Last Saturday, we had one of Berck’s co-workers and his wife over for dinner. We think they’re Mormon, because they’re from Utah and they’re really nice and they don’t drink. So much for buying two kinds of beer and two kinds of wine. But it’s a good thing we had plenty of IBC on hand.

For me, having people I didn’t know over for dinner is fun because we got to cook all day. Berck got me out of bed by telling me we had to go shopping. Grocery shopping is one of those things I do under protest without Berck, because there’s always something wrong with what I buy… whether he forgot to tell me to get what he wanted or I selected an inferior brand or I can’t find the specific item he wants. I also can’t go to Sam’s, because Berck is his dad’s partner card person, so he’s the only one with a membership. Berck keeps telling me just to hand them his card, that they won’t care. I point out that I don’t have a beard, in case they look at the picture on the back. Berck usually refuses to go grocery shopping by himself, so we both end up venturing into the world of retail food.

After filling the Miata trunk up at Sam’s, we drove over to Berck’s newest favorite store. Whole Foods looks like one of those places that only sells organic granola (which they do have), but it’s so much more too. It’s like a Fresh Market but three times as big. They have a WHOLE refrigerated display case of their own sausages. They have everything from wasabi rice snack chips to rendered duck fat. More importantly, they had juniper berries, which Berck just had to have for his leg of lamb recipe from the Italian cookbook he’s been working his way through. We also got a leg of lamb… well, part of one. “I don’t suppose you want to cut it up,” Berck said to one of the butchers behind the counter.

“Well, I don’t really want to…” but he cut it into a more manageable size for us. We also got bread there, because it’s really good. I don’t think we would have had time or oven space to bake our own anyway. They also have great cheeses from around the world. We got one that appeared all moldy, but I think its rind and the vein running through it was actually ash. It was really tasty. We also got some sheep cheese, which Berck didn’t find impressive (or maybe he found it left TOO much of an impression), but I liked it.

We crammed Whole Foods’ grocery bags into the space between the headrests and the Miata’s rear window, and I held one bag in my lap with a big container of laundry detergent between my feet. Back home it was time to cook. Berck managed to whack the too-long lamb femur down to pot-size. In went the juniper berries and some chopped carrots and celery. Along with the lamb, Berck planned to have stuffed pasta. I guess after a year or so, he forgets how difficult a certain dish is to make and breaks his vow to never attempt it again. Or maybe he was thinking it would be a snap with the pasta-making attachment to the Kitchen-Aid and a Jonah to do all the stuffing.

Colorado Springs has a very dry climate. When stuffing pasta, this environment becomes a liability. The rectangles I was spooning clumps of ricotta, prosciutto, and Swiss chard into would immediately stiffen and harden before I could fold them over and pinch their sides together. I’m not sure how much of the pasta unstuffed itself during boiling, but Berck solved that aesthetic problem by serving it smothered in opaque tomato cream sauce. This dish is so tasty, but I’m not convinced it’s worth the trouble of constructing.

But before the pasta course, we had wilted spinach salad, which is always a hit, even if we forgot to buy mushrooms while at Whole Foods. Add to that roasted potatoes and the Swiss chard stalks, which the Italian cookbook suggested using as a medium for butter and parmesian, and we had a feast.

I love food.