The Frog in the Freezer

I remember as a teen my stepfather had a swimming pool put in. They dug it out, and that same day I found a frog sitting happily in a tiny puddle of water at the bottom of it. I didn't even know there were frogs in the area. Frogs seem to just show up where they will.

Tonight, for Thanksgiving, we're having pastilla. What, you're having turkey? You've never heard of pastilla for Thanksgiving? You've never even heard of pastilla? (Pronounced pass-TEA-yuh.) It's a Moroccan dish with chicken, eggs, onion, cilantro and other spices, baked in a pie with a phyllo dough crust and covered with cinnamon and powdered sugar. It's an involved process to make, and leaves the kitchen a mess, but the results are wonderful, and we're not that fond of turkey, so one year our daughter requested pastilla instead of turkey for Thanksgiving, and we've been doing it ever since.

Yesterday my wife went to the store for the fixings, and came home with not just pastilla ingredients but a frozen turkey as well. It was so cheap she couldn't pass it up. As a result, she had to clean the freezer to make room for the big bird. Stashed away in the back, behind the ice cube trays, she found a plastic bag. Inside the bag was a paper towel wrapped in rubber bands. Inside the paper towel was a matchbox. Curiouser and curiouser.

Not being one to pass up a good mystery, my wife opened the bag, and opened the matchbox. And found a frog. A well-preserved frog. For some reason, she questioned me as to its origins, but I professed ignorence (which is quite true). So she in turn questioned our daughter, and the truth did out.

It seems that about seven years ago our daughter got a science kit from her uncle that had everything you need to raise frogs from eggs. She sent away for the eggs, put them in the tank, and sure enough they hatched into tadpoles, and eventually into frogs. Most of the frogs, after they'd lived their lives, were buried in the backyard next to a few former pets that had also returned to their Maker. But the last frog she couldn't bear to part with, and squirreled the frog away in an obscure corner of the freezer!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! (And a plentiful harvest to those of you across the seas.)


Blog Tag: Chatter