Appetizing Muse

Wilbert kindly prepared lunch today, much to my surprise. I walked in the door shortly after 11:30, when he already had the table set with simmered pork cutlets and steamed baby peas and carrots. The meal was delicious; the meat tender and lightly seasoned, with the vegetables coated in a nice butter sauce. By lunchtime I'm usually starved because I never eat breakfast, instead existing on two pots of coffee until the noon hour.

However, my dear husband had an ulterior motive behind his culinary offering today. For the last few weeks we've eaten mainly chicken dishes, along with several different types of soups and salads. We are studiously avoiding beef for the time being because of the mad-cow disease scare in our state, and I've even restricted Foofer to dog food without beef. But my husband is a definite carnivore – he loves meat, including the bits of fat and grease which go along with it.

During lunch he admitted to me he'd become desperate for a meal consisting of any meat other than chicken, so this morning while I was out he sped over to Safeway and bought a pork-shoulder roast. He sliced several cutlets from the roast, freezing some and slow-cooking the rest in simple seasonings: salt, black pepper and garlic. The vegetables originated frozen but were nicely steamed by the time they reached the table. His first plan had been to include macaroni and cheese, but knowing I would nix the starch he stuck with the pork and veggies.

Lunch was a wonderful treat. However, we're going back to meatless soups and healthy salads tomorrow. Until Wilbert becomes desperate again, that is.