While I admit we've ordered sushi a couple times, I haven't been rolling out my own pasta dough lately, and I've had to forsake a detail here and there, I have been able to achieve a certain standard in my kitchen ever since Mary's arrival. That is, each day I plan a menu, run it by the hubby, go on a little market field trip, infant in tow, and then leverage God's gift to Moms - the Mamaroo - to get dinner started and the table set by the time Peter gets home.
For the past six weeks, Peter and I have been working day and night on a new, sometimes challenging relationship with our little girl. We've diverted the time we would have spent snuggling with each other toward cozying up with her. We've put her needs first: her sleep, her hunger, her exercise, her hygiene. And we've saved our best dances, songs, and funny faces for her. All so we might see one of those beautiful smiles that she started giving us this week. Simply put, many of the amazing dimensions of our relationship have either changed or been brushed aside to make room for someone who needs a lot of love and attention.
For instance, potty language, the very vocabulary that was once banned as mealtime conversation (I'm recalling a certain mention of diarrhea at breakfast that received a vile reaction), has become a staple of our dinner dialogue.
Just changed her.
Blow out?
Oh yeah. Explosive. Yellowish Brown. Chunky.
Good. Good.
Cheers. Dig in!
When we count down to Friday, our big weekend plans include who is napping when. We never seem to just sit and linger over a great glass of wine or a home brew anymore; one of us is either walking, rocking, or feeding Mary and the other is rushing around to get all the stuff that we haven't done yet, done. The hypothetical movie night I keep suggesting is cancelled night after night because I really need to go to bed at 8:00 PM if I'm going to be up again at 11:00, 2:30 and 6:00, boob in hand. And the sheer fatigue that compounds after x number of restless night in a row makes me wonder how a couple even finds the time or energy to make a couple of Irish twins.
With that said - with all that has changed as Peter and I embrace the role of parents - there is a constant that I wasn't going to sacrifice - an element so crucial in our relationship that I couldn't envision our life without it - dinnertime. Even if it's later than usual; even if it's one-handed; even if it turns into a PG-13 scene; I'll always exchange a 'dinner is served' each time Peter says, 'honey I'm home.' We'll always have our 'special time' and given a new learning this week: pumping and bottle feeding around dinner time - special is turning extra special at our table for three.
Lo.
Lobster Bisque
Adapted from Saveur
Serves Two
Ingredients:
2 lobster tails, cut in half lengthwise
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 sprigs thyme
2 sprigs parsley
1/4 cup Brandy (I used Grand Marnier)
1 large shallot finely diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 carrot finely diced
1 celery stalk finely diced
1/4 cup yellow onion finely diced
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 1/2 cups fish stock
1 cup rose wine
1/2 cup heavy cream
Cayenne pepper
Salt
Chives
Directions:
In a large pot, melt butter and olive oil. Add lobster tails with shells still on. Add the thyme and parsley. Cook for approximately seven minutes, until shells are bright red. Add the brandy and steam in liquor for an additional minute or so. Remove the lobsters from pot. Take lobster out of shells, chop up, and set aside, reserving any juices.
In the same pot in the remaining butter / oil / brandy mixture saute shallot, garlic, carrot, celery and onion until caramelized - about 15 minutes. Remove the thyme and parsley sprigs. Add tomato paste and cook until slightly browned, about five minutes. Add the white wine, scraping up the brown bits, then add the fish stock. Add a pinch of cayenne pepper and salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and let simmer for 20-25 minutes.
Add cream. Season additionally to taste. Serve with chopped chives on top, crusty sourdough bread, and a glass of brut champagne.
