Saturday, 1 September 2012

Day 114: Pasta with broad beans and asparagus


Everyone has days where nothing goes to plan; in fact, there are weekends if not weeks when things don’t go to plan but this weekend was definitely one where nothing seems to be going to plan. I love if not depend on things going to plan and if they don’t then I wouldn’t exactly say I’m a happy bunny. Such is life though. I suppose I just have to resolve myself that things cannot go to plan all of the time.
 
So what exactly went wrong? Well firstly, I had to reschedule a bridesmaid fitting last night (my fault) to God knows when but my sister is getting married in two weeks’ time. The biggest thing though was that Dear Husband was being groomsman at his friend’s wedding today so of course I was invited too except here I am sitting at home with the babies in bed and the TV for company. Understandably, we knew for a long time that we’d be both going to the wedding today; however, we also knew that getting a babysitter was going to be a problem but, ever the optimist, I thought that nearer the time, we’d work something out. Well sure, we always work something out! Don’t we?! No, not this time. Not only had I a wedding to go to but tonight was also a night out for my sister-bride-to-be and somehow I’d have managed to navigate between two venues in the same town and keep everyone happy. Unfortunately, Dear Sisters Numbers 1-3 plus my Dear Mother work Saturdays; Dear Mother-in-Law and Dear Father-in-Law were also going to the wedding; Dear Brother-in-Law was at a triathlon in Galway; Dear Husband’s brother (who Baby Daughter is crazy about) is currently in the other side of the world and, no harm to my Dear Father (who’s in his early 70s) but an hour of my two and he’d be for the hills. It’d be different if my children were a bit older but when there’s a baby involved, I just won’t leave them with anyone outside a small circle. I’m sure I’m not the only parent who thinks that way but duty calls. That said, and with my disappointment, I thought to myself that if that’s the biggest trouble I have in my life this weekend then I’ll take it.

With Dear Husband away all day, I purposely went through the cookbook to get a recipe that the two babies and I could eat and settled on Pasta with broad beans and asparagus. I put the pasta on and then got started on the rest of the ingredients. I put shelled broad beans on to cook for two minutes and then removed them using a slotted spoon. Next, I put on asparagus to cook which I had cut at an angle into 2cm lengths. While that was cooking, I took the broad beans out of their outside shell so that I was just left with the greener bean part. I put the cooked beans and asparagus into a large bowl and then added grated parmesan cheese, olive oil and the zest of a lemon. Once the pasta was cooked, I drained it and added it into the bowl and tossed everything together with a tiny sprinkling of black pepper.

The verdict…

Neither Dear Son nor Baby Daughter ate the beans or asparagus but ate the pasta. I ate the lot but unfortunately I was very disappointed. It reminded me of another dish I’d made before on the Challenge and I don’t think I was too impressed with that either. I had been looking forward to making this particular recipe as it meant I got to use some fresh broad beans which Dear Father grows every year. After today though, I’ll stick to eating them with new potatoes and parsley sauce, as usual. My verdict was a very low 2 marks out of 10. I would actually prefer to eat pasta and grated cheddar cheese on its own than what I made this evening. I did like the asparagus but didn’t like the broad beans combination with the lemon zest and pasta. I’m not really sure why I settled on 2 marks but I’m guessing 1 mark for how quick and easy the recipe was and 1 mark for using two kinds of vegetables. I can only imagine Dear Husband’s reaction had he been here for tea this evening! I most definitely will not make this one again. Horses for courses and all that but this recipe isn’t for my kitchen unfortunately. Onwards and upwards tomorrow…hopefully (!)

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