The Little Things

The other night Samuel and I went to our favourite restaurant Hakkasan and because we are such massive food obsessives we decided to go all out and order two starters, three mains, one stir fry veggie dish, one fried rice and one steamed rice (later followed by dessert).  We should have realised that this was pure gluttony and stopped ourselves, but we were floating in food heaven and it was simply impossible to resist. As I gave my order to the waitress, I noticed her eyebrows moving higher and higher before she exclaimed, "this is too much!". I assured her, "don't worry we'll eat it". And we did.

Samuel and I were in deep conversation when the waitress walked over and started pushing another table up against ours so we were now sitting at a table for four. It suddenly clicked that this was to accommodate the sheer volume of food we had ordered; basically it was a subtle way of saying we were eating for four people, not two...how rude. Samuel and I just turned to each other and giggled about what massive pigs we are and for  a moment I just remembered how much I have truly met my match in Samuel; he loves food with the same immeasurable passion as I do, he finds it endearing that I eat like someone who has just come off hunger strike, and he's the only person who can eat me under the table, or in this case tables....all those little things that mean so much.

I have learned not to take for granted those little things; how Samuel has a drink waiting for me when I get home, how he surprises me with my favourite white chocolate buttons, how he pulls off my boots after a long day, how he declares how good my bum looks in my oversized PJ's adorned with little white dogs, how he never leaves the house without kissing me goodbye, how he texts me to say be careful if the road is slippy, how he fries the perfect eggs for me, how he lets out bellowing laughs when I break wind, how he will wait patiently in a never ending line at the post office just so I don't have to, how he makes sure to wash all his fruit at work for the simple reason that he knows I worry about him eating dirty fruit, how he always puts me before himself, always and without exception.

Now more than ever I know how much these gestures matter; those little things you do for the one you love without thinking, without questioning. Those gestures that are a natural extension of your love for the other person, done with the simple intent to love and care for them. In my eyes, they are a window into Samuel's feelings for me and because they are unplanned, natural and completely effortless, they are that much more meaningful than any grand gesture I could ever receive. I admit I can often lose sight of how special these gestures are, how lucky I am, and so I am promising myself that I will never take them for granted, or forget to show Samuel how much I appreciate him. I think everyone we love deserves this much, especially as often they are loving you when you are at your most unlovable (PMS comes to mind).

As Samuel is my half full when I see the world as half empty and my everything in every way, I couldn't not post a photo of him. I took this a few weeks ago and I'm not sure why, but I just love it. It captures how I see him and it's a typical Samuel look. (you can click on it to enlarge).

Speaking of little gestures: in all the years we have been together Samuel has never cooked a meal for me. Although, you can't really blame him; I'm a control freak beyond all comprehensible proportions when it comes to cooking and quite frankly this probably scared him! Also, we cook together every night so I suppose it never really seemed that novel. However, a few weeks ago Samuel decided to cook me a two course meal from scratch and I didn't so much as lay a finger. I, of course, had to catch him in action while he prepared our mega feast with love and care. It was also good practice photographing in crappy light.

Here is Samuel getting his chop on big time. He looks very enthused (he is shirtless because I tend to make this flat a 24 hour sauna).

Check out the seriousness with which he is reading the recipe. I love it!

Crisping up the bacon!

The lovely venison he cooked.

We started with red pepper and basil soup.

The main: Jamie Oliver's marinated venison with creamed broad beans and crispy bacon. It actually tastes a lot better than it sounds...I think it looks pretty darned good, hats off to my husband.

I offered to cook dessert as I had been wanting to try out this chocolate cake recipe from the author of one of my favourite food blogs, Orangette . This recipe sounded simply amazing and it did not disappoint. I have included a description and the recipe at the end of this post. We were so eager to eat that I only remembered to take a picture after it was half eaten! Check out the oozy shmoozy middle.

The last bite is so worth savouring....

The meal was truly scrumptious in every way. I should have offered to clean up in return but I didn't...

So I will end with the recipe for this amazing chocolate cake. Molly Wizenberg is an amazing writer and has some incredible recipes. Her blog, Orangette and book "A Homemade Life", are both worth reading, I love them! This cake has barely any flour in it and therefore, is so dense and delicious. It's almost like a brownie cake; the crust is crackly and chewy and the middle is soft, velvety and truffle like. You need to use good dark chocolate and definitely be careful not over cook it. All the instructions and advice to prevent overcooking are in her recipe and the link is here http://orangette.blogspot.com/2004/08/and-then-cake-came-forth.html

Enjoy! Feel free to leave a comment below.
xx