Chaos!

Admittedly, "chaos" could be the title for every post.  It is the one word that most accurately describes the lives of all the working parents I know.  (Actually, this could easily extend to many working non-parents I know as well.)  It seemed particularly appropriate tonight, however.  Maybe it's a Monday thing.

On the menu tonight were red wine risotto with garlic and rosemary and asparagus with lemon shallot vinaigrette.  They are both from The Complete Italian Vegetarian Cookbook by Jack Bishop.  Everything I've ever made from this book has been great.  But a lot of the recipes are very complex and time consuming.  Perfect for a Monday, right?  Oh, yeah, and it was my first attempt at risotto. 

I've heard that risotto can be tricky and you have to get everything just right.  This was not, then, a good recipe for my normal technique of haphazardly prepping the ingredients at the same time I'm cooking other ingredients.  At around 5:00, I started.  Swede was at Target, so it was just me and the girls.  I plopped Astrid into her Jumperoo, where she happily hung out.  This was a good sign since in the evenings I have about a 50-50 chance of being able to put her down without loud protests. 

5:05 - I grab the scissors and head outside to cut sprigs of rosemary and pick a lemon from our tree.  As I open the door I hear a loud crash followed by crying.  Setting the scissors down, I head to Annika's room.  She tearfully explained that she walked backward into her book case.  It made no sense, but I really wanted to make good use of the time Astrid was willingly seated in the Jumperoo.  So I examined her scrape (it was a decent one) and handed her an ice pack without further inquiry.

5:10 - I cut two sprigs of rosemary and picked my lemon.  Once inside, I chop the rosemary until I have two teaspoons.  Then I heated 6 cups of vegetable broth in a sauce pan.  While it was reaching a good simmer, I measured out the other ingredients - 3 tablespoons of butter, 2 cups arborio rice, 4 minced cloves of garlic, a half cup of red wine, and a half cup Parmesan cheese.

5:25 - The broth now simmering, I melted 2 tablespoons of butter in another large sauce pan. 

5:27 - I add the rosemary and garlic to the butter and start sauteing. 

5:29 - I add the rice to the butter and continue stirring.  Swede comes home from the store.  Astrid starts to fuss.  Swede realizes that nobody's checked the mail, so he goes back outside.

5:30 - I add the red wine, Swede returns with the mail.  Astrid is fussing and I am stirring.

5:32 - I begin adding the simmering broth a half cup at a time, stirring until it is absorbed into the rice.  Though I am supposed to stir constantly, I can't help but sift through the mail.  Astrid is expressing great displeasure at being trapped in her Jumperoo.

5:33 - I find a collection notice!  The hospital where I gave birth is excellent at providing medical care, but really really bad at billing.  In the eight months since I had Astrid, they still haven't billed my insurance properly - despite several phone calls.  The last time I spoke with them, they agreed to put my account on hold while they sorted out their incompetence.  Clearly that was a losing battle because now there is a debt collection agency involved. 

5:34 - Swede comes to rescue Astrid from her baby toy prison.  I tell him about the scrape on Annika's back. He goes off to investigate.

5:35 - I stir more broth into the rice.  I am also seething.  I want to call the billing department of the hospital, but I have about 20 more minutes of constant stirring in my immediate future.  The anger wins out and I decide to call them on speaker phone while I stir.

5:40 - I continue to stir while on hold.  I hear shouting down the hallway.  Swede tells me that Annika has lied about breaking a hanger.  She broke the hanger while trying to pull down a dress from her closet.  There is also a large exercise ball in her room.  Suddenly her scrape starts to make more sense. 

5:45 - Still on hold. Still stirring.  Annika wanders out.  The dress she had been trying to get down was her butterfly Halloween costume. She is now wearing it.  I confront her about how she really hurt herself.  She gives me some vague story about walking backward into the bookcase.  It is now abundantly clear she is lying and I tell her so.  She admits that she stood on the exercise ball to get a dress from her closet, fell off, broke the hanger, and hit her back on her bed frame.  Aha!  This is like the third lie in a week, so I lecture her and send her to her room (she also loses all forms of TV and iPod).  It is hard to be stern with a butterfly. 

5:47 - I have about a cup of simmering liquid left.  I continue to add it slowly while stirring the rice.  I am still on hold.

5:48 - Eureka!  A live person answers the phone.  I pick up the phone, pinching it between my shoulder and ear and continuing to stir and pour. 

5:51 - The representative sympathizes with me, but can't help me.  I have to call back to a different number in the morning.  Yeah, right, by tomorrow there will be a strongly worded letter heading their way.  Fortunately, I am more competent than the hospital billing department and have managed to not ruin the rice during the conversation.  And they say there's no such thing as multi-tasking!

5:55 - I remove the rice from heat and "vigorously" stir in the last tablespoon of butter and the Parmesan cheese.  I set it aside. 

5:55 to 6:05 - I blanch the asparagus in salted water and whisk together the vinaigrette (juice and zest of one lemon, one minced shallot, a quarter cup of olive oil, and a pinch of coarse sea salt).

6:06 - I toss the asparagus in the vinaigrette and make Annika set the table. 

Annika gladly set the table because she knows it means she gets to assign the seats.  She made a very dramatic presentation of "eeny meeny miney moe" and selected me to sit next to her.   According to Annika, it was because she loves me.  As I serve the food and Swede puts Astrid in her high chair.  Annika cannot not resist sampling the asparagus. 

Annika:  "You can not eat until everybody is at the table!  Unless you just want to try a little bite.  It's okay to try a little bite.  Mmmm . . . these beans are good."

Me:  "That's asparagus."

Annika: "Yeah, okay, but the beans are good!  And lemony."

Me:  "The green stuff is asparagus, Annika"

Annika:  "Whatever, they're good."

When we were all seated, Annika announced "this dinner wasn't bad after all!"  Well, thanks, I guess.  I thought it was much better than "not bad."  The risotto consistency was pretty darn close to perfect, not too mushy, but sufficiently creamy. (According to Swede, his grandfather made risotto all the time and it looked nothing like mine.  I'm glad I have my husband and daughter to keep me humble.) The red wine and rosemary gave the risotto a nice savory flavor that was not overpowering.  Good thing I like it, because there is plenty left over.  Annika might have incorrectly called the asparagus "beans," but she got the "lemony" part right.  The shallot and lemon were a great match for the pungent asparagus, which was nice and tender. 

All and all it was a tasty dinner; pleasant, even.  Well, up until the point our geriatric dog got stuck under the table and had to be lifted up and carried away from the table.  Yep, we're just like the Cleavers.