My Friends’ Treat: Risotto Night

So I had a pretty crummy week last week.

For a few days straight, I was being extremely hard on myself and found myself on an emotional roller coaster. I was either bursting out in tears in the office or suddenly hyperventilating while carrying conversation with my husband. It was exactly those situations where people tell you: “When bad things happen, they happen in threes.” Yup. On the nail.

A good alternative to a bad day: the company of friends (for me, at least). My worries seemed to have evaporated when I gave one of my best friends, Ciara, a visit at her work. I told her what had been going on and that’s when she dropped the news that she and one of our other friends (Marissa) would be coming over for our usual Friday-night dinners but this time, they’d be taking care of the cooking. She specifically told me not to worry about picking up any ingredients and let alone, preparing anything… it was all up to them.

To you, it may seem like a simple gesture, but to me it meant the world. Because it was such a horrible week, the thoughtfulness behind their offer made me want to cry all over again (but this time, for different reasons).

And so last Friday night, I kicked it back, (well, not too much because I did want to observe them as they prepared a creamy pork and bison risotto) and let them take over my kitchen. Marissa acted as lead chef and whipped up our delicious meal.

Incredibly hearty, our risotto not only contained the aforementioned pork and bison meat, (which, may I tell you, is absolutely perfect) but had generous pieces of mushrooms and orange bell peppers.