It Happens To The Best Of Us

Today was one of those days that sailed along perfectly, only to create the perfect storm at dinner time. I managed to feel uber productive this morning- getting myself up and ready for the day before anyone else, having our rum raisin oatmeal mess completely cleaned before leaving the house, picking up a few glamorous necessities from Target (toothpaste and toilet paper). It's amazing how accomplishing the most mundane to-do list can manage to make you feel like a rockstar once you have children. We even made it to the library puppet show with plenty of time to spare. Much to my delight Isabella was not the oldest child there; There were several other young homeschoolers looking equally out of place at the preschool story time, which made for nice community, at least for Isabella (apparently I am the sole homeschooler without any overt religious affiliation). After checking out our collective weight in hardbacks and CD's, we headed over to Barns & Nobles purchase a few new books as well. The greatest accomplishment of all however, was managing to carry on after realizing that, when my husband collapsed the stroller last, he popped a lever out of joint managing to render it useless to anyone unable to pop it back in place, IE, me, which meant the entire morning was an exercise in manual dexterity- choosing to either hold Samuel or chase him, hold Josephine's hand, hold books, schlep reusable bags, and the overloaded abyss that is my purse. But we did it- I'm awesome.

The girls had a quick lesson before heading to neighbors house to play as Samuel simultaneously went down for a nap (when does that ever happen?), which left me time to work on my menus and go over a new lesson plan, while actually, get this, sitting down! That hour and a half of excessive self indulgence however came back to bite me squarely in the behind. Slowing down and enjoying the quiet left me more sleepy than refreshed, and when it came time to start dinner I wanted none of it. So while Wes merrily whistled away in the shower and proceeded with his grooming routine, with it's requisite mushroom cloud of hairspray, I grudgingly labored making a dinner. I peeled back the thick white paper cradling my cutlets to reveal that the butcher had indeed butchered my chicken- the pieces were way to fat and were sliced, not properly pounded. So they took longer, cooked unevenly, and left my pan smoking. While on the last cutlet, with smoke starting to billow, Samuel wailing at my feet, Isabella clamouring at the piano, and Josephine doing I don't know what (which is is never a good thing) I snapped like an asparagus stalk. I opened the kitchen door and heaved my pan into the air, frisbee style, proving that chickens can, if fact, fly. The butter spattered and popped into the air until until the pan spiraled to the ground with a slight clang into the grass (ok, weeds). After the airborne incident, my husband rode in on his noble steed, lance drawn, and removed the children form the palace in order for me to sauce dinner in silence, which I did, with help from a new saute pan. I plated every ones dinner, including Samuel's (which I still puree), but before retrieving everyone form the front yard honestly contemplated sitting at the table alone and eating in solitude. Somehow, and I'm not sure exactly how, everything turned out tasty, and we all turned out full, despite the missing cutlet.



Chicken with Prosciutto and Mushrooms in a Red Wine Cream Sauce
4 (or 3) chicken cutlets
about 3/4 cup of flour
scant tsp of salt
a few grinds of pepper
2 TBS olive oil
1 TBS butter
1/2 lb cremini mushrooms, sliced
4 slices prosciutto, roughly chopped
1 cup red wine
1/3 cup cream

-mix together the flour, salt, and pepper on a large plate and coat the cutlets in the mixture
-heat the oil and butter over medium high heat and place cutlets in pan, cooking about 4 per side (if your pan won't fit them all, simply work in batches, covering any cooked chicken with foil to keep warm)
-Once cooked place on a plate, tent with foil, and set aside
-Add the mushrooms and prosciutto to the pan and cook until browned, about 3 minutes (add a drizzle of oil to the pan if too dry)
-Pour in the wine, scraping up all of the yummy bits of flavor from the bottom of the pan, and cook for a couple of minutes until slightly thickened
-remove the pan from the heat, pour in the cream and serve over the chicken