Back to School PLUS Creamy Mashed Potatoes & Tomato Risotto with Crispy Garlic Crumbs

To raise a child who is comfortable enough to leave you means you’ve done your job. They are not ours to keep, but to teach how to soar on their own.

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This September has got me in all the feels. This week was back to school for both of the Girls. SBean is in grade 4! The whole way to school she tried to convince me that she was a big girl and didn’t need me to walk her to school anymore! Meanwhile, I was holding onto her hand for dear life thinking this may be the last time she lets me hold her hand all the way to school 😳😭.

HBear is not only in her last year of middle school but she is turning 13 in under 3 months! Just seeing those words leaves a huge lump in my throat. She walked ahead of us but I am grateful that she stopped at the corner, waited for us to catch up and gave me a quick peck before she continued on to her first day of her last year before high school 😳.

When did this happen?

This year it was the first year I cried when I dropped the kids off at school. That’s right, not even kindergarten did that to me 😂. My Mama Bear instinct is to keep the kids firmly within my embrace and protect them from the harsh world out there. This summer felt so chaotic and not at all restful and the lead up to school felt rushed and off-balance.

The Girls are having a hard time settling into our new schedule. SBean is… emoting all over the place 😆 and bucking a normal bedtime, her chore chart, and the new phone rules that we have put in place.

**We have decided that all phones get plugged in on the island when we are at home. This way we are still able to use the phones but we actually have to get up and physically go to it therefore making it less likely to doom scroll, check “likes”, respond to people immediately or sit and watch useless YouTube videos. So far it has been quite beneficial for me and HBear but SBean is having MAJOR Roblox withdrawal 😂**

HBear had a wonderful first day of school! It was a half day and then she attended her first climate rally with her girlfriends! After the rally they went out for lunch at Lachi. She felt very grown-up… And then the crash. The next day she woke up with a runny nose and fever. Taking absolutely no chances, she missed Thursday and Friday and has just begun to settle into school this week.

Trusting is hard.

Trusting that when they leave the house they will remember how loved they are. That they will remember to wash their hands, wear their mask, stay socially distanced, ignore the mean girls, and push boy drama away. You can only hope that you have provided them with the tools necessary to stay focussed and at the same time give themselves a break, that they will be kind to others but especially themselves, that they will enjoy each day because they can never get it back. *sigh* Like I said, this September has got me with ALL the big feelings 💛. Hopefully your school year started out less rocky than ours! I am hopeful that next week will be better and that we will catch our groove and this will be a wonderful 2021-2022 school year 💖.

Check out How Was Your Week, Honey? Episode #241: I Am A Vegetable HERE! Topics: Jeopardy, show intros, news, RAK, island couples, US Open, shop owners, vaccine passports, QR codes, kid’s music, the Stones & Alfa Romeo.

Fall is in the air! Fall means comforting dinners and there’s nothing better to me than a comforting Sunday dinner. Roast beef, pork tenderloin, or roasted chicken are the perfect main dishes as long as they have the ultimate comforting side dishes to match! Today I have 2 of my absolute favourite side dishes that would pair perfectly with any Sunday night meal. My absolute favourite creamy garlic rosemary mashed potatoes and a delicious tomato risotto with a phenomenal crumb topping. I know they both sound intimidating but they are so easy and super impressive! Either one of these side dishes would be the perfect accompaniment to any special dinner you may have coming up!

Creamy Mashed Potatoes
Adapted from Bon Appetit

8 medium Yukon Gold potatoes, scrubbed

3 teaspoons kosher salt, plus more
1½ cups whole milk
½ cup heavy cream
1 head of garlic, halved crosswise
3 sprigs rosemary
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into pieces
Freshly ground black pepper

Place potatoes in a large pot and pour in cold water to cover by 1″. Add a large handful of salt and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are very tender but not crumbly, 30–35 minutes. Drain, briefly rinse with cool water to remove any excess starch, and return potatoes to warm pot (off heat) to dry while you heat the milk mixture.

Warm milk, cream, garlic, and rosemary sprigs in a small saucepan over medium until fragrant, about 5 minutes. Remove pan from heat.

Pass hot potatoes through ricer or food mill into a large bowl. Add butter, 3 tsp. salt and stir until butter is completely incorporated.

Strain warm milk mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a large measuring glass.

Pour into potatoes ½-cupful at a time, stirring after each addition until liquid is fully incorporated and mixture is smooth before adding more.

Serve mashed potatoes topped with a few grinds of pepper.

Creamy Tomato Risotto with Crispy Garlic Crumbs
Adapted from Kitchen Sanctuary

14 oz tin of diced tomatoes
2 cups chicken stock
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
3/4 cup Arborio rice
1/3 cup white wine
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated
1 tablespoon lemon juice
salt and black pepper

Crispy Garlic Crumbs:
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 teaspoon good quality salt
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup panko
1 teaspoon parsley, chopped
Zest of half a lemon
3 tablespoons parmesan

First make your tomato based stock. Place the diced tomatoes into a saucepan. Add in the chicken stock and tomato paste and stir. Heat this stock until almost boiling, then turn the heat to low.

Heat oil in a large pan on medium-high, add the onion and cook for about 5 minutes until the onion starts to go translucent, add in the garlic, stir and cook for a further minute.

Add in the rice and stir until the oil has coated the rice. Add in the wine and stir.

Wait for the wine to almost fully absorb (stirring regularly) and then turn the heat down to medium-low. Add the tomato stock a ladle at a time, ensuring each ladle has almost fully absorbed before adding the next. Ensure you stir regularly.

After about 15-20 minutes you should have used up all of the stock.

Next make your crispy garlic crumbs. Heat the butter in a small frying pan until it starts to foam slightly.

Add the salt and the garlic and stir for about 30 seconds.

Add in the panko and stir to ensure the butter covers all of the panko. Allow to cook until the panko start to brown a little, stirring often. Keep a close eye on them as they burn very easily.

When ready, turn off the heat and add in the parsley, lemon zest and parmesan.

Back to your risotto, turn heat down to low and add in the cream, parmesan, lemon juice and salt & pepper.

Give everything a good stir and then serve topped with the crispy breadcrumbs.

This week we had cuddles to end summer vacation, I continued my yoga journey, the Girls are back to dance, HBear received her Royal Academy of Dance certificate, SBean indulged her mommy and held hands all the way to school and allowed me to take pictures once we were there 😂. HBear started her teaching assistant “job” for a younger ballet class, SBean started gymnastics, Ninja bought me beautiful flowers, & I watched the U.S. Open and totally fell in ❤️ With Canadian tennis FORCE, Fernandez.

My Sis and I had our first IRL date night in years this weekend! We went to a Charcuterie Board Workshop at Wiseacre Farm Distillery! It was amazeballs! We were able to do a taste test of all their spirits then they gave us a delicious cocktail and took us on a farm tour of their home. The owners of the farm were gracious hosts and very very funny! After our tour we watched a demonstration on how to create a charcuterie board while eating our very own individually packaged boards! When we were done eating we plained, sanded and then oiled our very own oak charcuterie boards to take home! It was a fantastic night out. It was nice to be outside in a lovely atmosphere with my best friend 💛.