So as many of you know I am the most unromantic person on the face of the Earth. I am that girl who when my husband lights candles I ask "why?" I don't celebrate Valentines Day or Anniversaries and those couples who say "I love you" at the end of each phone conversation make me want to gag. I am not an ambience or set the mood kind of girl. I am that girl who wants new running shoes for Xmas and told her husband he was a bad lay in the middle of their wedding vows...don't worry he was in the process of putting a lei over my head...and unfortunately I just had no filter at that particular moment.

However, every night when I come home from work I cook. It's my stress release and my way to unwind after a day that can be filled with craziness, drama and politics. And as many of you know my husband works nights so its just me, the cat, the dog and the fish at night. And strangely enough its all about ambience and setting the mood for cooking. And it goes a little something like this...

1. Change out of work clothes and slip into something a little more comfortable. Usually it consists of running shorts, t-shirt and knee-hi socks or pink fuzzy slippers...super hot! Oh and one of my super cute aprons when I remember to put it on.

2. Light all the candles in the house. Not really sure why because I don't think the fish cares that the candle next to his bowl is lit. However, maybe its just because I can after countless years oh wait I mean months of being married to a fireman.

3. Turn on some music however when I cook I don't listen to the type of music I listen to on a regular basis. I listen to smooth jazz...not modern jazz..like old school jazz. I normally listen to Top 20 or Hip-Hop but for some reason when I cook I like the acoustic sounds in the background. Strange I know!

4. Pour myself a glass of wine. Tonight I'm drinking:
And let me just say Monogamy is ok...its not all its cracked up to be (love you babe if you are reading).

5. And I cook....tonight I made curry chicken with rice and it wasn't bad. It was one of those Rachel Ray 5 ingredient recipes so I didn't know what to expect but it was easy and tasty and it did go well with the red wine.

And before I call it a night and go watch Jersey Shore I just want to say thank you to my taste testing victims at work who are getting the brunt of my attempts at learning to cook/bake. So thank you to all of you especially Johnna, Lori and Gina who seem to be getting the brunt of this experiment.