Third Born

I’m a middle child. There are four of us in our family –three sisters and, finally, to our dad’s great relief, a son. I am second born.

There are numerous studies that indicate that birth order impacts each child uniquely. First-born children, for example, are ambitious and feel responsible for solving all of the problems in the family (maybe even the world?). Second-borns want to please everyone. Third-borns, well, they just fight for what they get, and mostly they get what’s left.

Our middle son has four kids, ages 10, 8, 7, and 5 – girl, boy, girl, girl. Because of the sheer number of kids, and because our son and daughter-in-law are determined that their children appreciate all that they have, there are lots of hand-me-downs. It’s just inevitable, especially with all those girls. This photo, by the way, is missing the youngest who was likely in the warming hut with Mom.

Recently the kids tried on their ski clothing and equipment to see what fit, what didn’t, and what needed to be bought. As it turns out, the littlest one hadn’t grown a bit (she’s a wee bit of a thing), but the others were all in need of at least some sort of new clothing and/or equipment. But, unfortunately for the third-born, her brother’s old clothes and equipment fit her perfectly. Her mom told me that little Miss Third-Born wept real tears when she learned that she was going to have to wear her brother’s old clothes and equipment on the slopes this winter. Boy’s clothes. With her brother and older sister sporting shiny new duds. Argh. The unfairness of being a third-born.

Of course, when Mom told Nana, I wanted to weep real tears as well. Instead, I headed to the sporting goods store to buy Dagny some bright pink ski mittens. A girl has to have some pride.

Now I know absolutely nothing about ski duds, not being a skier myself. I was studying my choices when a nice young man came over and asked if I needed help. I proceeded to begin to tell him the story of these four grandkids and their ski clothes and how my poor little 7-year-old was getting the short end of the stick because she was going to have to wear her brother’s clothes and yada, yada, yada. I suspect I went into a bit too much detail because, though I have heard the phrase used before, this time I literally saw this young man’s eyes glaze over. He couldn’t possibly have cared less that my granddaughter had to wear her brother’s clothes, except for the fact that it might mean he could sell me a new pair of ski mittens. It made me laugh at myself.

Dagny got her pink mittens, and some socks to boot.

Today’s fall dinner offering:

Coq Au Vin

Ingredients
4 slices of bacon
1 whole chicken, cut into pieces
Salt and pepper to taste
1 medium onion, diced
1 carrot, diced
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 T. butter
1 lb. mushrooms, sliced
2 c. red wine

Process
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Fry the bacon in a large skillet until crisp. Remove from the pan, crumble it, and let it drain.

Season the chicken with salt and pepper, then place the chicken pieces fat side down into the skillet and cook in the bacon grease until brown. Turn over and cook the other side. Remove from pan and set aside in a baking dish, skin side up.

Sauté the onion, carrots and garlic in the skillet with the bacon grease until onions are translucent and garlic is fragrant, about 3 minutes. Remove from pan and add to the baking dish with the chicken. Add 2 T. butter to the skillet and cook the mushrooms until golden. Add to the baking dish with the chicken and the onion/carrot/garlic mix.

Drain grease from the skillet, then place over medium heat. Pour in 2 c. of red wine, using a wire whisk to loosen all the goodies from the bottom of the pan. Salt the liquid and cook for three minutes to allow wine to decrease. Pour the wine over the chicken and vegetables in the baking pan. Cover and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes to 1 hour and 30 minutes.

Serve over buttered noodles or mashed potatoes.