"I PUT MY FOOT IN IT"

Ms Jennings down the street always said when she cooked she put her foot in it, I was at her house as she was preparing to make a special dinner for her husband. Mr Jennings was working a double shift and was do home by 7:00. She wanted this to be extra special because they were also celebrating their 50th anniversary and did not feel like going out tonight since he was going to be tired and ready to eat. She was always happy when she cooked. Especially for Mr Jennings. Its just the two of them and eating at home is their greatest moments.

And Mr Jennings meals are ready when he gets home. Today will be the best ever.

Mrs Jennings was preparing a five course meal. I asked her if I could be of any help. My name is Lindsy and I have known Mrs Jennings since I was a little girl and she was always preparing dinner for Mr Jennings because she felt he was a hard worker and her food was the best around. And well he loved her cooking. This dinner was different and she wanted it to be perfect and had been planning this for weeks.

She has been keeping this from him ad he thinks they are going out to eat and has no idea that they were staying home and she is going to put her foot on this meal. Mrs Jennings says this at every meal but this one was so special. She wanted to make sure she does everything just right.

I need to go to the store and pick up a few more things. Would you like to come with me, oh yes I would love too. Maybe I can learn a thing or too when I get married. Mrs Jennings laugh and we were off to the store. Shrimp and pasta, cheeses and sauces. I need basil all the seasoning for my sauce. Flour, sugar for the cake and I need pans. I do not plan on doing a lot of washing after this meal.

When we returned she had everything in order for her five course meal. She said first we are going to start with a salad. If you would cut up the lettuce for me I would appreciate it, I got spinach and cucumbers, olives, tomatoes, and to top it off cheese. He likes his salads with everything. His way of saying, at least I had something healthy. We both laughed and I started cutting all of the vegetables for the salad.

She wanted to get the desert out of the way before she started the main course. Mrs Jennings was making a cream cheese lemon pound cake. I helped her whip that together and made the frosting to go over it when it was done. The kitchen smelled amazing as it always does when I come to visit her. The pasta dish with tomato sauce, basil and lots of cheese looked amazing. She made small meat balls to go over the noodles when she finish mixing the sauce with the pasta.

This year she wanted to add something different. She made a shrimp cocktail that look absolutely fantastic. I would love to stay for dinner but this was their big day. I told Mrs Jennings to save me a doggy bag and we laughed. She made a dipping sauce to go along with the shrimp. She placed the shrimp around the glasses and sat them in the frige to keep them cold.

The last course was the different cheese and olives and crackers while dinner was being prepared and kept warm. She knew Mr Jennings would be ready to eat as soon as he walked in the door. She wanted to greet him with the cheese and cracker tray and surprise him for the rest of this fabulous dinner. Mrs Jennings wanted to plan this just right.

Mrs Jennings said this was the best anniversary they have spent together. He was coming close to retirement and they would be spending more time together and she could have a lot more of these special dinners.. There was also ice cream to go with the cake, she almost forgot about that.

She was coming to the the end of the preparation for this special dinner and it smelled wonderful and tasting everything to make sure it was just right was great. Mr Jennings was on his way home and this was a surprise. I helped her decorate the table. With fresh flowers and candles and things were working for the better.

Salad was placed on the table and the cheese and cracker tray by the front door.

I went home so Mrs Jennings could get herself together and set the mood the way she remembered it so long ago. As I was heading out the door, I asked her to please let me know how the dinner was. I will and we said our good byes.

A couple of days later I dropped in on Mrs Jennings, she told me how the dinner went. Mr Jennings was so surprised and he loved everything that was prepared for his close to retirement dinner but the anniversary was the most important part of this special meal.

We talked for a long time. She said he came in and she greeted him at the door and told him to close his eyes. When he opened his eyes, candles was all around the house and the meal was hot and ready on the table.

They had the cheese and crackers first and everything came there after.

This was nothing new for her to fix a beautiful dinner for her husband but this day was a day to remember. A day that reflects on how much they have shared so many meals together and how many more they will share.

The salad, cheese and cracker tray, pasta and meatball dish, and the cream cheese pound cake along with two scoops of ice cream.