Crockpot risotto: Not really risotto, but not bad

When we had Jennifer over for dinner and a sleepover about a week ago, I was a little unsure about how we were going to work the dinner part. I leave for work around 7 a.m. and get home around 5:15 p.m. That gives me about 15 to 30 minutes to throw together something for the kids to eat when they get home. As most working parents know, we have a short window of time before the kids start losing their shit from low blood sugar, so I've gotten pretty good at quick meals. But there was no way I was going to serve spaghetti or chicken nuggets to a favorite friend who we haven't seen in ages and who was leaving in a week for a year in Africa.

So, I pulled out the crockpots in the morning and attempted a roast chicken in one and risotto in the other. By the way, does anyone have a recipe for a whole chicken in a crock pot? Mine always turn out pretty awful; bland and dry, and something Liam, my adventurous eater, always refuses to even try. (I secretly admire him for his high standards.)

But the risotto turned out surprisingly nice. Not risotto, exactly, since Todd had to start it when he came home from lunch, making the level too low and the cook-time two hours longer than recommended. Instead of creamy and smooth, it had a heavy, gluey mashed potato consistency that was still not altogether unpleasant. I wonder if using brown rice instead and mixing some chicken broth in at the end might have helped that.

At any rate, it was done when I got home from picking Jenn up at the train station, so I really can't complain too much. I found the recipe from A Year in Crockpotting, which has a plethora of interesting recipes.

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cup uncooked Arborio rice
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup white wine
3 3/4 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1 t salt
1/4 t black pepper

2/3 cup shredded parmesan cheese (to add at the very end)


Directions:
Toss the uncooked Arborio rice with the olive oil in your crockpot.
Add the seasonings.
Pour in the broth and white wine.
Stir to mix flavors.
Cover and cook on high for 2 hours, or until the rice is tender. (Instead, we cooked it on low for 5 hours.)

Stir in the shredded cheese and leave uncovered for about 15 minutes to let a bit of the moisture escape.

Nylonthread and I get pedis

Happy happy hour with Jennifer

Sleepless and getting older

Image from Ordinary Things.

I got maybe four hours of sleep last night. I think the bad storms yesterday gave Liam nightmares. I could tell they scared him, anyway, by the way he hid under the table after thunder. Around midnight, he woke up crying for me and when I tried to get him settled, he wailed "Lay down wif meeeeee!"

Liam is such a love-bug. When I lie down next to him, he pulls my arms around him and cuddles up next to me. As frustrating as the lack of sleep is, I try to remember that it won't last forever. Someday I'll be the embarrassing mom trying to kiss him good-bye in front of his friends, and the happy cuddling will be gone forever. I'll miss it.

Breakfast at the Swedish Institute of Design

(By which I mean Ikea.)

The daily commute could be worse

Today I'm telecommuting after being pope-blocked last night and unable to get home.

It actually turned out great. After sitting in traffic that wasn't moving at all, I managed to turn around and head back to the office. We have access to the roof and grocery and liquor stores under the building, so (with a blessing from my wonderful, wonderful husband) I called a friend, got a couple bottles of wine, rounded up some favorite coworkers, and headed to the roof for a bird's eye view of the city. When it got too cold, we went in, made microwave pizzas, and watched Six-String Samurai on the projection screen.

Still, I was a little bitter about last night's commute. Until I saw this in a friend's shared Google Reader feed:



Via Geekologie.

Kelly O: Hunter of aliens, maker of cupcakes

On Friday, my coworkers and I were treated to an afternoon at Dave & Busters to thank us for our hard work. I have to admit, I was a little dubious when it was proposed. But it was insanely fun.

The Aliens Extermination game was my favorite, and we got to the 8th place on the board. Here's when one of my favorite coworkers and I took on a gang of terrorists:



Later she and another favorite coworker hunted big game. Incredibly boring big game.



Saturday I took Liam to get some new fish after Grandma took the kids on a shopping spree (very kind of her). One fish we dubbed "Lucky," because she'll be lucky if she lasts a week. After the kids were asleep, my friend Don and I had drinks at Franklin's, the one bar in the area that caters to locals instead of college kids.

On Sunday the family went to church for the second time ever. The service was a history lesson on emancipation and the abolitionist movement in DC, and the choir sang spirituals. Afterwards, we took the kids to Ben's Chili Bowl, another integral part of DC history. Both kids loved it and can't wait to go back. Then we raced home to make cupcakes and Guinness cake in time for a friend's birthday party that afternoon. It was held at the airplane museum, a brilliant idea that I plan to steal.

