Surprises

I don’t usually like surprises. Last night I did.

For Valentine’s Day I had made up a picnic basket with a bottle of merlot, a baguette, some French brie, strawberries and a pear. I had the red and white large gingham picnic blanket laid out on the table and a pair of wine glasses along with a bouquet of flowers. Yes, I’d finally done something romantic, even if it was in our drafty old house. However, when I got home I was immediately greeted at the door by my husband and a whiff of something amazing came from the kitchen. He tells me to close my eyes and takes me to our bedroom and says to change clothes (I wear scrubs to work) and he’ll come get me in a minute. Eyes still closed, he seats me at the table and comes back from the kitchen with a plate of mixed greens with red onions and blue cheese drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinegar (my favorite) for both of us, a plate of pinwheels made with gruyere and prosciutto in puff pastry, and bacon wrapped filet mignon with a mushroom ragout. It was all amazing. And he made it all himself. And we drank a bottle of merlot with it. And dessert? He dipped the strawberries I’d gotten in dark chocolate.

Sometimes surprises can be good, even for a control freak like me. Hope you all had a wonderful Valentine’s Day and may you keep surprising each other year after year.