Allie All Alone: Part 1

This is just the beginning of my first week away from Charles, and I'm already starting to feel the pangs of longing! Luckily for me there's a holiday this Friday and I'll be able to go back to Rome on Thursday night!

I think that after being married for nearly four years (and having dated and lived together even longer than that) I have become thoroughly spoiled. You all know how much Charles loves cooking, and at first we did a lot of it together, and I can sincerely say that most of what I know I have learned from him. In recent months I have really taken a back-seat in the cooking department and have enjoyed delicious meals magically appearing in front of me with no concept of the time and effort that went into them (see last post). Even on the nights he works at Abbey we generally eat a meal together before he leaves for the night. If not, I'll have something like a bowl of cereal to hold me over. It's pathetic, but true.

Now that I am here on my own in Loreto I am really beginning to appreciate and miss what my husband does for me. Part of the problem here is that I don't have much to work with, and I am a bit unwilling to either pack it all up and bring it here, or to buy it again. For example, I have no spices, not even pepper. I actually meant to bring the pepper from home, but I forgot it and I figured this week I would suffer and then I'll bring it back with me for next week. So, the last two nights for dinner I've had chicken breast flavored with salt...which tastes like plain chicken breast.

I've had to pack my own lunches (yes, Charles did this for me the last time we were in Loreto), and so rather than having to wake up an extra 15 minutes earlier, I make a salad the night before to take with me in the morning. My salads aren't bad (it doesn't take much skill to cut up veggies) but again they are lacking some essentials: oil and vinegar would really improve the dry blandness that I masticate every afternoon.

I'm not starving to death on my own (this was actually a concern for me), but let's just say that I don't look forward to my next meal like I do when Charles cooks for me. It's totally normal for us to have just finished eating lunch when I ask what he's planning for dinner! In fact, as I write this and think about all the delicious goodies I'll be stuffed with this weekend I'm starting to salivate a bit!

Just two more days to get through and I'll be back in the cuisine capital of the world...not Rome; the kitchen of my apartment!!