Yesterday a package came for Joey and I called to let him know it came. I asked him what was in it and he told me to open it and this is what I found:

I was shocked. He then told me that he pre-ordered the book a month or so ago. What a nice surprise.

Many people who know me, know that I love to cook and try new recipes. Since being home on maternity leave I have done a lot more baking. I have found that I enjoy baking muffins. They don’t all come out the same size (which is probably the number one reason I don’t like to bake – I don’t have the patience or skill to have nice looking baked goods) but they all have been pretty tasty.

Recently I tried a new cookie recipe (Apple Cookies with Caramel) and I didn’t want to make 3 dozen like the recipe called for (again, because I don’t have the patience – cookies are the worst) so I cut the ingredients in half. While I was putting the cookies on the cookie sheet I thought to myself “these look really runny” . Then I started thinking about why they would be runny and realized I used 2 eggs instead of 1. Opps. I don’t know how I messed that up. Anyway. The cookies came out looking horrible but they were (very) moist and edible. In retrospect, I should have just poured the batter into an 8X8 pan and called them Apple Bars.

Well, tonight Joey was nice enough to sit with E while I attempted to make another new recipe, Ricotta Gnocchi, a recipe I saw on “Cook Like an Iron Chef with Michael Symon” .

Here is a picture of the gnocchi I made from scratch:

and the finished product (swimming in butter – how could it not be good?):

Well, I tried a bite, like every good chef does before serving their food, and learned that I am not even close to Iron Chef material. It tasted awful! I must have used too much lemon zest or got some pith (the white stuff under the peel) in the dish. The gnocchi was bitter! Yuck.

Joey didn’t believe me, so he tasted it and he agreed. Then he asked me how we could fix it.

I was heart broken. I had no idea how to fix it. I ruined dinner and wasted money. Good thing Little Caesars is close (and cheap) so I asked Joey if he wouldn’t mind getting us a pizza. He was gone longer than I thought he would be and this is what he came home with:

The card reads:

Sweetheart – I love how hard you work to make us delicious food. It’s okay to get it wrong once in a while. Hope these cheer you up.

I got tears in my eyes. What a great (and understanding) husband I have.

Do I dare attempt gnocchi again?