Ask, and Ye Shall Receive 3 Men and Peas

Who's 3 for 4 on the Four Man Plan?

That's right, this girl.

I am learning the beauty of this plan...there is something beautifully self-selecting about it. Meaning, I just roll with whoever is the most attentive, the most eager, and the most interesting on any given evening. You snooze on this one, you lose. It's really pretty simple.

If only everything in life were this easy.

For instance, last night I made dinner for my friend Rodney, but forgot that I had no fresh veggies at home. Too lazy to run out to the grocery, I scrounged around in my freezer and came up with a bag of frozen peas. I love frozen peas. I can eat them thawed, I can eat them frozen...as kids we used to put them up our nostrils...the pea is a multi-use vegetable.

But I made the cardinal error, which is that I tried to fancy my peas up for my dinner date. I made a lemon-basil butter, and after I cooked the peas on the stove top (uncharacteristically following the directions on the bag; I usually just throw them in some boiling water when the pasta's almost done) I tossed the peas with the lemon basil butter. You know how sometimes you make something that is...just all wrong? This was one of those times. Too much acid. Too much basil. Too little green color on the peas, and not enough texture. Yikes! Luckily, I made my fail-safe turkey ragu for Rodney (minus the red wine since he's allergic to alcohol) and that was seriously good. I simmered it for so long that it was just delectable...though now the white paint on my kitchen walls is faintly splattered with red sauce. Ahh, the price we pay.

Anyway...it's the 4th of January, and I am loving my Four Man Plan. We'll see if I last the week...the Harvard Writer sure is a sweet talkin' guy and it's hard not to be swayed...but like the New Kids on the Block, I'm HANGIN' TOUGH.

Yeah.