wrong, it would make her look clumsy.

It would make her seem so unprofessional.

But Adrian Zhekova felt that since everyone was playing in the living room, it was not right to leave Cindy alone here to prepare New Year’s Eve Dinner.

It made her look lonely, as if she was here just to cook.

His heart ached.

At this moment, seeing Cindy take out the King Crab, which could still move its long legs, Adrian Zhekova immediately said, “I can clean the crab shells.”

There may be some parasites on the King Crab’s shell.

It’s not poisonous, but it’s better to clean it up.

“Aunt Evans has already cleaned it up,” Cindy said.

“Then, what should I cut?” Adrian Zhekova asked again.

Cindy saw that Adrian Zhekova was not willing to leave no matter what she said.

She thought about her menu for tonight and said, “How about you cut apples?”

For the Apple Honey Roasted Chicken, Adrian Zhekova could actually help out.

It’s a family meal anyway, so there isn’t such a high requirement for knife skills.

It doesn’t matter if the apples are cut into different sizes.

Finally receiving instructions, Adrian Zhekova quickly took the apples and started preparing them on the side.

Cindy began marinating the beef first.

She cut the beef into strips, added soy sauce, rice wine, butter, salt, sugar, starch, and a little water.

She stirred the mixture while adding some peanut oil.

After mixing all these ingredients evenly, she set the beef aside to marinate.

Looking back, Cindy saw that Adrian Zhekova was working enthusiastically.

She then gave him some onions and celery, and said, “Later, chop these up too. Cut the onions into chunks and the celery into sections.”

“You see, I can be quite helpful!” Adrian Zhekova said proudly.

“Yes, yes, yes.” Cindy laughed.

Then, she steamed the King Crab in a pot.

Next, she took out the chicken that was marinated and placed in the refrigerator earlier, stuffing the apple pieces sliced by Adrian Zhekova into the chicken’s belly.

Adrian Zhekova saw this and said, “Is this similar to the dish you made during the competition?”

Cindy nodded, “It was from the mock deserted island competition; however, the ingredients were limited at that time. Now, I can make a complete version.”

Morgan Zhekova had been clamoring to eat it since watching that competition.

However, the little one had too many things he wanted to eat.

Cindy had written them all down in her notebook, making them in order for him.

It was finally the apple roast chicken’s turn.

She then melted some butter with honey in a double boiler.

Mixing broccoli, potato chunks, corn, cherry tomatoes together, she added salt, sugar, cumin powder, chili powder, and olive oil to the mixture and set it aside.

She brushed the melted honey butter on the chicken regularly to give it color and keep it from getting dry while roasting.

By this time, the marinated beef was ready.

She took the onion chunks and celery sections sliced by Adrian Zhekova, added enoki mushrooms, and spread them out on tin foil, placing the marinated beef on top and covering it with another layer of foil, sealing the edges.

Since this dish was easy to make, Cindy didn’t hurry to cook it.

Otherwise, it would have gotten cold after being cooked.

Then, while the roast chicken was cooking, it was time to prepare the braised pork dish.

First, the fatty skin on top was grilled in a hot pot, then the surface was cleaned.

It was cut into squares and each piece was tied with a string into a cross shape.

These pieces were placed into the pot, along with scallions, ginger, and cooking wine, and were quickly boiled to remove any unpleasant taste.

Afterwards, the water was drained, and the bottom of the pot was lined with scallions and ginger slices. The pork was placed skin-side down on top, and rock sugar, soy sauce, dark soy sauce, chili, cinnamon, and star anise were added, followed by rice wine and beer. The dish was simmered over low heat.

Cindy carefully calculated the timing of everything.

Longer cooking dishes were prepared first, followed by shorter ones.

That way, several dishes were being cooked at once.

Although cooking multiple dishes took time.

But with Cindy’s precise calculations and careful planning, the preparations went quickly.

As a professional, her cooking was faster and more efficient than Aunt Evans’.

Finally, when the braised pork was almost done,

Cindy put the tinfoil beef into the pot, which had been set aside earlier, and braised it directly, without adding water, for 10 minutes.

“Alright, let’s serve the dishes,” Cindy said to Adrian Zhekova.

Thus, the two of them carried the dishes out one by one.

Some dishes, like Poon Choi and Buddha Jumps over the Wall, were prepared in large pots and placed on induction cookers, allowing people to enjoy them while they continued cooking.

Maverick Zhekova also went to the wine cellar and brought out many bottles of wine.

The Old Master turned on the television.

Although they couldn’t watch it during dinner, they could still listen to the voices.

At that time, the news broadcast was still going on, and the TV was airing news reports.

“In the past, we’d hire a team of chefs to prepare our meals. They’d serve the dishes one by one, and we would eat them as they came out. It was convenient, but since they were not part of the family, we had to be careful about our conversations and couldn’t be as carefree as we wished,” the Old Madam said.

“This is the first time it’s just us family members having a New Year’s Eve Dinner,” the Old Madam added.

Having a team of chefs in the house meant more people, and it felt lively with everyone bustling around.

This year, without those people, the restaurant suddenly felt emptier.

But the atmosphere was just as warm and cozy as ever.

With only family members present, as long as everyone was there, there was no sense of loneliness or withering.

On the contrary, things felt even more welcoming and comfortable.

“Come on now.” The Old Master raised his glass, “This year, our New Year’s gathering is the most complete. In the future, we can add even more people to our celebration!”

Adrian Zhekova had been talking about having a little sister for Morgan Zhekova.

Normally, elder family members would nag about such things.

Adrian Zhekova was exceptional, as he didn’t need any reminders from the elders and was incredibly proactive.

That’s why the Old Master stopped mentioning it.

He was afraid that talking about it too much would put pressure on Cindy.

“When Morgan grows up and brings his girlfriend home, our dinner table will be even busier,” the Old Madam laughed cheerfully.

It was unclear if she and the Old Master would be able to witness that day.

However, Morgan suddenly said, “Great Grandmother, don’t worry. I will start dating early, get married early, and definitely bring my wife home for all of you to see.”

“Well done!” The Old Madam immediately gave Morgan a thumbs-up.

She was proud of her great-grandson’s sense of responsibility!

“Much better than your father!” The Old Madam praised.

Adrian Zhekova was about to defend himself: “Grandmother, I had a child at 24, that’s pretty fast.”

Old Madam: “….”

“At 24 you had a child, but did you bring Cindy and Morgan home then?” The Old Madam shot him a glance, “Didn’t you only bring them back after so many years?”