A little late, but the thought was there

First of all, happy anniversary to my super great husband.  I happen to know that he doesn't look at this blog all that often, so it's a good thing I told him happy anniversary on the actual day.  But I'm just giving a shout-out to a very kind, very patient man.  He has been dealing with a grumpy, tired pregnant lady for the past 6 1/2 months, and he deserves a medal.  One example I can share of his kindness is that he let me choose our new mattress at Ikea, which I kind of insisted was perfect.  Then, when we brought it home and I had slept on it for a few days, then sat up in the middle of the night, crying in frustration at the horrible hard new mattress, he immediately got the foam mattress topper from the spare room and put it on my side of the bed so I could get some sleep.  With no complaints.  He never pointed out that I was the one that chose the stupid mattress in the first place, or that maybe a lot of my lack of sleep has to do with the giant belly I'm hauling around.  He quietly helped fix the problem.  Thanks, honey.

For our anniversary we went on a date (HOORAY), and went to a fancy restaurant in downtown Ogden called Jasoh!  Yes, the exclamation point is part of the name.  They have two sections, with two separate menus: casual dining and snooty dining (I can't remember what they really called it).  We chose snooty, and here are a few items from their menu:  Himalayan Yak with Quinoa, Lamb Loin with curried asparagus, and Quail stuffed with Andouille sausage.  To name a few.  We felt like total rubes while we were ordering, because we had to ask what buerre blanc meant (butter sauce) and what gastrique was (a reduction sauce).  It was tres chic.  Tim got adventurous and ordered the quail.  I was pondering ordering a chicken dish, but once he stuck his neck out, I decided to go with the Duck with chocolate gastrique.  Wow, was it good.  It was on a bed of penne pasta with a creamy fontina sauce.  I ate around the wild mushrooms (a mushroom is still a slimy mushroom), but the chocolate gastrique combined with the moist and tender duck meat and the creamy sauce was TO DIE FOR.  I was seriously disappointed that right now I can only fit a tiny amount of food in my stomach before I'm full.  I will be going back again and ordering the duck again and eating every last bite of that dish.  Or maybe I'll try the yak.

This culinary experience is responsible for my new TV addiction, which is the Food Network.  I was idly flipping channels the other day while Tim was making a bunch of phone calls, and happened upon Food Star.  It caught my eye because there was a really nervous-looking chef presenting a very complicated-sounding dish to Courtney Cox.  Because of my amazement at the deliciousness of the combo of chocolate, fontina and duck, I became fascinated with the combinations the chefs were creating for their dishes.  The chefs had to present their dishes to the cast and crew of Cougartown, and it was quite enjoyable to listen to their critiques of the food.  I am a meat and potatoes, mac and cheese kind of girl, and have never been drawn to fancy food.  It has never looked good to me, and usually when I hear what's in a fancy dish I think, "Gross!" and eat my grilled cheese sandwich.  But now I am convinced that, even if it sounds wrong, or looks weird, it just might be the tastiest thing I've ever tried.  And watching chefs come up with those recipes is now fascinating to me.  I'm not saying I'm going to start cooking fancy at home, at least not right now.  Just like I'm not going to become an amazing hip hop dancer or lose 100 pounds right now.  I am going to watch other people do those things on TV.  If, after this baby is born and I have lost that 100 pounds, I am motivated enough, maybe I'll learn a few fancy dishes to impress guests when they come for dinner.