This is not about cars. OK. On our first date nearly 15 years ago he picked me up in his old Honda Accord. I had owned one before. He opened my door, took my hand and the rest was history. Ten years later my husband and I sold the car to a colleague with a young family.
When there was a going-away party for us ten years after we met, I asked the owner if I could go out and say goodbye to the car that brought us together. As I looked in the window there was a baby seat in back and it was not the same but at least that going-away gift was not in vain.
For fifteen years my husband has brought me flowers, at first in vases and then loose. Of course the loose ones I had to arrange and place in a vase were delivered always while I had dinner on the stove.
Now I buy him flowers and the florists laugh. We have three arrangements this week, a pre-made floral bouquet for the dining table, a refreshed arrangement with millet and greens, two new mums and one hydrangea. In the guest (my and dog Zoe’s) bath we have a few yellow daisies and echinacia flowers.
Flowers and meals are vehicles for love and devotion. I took Zoe out at six, fed her and lifted her back up to the bed as J got back actually early last night from work, about 9:30 and wanted pasta.
When he came home last weekend he mentioned something I never thought about. He buys crazy ice creams for me like chocolate therapy. He loves cherry garcia. I can’t make a milkshake with anything with hard stuff like chocolate chips or nuts in it.
He told me that I only use a bit of plain vanilla ice cream as a vehicle for something else whether it be a milkshake with milk and chocolate sauce or a bowl with berries or my homemade blueberry sauce. He is correct. I hate to say that as it’ll go to his head!
Another vehicle arrived yesterday afternoon, a new grill. It is a flavor vehicle for his truly. First we have to clean off the balcony and I need to have Zoe’s beds washed. J annihilated about 1,000 spiders last week and I need to vacuum and toss the bag immediately, scrub the concrete and clean the windows.
A friend wants our old grill so I’ll clean it up (it’s ten years old) and deliver it and we’ll get propane and set up the new one. I got on the “spider duty” list for monthly outside only as I do not want pesticides indoors. I’ve found out that this year spiders are a serious issue. It is good that we get to share our old grill with a friend who doesn’t have one.
Speaking of vehicles the elevator is another and is down for days due to diagnostics. Being trapped in there with our recycling (luckily I had just dropped the dog at home after a walk) for an hour with the service company (OTIS) wanting me to solve their problem rather than sending a truck out was heinous on their part as they knew it was very shortly after hours and they would have to pay overtime. I was paying overtime, for me, being stuck, with my husband on a plane home and he’d requested a specific frozen pizza I was en route to purchase.
What to eat? I don’t know. It’s warm out and husband/dog are still asleep and we have to set up the balcony, grill et al I’m thinking pot roast. I’ve these great pappardelle egg noodles that go great with stews. Tomorrow I’m thinking Lamb Robert (Google it) as the marinade is fantastic. Get one part of the leg of lamb or the other or both together. Bone and butterfly it (or have your butcher do so). Marinate and place on the grill. Forget about placing it in a hot turned-off oven. Just cook to temp (the super-fast instant read thermometers have gone down in price from $100 and my husband ordered one that should arrive today).
Oh, the above dish is one of my brother’s favorites, Lamb Robert (RO-bear) that I haven’t made him for years. I also have not seen him for years since Mom died but we’ve a vehicle to do that as well. No, my old SUV is not going there. He calls the lamb dish “Sheep Bob,” always a jokester. Dee
Cooking with Dee 