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Showing posts with label Food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Food. Show all posts

Thursday, March 24, 2011

A Ray Of Sunshine

Well I'm still alive folks! I've been completely swamped under work and committee deadlines for the past couple of weeks, so all things non-priority have pretty much taken a back-burner in the meantime. Thankfully for my sanity I am emerging slowly from the ashes - the deadlines have all been successfully met, & I am beginning to see the light again. Hopefully I can resume blogging over the weekend.


I just came across this list of "74 Simple Things You Can Do To Brighten Your Spouse's Day" on my RSS list though & thought I'd share it with you all. It never hurts for any of us to even just be reminded to say something positive to our partner.


Those aeroplane pretzels ARE good for something after all!


1. Simply tell her one thing that makes her special to me!
2. I could surprise my husband by taking him to the Irish Festival this afternoon. 
3. Texting him at work and keeping him from getting bored in the minutiae of the day.
4. Declutter the bedroom 
5. Take the kids to the park while they are on Spring Break and let her have a nap.
6. Tell her how much I’m glad I married her (married 20 years).
7. I could have the house clean and dinner ready when he comes home after his long day at work 
8. Give him an encouraging note or email during the day.
9. Compliment her via text every hour on the hour all day!
10. I took the kids because she was sick. That way she could rest.
11. One thing I could do to brighten my spouse’s day is to buy her some flowers.
12. Dinner. Then dishes. She loves that!
13. A simple thing I could do (and actually just did!) to brighten his day is give him a call, unexpectedly, just to tell him I love him & wish him a great day 
14. One simple thing I can do?  Compliment her sincerely on something specific with her appearance.
15. One simple thing I could do to brighten her day is let her sleep in and get the kids ready for school.
16. I could call him and tell him I love and miss him while he’s at work.
17. My husband is easy. Smile at him and say, “I appreciate you, honey!” makes his day. I know I look grumpy much of the time with stress, pain and worries. I don’t smile enough. So when I do, it makes a difference!!
18. A simple thing I can do to brighten my husband’s day is a phone call to simply remind him that I love and appreciate him.
19. One thing I can do to brighten my husband’s day is to watch the BYU basketball game with him!   Go Cougs!
20. Send him a text message telling him what I’m looking forward to about our night tonight (especially if physical!) 
21. A three-minute hug.
22. Give her flowers for no special reason at all – apart, of course, from saying she’s the love of my life.
23. I could send him a text message letting him know I’m thinking of him & offer support as he prepares for his final exam tomorrow!
24. I could bring him coffee in the morning, pack his lunch and make his favorite dish for dinner.
25. Empty the dishwasher before I leave for work.
26. Call him and leave him a special voice mail!
27. Greet him by dropping my work bag and showering him with hugs and kisses…for the rest of the evening!
28. A quick 5-10 minute back rub can turn my wife around if she has had a bad day (or make her day great if she is having a good day already).
29. To brighten my wife’s day, I can clean the bathroom. She hates to do it!
30. Sending him a daily email while he is deployed with thoughts and moments from my day and letting him know I love him and I am proud of him.
31. I will give him a massage tonight, just because, without him having to ask.
32. Tell my wife how much I appreciate all she does for me, the kids and our home and that I pray for her constantly.
33. Send a text message of the kids saying Hi and that we love him!
34. Clean the toilets.  Sexy, huh?  Depends what I’m wearing while I do it – like a smile, for instance.
35. I could draw funny faces on the eggs in the refrigerator.  =)
36. One simple thing I could do to brighten my husband’s day TODAY is locate a copy of Boondock Saints for us to watch!
37. I can have dinner ready and a cheerful disposition when he comes home from work.
38. I could get out of bed on time so we can get the kids ready more quickly and not make him late for work (being late is his pet peeve and I push the limits every day).
39. To brighten my wife’s day I make her coffee in the morning.
40. Practical: Put away the laundry. Fun: Make out session.
41. I can tell him that I appreciate him and everything he does for us.  Sometimes I get in the habit of complaining about what he’s not doing, and I forget that telling him what he is doing is 10 times more important!
42. To brighten my spouse’s day I will wake up cheery, not grumpy and tell him how much I love him and how much he means to me.
43. Have dinner waiting for him when he gets home.
44. Drop by his office with a cupcake from the shop across the street on my lunch break.  Just so he knows I’m thinking of him.
45. Make Rice Krispie treats
46. My husband works night shift, so I buy a Red Bull (his fave pick me up) and put it in the fridge for him when I get in. 
47. Do his laundry while I’m working from home today!
48. I can thank him for his awesome management of our finances and his hard work to pay off our student loans so that we can start a family!  
49. Put a Love note (post it) on his computer screen.
50. When he came out of the bedroom to head to work (we were running late coming back from crew practice) – I had his toast ready, hot water in his tea thermos, and the tea was almost completed….
51. One thing I can do is let her know that I love through notes left around the house, emails, or flowers.
52. Say “I love you”.
53. Thank him for his support as I face challenges.
54. I will look at my wife’s eyes, give her a kiss and say I LOVE YOU.
55. One simple thing I sometimes do is pre-toothpaste his toothbrush.  It saves him just like 4 seconds in his morning routine but when I do it I always hear him say “awww” from the bathroom.  Haha.  It’s silly, but it’s something.  
56. I had to work today at our church office, and he has been away since Monday.  He’ll get home before me – so I have some delicious corned beef and cabbage cooking in the crockpot, so we he walks in the door he’ll be greeted with love cooking in the kitchen!
57. I can make him a cup of coffee. I love it when he does it for me.
58. Make him his favorite brown bread… and have it come out of the oven as he comes in the door.
59. Make him his lunch before he goes to work 
60. Be sure that your eyes light up when you see her.
61. Let him sleep in!
62. I could give my husband a back massage. I think I will. 
63. Today, I will keep my three year old awake in the afternoon, when he would normally want to nap.  This means an earlier, easier bed time for him, and more time in the evening alone for my husband and I.  I know he’ll really appreciate that, especially on a Friday.
64. To brighten my spouse’s day, I could write him a love letter telling him why I married him, and why I love him!
65. All I did was ask him if there was anything I could do for him today.  I have never done this before, but I wanted to let him know that I am here for him and I want to help him if he needs something.
66. I make my husband his favorite dinner and make sure to have warm water in his glass (his prefrence) when he gets home from work.
67. Wash the dishes…Naked!!!
68. Pray with him in the morning.
69. Clean the house
70. I do my best to write a quick love note on a sticky note and hide it somewhere that my wife will find it each day.
71. Write an encouraging sticky note for him to find when he gets in his truck to go to work!
72. Something unexpected that she usually does, like perhaps cleaning a bathroom?
73.Drive her to the training the morning and pick her up at the end of the day.  It’s always exciting to see her get off the train and come home with me.
74. The one thing I can do is set his slippers out by the couch when he comes home from working all night so he doesn’t have to go into the bedroom to get them before he relaxes for a while.


