Perhaps he’s right. Perhaps I don’t appreciate good food. But wait, that dinner we had at Waterboy to celebrate my husband’s 35 birthday? We went on the Thursday that they do the prix fixe meal and coq au vin was on the menu. Run of the mill, you might think. If you weren’t there. It was the most amazing thing. I’d always thought of coq au vin as the dish you make when you need to impress someone who doesn’t know any better (and maybe this was what they were doing), but here’s the point: I didn’t care. So wonderful I couldn’t believe it. I just ate. And let me tell you I wolfed it down, and couldn’t help it, it was that good.

And when I called my husband from work and told him I was craving curry, not thai curry, indian curry, he said, “How would you know, you’ve never had either?” I didn’t know, I just knew I needed indian curry. (promting many “are you preganant” questions from co-workers)
He looked in the phone book and found a place called Pooja Indian Grill, a we headed there right after work. It was in a mini-strip mall, and I had the indian version of budweiser as a drink. It was just spicy enough, not so spicy that I couldn’t taste every single thing. There were only a few other tables occupied, and I wondered why it wasn’t busier, because this place was clearly heaven. (a few months later we ran into one of my co-workers and her girlfriend there. I’d never really known her that well, but the place became an odd bonding moment. Good food does that.)

Then there’s the chicken marsala at Nugget Market in West Sac. Yes, it’s a grocery store. I dare you to try the Chicken Marsala and NOT propose marriage to one the chefs (I did, he was very uncomfortable) If I could drink that sauce I would.

When good food disolves away a bad work day, and rainy weather, and a c in your homework assignment…..well then, I’d say it’s appreciated.
But what do I know, I’m not a chef. I’m just a woman who likes to make lasagne for friends, because they like it, and it makes them happy, and I like to feed them. Food is not sky diving. Good food is meant to nourish.