FF: Foodie love

These past couple days have been so harrowing and stressful. Thanks for all the love out there. Pepps is doing much better, although she has a tube sticking out of her cheek and she's still leaking a bit. I'll spare y'all the pics.

So on top of taking care of Hunter, nursing the dog, and doing all the other things I normally do around the house ( although it has fallen into a slight state of disrepair the past couple days....sue me for not cleaning the dishes....I have a drippy dog to clean and a crying baby to feed. We're on an as needed basis right now), I had offered to have Sonny's family over for dinner. Obviously the invite was before the drama. But I wanted to have them over and it would certainly give me a break from Hunter so I could focus on Pepper and little more.

I planned a simple meal of mussels with linguine in a garlic butter white wine sauce (it was sooo yummy if i do say so myself) and just a simple salad and garlic bread and stuff. Since mussels are not really a "make ahead" meal, everyone came over and went down to the basement with the kids while I started dinner. Pepper kept me company as I started dinner, tired, weary, and thinking that I maybe should have canceled the dinner.

I tell you, people, the stress that had been accumulating for the past couple days melted away with the butter, my body began to relax like the stiff linguine relaxed in their spa of pasta water, and i felt myself open up and breath relief like the mussels opening as they steamed. Ha! You like all the metaphors? Wonderful! By the time dinner was on the table....I felt re-newed. I felt like I could take on the world! I enjoyed my glass of wine, pasta, and even some coffee cake AND water ice, despite the low carb diet I've been on. I needed the boost.

Cooking really is a therapeutic practice. The monotony of the chopping and slicing, boiling and sauteing......I just love it. I encourage anyone to try it, even if you think that you're not good at it....start with something simple. It's not really a "Friday Fave", but that little time to myself to prepare a meal was certainly something that I could not have lived without this week. I only wish I took pics because it was quite pretty as well....I'll remember that next time...