Mmm, what better blog post to end the year with than one filled with scrumptious food that makes you go for seconds, thirds, and then confess of the agony of over-indulgence? Although, for some reason I am writing this blog post at 6am (very reflective of how I’ve been living December…) so I’ll just keep this short and sweet.

Last night something came over me and I announced – much to my family’s delight – that I was going to whip up dinner for the evening. I know that sounds like nothing at all, and a lot of families take turns with cooking, but in our household, it’s a big deal when Amanda cooks. Especially voluntarily. I rarely cook, and I avoid the kitchen as much as possible, preferring instead to enjoy the fruits of my mother or sister’s kitchenly labour (yes, I made that word up – I could have said “culinary labour” but I didn’t want to!) because they both cook amazingly. The only times I will usually cook is when I have to, such as when I’m home alone or when my mum is too tired to cook.

Anyway, being the ambitious, thrill-seeking person that I am, I decided to aim high and announced that I was going to cook up a risotto.  Now, everyone knows how much hard work risotto is, but how worthwhile the outcome is, so that’s why I picked it. Also, mum and Liv have been talking about wanting risotto for quite some time, and I thought, hell, this Jamie Oliver recipe book is going to teach me how to cook! In reality though, I didn’t really follow the recipe (I never do), and kind of made stuff up as I went. Apart from staples like steak and lasagne, I’ve never cooked the same thing twice, because I literally throw together what is available at the time, and make up weird combinations of things. Luckily for the family, this time I avoided lemon (which I usually use a lot of) and mint, and threw together something more normal-sounding. I decided to whip up three dishes, as I needed some more kitchen drama to keep me busy whilst stirring risotto; and I was pleasantly surprised and pleased with my miraculous ability to finish cooking them all at the same time:

There was a tray of meatballs with basil, black pepper and parmesan, baked in tomato-y sauce which I didn’t get a decent photo of, but that was dish #1.

Dish #2 was chicken with spinach and capsicum, which I cooked in hot, delicious butter.

And #3, the most important thing being the risotto (spinach and onion). To be honest, about ten minutes into cooking this, I started freaking out that it wasn’t going to work out, and that I would let everyone down. But I’m glad I didn’t! The only let down was that I forgot to put mushrooms in the risotto, but we ate so much of it so fast that we hardly had time to notice.

I think that’s my cooking quota for the next 3-6 months fulfilled, thanks, haha.

I hope everyone has a good and safe New Years and I will see you next year! What are your exciting celebratory plans for New Years Eve?