disaster dinner and a quick recovery

Tonight was nearly a disaster! I planned on making stuffed mushrooms and mussels steamed in white wine. Well, only about half of that worked out. The portobello mushrooms broken in half as I was trying to trim them inside, so in about 3 seconds I had to come up with something else. So I quickly start sautéing my shallots and grounding some beef and boiling some pasta. As this was happening, Jared was cleaning the mussels and I noticed they were all open and he was cleaning them with warm water. My first thought is "well F! now we can't eat them, they are all dead!!!" After panicking about the mushrooms and now the mussels, I let my pasta cook too long and now I have overly cooked shells on my hand. I quickly drain them and realize that the mussels we got were already cook. wah wah waaaah. Good thing I already prepped my steam pan for them. I quickly threw them in and let them steam. I rinse my pasta (GF pasta tastes better to me if it is rinsed of) throw it back in the pan, put in some tomato sauce add the mushroom, ground beef, and let that cook for a while. I realize I have no other vegetable accept for the mushrooms. Good thing I have a little spinach left and a jar of artichoke. Now the next horrible part. Jared hates wine. He hates all alcohol and these mussels are soaked in it!! He is going to hate the mussels I am going to love them. He will love the pasta, I will hate it. These are my thoughts. I am so upset I drink some wine before dinner, which I never do. Tell me not to fret all you want. Screwing up dinner is just something I hate to do. It is third favorite meal of the day and I want to enjoy, damn it. I want it to be fragrant and beautiful. That is my goal. That is my goal for myself. I want it perfect. Well, all ends well. Jared loved the mussels! He even drank the sauce out of the shells :) The pasta was not bad. I found it a bit bland, but it was not terrible. It was not my best meal, but it was my best recovery. I give myself credit for coming up with an alternative meal in about 2 nanoseconds. Go me. Here is the recipe for the mussels

Ingredients

• 2 pounds mussels
• 1/3 cup dry white wine
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 small shallot, minced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 3 peppercorns
• 1 teaspoon butter
• A handful chopped fresh parsley

Directions

1. Pick over the mussels, discarding any that are open. Scrub the remaining mussels, removing any beards. Put the wine, bay leaf, shallots, garlic, and pepper in a large pot and bring to a simmer. Add the mussels, cover, and steam until they open, 5 minutes.
2. Move the mussels to a large serving dish with a slotted spoon, discarding any that have not opened. Whisk the butter into the cooking liquid, along with the parsley, and pour over the mussels.