Could have been part of a Disney Script

Easter Sunday Dinner this year could have come out of a Disney script about newly weds. At least that is what it reminded me of. My incredible wife spent the entire weekend with me in England. Actually I was incredibly lucky because she stayed with me for 4 days, quite a treat. She made me two home cooked meals. While she is not a super experienced cook, she is actually pretty good at it. She finds relatively complex recipes online and normally cooks them correctly (or close to it) on the first try. The first dinner she cooked for me was a lemon chicken with a kick (snow peas and Dijon mustard), along with mashed potatoes, and garlic bread. It was to say the least a triumph. Expecially  since it was the first time she had used that kitchen and we don’t really have all the required items (such as measuring cups).

The second meal, Easter Dinner, was also quite good. Garlic Lamb cutlets in cooking wine with various garnishes, roasted potatoes with cheese in olive oil, roasted asparagus with a rub, and garlic bread (I must be honest we bought 2 loaves pre-made for the weekend). It was quite delicious. So why was this situation worthy of entry into a Disney movie? Well the meal didn’t start out as Lamb cutlets. Instead it was originally envisioned and the recipe was for, a lamb roast. Unfortunate there were some difficulties in the cooking process that cause us to look for last minute changes.

So to start the movie scene off imagine the new husband only paying half attention to his wife as he watches an automotive show on the teli. The kitchen has been used to create only one meal, and one that was not as complicated, and contained less items to be prepared. Now watch as the wife finds that she is missing the measuring devices and must instead gauge visually how much of each ingredient to use. Of course she calls out to her husband, who obligingly comes in and proceeds to only get in the way. So he is sent out. Once all the preparation is completed the items are put into the stove to cook, unfortunately it didn’t get preheated because the British stove require extra steps to get going.

After an hour of cooking the lamb is checked, one end is cooked through the other seems raw. Apparently the oven also cooks uneven, very uneven. So what then is the best solution to speed things up? To DOUBLE the temperature of the oven of course. Well I know this part of the scene is over played in movies but how could we resist the smoke and noise from caused by the smoke alarm from charring the outside edge of the lamb. Here of course the husband must use a towel to fan smoke away from the alarm as the wife pulls the roast out of the oven. But of course we had just pulled out other items from the oven and there was no place to set the roast down. So after a few minutes of awkward dancing in the kitchen, and the wife slightly burning her finger, the roast is out of the oven and dinner seems to be ruined.

With a mess all over the counter, a smoky apartment, and two befuddled newly weds it looks like going out to dinner may be in the cards. But this was no ordinary new bride. This one is known for quick thinking. So after a few minutes of damage control the lamb was cut into slices and re-marinated, the kitchen was cleaned a bit, the finished items were placed on plates in the microwave, and the couple was back on there way. After another ½ hour of cooking the lamb was finished.

So that was basically the scene that we played out over the holiday. One I think most new couples must go through at least once and in the end though we had a great meal and a little domestic adventure.