Peas (pees)

It was one of those nights. Olly was working really late which meant I did the mad scramble after work to pick Jenson up from daycare, feed him, bathe him, read to him and then (God willing) put  him to bed at a quasi-decent hour. It sounds so simple when I write it, but any parent knows that 5:30PM-7PM stretch can be like driving the wrong way down a one-way lane of traffic and hoping (praying) you don't get hit (by the way that did happen to me on my 16th birthday when I  was taking my driver's test to get my license and to this day my cortisol levels still rise when I think about it.) So pick your 16th birthday moment and you'll get my gist: that time of the day can be really stressful.  This night, I had no idea what I was going to make Jenson for dinner because that is typically Olly's department. Thank God for modern times. My stock in 1804 would be laughingly low... nonexistent actually, but I digress.

I opened our fridge and there was a whole shelf of beer staring back at me and a lot of condiments. I have never met a condiment I didn't like so our house is well(overly)-prepared to saturate any morsel that comes its way. I was going to have to get creative unless I wanted my son to eat some form of a mustard, ketchup and sriracha soup. Don't ask me why, but our freezer had peas....and a lot of them. And even college kids have dried pasta in the pantry so I'm happy to say I had pasta. You can see where this post is going. I sautéed the peas in olive oil, white wine vinegar, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes. I then boiled pasta and put a  massive heaping of parmesan cheese on top. What happened next was not exactly a grand slam, but it wasn't a strike out either. Jenson ate his dinner but I could tell it wasn't his favorite meal of all-time. There wasn't a lot of  gratitude when I showed him the ticket to getting more peas on the spoon was to flip it over. In fact, the biggest smile of the night was when I removed his bib and the bowl. But the good news was I didn't have to make another dinner because I ate the rest. Warning: My food photo makes this dish look pretty unappetizing. Not even a filter can salvage this shot. But I swear it tasted good. Jenson just needs to respect the pea a bit more in my opinion. 

LOCATION: Home, Brooklyn, NY