wha� hoppen?
October 27, 2009

Whew. I actually passed out last night. I remember sitting on the edge of the bed at around seven, and then it was about two hours later. Spouse said he came to see where I�d gotten too, and when he saw me, he just took off my glasses, pulled the blanket over me, and shut the light.

Since I was up at9:15, I took the dog outside, & had a smoke, then set up the coffee pot for morning and went back to bed. I figured that I wouldn�t be able to get back to sleep, or that I�d wake up two a.m. again, but apparently I reeeeeally needed to catch up, because I went right back out--and stayed that way till 4:17 a.m. Consequently, I didn�t actually get to post yesterday�s entry until this morning�but I feel SO much better for the sleep.

At least I did until I got to work, realized they were having a department-wide food day, and I was going to be in stinky crock-pot HELL all day. I still feel vaguely nauseated, and I�d love to skip dinner, but after brow-beating Spouse into buying and making some chicken for dinner (for once!), I dare not. At least it�s a very simple and bland meal�baked chicken breasts, low-sodium rice pilaf (from a box mix), and steamed mixed vegetables. One of Spouse�s specialties, those bland, beige meals.

I really cannot stress this enough: His mother was a HORRIBLE cook. And he tries so hard. But that�s the kind of stodge he grew up on, so that�s his comfort food.

On the positive side of his cooking, though�I have this to say. His slow-cooker spare ribs rocked the house. With red potatoes and green beans in rosemary-butter sauce, and yeast rolls hot from the oven, yet. The man is learning.

Well, yeah�the rolls were frozen from a package, the potato-green bean thing was a steamer bag from Green Giant, and the BBQ sauce was a finely balanced blend of Open Pit Original and K.C. Masterpiece�

The thing is, it all worked. Tasted great. And there is no law against convenience in MY house, that�s for sure. As long as the quality is good and the component dishes work together, I have no problem with shortcuts. And he�s getting a LOT better at figuring out which dishes complement each other. It�s taken him 26 years, but he�s finally figured out how to plan menus without any input from me and get some very nice meals on the table. They aren�t all culinary gold (and I�m going to keep plugging away at the poultry and fish thing), but bless him, he�s trying.