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BIL & SIL and the niblings left this morning after being here all week with their elderly cat because they couldn't get a cat sitter. ( That went okay, but I really felt for the poor lil guy and am relieved on his behalf that he is returning to his own territory. There were no major conflicts of personality but Tristana had to be arrested a bunch. )
Now the spare mattresses are removed from the floor and the cotton rugs are back to allow bunnies to run around. The box of hay, the napping cushion, the stuff to chew on and the little house to hide in are all returned to their spots in the dining room and Rowan is cautiously jogging around sniffing everything, so nature is healing. ( The bunnies had much to endure, but nobody got bitten and I never yelled LEAVE THE BUNNIES ALONE FOR FUCK'S SAKE, so I'm counting it as a win. ) Tristana spent a day or so mostly hiding, but she got over it and became friendly with all the new guests, even the smallest child (who is I think 9?), even though there was always a large risk of being picked up by her. (Tristana doesn't hate being picked up in principle, she's just usually busy because she has to cram so much playtime in. She is docile about being grabbed unless she was really interested in what she was doing, and by the same principle, she will start to wiggle after a short time, but there's no hard feelings once she is released.)
We made tortilla pizzas for everybody Monday, which, if you don't know, are pizzas made on store-bought flour tortillas. ( How to make tortilla pizzas. ) This meal was delicious and it created a convivial atmosphere, with all the adults hanging around the stove/kitchen munching on toppings and chatting, because you have to cook one pizza at a time and each adult had to consume a total of 2-3 of them for a meal's worth. (The resultant pizzas were not considered nutritional enough for child consumption, so the children's ones were topped with shredded basil leaves and fresh mozzarella and like... chopped grapes??? by my SIL. The kids liked it, so whatever.) We shared a bottle of red wine, and among four adults who rarely drink wine, that was enough to render all of us slightly tipsy. We had a three-language conversation with lots of shouting. It was great.
Tuesday BIL made spaghetti primavera, but he has to make this with basically zero seasoning because of the children, so it was an astonishing taste experience. Very reminiscent of when my dad used to cook when my mom was in grad school (around the time I was silent pastel goth goddaughter's age actually). Also he decided not to bother us by asking where the parmesan was and instead grated up a pile of Oltermanni, a mild and creamy-tasting soft cheese similar to Edam. Obviously, unlike parmesan, it just melted into little melted blobs when put on a plate of hot pasta. Still fine, I mean, spaghetti and olive oil aren't bad flavors, so at worst it needed salt and pepper. But very funny in contrast to my expectations with the name of the dish. It reminds me of the time we were staying with MIL and she announced her intention to make fried rice, but it turned out she meant Rice That Has Been Fried. She served pre-steamed white rice that had been sauteed until soggy at a low temperature in olive oil, with no seasonings and no other ingredients. The spaghetti primavera was not nearly that bad, obviously, because it was still mostly vegetables, but still. LOL.
Now the spare mattresses are removed from the floor and the cotton rugs are back to allow bunnies to run around. The box of hay, the napping cushion, the stuff to chew on and the little house to hide in are all returned to their spots in the dining room and Rowan is cautiously jogging around sniffing everything, so nature is healing. ( The bunnies had much to endure, but nobody got bitten and I never yelled LEAVE THE BUNNIES ALONE FOR FUCK'S SAKE, so I'm counting it as a win. ) Tristana spent a day or so mostly hiding, but she got over it and became friendly with all the new guests, even the smallest child (who is I think 9?), even though there was always a large risk of being picked up by her. (Tristana doesn't hate being picked up in principle, she's just usually busy because she has to cram so much playtime in. She is docile about being grabbed unless she was really interested in what she was doing, and by the same principle, she will start to wiggle after a short time, but there's no hard feelings once she is released.)
We made tortilla pizzas for everybody Monday, which, if you don't know, are pizzas made on store-bought flour tortillas. ( How to make tortilla pizzas. ) This meal was delicious and it created a convivial atmosphere, with all the adults hanging around the stove/kitchen munching on toppings and chatting, because you have to cook one pizza at a time and each adult had to consume a total of 2-3 of them for a meal's worth. (The resultant pizzas were not considered nutritional enough for child consumption, so the children's ones were topped with shredded basil leaves and fresh mozzarella and like... chopped grapes??? by my SIL. The kids liked it, so whatever.) We shared a bottle of red wine, and among four adults who rarely drink wine, that was enough to render all of us slightly tipsy. We had a three-language conversation with lots of shouting. It was great.
Tuesday BIL made spaghetti primavera, but he has to make this with basically zero seasoning because of the children, so it was an astonishing taste experience. Very reminiscent of when my dad used to cook when my mom was in grad school (around the time I was silent pastel goth goddaughter's age actually). Also he decided not to bother us by asking where the parmesan was and instead grated up a pile of Oltermanni, a mild and creamy-tasting soft cheese similar to Edam. Obviously, unlike parmesan, it just melted into little melted blobs when put on a plate of hot pasta. Still fine, I mean, spaghetti and olive oil aren't bad flavors, so at worst it needed salt and pepper. But very funny in contrast to my expectations with the name of the dish. It reminds me of the time we were staying with MIL and she announced her intention to make fried rice, but it turned out she meant Rice That Has Been Fried. She served pre-steamed white rice that had been sauteed until soggy at a low temperature in olive oil, with no seasonings and no other ingredients. The spaghetti primavera was not nearly that bad, obviously, because it was still mostly vegetables, but still. LOL.
