The Black Meal
When my husband and I were dating I was still learning to cook and he liked it when I practiced making meals for him. He would often say how much he loved to cook too, and one day he said he'd like to cook a meal for me. “Oh boy,” I thought “A man who cooks!”
So not long after he brought over some ingredients and took over my kitchen. He said he didn't need any help, that I should just relax while he took care of everything. “This is so great!” I thought and wandered off to leave him to it.
Even with my limited kitchen skills I had to wonder why it was taking him so long. Was he making something really complicated? He was making a lot of noise in there. And then there was a lot of silence. Too curious to wait any more I went to see what was going on.
He had just set our plates on the table. I sat down and looked to see what he had made. Ah, no, nothing complicated, it was a simple hamburger patty, fried potatoes, and green peas. Except that the hamburger patty was black. The potatoes were black. The green peas were mostly still green, but the ones that had stuck to the bottom of the pan, yes, they were black too.
“It's the thought that counts,” I reminded myself, and took a polite bite of potato. Then a tiny taste of the burger. And stared at the peas.
How peas are supposed to look.
I looked up at him. He was watching me. “Um,” I said, “everything is so, um, well... black!”
“Yes,” he said, “I'm sorry.”
“But I thought you said you could cook!”
“No,” he said. “I said I loved to cook. I just don't know how.”
And then we laughed and laughed, put the pans in the sink to soak, and went out to find something edible.
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Wonderfully funny story. I think its sweet he tried... And also that you were so understanding.
Thank you!
Remember that I was still learning myself. And really, if you had been there you would have had to laugh too!
Very funny story @donna-metcalfe I watched the Frugal Gourmet all the time when I first got interested. He always talked about the value of the fellowship in the kitchen was more important than the food.
Thank you. Yes, it is fun to cook with others and to share a meal. Our kitchen is small and not set up for multiple cooks but my husband will sit at the kitchen table and keep me company that way. It is a good part of our day.
So, did you learn to cook from that show?
I liked to watch Alton Brown and his show Good Eats. But I have only cooked one or two of his recipes. I taught myself to cook by borrowing books from the library!
haha
I just kind of learned to cook by helping others cook. I don't cook much. Just try to help when there are things going on in the kitchen.
Hey, that is so cool! I never knew that Alton Brown was inspired by the Frugal Gourmet! So you were in excellent company!
Learning by watching and helping (and tasting!) is a very good way!
😂😂😂😂 ROFL... what a memory😉 so what about now, have he ever tried to cook for you again? Remind me to my hubby when he prepared the manual toasted bread for me😂 burnt out and he said he mean it.
He did! Soon after we were married he went to his mother, who is an excellent cook and asked for a recipe he could prepare. He came back with 'Italian Delight' and he did cook it for me and it was very good. I still make it often even though there are a long list of ingredients and isn't in anyway 'Italian' that I can tell. ;-)
However - that was the one and only meal he has cooked for me. I guess he thought that he had proved he could do it and that was enough. If he feels I need a break from cooking he will pick up something already prepared or order a pizza. But recently he has asked me to show him how to make a few things, just in case I get sick again, so we won't have to survive on 'fast food' only!
I hear burnt toast is good for you. I'm not convinced that is true! But bless him for trying!
😂😂😂 that what's love can do 😉 they are trying to do their best occasionally in the kitchen 😊 so what happened to the peas, black patty and the rest of the meals at that time? Did he ordered other food.. or you both just full with laughing all night long?
Oh, that meal had stopped being 'food' before it went on the plate! It was bits of charcoal and really the peas weren't worth saving either so it all went in the trash. I forget what we finally ate that night but yes, lots of laughing. When his mother heard the story she laughed as hard as we did!
Talking about charcoal... 😂 I watched a news few weeks ago that somewhere in your country, I forgot the exact place, san fransisco or new york.. charcoal coated foods became a new trend😯 aahh if only people knew how the haiti people eat dust biscuit to survive 😢
Oh dear, I don't know what dust biscuits are but they don't sound very tasty.
The craze for blackened foods with lots of spices came years later! I think it started in Louisiana - a version of Cajun-style cooking. I don't think that 'blackened potatoes' ever caught on though. ;-}
I like to have my husband read the posts I make about him and he was just in here reading it and laughing. In fact he started laughing when I told him it was about 'The Black Meal'. He said the only part I left out was that there were blackened onions in with the potatoes. Good to know our memories still match!
Well.. the dust biscuit is made because there's not enough flours to make bread, so they use dust and mix it with some low quality flours they had😢 I cried when I read the article at that time.
What a memory to share 😂 I think this is the right time to enjoy the laugh again, so glad that I have camera in my phone.so I can captured and save anything to show it as the evidence.
That is what I was afraid it was. Still starving but less the feeling of an empty stomach. I pray for them and even more appreciate and bless the food we have.
LOL, awwww. Did you ever teach him to cook?
No, I never did. That might be changing since he's asked if I'd teach him to make a few things, which I gladly will. To give him credit if he's hungry and I'm not around he doesn't complain. He knows how to heat up a can of beans!
Awesome story.. you should put into COM contest.
COM as in comedy?
LOL, you might be right about that!