When He Fends for Himself: When He Makes Dinner

The wife has been very hard at work on a paper for her graduate school class and needed some help preparing dinner Sunday night. I vacated the house during the day to give her some peace and quiet to concentrate. I went to a sports bar, watched all the early NFL games, and got to see in real time my fantasy football year go down the tubes. On the way home I was asked to stop at the grocery to get some staples for the week and to find something for dinner.

The grocery store was a process of elimination. I stopped early to grab the salad ingredients because I knew I'd be chastised if I didn't come home with some vegetable to go with dinner. After that I scouted out the main course. Knowing that anything too easy (like snack dinner) or too complicated (for me, tacos) were out of the question, I checked out the meat case and looked at the beef, chicken, and lamb. We've been trying to cut down on our beef intake because it seems like a good thing to do, and the chicken and lamb didn't really excite me. Also, I thought if I went with a meat course, I'd have to get another vegetable to go on the side. So all I was left with was pasta.

I went to the fresh pasta case and looked at the selections. At this particular store, we've purchased the trofie and the various raviolis before so I went with the pumpkin tortellini. As I came home I announced what I purchased and said I thought we could mix it with one Pestos with Panache we had on hand. It turns out, pumpkin chipotle was in stock and sounded like a perfect match.

I went into the kitchen and expertly started to boil water. Once that got going, I cut some cucumbers, washed the lettuce, and opened the bag of baby carrots. Also, the pesto was taken out of the freezer and proportional amount was nuked in the microwave for 15 seconds for it to thaw out. Once the salad was ready, the water was at a boil and I put in the tortellini. As it cooked, I cleared off and set the table. The tortellini was finished and I drained the water, added the pesto, and mixed it in.

As I served the food, I could tell that the wife was impressed. It really was a gourmet dinner that I produced. The spice of the chipolte pesto really added a nice kick to the sort of sweet tortellini. The salad was classy and the water to drink was from MWRA! What more could you want? I guess I could have got a dessert too, but I'll have to save that for next time.

Preparation recap from the wife:
1 1b. fresh pumpkin tortellini
2 tablespoons pumpkin chipotle pesto
Splash of pasta water

Microwave frozen pesto for 15 seconds on power level 7 (just to soften, not too cook)
Ask the hubby why he is trying to boil water with the heat on medium and the pot uncovered. Adjust, and then return to your paper writing because you are not supposed to be making dinner tonight.
Eat the delicious meal and give the cook a 5 star review!