I do not like to clean. Therefore, many of my life choices have been made to simplify the clean up. When I cook, I search for simple recipes that include little processing and the least amount of pots to wash. Most of my meals are made with one pot. Some may call me lazy; I would not disagree. My husband is quite the opposite – he approaches a meal as one would approach an adventure. He loves to explore new recipes with wild abandonment, the more ingredients, processing, and kitchen tools being used the better. I have been the fortunate recipient of many fabulous meals that I would have never ever attempted on my own. On the other hand, I have washed more kitchen tools, pots, pans, for one meal of his than I could create for a weeks worth of my meals. Hey, but life is about trade offs, and I would rather enjoy his delicious meals and do the dishes than do all the cooking, no doubt about it.
When Mike cooks, I always offer help, but he usually says, “No Thanks.” However, one day, he actually said, “Yes.” It should have been my first clue that something was up. He asked me to stir the polenta with a wooden spoon in the same direction for 45 minutes while he was fixing another part of the recipe. After 10 minutes of stirring in the same directions, switching arms periodically, I asked if there were other options to making the polenta. He said, “Well, there was one recipe that took 10 minutes, one 30 minutes and one an hour; but I just wanted to see if the hour recipe was better.” Mike found a great cookbook that gives the history of the ingredients and recipes, it’s very interesting, “The Best of Northern Italian Cooking” by Hedy Guisti-lanhan and Andrea Dodi. It has great commentary – “Polenta is more than food; it is a way of life.” Sure, because you have to devote your life to making it. “Polenta is a mush made of cornmeal.” I have to agree with that, as unfortunately that night I realized I did not care for polenta and my arms reminded me of it for 3 days.