Spaghetti

I made spaghetti for dinner tonight. It's not what I was planning to make, but I didn't feel like cooking when 5:00 came. Spaghetti is one of my go-to meals when I'm feeling tired, crabby, or just plain lazy. I try not to make it very often because I know Brandon doesn't really like it.

I browned the ground beef and dumped in the spaghetti sauce. I decided to set a little bit aside for Dylan, and then put a heaping tablespoon of berbere (a very spicy Ethiopian seasoning) in with the rest. We had spaghetti in Ethiopia that had berbere in it, and it was SOOO good. Best spaghetti of my life! So I decided to try it at home. It turned out really good! Aubree thought so too. I haven't seen this girl eat so much, so fast since the first week she was home with us and was still learning to trust that there was enough food. The past couple weeks, she's been a lot pickier with her food, and really improving in her issues with it.

What I recognized in her tonight was the happiness and relief she found in a familiar food. Spaghetti is something she ate quite frequently in Ethiopia. (The Italians tried to take over Ethiopia at one point. While they failed in those efforts, they did leave a mark on Ethiopian cuisine). It made me think of one of the many reasons we loved staying with Birtukan in Ethiopia. She goes out of her way to cook meals that are familiar to American taste buds, and give her guests the comforts of home. In our first week home with Aubree, I tried really hard to do the same for her. But I admit, those dinnertime efforts have been lacking lately, and I have been cooking the same old stuff that the rest of us are used to. She's been doing great with all the new foods, but she hasn't been enjoying meals the way she did tonight. Tonight she had 3 servings of spaghetti, out eating the rest of us. I could see the comfort it brought to her face.

Spaghetti with berbere is now going into a weekly rotation at our house. Anything that brings my little girl this much joy and comfort is definitely worth repeating! :)