Ron likes to experiment in cooking which makes sense. He was a chemist. We usually just eat the results. I try to get him to follow tried and true recipes when he wants to make something new and/or different/weird.
I asked “Why are you using sweet potatoes in the shepherd’s pie?”
He answered, “That’s what we have, but I could add cheese.”
I said, “No, I don’t think cheese would help”; even though I love cheese (I think I was possibly a mouse in another life). You can’t add cheese to everything.
So I tried the sweet potato shepherd’s pie and it wasn’t that bad. Actually, it was pretty tasty, and he had put cheddar cheese on the top of the sweet potato part (yum).
When we were first married Ron decided to put red wine in macaroni and cheese. That, I couldn’t even eat. It was really a mistake. Even Ron agreed.
Now let’s talk about the raspberry soup. Ron doesn’t really understand about making pie filling. My mom taught me from probably Betty Crocker’s cookbook, how to make pie filling with fresh fruits. Unlike Ron, Betty Crocker and I use measurements in cooking. Ron decided to just “wing it”. So even though he did add starch and sugar to the raspberries with not much water, he didn’t let this mixture boil down enough to thicken. He lacks patience which, I have found very useful in cooking. So he puts this “soup” into a baking dish and adds ingredients he thinks will make it into a cobbler.
Even after we cooled this dessert in the refrigerator after baking it, it didn’t thoroughly gel. I wasn’t that surprised. It did however, taste pretty good especially with vanilla ice cream.
Ron also still thinks he is cooking for five or more people. So we will be having leftovers for days and days. Sometimes we share his cooking with neighbors, but these dishes were just too strange to explain and share. If Elizabeth comes over she will try anything we cook. She is the main cook for her houseful full of kids, and gets pretty tired of making breakfast, lunch and dinner. She looks in our refrigerator and ask me “how old is this?” before she tries it.
Don’t get me wrong. I love it that Ron shops and cooks. I just wish he would leave some of the baking to me and Betty Crocker, but again he is not good at waiting for me to make something.
Ron:
In my defense, I am getting better at measuring, especially since I have had to for our cook book. I will admit to a certain joy in winging it, and am probably successful 9 out of 10 times. However, they only remember the 10nth. And the raspberry cobbler was delicious, and shared with neighbors, after another bout in the oven at lower temperature to drive off moisture. It thickened very nicely. Thank you very much!
I have just a quick note about marriage. You have to learn how to work out differences. However, sometimes those differences are what make your marriage fun. Crystal and I, over the years, have spent more time talking about and laughing about my experiments than a reasonable person would guess. It has never been a serious cause of contention. It’s what I call, adding flavor to our marriage. Pun!
