I have 7 new members of my family to introduce. No name #1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7.

A few days ago, we went to the pet store to buy fish. Yay. Yippee.

There was never really any choice in the matter. When our pet rat died I would have promised Shelbi the world to get her to stop crying and smile. It took some time, but she moved on, and at 9:34 am Sunday morning, she decided that she must have new fish NOW. Meaning, she wanted us to immediately run to the store and get her fish before A.) they ran out or B.) the Apocalypse comes.

“Fine,” I say, “We’ll go.”

But, nothing is ever that simple. Upon hearing the news, Bella started crying, whining and moping around the house because ‘she never gets anything. Shelbi always gets everything.’ Which is really code for, “Damn it, I want a fish too!”  Which means Soledad must have a fish, because we can’t just get the older girls one and leave her out in the cold; we aren’t that horrible of parents.  So I decide since we are already buying 3 fish, I’ll throw in a few more just in case I get pregnant on the way to the store, I won’t have to go back.

We hop in the car, and eagerly drive to the store to pick out our new family members. Fish, that’s a rather easy pet. How hard can it be?

I’LL TELL YOU HOW HARD IT CAN BE!!!! Do you realize that pet store fish are not of the same quality as the fish we used to buy. They must have water conditioner, special food, air pumps, lights on tanks, nets, decorations for their houses. Not only that, but brace yourself, they are supposed to swim in drinking water. Seriously?  My goldfish, Pinky, had a small round bowl, some flakes and tap water. I didn’t even have a net, I just reached in and grabbed her when I needed to take her out,  and she did just fine (. . . . . for about 2 weeks).

I spent much more money than I ever anticipated, and a lot more effort than any sane mom would have agreed too. But all’s well that ends well. My kiddos are happy, excited and googley eyed about their new fish.

Oh, and now I have a birth announcement.  No name #5 just had 3 babies. That skanky ho.

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In celebration of the  arrival of The “No Names 1-7” and our 3 new mouths to feed, we’ll be serving a light and flaky Lemon-Basil Cod Cake.  Try it out; you’ll like it, even if you think you don’t like fish.

Lemon-Basil Cod Cakes

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pounds of fresh cod fillets
Olive oil
2 eggs
1/4 cup of finely chopped onion
2 TB mayonnaise
2 TB lemon juice
2 TB Dijon mustard
1/2 cup bread crumbs
3 TB fresh basil
Salt and pepper

Directions:

1.  Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
2.  Place fish into a shallow baking dish. Drizzle with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook in oven for 15-20 minutes or until it is cooked thoroughly and easily flakes with a fork.
3.  In a medium sized bowl, combine the remaining ingredients and mix well.
4.  Form the mixture into large meatball size balls.
5.  In a skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of oil over a medium heat. Place the ball into the skillet, and gentle pat it flat with the back of a spatula. Cook each cake about 2 minutes on each side and until golden brown.