Setting the Table

This past summer (weeks before I tied the knot, more to come on that) three of my best friends and I got together for a girls’ night dinner at my favorite local establishment, Mama Mias. They serve the best Italian food I’ve ever had. Bar none. Everything tastes like a home-cooked meal that the talented chefs made especially for you. There is no sloppiness and certainly no shyness when it comes to portion size. If you’ve never been, and you happen to live within a 50 miles radius of the South Shore of Massachusetts, I’d suggest you add this to your bucket list of places to go.

Now that I have fully plugged Mama Mias (free pasta for life?), let me get back to my story, which is after a couple glasses of wine and some delicious eggplant parmigiana, the owner of this establishment, an 80-something year old (said by him, not me), cute, short and old school type Italian man, came over to our table and joined us for a glass of vino.

After some small-talk and ass-kissing by my friends and me about the amazing food (still hoping for that free pasta), we got onto the “Life Lessons from an Old Italian Man” portion of the show.  I guess sitting  with four, twenty-something, still-figuring-out-life, unsettled girls appeared as an opportunity for this old-Italian to share his 80 years of wisdom when it came to marriage, women vs. men dynamics and “setting a table” as he put it.

He explained to us that as we begin to settle down, it is with the utmost importance that we make sure to “set the table” every single meal for our men, whether it is a quick bowl of cereal or a dinner at midnight after our men come home from a long day of work. He also kept repeating the line that “the key to a happy marriage is knowing who wears the pants.”

Now, you have to understand that both myself and my three friends like to think of ourselves as smart and independent women of the current times. The four of us work full-time and found the idea of setting the table for each meal silly and unreasonable, but at the same time, intriguing. I think we each pondered the idea that maybe there is something to be said for the old school way of marriage, where the man worked and the woman cooked and cleaned. (Emphasis on the word “pondered” – don’t worry, we didn’t wake up the next day and head back to the 1940s).

This brings me to my next point; as I mentioned, I recently got married (this past August to be exact) and thus far I find it a constant struggle to be a good housewife while working full-time. Anyone else out there with me? “Setting the table” as this wise, old Italian so casually said, is a lot harder than it appears to be, at least it is in my experience.

So what is my compromise and what the heck does this have to do with coloring my life? I mentioned that I’d try “cooking and eating more exotic foods” and on day two of this personal challenge, I can say I have taken a step in the right direction. You see, my new hubby can reap the benefits from this challenge because I can somewhat tie it together with “setting the table”, can’t I?

Last night, I cooked ... wait for it.. steak for the first time in my life. I know, not so exotic for the general population, but it was for me. I called my Dad (who, in my world, knows everything) on my way home from work and got a quick, two-minute lesson on purchasing steak and then was on my way.

After picking up a boneless rib eye, I seasoned it with some garlic and pepper and used the George Forman (it is winter in New England) to cook it, while my husband and our German Shepherd salivated in anticipation. Once cooked I sprinkled some blue cheese on the steak and coupled it with some parmigiana risotto and asparagus, and Voila! Happy Husband, Happy Wife (and happy old Italian man somewhere in this world).

Having said that, I don’t think I’ll ever give into this idea that the table should be set for every meal. A little too much for this modern-day girl, but I think I can find a place in the middle that keeps my family happy and full.

Happy coloring!