The dud parent: finding my lane

Last weekend, while Mom was in Tallahassee repeatedly farting on Cassie's bed (I know because it was loud enough that I could hear it ever so clearly through the phone while we were talking), I brought Brad to Harrisonburg for his JMU information session and campus tour. After the tour, we stopped for some good Bella Luna wood-fired pizza and gelato. We talked the visit over in a low-key fashion, figuring out what Brad liked (pretty much everything), and had an overall nice, no-fuss, low-maintenance day.

This morning, it was time for Brad's information session and campus tour at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg. But today we made the mistake of bringing Mom along. Thirty minutes into the trip, which only takes an hour-and-a-half, it started: find a place where Mom can use the john. We stopped at 7-11, where Mom bought another cup of coffee, so she would need to pee again, except the coffee was really bad, so it got poured out the window. And on it went from there. After the tour, it was time for lunch. Mom looked at fancy French and Italian restaurants, but Brad had his eye on another pizza place, so the Great Campus Pizza Tour of 2018 rolled on, much to Mom's dismay. And they didn't even have dessert there–the horror! (For the record, we ate at Castiglia's. Brad liked the pizza better at Bella Luna, but I really enjoyed my brick-oven "Castiglia" pizza with prosciutto and arugula.)

Anyway, the moral of the story is I found my lane: campus visits with Brad. When it comes to that niche, the dud parent is my better half.

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I was surprised to see I hadn't posted this recipe yet. I had posted the sexied-up recipe for Peas with Pancetta, but since two of you don't eat pancetta and nobody is very likely to have pancetta sitting around in the fridge, it's more useful to know this recipe, which is an easy side to make with peas from the freezer.

Buttered Peas

Adapted from Perfect Vegetables (2003) by the Editors of Cook's Illustrated Magazine

Time: <15 minutes

1 16-ounce bag frozen petit pois or regular peas
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
freshly ground black pepper
finishing salt like fleur de sel or Maldon, to taste

    1. Bring 2 quarts of water to a roiling boil in a large saucepan over high heat. Stir in the peas and salt, and cook for 2 minutes. Drain the peas and set aside.
    2. Add the butter to the empty saucepan, and set over medium heat or just a little higher. Once the butter has melted and stopped foaming, stir in the peas. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the peas are hot. Add a twist or two of freshly ground black pepper, and taste for salt. Serve promptly. Serves 4 to 6 as a side.