Not Your Typical Night

Cereal. Grilled cheese. Leftovers. The occasional egg sandwich. These, my friends, are the sorts of meals that I typically find myself eating when I am dining alone. My logic on these sorts of nights goes something like this: if I'm on my own for the evening, I might as well spend my time doing "me things," which usually consist of art, writing, blogging, reading, knitting, and the like. As I said, that's typically what happens Last night, however, was not your typical kind of night (in more ways than just my eating habits). Last night was the last evening of March, the month that supposedly "comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb." Well, March decided to get the last laugh, it seems, for it was snowing on this lovely Spring night. Quite atypical, un-lamb-like behavior, if you ask me. I decided to follow suit.

With the babe sleeping soundly and the husband working a late-shift, I found myself all alone with lots of ingredients in the refrigerator but few actual finished products. This week's recipe, Szechuan Chicken, was yet to be made. And, I also had a huge loaf of bread that had seen better days. So, instead of an art-making evening, I turned my creative pursuits toward the kitchen. My plan was to start with the chicken and follow-up with a bread pudding, if I still had enough energy.

Now, let me just state that prior to my making of the Szechuan Chicken, I had already been given glowing reports from both my sister and my dad. I, therefore, went into the cooking process with high expectations. This can be rather dangerous for me, because what typically happens in such cases is that I build things up beyond perfection. Then, of course, I am disappointed when the reality doesn't exactly match my inflated expectations. But, last night, as we've already stated, was an atypical night. Even in the face of my high hopes, this recipe held its ground and proved its worth. Upon a first perusal of the ingredients, it seemed too simple to be good. But, it was better than good. Admittedly, I did take it upon myself to tweak things ever so slightly. I doubled the sauce ingredients to ensure that my chicken could be saucy enough to be served over rice.

After enjoying a delicious (albeit quiet) dinner, I found myself with a continued surge of baking motivation. My atypical night continued with the baking of a bread pudding and then an earlier-than-usual bedtime.

Tonight, however, order was restored. Finding myself with another evening alone, I decided it was time to return to the typical...typical, of course, not being at all a bad thing. So, after putting the little one to bed and doing the normal end-of-the-day cleanup, I sat myself down on the couch, a blog post brewing in my brain and a bowl of cereal in my hand.