Sunday dinner

I love cooking for people. I enjoy being at a table with good food, wine, friends, and conversation. Sometimes I put a lot of time into a meal with so-so results. Tonight I put in minimal effort to achieve amazing results. Our menu included:

Roast Chicken
Roasted Butternut Squash with Brown Butter and Nutmeg
French Green Beans
Block No. 45 Petite Sirah

So simple, so easy, and so amazing. I cannot begin to describe how delicious the squash was. I like butternut squash, but the brown butter elevated it to heights indescribable. Big J hoarded the bowl on his side of the table and only gave it up after I threatened not to cook for the rest of the week.

This past week dinners have not been the relaxing event we have come to expect. They have instead become a time of arguing, crying, begging, counting, cajoling. Apparently the terrible twos have extended into year four with a vengeance. Tonight was the first night in a week that we haven't had to give the "take at least one bite or go upstairs to bed" ultimatum. That alone made dinner more relaxing. We are nearly at the end of our rope with little j. It is the first time that we've ever felt that if someone came to the door and said, "Hi. I was wondering if you had a little girl that you wanted to give away," we wouldn't hesitate. Okay, not really, but we would be tempted. Suffice it to say, it's been a difficult week.

But Sunday dinner made life better and now we are all relatively relaxed for the evening. Inside the house is warm and comfortable, we are listening to the Thistle and Shamrock, Big J is cleaning the kitchen, little j is playing on her own, and I am writing and following the fantasy football scores. There is laundry to fold, baths to take, and schedules to plan. Outside it is already dark, our yard is covered with crunchy colorful leaves, and the temperature is creeping down to freezing. Indeed, it is the perfect Sunday evening.