This list came from a post at 
www.engagedmarriage.com. If you haven't checked it out yet, it often shares some interesting relationship posts. 


What other things do you guys do to spread the love with your partner? 




Sunday, February 13, 2011

Here's To Bacchus



Eat, Drink & Be Merry
It's been a stressful time recently since M has not only had to relocate his life to upstate New York in the past couple of weeks, but he's also been awaiting his final divorce settlement. The latter finally happened this past week, so it's been a big relief to both of us. Even though it obviously wasn't me going through it, I have been amazed at how it affected me emotionally too, just as the bystander. I don't think I've ever personally known anyone going through a divorce before. Anyway, it was quite draining on me even, so I'm not only relieved for him that it's over now & he can move on to the next chapter in his life, but also that I can kind of move on too.

I picked him up at the airport on Friday & we enjoyed some quiet time celebrating at home that evening.



We didn't do anything of any real excitement on Saturday, but we did celebrate our first Valentine's Day together - two days early, I know, but we won't get to see each other then, so we fast-forwarded a little! 

We'd talked about going out since M wanted to take me out for dinner, but then I suggested staying home & cooking, & eventually we decided on a fondue night. I haven't done any fondue-ing for quite some time - I think the last time I had fondue was about 3 years ago for a birthday celebration. And I certainly haven't played fondue-chef myself for maybe a couple of decades!




For Starters
We had a merry old time anyway - we started out with a wine-based, cheese & avocado fondue. I used Gruyere, Emmentaler & Comte cheeses, & that turned out delicious. If anyone is interested in trying it out, this was my simplified version of a few that I came across online:

- Mix together 2 mashed avocadoes, 2 tablespoons of cornstarch, 1/4 cup of sour cream
- Warm up 1/2 cup of dry white wine & gradually add 1lb grated cheese, & keep stirring 
- Gradually transfer in the avocado mix & continue stirring

Other herbs/spices can obviously also be added according to preference - garlic, black pepper etc. And you also add extra wine or cheese to the mix if you need it to be thinned or thickened. For dippers, we had beef, crusty bread & veggies, but naturally "anything goes" with fondue!


For Dessert:
When it came to dessert, I couldn't resist a recipe that was shared recently by Mommie Cooks on her fabulous site. I love all things chocolate, & you just can't beat Toblerone! Our dessert dippers included chunks of pineapple, melon & muffin! Delicious…..

We had a lot of leftovers since we were just a twosome for dinner, but I can assure you there will be no waste!



Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Truffle Hound


On Sunday I cooked dinner for 2 dear friends, a married couple, who are leaving me this coming weekend as they move south on a new venture - leaving MA for new jobs in GA. I'd been promising them for ages that I'd cook haggis, so it was now or never! 

I spent a lot of time living in different parts of Scotland throughout my working life back in the UK, & I love all things Scottish - including haggis! A few years back I discovered a company, in Texas of all places, that sells canned haggis, & they have a convenient online ordering system too. 


I was a bit skeptical at first - dodgy enough risking buying haggis outside of Scotland anyway, but to order the canned stuff too. I was certainly taking risks at this stage. You can get a spectrum of haggis that ranges from "awful" to "fantastic" haggis, but let me tell you that this stuff from Texas is very fine indeed! I was just amazed at how good it was when I first ordered it a few years back, & I've used the same company multiple times now - it's been consistently good.  My friends loved their "haggis, neeps & tatties" dinner anyway, it was a big hit!




I also made some chocolate truffles for dessert & I thought I'd share the recipe with you - it's very simple, just how I like my recipes. I made way too many - I ended up packing most of them up to send in a care package to M. Naturally I saved a handful for me though! 








These are amazingly tasty treats for such a simple recipe.