he said. she said.

you are who you live with. you are who you love. you are what you eat.

when we are young, people refer to us as sponges. we absorb all that is around us and adapt that into our speech patterns, mannerisms and lifestyle. i believe that in some way you are sponges forever. being in a situation long enough you adapt, change, absorb.

i met my husband nearly 8 years ago when i was a sad little individual. i had just broken up with someone after 6 and half years, just broken up with one of my closest friends, had no where to live, put all my stuff in storage and moved in with my father. professionally things took a turn though and the sun was shining over in that corner. and that's when we met. we worked together for a month on a tv show, he gave me a job at the wrap party and we were off. he sort of picked me up and put me back together.

we were so different. back then. not so much now. as i said you sponge, change, adapt.
you really wouldn't know that 16 years separate us.

6 years married, 2 kids and one cross country move later i find myself saying things that never would have escaped my mouth before - i'm the one who called his 75 year old dad dude for gosh sakes! his little sayings have become mine, his little nuances have become mine. don't get me wrong, we are still different in many ways but in most we are quite similar.

another thing we have taught each other about is food. i have brought new tastes to his palate and he has shown me about simple classics. like the chef salad. before him i never would have made a chef salad. and certainly not for dinner. but let me tell you it's a good dinner. i would have always made something completely complicated with baby field greens topped with wasabi pea crusted lightly fried goat cheese (yum by the way), a crazy variety of nuts and dried fruit - trying of course to impress my inner-martha because back then people didn't call me mini martha for kicks. this is basically clean-out-the-fridge salad and a pretty tasty one to boot. so next time you want something cold for dinner look and see what you have in the produce and meat drawer - you might surprise yourself.

chef salad basics

the only real preparation you need for this salad is hard-boiled eggs - it's a must have for this salad. for the perfect boiled egg: place eggs in a sauce pan and cover with water, topping off at least an inch. bring to a boil, turn off the heat, cover and let sit for 12 minutes. rinse with cold water and peel. next look in the fridge and see what you have. start with a lettuce base (or in the case of the photo - baby spinach leaves) then start layering on your goods. look for deli meats (ham. turkey etc.) or leftover chicken and cube it up. some cheese would be good too. produce could assorted coloured peppers, mushrooms, cucumber, green onion, red onion - really anything that is nice raw. then are the condiments - could be pickles, hot peppers, roasted peppers, olives....really here the world is your oyster (i don't think oysters would work though!). the great thing about this is there are no rules - just guidelines!!! it sucks to throw food away - especially since the prices seem to be rising - so before you get to that point whip up one of these bad boys. not only with your belly thank you, your wallet will too.