minestra di riso e lenticchi and "the costume"

it was very cold and snowy today . . a perfect day to make ministra di rise e lenticchi, a recipe from a cookbook i found last christmas in barnes and noble.

the nicest part about making this today, was that all the ingredients were already in the apartment . .  a can of peeled tomatoes, garlic, onion, fresh thyme, lentils and risotto rice . . oh, and a bay leaf.

it was perfect for when chanda came stumbling in from the cold at 7:30, exhausted from class and rehearsal.

after dinner we sat down to watch don quixote again while chanda worked on her costume for her dance competition whose semi-finals will be held in a week in philadelphia (i worked on finishing her twelfth night socks).

we no longer know if this dance competition is a good thing or a bad thing. i guess we just have to make it good. however, she's been feeling very nervous and the dance hasn't been as technically smooth as it should be. she feels she's capable of it being much better than it is, but she's been having aches and pains and muscle tightness and her limbs aren't behaving as she would like them to. we think she just has to keep on pushing on.

as you can see the costume is really lovely and at least we've been enjoying watching it float about the living room while watching don q (she had to sew on her hooks and eyes and fix her new pointe shoes).