Love sprouts from the kitchen

What does love mean to you? Love is a word with so many connotations and definitions. Collins, Oxford, Wikipedia - all dictionaries have different meanings for this one of a kind 4 letters word. When I think about this word, my mind automatically conjures up images of all kinds of beautiful things that I have associated with this word. My son Issac, diamonds, Birkins, shoes, flowers, candle light dinners, hearts, cute soft toys, gorgeous clothes, perfumes etc etc....these are the things that have become synonymous with love...and not to forget the feelings and emotions associated with this word.

I remember growing up with many different versions of dreams of my perfect life, perfect man and perfect marriage. Love songs from the 80's and 90's still ring distantly but audibly in my ears. My dreams grew bigger as I grew older and I started waiting for my Prince Charming to come along and sweep me away to a beautiful land where we would be surrounded by servants, beautiful clothes and shoes, good food and wine, jewellery and all kinds of luxuries. Today, I'm married to a honest, funny and generous man and I realised the truth about love - that it is much much more than just mere material comforts and gains.

A man can tell you that he loves you, he can sms you that he loves you, he can write it down on paper that he loves you but how do you really know that he really loves you? For me, actions speaks louder than words. My hubby dearest hardly ever needs to reassure me with sweet words that he loves me, I do not expect him to remind me with sms(es) and love letters that he loves me; I do not need all these superficial stuff but I can say it out loud proudly and confidently that he loves me and his son very much. How do I know? Because my hubby dearest is such a good cook and I can always taste the love in the dishes that he cooks for me and Issac our son. My hubby grew up in a male chauvinistic environment, in his household, only 1 woman cooks - the woman none other than my mother in law. Imagine my surprise when I found out that my hubby could whip up more than a few great dishes. Chicken curry, assam fish, spaghetti bolognese, penne carbonara......

The above pictures are the dishes from our dinner tonight. 3 dishes and a soup makes a perfect chinese dinner. My hubby single handedly cooked dinner tonight. The dishes on the love menu included 1) frog legs fried with ginger and spring onions 2) seven star garoupa fillet stir fried with spicy dried shrimps 3) choy sum stir fried with assorted oriental vegetables. The frog legs were so tender and juicy, it was definitely restaurant standard. It is worth mentioning that this was my hubby's first try at cooking this dish. The dish is a winner! I wish you all could have tasted the dish, then only will you fully and truly understand what I mean by the taste of love.

In order to whip up a good tasty dish, you'll have to use fresh and good ingredients. Similarly, there are many ingredients that you need to make your love work out and last. One of the most important ingredient to me is sharing. Its important to open up your heart and share all the pain, joy, success, failure etc; it doesn't matter what you share with your partner as long as you do it with a clear and willing heart. Love is about talking and communicating. It is about speaking, talking, arguing and sharing. Babes, please beware, if your conversations with your hubby or long time/live in boyfriends are only restricted to discussing bills, children, work and pets or if both of you do not talk anymore; then it is a sure indicator that things are going down hill. Make an effort to bring the spark back by starting an unexpected conversation. Your man may be pleasantly surprised and you may be equally taken aback just how much a honest, heart-to-heart chat can help rekindle hidden love.

Till next time......