Chapter 11

The freezer was filled to the brim with all sorts of meats. Each was labeled with a date and a description. I found a pack of pork chops and brought them upstairs.

“You can thaw them in the microwave,” Dad said when I returned.

I’d edited enough food videos to know this wasn’t the best idea. “Dad, doesn’t defrosting make the pork bad?”

He raised an eyebrow. “Not if done properly. Set it for two minutes. I know what I’m doing.”

“Right, right.”

Dad got to work on some sort of gravy while I took the thawed pork and added them to a frying pan. We worked in tandem, and before long we had a finished product ready for the oven. Dad pushed the pan of pork inside and I disinfected the surfaces.

“Smells good already,” I said.

“I got the mushrooms from Dale Thomas. He’s started up a business. Grows them on the trees along the edge of his property.”

“Are they safe?”

Dad gave me that look again. “You think I’d buy them if they weren’t?”