Wonderful tonight...

I don't know about you, but I always find that I cook better if I have an alcoholic beverage within reach of the hob.  I have no idea why.  Perhaps the alcohol makes me less stiff-knickered with my culinary attempts, making me more Keith Floyd than Gordon Ramsey.

I am cooking for the husband this evening.  The sight of him with the pathetic cheeseboard earlier in the week has remained planted firmly in my head, and roving around Aldi this afternoon, the guilt got the better of me.  And herein lies the problem.  When the last of the ankle biters vacated the premises, the husband said to me that he no longer wanted me to cook dinner for him every evening, and that he would be quite happy to forage in the fridge. There have been a number of times when I know he has regretted ever saying this (usually when the fridge is empty) but fair play to him, he has stuck to this decision quite stoically.

I used to be a really competent cook, and would host dinner parties often.  When the children were still children, there was always a hot meal ready for them and they all knew that whatever was going on in our lives, the evening meal was sacred.  But now, when cooking seems to be reserved for Christmas and the occasional Sunday roast (if one/some/all kids are in residence) I just don't do it anymore and my confidence in my ability seems to have waned.

So back to Aldi and the meal for the husband.  For some reason, I had decided that I would do individual Beef Wellingtons, so armed with my phone and a recipe I trawled around the store and picked up what I needed along with everything else needed for the week.   I know I always say how important it is to avoid the middle aisles in Aldi, but today in particular, it was a sore point as it was all fitness based this week.  Seeing how much space was taken up with rowing machines and cross trainers, I am sure that the shop workers are very keen for next week's special buys and hoping that it might be something more sensible (and more compact).  I'm not saying it was a squeeze, but at one point I abandoned my trolley at cheese to go and grab some eggs.

On the way home, I called the husband and asked him what time he'd be home as I 'was cooking him something special for dinner'.  Well he blathered on about stopping at a friend's house en route, and then it went silent.

'Did I hear you properly?  You're cooking?'

After I'd convinced him that it was definitely me on the phone, and not some phone pranker getting his hopes up, he ended the call with, 'I'm really looking forward to this.  It's going to be wonderful'.

Might I remind you that we're still in Dry January.  

Wonderful might be pushing it.

Even adequate might be over egging it a bit...