Risotto Prima Vera

I saw this recipe on the Barefoot Contessa and it looked really yummy. I've thought about cooking with fresh fennel bulb for a while but didn't have the courage. But this risotto with fennel, asparagus and leeks looked so good.

Add to this that the kids have become much more adventurous in eating. No more are we limited to the chicken nuggets, mac 'n cheese and pb & j that graced our menu for so long. After the very limited diet, they began to branch out to the point where one would always like new foods and the other not. It was never something you could reliably put odds on. You just knew that one of them would love it and the other hate it and the only other reliable fact was that if kid one liked it last time, there was not guarantee that he would like it the next time.

Now, Lastborn pretty reliably likes everything we place in front of him and Firstborn likes it as long as he can pick out the bits and taste them separately.

I did know going into this process that neither of them like asparagus, but I love it, so I was forging ahead.

The Risotto looked so wonderful. I added chicken to make a meal of it. DH loved it. He loves fennel and though this was his first dish with cooked fennel, he was happy with the outcome.

Lastborn tried valiantly to eat all of his. He didn't love it and did pick out all of the asparagus, but he simply couldn't get the whole bowl of fennel and leeks down. Firstborn gave it his typical barely-try-it-then-spit-it-out-announcing-how-gross-it-is try. He's much less trusting of my food experiments, but he knows to rein in his disgust to a certain extent. After picking all the chicken out and some of the rice, he asked if he could make pb & j sandwiches.

So I scooped up the leftovers in their plates and mixed them with Nova's food. Se was very excited to get table leftovers as this doesn't happen often. But even she was not sold on the fennel, leeks and asparagus. She carefully extracted her kibble, the rice and chicken pieces from the veggies and spat the veggies onto the floor to the delight of both Firstborn and Lastborn.

"Even the dog won't eat it, Mom." They announced with glee pointing to the pile of veggies on the floor in front of her bowl.

Mom, Can We Go to Church More Often?

A couple weeks ago, I had to bring Firstborn to the dermatologist for a checkup. He has a number of moles she is keeping an eye on. He gets very talkative in her office. Usually she encourages him because of the amazing things that come out of his mouth. Amazing sometimes because they are profound and other times because they are outrageous.

The end result is that I sit through the whole procedure on pins and needles.

We left Lastborn in the waiting room and he forgot to bring entertainment for himself. But when I left, he was doing calisthenics, his latest thing. Luckily, no one else was waiting.

The doctor who owns the practice is very religious. He has pictures of Jesus and the little children all over the office and religious pamphlets all over the waiting room.

As Firstborn and I waited in the exam room, he started his talking routine. He got onto the subject of how mean I am because I won't let him drink Gatorade more than once a month. After all, all the other kids do it.

Mom: "So if all the other kids jumped off a bridge, does that mean you should?"
Firstborn: "Well, it depends on how high the bridge is and if there are jagged rocks at the bottom or deep water. I'm a pretty good swimmer."
I thought for a moment and countered with, "Just because lots of people voted for George Bush in the previous election, doesn't mean it was a good idea."

Firstborn thought for a moment, smiled and said, "You got me on that one."

At this point, the doctor arrived and I had to start worrying about what he would say. We were doing well, until he had to repeat the George Bush joke. How many times do I have to explain that not everyone has the same political views as us...

So we get through this appointment and I'm pretty happy that he hasn't gotten everyone upset. We are waiting in line to pay for the appointment when Lastborn walks into the office and says at the top of his lungs, "Mom, Can we start going to church more often?"

The receptionist is watching me to see my reaction. I'm reeling because I thought I had gotten through the hard part of this doctor visit.

"We'll talk about it in the car," I reply.
"You don't want to go to church." Firstborn says with emotion.
"But this thing says that if I go to church I'll live longer," Lastborn says waving a pamphlet in our faces. "I want to live longer."
"They are just getting you to go to church so they can get more money out of you." Says firstborn.
"We'll talk about it in the car." I say with more emphasis.
Red in the face, I pay my bill, get my new appointment and try to slink out of there.
Again, Lastborn shouts, "Can we start going to church more often?"

We get in the car, and I close the doors tightly and shut the windows before shouting at them about embarrassing their mother in public. They both find this very funny.

Lastborn starts reading excerpts from the pamphlet and Firstborn explains how there is no God and it's all a scam to get money from people. Where did I get these kids?