Sauteed Edamame & David Plays, Um...The Flute

Okay, I'm fine. Breathe, Kim.

So, David left on Saturday and I am enduring night number two without him. The first night, I had a major panic attack around 8 o'clock in the evening, after the kids were asleep, which involved all kinds of chest heaving and tears and freaking out(on the inside) and didn't really get better until I drank a half bottle of wine.

That did the trick.

Then, I cleaned the house top to bottom. Finally, I just fell into bed exhausted and pathetic. I didn't even have time to imagine ghosts moving the furniture around in the living room while I slept. Good thing.

Last night, I went to bed late and ended up watching Keith Urban concert footage on YouTube. I do this when David goes away. Maybe because Keith has long hair like my husbands or because he's Australian too, or because he sings all these great "love gone wrong" songs when I'm feeling all abandoned or maybe just because if David's home and he hears me listening to Keith Urban, he makes fun of me.

Better to do these shameful acts in the privacy of my vacant apartment.

David arrived safely in OZ and is right now visiting his mum and heading off to meetings. Okay, I wrote that last night. Right now, he's sleeping. It's night there. The kids are doing fine. I've packed their schedules with play dates, school and parties this week to keep them busy. Or, you know, to keep me busy. Lucy and I were cuddling while she was going of to sleep last night and talking about David and she looked at me and said, "He better miss us while he's in Australia."

And to this I say, um, yeah, he better.


So, to make myself feel better I'm going to show you a picture of my husband playing what I believe is the least manliest, least butch instrument on the planet - the flute. I had never heard him play before, but there are stories about his prowess in high school band. I got to see the legend in person last week.


Here we are at my friend Lara's house. Lucy is at the keyboard. Her friend Ruby is playing violin and David is wailing on the manly phallus known as "the flute". And there's me in the corner of the picture, hysterical. I'm sorry, but I couldn't stop.

Question: Were there any boys in your high school band who played the flute? Hot boys? Boys who didn't get their butts kicked by the football, uh, I mean cricket team in the locker room, I mean?


My point exactly.

My husband is, like, the hottest guy I know. Hands down. Watching him climb a sheer rock cliff, with assured-ness, strength and elegance, like he knows the rock, is one of the hottest, most manly things I've ever seen and it never grows old. Ever.

This is him hanging off the ceiling of rock at the gym. On the ceiling, like, horizontal in the air. How can that not be hot?


...But the flute?

I don't know why it seems so bizarre but every time I think of him playing I just dissolve into fits of laughter. Ah...brilliant.

So, tonight for dinner I'm throwing lamb chops in the cast iron for a quick dinner. The kids like to pick up the little chops and eat the meat right off the bone. This Sauteed Edamame dish from White on Rice Couple will be the side. I'm posting it here before I make it.

I've been looking for a new way to serve edamame and this looks promising. One thing - the appeal of edamame for little kids (or at least, mine) seems to be actually popping them out of their shells into their mouths. My kids will eat anything they can crack open with their hands. So I will give them the un-shelled soybeans and have them them shell the beans for me and make the dish with me in the kitchen. This will give them another project to keep us occupied and hopefully, if they get to help make it, they'll be open to eating it in its new incarnation. It works this way for us often.

If you make this dish, love to hear what you think...

xo YM
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The Children are Like Orphans Sauteed Edamame
Brazenly Stolen from White on Rice Couple

Quick and easy, this side dish takes only about 10 minutes. Especially if you buy the pre-shelled soybeans.

Ingredients

2 T Olive Oil
3 Shallots, roughly diced
3 Garlic cloves, mashed or finely diced
1/2 lb Soybeans (shelled, pre-cooked)
few sprigs Fresh Thyme
Sea salt
fresh cracked Black Pepper
1/2 T Soy Sauce

Preparation

1. Over med. high heat, warm saute pan. Add olive oil, then after it warms, add shallots. After shallots soften (@2 min.) lower heat to medium, add garlic and saute for another minute or two.
2. Add soybeans and thyme. Season with salt, pepper, and soy sauce, then continue to cook until soybeans are fully heated (@ 1 min.)
3. Serve warm or allow to cool and serve at room temp.