Morals are a bit of a pain. They get in the way of so many fun activities. Wouldn’t it be great if you could just take anything you wanted and not have to worry about others or the consequences involved? I know for one I would get really chubby if I just took a chest freezer from Noel Leeming followed by all the ice cream out of the freezer at the supermarket, I would probably end up in court too.
I wrote this a couple of weeks ago when an interesting situation was at hand. As of now it would seem the phase is over and no longer a ticking time bomb.
We don’t steal things because there are simple, factual, economic consequences of such behaviour. This is very easy for most of our brains to comprehend, its black and white, easy peasy. However when feelings get involved, all of a sudden the brain gets confused and the brain and the feels start waging war against each other.
Case in point, my current situation. Lets call him Clark (because I also have a massive thing for Tom Welling), aka ‘Idiot with no filter’ as my excellent co-worker warmly refers to him as. Now Clark is hilarious, wears great socks and is generally excellent to talk to.
Now Clark, though extensive Facebook stalking (a highly reliable source of intel) has a girlfriend. How we came to that conclusion is there are a lot of recently uploaded coupley looking photos with him and her. Now this is how the whole thing came about, I have a tendency to drop off cakes late at night to work so I don’t have to take them on the train to the gym in the morning. In the last few weeks I have been saying hello to young Clark who is still at the office at this time. This is where it starts to get a little suss. In the hours and hours of one on one chat time drenched in blatant flanter (flirtacious banter) never once has he dropped his girlfriend into conversation. Most guys and girls wanting to establish the platonic friendzone drop it in pretty quickly, oh no not this guy, his tactile nature sent a very different message. Clark has also suggested we hang out outside of the office as well (weirdly confusing much?)
So this has led me to become very perplexed in my feelings. On one side I think he is great and would love to be swept off my feet by Mr Kent but on the flipside that dark lurking feeling that he is willing to do that to his girlfriend makes me wary. Part of me is cautious that he just likes the attention too and the idea of being strung along as just a mere source of ego boosting entertainment does not appeal (#beentheredonethat).
More importantly how selfish is it that I would be willing to cause absolute heartbreak in the pursuit of my own attention seeking actions? I think this is the greatest issue at hand here. Is destroying someone’s happy life worth it? We wouldn’t want another woman to do this to us would we?
Just in case you were wondering, the answer to that rhetorical question is NO!
So I think the main lesson here is that while I would very much like to get into the well pressed pants of Clark Kent, one must keep it in mine in order to maintain the moral balance of the universe.
I think Mr Kent has recently realised the slippery slope of what he was engaging in and has returned to being Mr Elusive upstairs. Sure seeing his daily sock choice slash his face was usually the highlight of my day and gave me all those butterflies and shit (I am trying really hard not to make this sound like a Taylor Swift song) the fact that he has changed his behaviour makes me respect him more as a person. Kudos to you Clark if you are reading this.
Most of my rants about 20-something problems have little to do with the food I am actually writing about, except this time. Funnily enough I have a tendency to make risotto as a "hey let me cook you dinner" for new prospects. People seem to think it is really difficult so they get tricked into thinking I am amazing (which I of course am!). This is one I made for Mum and Dad the other day from issue 59 of Dish Magazine. It is by far my favourite risotto to date and definitely looks impressive when served up.
Beetroot, Blue Cheese and Candied Walnut Risotto
Loosely adapted from Dish Magazine.
Serves 6
3 large beetroot, peeled, halved and sliced into wedges 1cm thick
A few good sloshes of olive oil
Salt and pepper
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
2 cups arborio rice
1 onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
30g butter
1/2 cup red wine
6 sprigs of thyme (or 1 teaspoon dried thyme) plus sprigs to serve
7-8 cups hot vegetable stock
1 cup finely grated parmesan cheese
1/2 cup walnut halves or pieces
1/4 caster sugar
100g a good creamy blue cheese
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Scatter the beetroot slices over a lined baking tray. Slosh over the olive oil until each piece is lightly coated and sprinkle over the salt and pepper. Roast until the beetroot is tender, so around 40 minutes (depending on the thickness of your beetroot). Once cooked, transfer to a food processor, leaving 12 wedges behind for garnish, blitz into a fine crumb along with the balsamic vinegar.
In a small frying pan or saucepan, heat the caster sugar up until it has melted and begins to turn a golden colour. Throw in the walnut pieces and toss to coat in the liquid sugar. Remove from the heat and leave to set and cool.
While the beetroot is roasting, begin the risotto. Saute the onions and the garlic in some olive oil over a medium heat until translucent. Tip in the arborio rice and cook this while stirring for a further five or so minutes. Pour in the red wine and stir gently until it has been absorbed into the rice. Slowly start to add the stock one cup at a time, constantly stirring until it has been all but absorbed before you add another cup. Continue this until the rice is al dente and the mixture flows with your spoon rather than being thick and stodgy. Stir through the beetroot crumb until the bright magenta has coloured the risotto all the way through. Stir through the butter and the parmesan cheese so that it melts.
Serve up the risotto, garnish with the remaining wedges of beetroot, crumbled blue cheese, candied walnuts and a sprig of fresh thyme.
