Shake in your Boots, Emeril!

We often hear stories of women, who are a wonder in the kitchen. We probably all know somebody's grandmother, who makes wonderful fried pies, or a mother who makes the best brownies in town, or a sister whose pasta primavera is to die for. I'm proud to say that I have a man in my life, who can put all these women in his pocket, and can even compete with Emeril himself.

When I was attending college, I was one of those women to whom kitchen work was a four-letter word. I never liked to cook, clean or do anything domestic. As far as cooking was concerned, I could barely boil water. My main focus was school and my upcoming career, and everything else was secondary. Since I lived with my boyfriend at the time and never cooked, eating out was a way of life for us. That is until my boyfriend got tired of it and took up cooking.

"This eating out is costing too much," he said one day, "and we should be eating healthier anyway. I think I wanna try to cook at home some."I didn't think much of his comment at the time, but to my surprise he put down his beloved jazz guitar and picked up the cookbook. In a few weeks‚ time, he was producing tasty rice pilafs, potato pancakes and healthy salads. Sounds impressive, right? He impressed me, but did not stop there. Next he purchased some nutrition textbooks and buried his nose in them for a few weeks. He got on food sites and explored the nutritional values of various types of diet. He literally got it down to a science. In the end, we completely got away from red meat like beef and pork and started eating more fish, lean chicken and vegetarian dishes. Once again, I was amazed.

Every meal he makes now is carefully proportioned, as to how many carbs and protein it contains and how much fat and sugar we eat each day. My colleagues at work are green with envy, let me tell you. Well, it has its drawbacks also. Have you ever had your husband tell you that you can't have another piece of chocolate cake (that he'd made!), because you've exceeded your fat limit for the day? Welcome to my world.

Baking was next on the list. Hubby started visiting our local bookstore and copying choice recipes from baking books. Within a few months he was creating breads from scratch from various parts of the world, including dill bread, sourdough bread, and Irish soda bread, not to mention cakes and pastries such as popovers and crumpets. Every time one of our friends or family has a birthday, he makes a cake that would turn heads and make the guests beg for more.

Well, what can I say, I have it good. What other woman has a personal gourmet chef at home, and one that loves what he's doing? Plus, making all that food, one would think he'd become plump and fat, but on the contrary. He keeps his muscled self in shape by working out daily. He reminds me of Kronk in Disney's Emperor‚s New Groove. If you don't know who I'm talking about, look up Kronk, and you'll picture my hubby. Hubby hasn't started a restaurant yet, neither does he have his own cooking show on Food Network, but I feel that'll come eventually. Believe it or not, hubby doesn't think he does anything all that great.

"I just want us to eat healthy, babe," he tells me.

I'll settle for that.