The Dreaded iPhone Update

Meatballs Florentine 

I'm always ready to blame someone (or something), for any kitchen glitches, that rear their ugly head while I am slaving away to make a dinner that would put June Cleaver to shame.  This dinner was no exception.  Since Ryan has been keeping his distance when he sees me making a magazine dinner (smart boy), someone's going under the bus and it isn't going to be me.  It was a toss up on this one who was to blame for all my kitchen blunders while making Meatballs Florentine.  Sorry iPhone update....you lose.

Here's what dinner prep at my house looks like....I have a dinner plan for the week ready to go.  So, depending on how my day goes, I decide pretty early on if this is going to be a magazine dinner kind of day or something I can do without a recipe.  I had planned for this day to a magazine dinner.  Anyway, I get a text from my husband when he's headed home and then I start dinner (it takes him 30-an hour to get home).  Which gives me plenty of time to have dinner hot and ready when he walks through the door.  That's the way it usually goes.

Now, today I was getting everything ready for the  "I'm on my way" text message when an innocent note came up on my phone screen.  Something along the lines of there was a new update...would you like to do that now... blah, blah, blah.  I, without even thinking about it,  pushed yes.

Long story short, I couldn't get back into my phone.  Apparently, my husband had meetings through lunch and he sent the text saying he was on his way and added that he was starving (he never does that).  But did I get this message? No.  Any other day, it would have been fine...but he hadn't eaten all day long. Luckily this was a 30 minute supper recipe, or at least one would think that was lucky...  But, to add insult to injury, I started using my phone for all my food pictures (it actually takes great pictures)....can't do that either when you are locked out of a phone.

Believe it or not, I was
focusing on the meatball
mixture (way to go Dr. Mark)

There I was fiddling with that stupid phone when Mark came strolling in.  I didn't want to waste a magazine dinner and not post it....what if it's fantastic?  What if it actually only takes 30 minutes? I had to blow the dust off my old food picture taking camera and try to take pictures with that....  I say try because someone (not naming any names here....Mark) messed with the settings.  (you can clearly see how Mark is an honorable mention for my 'under the bus you go' award)

I eventually got enough recognizable pictures and somehow managed to get the phone updated (and poured and drank a glass of wine) while my meatballs were steaming--it's amazing what I can do in 7 minutes...so I did get a picture of the finished product with the phone (with settings no one can mess with, but me).  And no one starved.  All in all, it was a successful dinner.

Not only that, but the dinner was good!  I really liked it was a one pan dinner.  And close to 30 minutes to the table.  I did mess up and not put the spinach in the sauce after I took it off the heat.  I was kind of in a hurry.  Stupid iPhone.

Picture with the camera

Picture with the iPhone

The Ingredients

Cook's Country Dec/Jan 2013