Day 5 – Grapes Rolled in Almonds and Ginger

Yesterday I mentioned that I would prefer to keep the hubby guessing as to whether I would be cooking up something special each day or not.  This way I can also keep his nose and input out of the kitchen as well.  Yes, my husband has a tendency of telling me how he would prefer to have each and every dish cooked for him.  He’s that guy who goes to the fine dining restaurant and asks to “substitute this and hold that” to the point that he creates his own new dish.  With a partner in life such as this, it’s quite a task to find recipes that not only include aphrodisiac elements, but also have ingredients that my guy is willing to eat.

Well, it happened.  Last night he mentioned that it would be nice to have something fresh like a Capres Salad daily alongside our take-outs and restaurant meals.  He got a whiff of garden fresh ingredients in his meals and he can’t give it up.  This month has officially become a nightmare.  Here I go scouring Amy Reiley’s and Martha Hopkins’ books for recipes with fresh ingredients, which the hubby will like.  I have officially been given the task of not just suddenly cooking up a dish for fun and experimenting with a concept, but cooking specifically for my husband’s pleasure.  What’s wrong with that you may be wondering?  Isn’t that what I’m aiming for?  “Pleasure?”  Some of you may not understand what the difference is or why I would mind this so much, but if you knew my guy, you would understand what I mean.  It’s not easy to get a pleased and approving smile from my husband over my accomplishments.  I may believe that I have done good, but it may not meet his standards.

Fresh and easy is what I needed now.  I was slowly creeping back to the 3 ingredient recipe search.  Ahh… The New InterCourses has a recipe for Grapes Rolled in Almonds and Ginger.  Does that sound crisp enough?  Ok, so it wasn’t a 3 ingredient aphrodisiac food.  I would have the grueling task of cooking with 4 ingredients and using something as complicated as crystalized ginger as well.  These are succulent, tender chunks of ginger that have been candied into a sweet flavorful baking ingredient, or they can be enjoyed as a snack by themselves.  I obviously could not leave such an important ingredient and essential aphrodisiac out, so rather than attempting to make these luscious morsels myself, I bought some organic fine quality crystalized ginger.  Once I had that ingredient, the rest of it was smooth sailing.  This is a no heat required item.  You simply mix the cream cheese and crystalized ginger together.  Then coat your grapes in the mixture to cover them, and roll your coated grapes in the toasted chopped almonds.  I found a secret to finely chopped toasted almonds.  Pure organic almond meal (or almond flour) is as fine as you can get your almonds.  Simply toast it up in a pan and keep stirring while it’s toasting.  You will create a wonderful aroma and the hubby will think you are baking up a storm.

The Results

In my husband’s exact words, ”it’s refreshing.”  He said we could have something like this before or after our meals every day.  Do you think I’m, spoiling him?  Am I going to get any love in return or what? You would think that the chemical compounds in cheese that work as a natural amphetamine and the scent of cream cheese which replicates a female pheromone would be enough.  On top of that we had ginger, which is fantastic to get the blood pumping and warms up the body.  Then the pièce de résistance, almonds, full of vitamin E, also referred to as the sex vitamin and a serotonin booster for a feel good effect.  How much more could I possibly pack into one little nibble?  We will find out tomorrow with another little nibble of figs.