So I am chronicling my boyfriend’s stay here in the United States and documenting his likes and dislikes of my cooking. As I mentioned in my previous entry, I was going to try and wow him with my special dishes. The other night I made my famous Amor Prohibido Pasta (Forbidden Love Pasta), which will appear in our Pomegranate episode late in our fall season. Basically, it is a roasted acorn squash sauce served over pasta and garnished with different nuts and seeds (I can’t give too much away here now!). I am happy to announce that he ate it all and really liked it. They do not have acorn squash in Italy, but he was open to trying a pasta prepared with something unfamiliar. While I was cooking, he kept gobbling up the pumpkin seeds that I had toasted and sprinkled with chile ancho. He praised the final dish and said it was really good, and I really did believe him. I had complained to him before that I felt he was not happy with the dishes that I make him, which had made me nervous that he would overcompensate with his praise, and be overly emphatic about how much he liked anything that I prepared afterwards. But in reality, he seems to be opening up to a new style of cooking- mine. Although I do not get the “oohs” and “aahs” that the Rhode Island lobster rolls and broiled flounder receive, I am happy that he is open to exploring the unknown. I, too, am coming to appreciate his tastes and make things that are more simple and authentic, which is something that I started exploring early on in our relationship. It is easy to get caught up in fusion cooking, new versions of classic dishes, and changing familiar textures, but with him I have learned the beauty in the simple things. Great ingredients prepared well can never go wrong.