All in all, a busy but fabulous weekend!

It was a beautiful, warm night

Said cupcakes: Ginger-carrot with white frosting

The cupcakes last night turned out pretty well. Todd liked them, anyway, though the kids thwarted my attempt to get them to eat carrots by just licking off the frosting. Here's the recipe:

Ginger-carrot cupcakes (Makes 12 cupcakes)

6 carrots (about 7 1/2 ounces), peeled
2 large eggs, room temperature
1/4 cup buttermilk, room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons ginger
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Using the smallest holes (less than 1/4-inch in diameter) of a box grater, grate carrots to yield 1 3/4 cups. Place grated carrots, eggs, buttermilk, vanilla, sugar, vegetable oil, and ginger in a large bowl; whisk until well combined.

3. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Using a rubber spatula, fold the dry ingredients into the carrot mixture until just combined. [I have to admit, I almost never follow this step but instead just dump dry ingredients on top of the wet, whisk them lightly with a fork, and then combine. One less bowl to wash.]

4. Fill each cupcake to the top of the paper liner. Bake until a cake tester comes out clean, rotating the pan halfway through, 20 to 25 minutes.

5. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then remove to cooling rack to cool completely. Spread about 1/4 cup frosting on each cupcake and serve. Store in an airtight container up to two days.

I've done my civic duty, and now I need a shower

So, if you've been following my tweets, you know I had jury duty, and you probably can guess that it made me miserable. I loathe jury duty, and not because of the inconvenience with traffic or having to make up work, or the boredom of sitting in a room with people who are also bored and looking to make small talk.

Mostly, I actively despise having to judge someone else. If you've been a mother for more than five minutes, you've probably been on the receiving end of a lot of unwarranted judging. Whether you nurse, bottle-feed, co-sleep, cry-it-out, work, stay at home, attachment parent or strive more to impart "rules, boundaries, and limitations," you're always doing it wrong and someone's got something to say about it. I hate that. We all have to make our own way through life, through conscious and unconscious choices. We make mistakes along the way, but most of us are doing the best we can in the way that makes the most sense for us as individuals.

I fully understand and embrace the idea that, when someone breaks the law, there have to be consequences. I think a lot that's wrong with the world has to do with people's overreaching sense of entitlement. But, man, when that person is a kid, some dumb teenager doing some dumb teenager thing, I can't turn off the mom in my brain that wants to give that kid some love and structure. And cupcakes, because that is what I feed my sadness.

So tonight I'm making the kids' favorite dinner (meatloaf and homemade macaroni and cheese), with ginger-carrot cupcakes for dessert, and then getting really, really drunk. Because I also feed my sadness hooch.

Cheap but lovely

On Friday Liam was sick with the same cold or flu that took down his dad a week before. The only hesitation I had with keeping him home is that he never, NEVER, naps outside of daycare or the car, so I planned to take him for an extended ride in the middle of the day.

All this is to say, to anyone from my job who stumbles upon this entry, I had a valid reason for enlisting a friend to drive with me to Trader Joe's for a wine shopping spree.

One of my favorite everyday wines, cheap enough for daily consumption, was the Il Valore Orvieto Classico. Sadly, it isn't sold at Trader Joe's any more. They thought there might be some issue with its import or something. I was momentarily panicked, but then decided to buy a mixed case (or two; I got a little carried away) and see if I could find another gem.

The first bottle from my cheap-wine experiment is the Gaetano D'Aquino Pinot Grigio, which sells for $3.99. Dry, kind of herbal or grassy, and grapefruit-y, it's pretty freaking great for the price. I need to remember (hence this post) to get a case of it when I run out wine again.

April started off beautifully

We had a respite from the rain and cold a few days ago. (It was back to sleeting today, though.) After dinner we played in the yard until bedtime. As much as I hate the heat, I can't wait for summer so we can spend more time in our lovely yard.

Hank and Tina were especially glad to have the family outside to throw the ball for them.



Liam's got a pretty good arm.



And Thea has great aim.



Our Japanese magnolia tree is in bloom.



But it's already dropping its petals.

I love the internets

I made you a muxtape. If you make one, too, please let me know!

I miss mix-tapes. No one makes them much anymore. Come on, hook a girl up.