Today is Mother’s Day, so first of all, I’d like to wish a very happy Mother’s Day to my mom and to Ann. Without you two amazing women, I can’t imagine where I would be today. I love you both and I am so thankful for you.

Now to today’s challenge. We do Mother’s Day like we do most holidays – half at Ann’s parents’ house and half at my parents’ house. Today we went to church with Ann’s family out in Banning and then had lunch and spent a couple of hours hanging out and celebrating with Ann’s mom. Then it was off to my parents’ house. And at my parents’ house we usually do carne asada, rice, beans, a salad, and some fruit. And we men usually take care of almost everything. But Ann has always made the Spanish rice and often a dessert.

Yep, I am a horrible person. I let my wife cook the food for her own celebration. My excuse is always – “I don’t know how to make rice!… or dessert.” And while this is true, this year I decided to do something about that. I was going to make the rice and the dessert – plum cobbler which was Ann’s request.

I made the cobbler first. That really wasn’t that hard to make. You just cut up a bunch of plums, add a bunch of sugar and mix it around with your hands, then add a few more things for the topping and sprinkle it on the top. I did all of this with Ann’s supervision – which is pretty comforting. Then she went to get ready for church and left me with the final step – melt the butter and sprinkle it over the top of the topping – and make sure that it all gets wet or it won’t get crunchy. And the gravity of that statement wasn’t lost on me – when it comes to cobbler, if the topping isn’t crunchy, what is the point?

So I spooned that butter on that topping and I didn’t miss any of it. Of course, it took me 15 minutes to do what probably should have taken 2, but I did it (and I probably put a little too much butter on it too, but don’t tell Ann). I put that into the oven and was feeling pretty good about myself. I had just made a cobbler.

Then it was on to the rice. I looked through Ann’s cookbook until I found the Spanish rice. And Ann’s cookbook is one of those handwritten cookbooks, so it all makes sense to her… but there isn’t much information there. I don’t do a lot of cooking, and the cooking that I do is from recipes that I find online where it walks me through every step (some of them even have videos showing what is going to happen). I don’t know any of the unwritten rules of cooking. You give me written rules and I can follow them no problem. However, if you’re assuming that I know anything – you’ll be disappointed.

I should have known that I was in trouble right from the beginning. Ann looks at the recipe and says something to the effect of, “Does it have tomato sauce in it? OK. Skip the tomato sauce. We don’t put that in anymore.” No explanation. Just a statement as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Then I started looking at the recipe and noticed some things were missing. Like the amounts. For example, it just says garlic. Not how much garlic. Not minced, chopped, or fresh. Just garlic. That’s the whole line. Of course, it makes perfect sense to Ann. So then I started asking questions, and she explained the process of making the rice.

I did pretty well at following it – Ann had to remind me about a couple of things, but again, I was feeling pretty good. I chopped the onions and I didn’t even cry. I heated up the rice in the oil along with the garlic, onions. I boiled the water and added the bouillion (it’s tomato – chicken bouillion which is why there is no longer tomato sauce in the recipe) and had my basil all measured. I add the hot water and bouillion and the basil to the rice – and then I find out the most important unwritten rule in cooking rice.

You see, I had been stirring the rice the whole time I’d been cooking it. I figured that it would be the same once I put in the water.  So I poured in the water, got my wooden spoon, and started to give it a big stir. I jumped when I heard Ann yell, “NO! STOP!”

So, apparently, if you stir rice once it is cooking in water it will ruin it. I didn’t really understand why even though Ann tried to explain it to me, but I totally trust her with all things cooking. And thankfully she was there because she stopped me before I could do any damage.

The rice and the cobbler both came out great. I know this because even though my family threatened not to eat it when they found out that I had made it – they all did and there wasn’t much of either left.

Takeaway:

Those unwritten rules can be a killer. I nearly ruined the rice doing what totally made sense to me. Once again, I was so glad to have an expert in the kitchen with me to help me to do it well. It is really funny how I keep coming to the same takeaways from all of my tasks on this list and how they all coincide with my weaknesses. I hate asking for help. But I am starting to see the value in having the help of an expert who can guide you through a learning process.