The Joys of Taco Night

I don't know if any of you used to have tacos for dinner growing up, but in my house, taco night was a big hit.

My mother used to buy taco shells, seasoning and I think salsa from the grocery store. Might have been Ortega. Then she'd mix seasoning in with ground beef, and put out little dishes of toppings like lettuce, shredded cheese, tomatoes and cucumbers. It was a quick, easy, fun and yummy meal.

I had completely forgotten about these kind of taco dinners since leaving home. Whatever tacos I had in a restaurant tended to be the soft variety which bore no relation to these store-bought shells.

On a recent trip to Trader Joe's however, I happened to see their taco shells and seasoning and decided to go for it. Steve had never had these do-it-yourself delights, so I took it upon myself to share with him.

I cooked up some ground turkey with the seasoning mix and tomato sauce, boiled some corn-on-the bob, chopped up whatever veggies we happened to have on hand, and we were ready to let the taco fun begin!

As I started showing Steve how to put his meal together, I was immediately reminded of a few of the reasons that tacos can be such fun:

1. Those crunchy corn shells are unpredictable, and in my excitement at the prospect of putting meat into it, I squeezed the shell too tightly, and it splintered into several pieces. This prompted Steve to ask how he was supposed to eat his taco, and I remembered that this is a big part of the game: counting how many bites you can manage to take before the whole thing falls apart, forcing you to eat your "taco" with a fork, or your fingers.

2. It is only a matter of time before one inopportune bite jabs a sharp piece of shell into your gums or the roof of your mouth, drawing blood.

3. Taco escalation: The first taco is always put together carefully and prudently, with just enough toppings to fill the shell without overdoing it. The success of this first taco, and the chance fact that you may have been able to eat it without it making a gigantic mess, creates an inflated sense of taco mastery. The second taco, therefore, is just a little too big for its britches, stuffed just a little too full, and you can maybe get through a third of it before it winds up in a heap. The third taco, however, is always a behemoth, stuffed so full that one bite send the whole lot into your lap.

All of this combined with the fact that these tacos taste delicious make them a truly delightful dinner. I don't know why do-it-yourself eats are so enjoyable, but they just are: tacos, fondue, s'mores, pizza, are just a few that immediately spring to mind.

What are your favorite hands-on meals?