Tonight’s challenge should’ve been simple....... cook a meal using a recipe from a fairly easy cookbook. Teriyaki chicken. A delicious combo involving chicken fillets, fresh veg and a simple sauce. As usual, I started off strong.......that’s code for ‘I jumped in without really reading the instructions’. Hubby asked if I needed any help and, like the professional chef that I’m definitely not, I began issuing instructions..... I ask him to chop the chicken and then gave him a load of veg to cut up while I spent roughly the same length of time making up a sauce that involved measuring out some liquids and stirring in some crushed garlic and crushed ginger.
“What about the scallions?”, hubby asks. “Aye add them in too”, I reply after very quickly scanning the recipe. He does as he is bid before glancing at the book and asking me “Honey, where does it say to chop the chicken??” I look at it and watch as his finger points to the photo, which clearly shows whole, cooked chicken fillets coated in a sauce and placed on a bed of roasted vegetables. Doh! I drop an f-bomb and slap my forehead. Hubby doesn’t flinch and says it’ll be grand. Then points to the sliced scallions used to garnish the meal. Double doh!! Again he laughs and tells me not to worry.
From then on I’m the sous chef and hubby is the boss. It’s better for everyone that way. He takes a sneaky selfie which clearly shows his veg all neatly chopped and ready for the oven, as I furiously stir my ridiculously simple sauce! Posting it on social media, he captions it “ Cooking together with Yacht Rock!! Sundays!”..... What a wonderful man I’ve married, who resisted a truer caption of “adult supervision required”!!
The huge irony in this is that in the last six months I have become the main contact for my dear old dad, who has spiralled into Parkinsonian dementia and is now in residential care. My sister and I are joint Power of Attorney and she visits as often as she can, but with her living in England and me living just up the road, I deal with the day to day business. There are visits and post and paying bills and all the other things that go along with helping someone with dementia, alongside work and trying not to overdo things.
As always, hubby is my adult supervisor!! He helps in every way he can and makes sure I don’t get myself tangled into a stressy mess!! He makes sure I take a breath, he takes me down to meet a wonderful friend for our weekly sea dip....... not because I can’t drive or need his help, simply because he knows I like to know he’s nearby. Most importantly he dries my tears and gives me hugs when I get a bit overwhelmed by being the whipping boy when daddy is having a bad day. My sister and dad's partner also jump in and visit when they can, which is invaluable for us as well as for dad. I’m quite sure he was getting sick of only seeing me once a week, every week, as per the Covid rules. I’m so relieved they’ve relaxed enough now to let him see other people and even get out for the odd short adventure!
My husband. WHAT A GUY!! My hero, the love of my life. Keeping me sane every day :)
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