Did my parents miss a trick?

Suzi and I hadn’t been dating very long when we went out to dinner with my father and brother.

Even in that relatively early stage in our relationship, she knew that it was a requirement to comment on my distaste for vegetables and salads Every. Single. Time.

So when I moved or refused whatever greenery was on offer, she said something to my father, and he replied that if he really wanted to, he could still make me eat it.

I, in my late 20s at the time, didn’t dare say anything.

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Every problem deserves a good solution

Suzi had a problem.

She had a bunch of apples that had just about reached the end of the line.

Her solution? Apple crisp.

Ask … and you shall receive

For as nice as it will be to eat in a restaurant without worry, there is one thing I’ve liked about ordering food and picking it up.

Well, actually two things … not waiting for tables is nice … but unless we’re getting pizza and I sometimes have to call, the thing I like is that we order online.

Which means I get to set up my order exactly how I like it.

The week gone by — Jan. 10

“What do you want to get for lunch?” (Note: This can also apply to dinner.)

“You know what I like, so whatever is fine.”

”Do you want Italian? Chicken? Burgers?”

Just when you think you’ve heard all the Christmas music

The yelp caused me to bolt off the couch and hurry to the kitchen.

Suzi was making a buche de Noel, the last of her weekly pre-Christmas treats. Even though I had warned her not to expect it to be as effortless or perfect as Mary Berry’s Yule log, the fact of the matter is I’m married to a perfectionist, so I wondered what kind of disaster I was walking into.

It wound up having nothing to do with the baking.

Bloggers at the feast

Maybe you missed out on this year’s office holiday potluck because you haven’t been in the office in eight months.

Perhaps your entire Thanksgiving fest with friends and family has gone kaput.

Little things that mean a lot when traveling

I once had pancakes in the Shannon Airport.

They weren’t diner-quality, nor what Suzi makes on our griddle at home — even though she doesn’t think hers are very good — but they were perfectly fine.

And since that an early morning flight from Ireland to Boston and the time-zone change it entailed were probably going to wreak havoc on my eating schedule, I can appreciate that they were more filling than whatever I would have otherwise picked up at the coffee shop.

When you need stuff, you need it

Oyster crackers and shaving cream … oyster crackers and shaving cream.

No, it’s not the oddball title of my latest venture (although …), but two things  I’d need before Suzi did the proper grocery shopping.

And since my hair had reached its gradually-then-suddenly stage, going to get it cut would be prime opportunity to duck into the nearby grocery store … if I remembered.

Oyster crackers and shaving cream … oyster crackers and shaving cream.

A mirror in the restaurant

I feel like I know that guy over there.

I don’t know him personally, on account of never having met him.

But make no mistake … I feel like I know him.

Bread: the ultimate challenge

Suzi opened the oven door, sliding the tray inside.

Everything —the Bolognese, the chicken parm with homemade sauce, the red velvet cupcakes for Valentine’s Day, the chicken tarragon in the cast iron pot — was all the prelude to this.

If all went well, approximately 35 minutes later, she’d be pulling out two tasty loaves of honey whole-wheat bread.