Day 6, delicious dinner

One of the first things I heard upon waking this morning was, "I frew up on my feet." Oh, Ol. At least he usually goes straight to the porcelain god when he feels he's about to puke. In any case, he is home, I am counting the minutes until the pediatrician's office opens, and I have canceled out yet another day. But in better news, I managed to get a delicious dinner on the table round about 9:00 last night. Better late than never, yes? There just really aren't any good delivery options around us, and cooking makes me feel happy.

I slow-cooked slivered shallots and Brussels sprouts -in a teaspoon of bacon fat and some olive oil- with salt and lots of pepper and later deglazed the pan with some sherry before adding some chopped speck. Meanwhile, I fried a a clove of garlic and a handful of Brussels sprouts leaves that I wanted to use for a garnish and cooked some mafaldine until al dente. I added the pasta to the veggie mix, tossed in some cream, a generous mound of Parm and some of the garlicky oil in which I'd fried the sprouts' leaves. I cooked it all on low heat until the pasta was perfectly done, topped the whole thing with more pepper, Parm and the bright green leaves and called it dinner.

Doesn't this look hearty, comforting and wonderful?