Girl, I'm interrupted.

and a no-fail dinner for when I'm very, very distracted

I counted three interruptions in my first four minutes of sitting down in the home office this morning.

—Stuart came in to let me know he was watering the new willows (a last ditch attempt to keep the new transplants alive in the 95° heat wave we’re currently enjoying).

—William wanted to file a few complaints—his stomach hurt and he couldn’t find a clean drinking glass.

—Juliette wanted me to plead with Auntie Tye for a playdate on her behalf.

I’m not new to the interruptions. Rather, I consider them a way of life at this point.

While I was baking bread this past week, I lost track three times on how many cups of flour were being added to the mix — questions, requests, and comments kept flying at me like a cruel game of focus-dodge-ball. After multiple failed attempts to count and answer questions at the same time, I just stared into the abyss of the mixing bowl, not really knowing how to proceed with the mystery amount of ingredients staring back at me.

I haven’t put a large DO NOT ENTER sign on various doors as needed quite yet… but I can also see myself getting so desperate.

(The bread was a flop, by the way.)

Perhaps it’s the fact that I’m rarely not thinking about a houseful of people at this stage of life, but after each derailment I find it more challenging to get back on track. At some point, my will to proceed with the task withers away… lost in the void of text notifications, child requests, and wandering into a room wondering what the heck I’m there for.

It’s times like these in which I am very appreciative of a good glass of chilled white wine.

I am so very grateful for recipes that do not require my undivided attention, because it is, in fact, very, very divided.

Black Rice and Chickpea Salad with Tahini Yogurt

As featured in my Cooking Community

This is a classic no-meat entree for us, it’s colorful, bright, and delightful to the eyes! It’s also wonderfully versatile and can be made with all manner of vegetables that you happen to have on hand. Though the chickpeas and black rice are staples for us, even they can be substituted in with what you’ve got available. The constant must always be the tahini dressing - it’s perfect. And we don’t mess with perfection.