Should it look like a swamp?

What should I make for dinner? This is my daily question to myself on my drive home. In the 45 minutes it takes for me to get home... my ideas consist of boxed pasta, chicken nuggets, and french toast. I ask MotoRider what he wants and his answer is always the same "I don't know". This leaves me with staring blankly in the cupboards for what boxed meal I should make tonight. I finally decided that chicken nuggets just won't cut it anymore, so I call Kristin in complete despair. She always seems to be making something exotic for dinner. (In my eyes, Stir Fry is exotic.)

Last night I called her on my way home for help. I told her it needs to be easy and with ingredients that I have heard of. Her suggestion is Chicken Parmesan. So, now it is time for me to go shopping. Thank goodness for cell phones or I would have been searching all night for tonights meal. She takes me through the store ingredient by ingredient until I have everything. I did need some help with side dishes too. "and...you will need something green she tells me." I guess I didn't realize dinner had to come in a variety of colors. How about corn? I reply... I know it is not green, but it is a vegetable. The one ingredient I was a little nervous about was the fresh parsley. (How do you cut this up? This is a big deal... I better call MotoRider to make sure he will be home in time for dinner. It is not every day that I cut up fresh parsley for dinner.) To be honest I was almost tempted to just use the parsley from the spice rack.

Now it is time for me to make this exotic meal. With Kristin on the phone coaching me through the preparation and I am feeling confident and excited to be making something that doesn't have the directions listed on the box. I have most the ingredients mixed together and it is now time to melt the butter. I put it in the microwave and frequently check on the melting process. As I am stirring the mixture I question the look of what I am making. I ask Kristin if it is suppose to look like a swamp, she ignores the question and just assumes I am doing everything right. So, the next step is to coat the chicken in the butter... the swamp mixture doesn't look like it can be coated and that is when Kristin's light bulb comes on... I have made a huge error in the recipe. I guess I missed the statement... "in a separate bowl... melt the butter." Good thing I have enough ingredients to try this again. This time Kristin questions my every move. I think I need a cook book with step by step pictures... This should confirm if I am doing it correctly.

In the end MotoRider and I enjoyed a wonderful meal that was not made from a box. Next week... I am making a Roast.