Friday Firsts

The boy and I are doing well. We've been dating about two and a half months or so. No complaints. He's fun, funny and smart. And he loves to cook and has a great appreciation for good food. In fact, he's cooked for me a few times and I've cooked for him.

Yesterday we decided to go over to Devon Avenue, which is center of Desi culture in the city. Need anything Indian or Pakistani? Head to Devon. We wanted to shop, check out the produce, spices and baked goods.

I'd never been to Devon before and it was great! We bought so much great, tasty stuff. Patel Bros. Grocery was the hit! We bought fresh, hot naan, yogurt, chilis...all the things to make Achar Gosht for dinner. Actually, we bought the achar gosht spice mix, so I suppose we cheated a little bit. It was really tasty.

Here's the other kicker though. The boy found out that I've never eaten a fresh, whole artichoke and was shocked. Is that weird? Have y'all all eaten one? I love artichoke hearts, but I've never eaten or cooked a fresh one. So the boy insisted on fresh artichokes, too. He was on artichoke duty and we decided that we needed hollandaise sauce to go with it. I'm not really a fan of hollandaise sauce, but figured I'd give it a whirl. I've heard horror stories about people making hollandaise.

Folks...it was perfect! It was easy! Most of all...it was spectacular! Fresh artichokes with fresh, homemade hollandaise sauce! I am in love! The boy said it was the best hollandaise he'd ever had.

All of these things were new to me! I love new things.