A Special Day!!

Today is a special day for Jeff & I… 9 years ago today we had our 1st date… funny thing, it wasn't intended to be a date, it just turned out that way.


I had moved into an apartment in the 3rd floor of an old Victorian mansion on Summit Ave in Saint Paul, the building didn't have an elevator, and I needed help getting my (just purchased at the time) microwave up to the 3rd floor.


I asked my dear friend Jeff, a co-worker / friend / brother in Christ, if he could help me - I mentioned that a free dinner was involved and that was just the ticket for him.

He did the heavy lifting & I provided a meal, a home-cooked Stoup (somewhere between a Stew & a Soup), a good loaf of bread, and a nice bottle of wine.

After dinner, while still sipping on wine, he asked to see pictures of my son (then in college) when he was  little… so (proud momma that I am) I dug out old photo albums & started reminiscing… after a while there was an arm around my shoulder… um… uh… I'd been recently divorced and wasn't sure I wanted to "mess up" this great friendship…


Jeff patiently listened to my concerns, and reassured me, and we started (quietly at first - we were co-workers after all) dating…  I shouldn't have been so concerned, he's such a gentleman.  We were married a little over a year later… Oh, and he waited a bit after that first "date" to tell me he didn't really care for broccoli (yep, it was in that first date Stoup).


Tonight, in honor of this special day I'm cooking us up a Lamb & Barley Stoup, it already looks and smells wonderful… and brings back good memories!!