What We Made for Dinner: February 17, 2009

Teriyaki flank steak, stir-fried bok choy and mixed vegetables, roast sweet potato sticks with sesame and soy.

Well, that was fun, wasn't it? The Great Pneumonia Caper of 2009 seems to be over, or at least waning, thank God. So! Right back to the business of doing everything else besides cuddling a moaning, hot baby and freaking out.

Tonight we had my parents over for dinner, and we all collaborated on this Japanese-ish meal. My mom came up with the menu and shopped. My dad grilled the steaks, which came out perfect--maybe the trick to perfect flank steak is grilling it when it is 42 degrees outside. I did the veggies based on the kind of thing you get at a Japanese steakhouse. They were so good even Alex ate them!! Alex ate bok choy and bean sprouts! Alert the--okay, no one but me cares. But I was excited.

And little Eli, well on the mend this evening, demonstrated a new phrase he's learned to use at the table. Said with tremendous sweetness: I don't like it, Mommy.

What I Made for Dinner: February 15, 2009

Chicken and white bean chili, garlic bread.

This chili was awsome!!! I am writing down the recipe so I can look it up later, because I won't remember.

20 oz. of ground chicken; a sweet onion, a green pepper and a red pepper, all diced; a tablespoon of minced garlic; one fresh jalapeno, diced, seeds removed; a tablespoon each of of cumin and dried cilantro; salt and pepper; a 14 oz can of diced tomatoes; a can of cannellini beans; a Boulevard wheat beer. Brown the chicken in a tablespoon of olive oil; then cook the veggies until soft. Add everything else, cover and simmer for 2 hours. Ten minutes before serving, turn heat to high and boil to thicken.

Nothing funny or exciting to write about today. Eli is on hour 40 of scary-high fevers but no other symptoms, and no one is getting much sleep. Still gotta eat, though.

What I Almost Made for Dinner: February 14, 2009

Eight-hour pork roast, roasted brussels sprouts, mashed potatoes.

Valentine's Day is lame; I think we can all agree on that.

Unfortunately, Valentine's Day is also Chuck's birthday, every single year. So we always have to do something nice on the 14th of February. And by we, I mean me.

So I had planned to make a gorgeous dinner tonight. Pork tenderloin roasted for eight hours until it is fall-apart delectable. Mashed potatoes with a hint of buttermilk. A really lovely pinot noir.

The tenderloin went in the oven by 10 a.m., as planned. Then at 4:30 in the afternoon, I had to take Eli to the urgent care clinic. And at 6:00, after he had thrown up on me and scared the nurse with his fever, after he had turned bright red and blotchy, after he had cried for an hour nonstop, but before we had even a hint that there might be a doctor in our near future, Chuck had to finish dinner for Josh and Alex.

Imagine the selfish nerve of those two, demanding a timely meal on their father's birthday?!

Anyway, Chuck acquitted himself beautifully. The brussels sprouts were perfect, the mashed potatoes were better than I would have done. So foodwise, the evening actually came out very nicely. And that pinot was delicious.