How I won my husband’s heart - the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach

First Christmas with no snow. Gotta blame it to Climate change, or maybe I got used to the cold winters here. The ‘white Christmas’ wasn’t white this time! A horror for many. Not for me. Fortunately for me it was perfect. Cold as usual. No snow. Minus the usual greenery, all looked grey. Pine trees were the only ones endured enough to accept the low temperatures, sleet and freezing rain. Still standing and holding its leaves. The sun up in the sky was super bright, easily playing tricks on us, reminiscent of the wonderful warm summer days. I have learned after many years living here that sunny winter days are the coldest days, The cold goes through your bones. The colder it gets, the harder to breathe.

My sister in law and myself planned to have a Latin America cookout-from many years ago. We knew each other from high school, but being busy getting ready for our new step in our lives. Our concentration was for now, finish our studies and find a job. Later, when everything’s falling into place, happy you marry. We wanted to go slow, kids were not in the plans. Not yet.

The plan was to introduce our ‘men’ to the wonders of Latin American cuisine. 2 strong culinary traditions against 3 very strong willed motivated world recognized best cooking techniques and spiced meat processes to produce the best moist, juicy, soft meat dishes you could’ve ever eat. It was sea food, meat and grains array of variety food to enjoy and taste. 

And of course, to compliment the great food, the perfect wine, rose, white and merlot.

I decided to go with two every one recognizes:

PERUVIAN CUISINE 

Papas a la Huancaina:

- creamy yellow sauce on top of boiled potatoes, sliced, topped with cheese sauce(fresh white cheese with sautéed onions salted cookies, turmeric, oil, oil, salt and pepper to taste) all happy mixed in a blender until creamy), sliced boiled eggs. Lettuce and black olives as garnish to make the dish super eye catching snd tasty.

Ceviche:

Fresh caught fish (preferably white meat), lots of lime juice(I tried yellow - not same effect), julienned onions (to reduce the undeniable crying- use the already squeezed limes) the acidity of the limes works perfectly with the fish white meat) making the fish taste better. Salt and pepper to taste.

Rice Pudding:

White rice cooked in milk, cinnamon and sugar, with raisins and shredded coconut once finished cooking. Sprinkle cinnamon when served. 

COLOMBIAN CUISINE 

Arepas:

Corn bread cooked on top of the stove.

The simplest, fat free healthy tasty tortilla-type fat bread. Shape it into a flat round circle. Cook it on top of your grill or sauce pan.

Bandeja Paisa:

Chicharrón, white rice, fried egg, chorizo, beans, Morcilla, white corn arepa, corn and avocado.

The simplest dish to put together. Fried egg the usual way. Fried beef (of your choice), if lazy use canned beans, Colombian arepa(already explained) a quarter or half avocado, and corn. Better if corn: on the cob or bbq corn.

Every time I eat this dish a have to skip lunch

Natilla Colombiana

Yummy dessert made with corn starch, milk, cinnamon cooked on the stove after a loving and slow mixing until happy and thickened. Top it off with some dedicated grated coconut.

PORTUGUESE CUISINE 

Cod stewed - ‘Bacalao’:

Fish stew with potatoes, onions, eggs and black olives, cooked in vegetable oil. For this special dish, use vegetable oil to cook this dish. Cook in the oven. Garnish top with black olives, eggs and julienned onions.

Portuguese Egg Tarts:

Yummy dessert

Of course after enjoying all these wonderful dishes, the forced going on a diet had to be followed.

Nice way of starting a new year!

Great opportunity to start a new diet as well!

You might wonder how I managed to put all these dishes together.

That Christmas Day was a wonderful day of sharing experiences, get to know each other’s, and of course an opportunity to know better the man that later became my husband. 

I can say positively that I got to my husband’s heart through his stomach. I flirted him with his favourite dishes, interpreted them my way, won my sister’s in law heart and family. I’m happy with him now. I’m proud of having met such a guy that fully made my dreams come true.

Every now and then we get together for the family cook out contest. Sometimes we change the ingredients or come up with a new dish. The important part is that we spent time together. And as we all agree, great wonderful family time.

This event became the most waited event for us. Happy Birthdays we’re both as exiting as the cookout event. From this time on, we selected who was to be the next Christmas challenge host. 

Unfortunately the pandemic put this contest on hold. So far it has been done via internet or FaceTime. But the main ingredients, chatting and physical presence was not available from the list of ingredients. 

The laughing and cheering, the toasting sound of wine glasses anticipating the good venturing wishes for the New Year, became a distant echo of past reunions.

Hoping the distance echoes will become closer to us like back in the day, where the sharing of recipes, friendship, great stories animated the day and making this special cookout of different cultures grow stronger.

And of course, making my husband happier.

I’m proud of myself. 

I cooked all those dishes by myself. I shared them with back in the day were total strangers to me.

These strangers are not strangers to me anymore. This is my new family now.

It was a enjoyable experience to share. I love cooking, this was a way to show off my talent and curiosity. For me curiosity it’s what motivates me. And of course relaxes me. I was diagnosed with NMSOD (Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum Disorder) and lost my left eyesight. That didn’t stop me, the curiosity and passion I have keeps me trying new things.

Now I discovered a new hobby that keeps me busy- writing.