Frozen broccoli and OMD

More places to write about on our recent official Mark Gerking Wander but I think I'm too tired today. In some ways that trip took it out of us. I guess because it was emotional as well as a tad tiring. Ernie's not feeling great today and that's not as common as it once was.

Last night we tried to figure out what to eat for dinner. We pretty much had no food in the house. Well, nothing fresh other than a few very tired carrots. Eventually we dug out a bag of frozen broccoli that was about 3/4 full, and a box of gluten free rotini. We got some salted water boiling and threw the pasta and the broccoli in there. Once it was cooked we took out a cup or so of the pasta water (now a delightful pale green) and then drained it. As it had been cooking Ernie had put some olive oil on medium heat, adding maybe a teaspoon or so of anchovy paste, a very healthy pinch of red pepper flakes and some black pepper and a bit of salt. We added that, as well as some of the pasta water then topped it with grated parmesan. The broccoli kind of disintegrated into a thin sauce (although that broccoli had sort of acted like that when I had cooked it previously). Next time I would double the amount of broccoli but honestly, it was so good and comforting. Frozen broccoli for the win!

^{Messy kitchen but a beautiful boy}

^{Trying not to giggle as I take a pic of his Eric Ambel t-shirt}

^{I guess Leo got it from him}

^{Not fancy, but surprisingly good}

Ernie seems to have completed his luring of Hattie over to him. She now howls when she sees him. We think it's positive. She also does this to Leo, but rarely me. Hmmm.

Anyway, there she is at the top of this page snuggling with Ernie's Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark, which amazingly enough is still hanging on from the 80's. As always, life is unexpected in so many ways.

https://videopress.com/v/2xE7xZV9?resizeToParent=true&cover=true&preloadContent=metadata&useAverageColor=true

https://youtu.be/Y43XLVqjytQ

Onward.