Feelin' the Love - On the dinner plate

Whether he will admit it or not, Fred loves to shop. He loves to chat with the employees, the customers...just about anyone who comes across his path. He will spend hours toiling over labels, samples, new ingredients or just plain shooting the breeze. This is one of the reasons I totally love him, but it is also the reason I try not to get hung up on time frames if I need ingredients for something I am hoping to make on a given day. He has gotten into the very helpful habit of asking me if I need something right away before he heads out. This has saved me much time waiting and has saved him from getting that heavy sigh and disappointed look from me. (I have been told more than once that it is stressful to shop for me by both Fred and my sister...when did I become the kitchen nazi/diva?)

The other day I asked Fred if he could pick a few things up a the store for me (4 things to be exact). My mom said he left the house with his list of 4 things and disappeared. Several hours later, Fred reappeared at the house with several full shopping bags. He had purchased quite a variety of fresh produce and no less than 3 different kinds of mustard. As he kept pulling little surprises out of the bags, I couldn't help but smile and think of how many other women wished this was going on in their kitchen with their man. The point of this blathering is that we had a lot of produce that we needed to use before it went bad. Which meant a whole lot of cooking needed to be happening while I was working a long string of 12 hour days. 

I did my best to whip up some simple dishes so that very little would go to waste, but by the 9th day, I was spent. I requested that Fred marinate some asparagus and throw some potatoes in the oven at 530pm so that I could make the rest of the dinner when I got home at 630pm. You might ask why I was making dinner rather than Fred? Fred is usually more than willing to cook occasionally when he is off of work and I am working like a crazy woman. However, Fred suffers from a chronic case of distraction. I am tempted to say ADD, but his is self induced. He always sees things that need to be done or things that interest him and off he goes. Often, when this happens, dinner will not materialize until close to 9pm. When you get up at 430am, this proves to be a bit problematic. I had fully intended on coming home and making the rest of the meal so an early bed time would be mine.

When I walked in the door, my adorable honey, my mom and my sis were all hanging out and there were some non-potato smells coming from the kitchen. I was so thrilled to learn that Fred et al had teamed up to make dinner, so that I could just relax. So NICE!!! Fred not only baked the potatoes and marinated the asparagus, he steamed some wonderful veggies (carrots and onions from our garden were included) and grilled the asparagus. My sister made some beautiful Quinoa Stuffed Peppers she found on Vegetarian Times website. She left the cheese off of a couple so they would be vegan. Mom (even though she is here "on vacation") has been pulling dish duty on a regular basis this week. To say I was grateful would be a horrible understatement. It was such a nice treat and truly awesome. I love my family!!! I hope you all get to feel the love this way soon. It does the soul good!