The Way to My Heart

When a couple first marries, each person has their hopes, wants, and needs. Observing the relationships of friends and family, roles between a husband and wife are different in every situation.The funny thing is I had hoped for many years that I would find a woman a bit more domestic like my mother. Today one of my hopes and wants came true. Mary Handy cooked for me all day so she doesn't have to cook during her school week. I didn't need to worry about anything to eat. All I had to do was the dishes, it was great. She made berry poppyseed muffins, Waffles, honey butter, cajun chicken, and pasta. I am tickled pink. I may need to go to the Gym tomorrow.

I hadn't eaten the Cajun Chicken dinner since the first time she had made it for me over a year and a half ago.  At this time, Mary and I had been on a few dates. The night before we talked over my concern, which was our age difference. She was still 17, and I had a decade on her. I knew that some of her family did not like the situation. Honestly, I did not want to be in this situation. I had decided that things were pretty much over. I had dated storms, and felt no attachment to Mary Elizabeth Webb. I figured she would just let me slip out the door.

During work I received a phone call from this sweet, high pitched girl. "Want to come over and help me make dinner," Mary asked.

Surprised that she called after the talk we had the previous night, I paused for a moment thinking about our situation. Then realized that I had nothing else to do. "Well, I don't have anything planned. Sure, I'll come over."

I came over to find Mary already started on our dinner. This sweet, petite girl knew how to cook, and was more than willing to cook for me. Nobody else was home, and I figured this would be a romantic evening. I continued to question whether or not I should further this relationship. However, she was doing just what I wanted, cooking me a dinner after a days work.

Before I knew it, the door flung open and in came a troop, or so it felt as Mary's family almost doubles the size of mine. Four younger brothers, an older brother, her parents, and even her brother and sister-in-law had showed up to spectate the situation. I felt very uneasy because this was my first time meeting the whole family. Mary's older siblings and mother helped her finish up the last of the dinner. Before I knew it, I was sitting down at the table in what felt like an awkward silence with ten pairs of eyes starring at me.

Mary brought in her Cajun Chicken and Rice dish, and we blessed the food. Everyone was eating in silence, still looking at me. Her dad asked me a few questions. Then he silently ate. I took a big scoop of her Cajun Chicken and acted just as intent on eating as everyone else. When I put a big fork full of rice into my mouth, I could hardly keep it in. It was like the rice had taken a bath in the Great Salt Lake before ending up on my plate. The peculiar thing was that nobody had said anything about it. Instead, they were just eating with a few long gazes at me. So I joined them and did not say a word about it. Finally Mary tried her dish and said what I had been thinking,

"This is nasty! What happened to the recipe? I swear I followed the recipe." Relieved, I didn't feel obligated to finish my plate. It turned out she had double the salt by accident. Her married brother spoke up and said that no one wanted to tell her how terrible the dinner was because they were afraid of hurting her feelings. She was embarrassed, but found something else to feed the family with the help of her mom.

I teased her about that incident many times over the course of our courtship with comments of her salty chicken. She vowed she would never cook for me again and I'm so glad she changed her mind!

That night, I felt like things could not have gotten worse, so I had nothing to worry about. My fear of her family, over a year and a half later, is finally gone and her Cajun Chicken recipe tonight was not salty. I guess it's true,

The way to a man's heart is through his stomach.

Good Night!
Mr. and Mrs. Handy
p.s I love Mrs. Handy

Cajun Chicken & Rice

4 chicken drumsticks, skin removed 4 chicken thighs, skin removed 2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning (Creole seasoning is a good substitute, it already has salt in it, so eliminate all added salt) 3/4 teaspoon salt, divided (tip: be careful not to put too much salt) 2 tablespoons vegetable oil 1 can (about 14 ounces) chicken broth 1 cup uncooked rice 1 medium green bell pepper, coarsely chopped 1 medium red bell pepper, coarsely chopped 1/2 cup finely chopped green onions 2 cloves garlic, minced 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme 1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly coat 13×9-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray; set aside. 2. Pat chicken dry. Sprinkle both sides with Cajun seasoning and salt. Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken; cook 8 to 10 minutes or until browned on all sides. Transfer to plate; set aside. 3. Add broth to skillet. Bring to a boil, scraping brown bits from bottom of skillet. Add rice, bell peppers, green onions, garlic, thyme and turmeric. Stir well. Pour into prepared baking dish. Place browned chicken on top. Cover tightly with foil. Bake 1 hour or until chicken is cooked through.