"Are there artichokes in that?"

I'm not a bad cook. I can follow a recipe really well, and I even spice them up every once in awhile with things not on the recipe card, and it turns out really good. I like trying new things because I'm not a picky eater, and I like getting Josh to try new things because he is a picky eater. Sometimes I make recipes that include food items he doesn't like, but they are masked so he doesn't know they're in there. One day I'll burst his bubble about not liking cream cheese, sour cream, and mayonnaise, because those are in a bunch of stuff he now likes. ;)

But, I am bad about trying to make dishes from memory if I don't feel like digging out the recipe or I can't locate it at the time. If I'm cooking just for me, this is fine, because even if I don't get it quite right, I'll still eat it. But, I've recently learned that if I do this for Josh, I better be confident about the recipe.

So I was trying to make my favorite Rosemary Artichoke Chicken for Josh and I. It's an awesome dish... if I do it correctly. But we were in a hurry and I couldn't find the recipe, so I tried to do it from memory. It did not turn out awesome this time. I admit that.

This was about 3 weeks ago. Since then, everything I tell Josh I'm going to make is followed by the question "Are there artichokes in that?" Minestrone chicken, spaghetti, Cuban black beans and yellow rice, sloppy joes... I get the same question. He smirks when he asks me this, so I know he does it playfully. And I do laugh, but I wish I wouldn't have messed up that one recipe. I singlehandedly added artichokes to his list of foods he won't eat.

I know these are the types of stories I'll be telling my children about in the future, preparing them for their first year of marriage. Things you have to learn about each other, what to do, what not to do. I now know to never make a recipe from memory, or I add to my husband's "Do Not Eat" list.

I made him promise to try Rosemary Artichoke Chicken one more time when I make it the correct way, and he said he would.

Hopefully he likes it next time. I don't know exactly how I'd be able to hide artichokes in other dishes and not have him notice....

Josh, Kim & Abby