Fritata for Two

     In our kitchen, Nyel is the chef de cuisine – the head of the kitchen.  As such, he is in charge of all things related to food and eating including menu preparation (with suitable input from me), shopping (sometimes with me along for company), cooking, and of much of the clean-up.  The latter category is because he is very particular about how the dishes go in the dishwasher and I long ago decided that it was a waste of time and energy for me to rinse and stack if he was just going to do it over again.
     All of this changed on June 3^rd, however, when the chef had his knee replacement surgery.  The kitchen duties are now mine alone.  I am well aware that I have been totally spoiled for twenty-five years and if I ever so-much-as breathe in a way that looks like I’m taking it all for granted, my family and friends are all over me.  For, of course, Nyel is not only chef de cuisine for the two of us; he rises to new heights each time we have guests for a meal.
     It’s not that I don’t ever cook.  I do have my specialties.  But Nyel is the one who can magically make a recipe his own by adding or substituting a little of this or a lot of that.  And, he’s the one who can look in the refrigerator and turn left-overs into a gourmet feast.  Now that we are entering week three of his recovery, I am about out of options, so I’ve appointed myself sous-chef-in-training and, under his watchful eye, I am learning some of his culinary secrets.   The questions is: which of us is exhibiting more courage?  And just how quickly will he decide that he’s ready to resume full kitchen responsibilities?  Pretty darn soon, I hope!