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HAPPEN=

Pickup Softball

B'nai B'rith Leadership Net-
work presents its second sea-
son of pickup softball.
Schedule:
June 28, July 26, Aug. 9,
Aug. 23 at Pioneer Park
July 12 at North Farmington
High School
All games begin at 11 a.m.
Karen Safran, (248) 426-
9520.

After fast-food,
love blooms amid the scent of muskmelons
and Portabello mushrooms.

ANDREA MARCUSA

Special to The Jewish News

S ome relationships are made in
the bedroom; mine was made
in the kitchen.
I first met my partner,
Jared, when he inquired about the
ripeness of muskmelons in the pro-
duce section of Merchant of Vino.
Knowing nothing about melons, I
found his interest in obscure fruit
both intriguing and endearing.
When he prepared chicken-with-
fine-herbs a few weeks later, I was
impressed. As a member of the Refrig-
erated Pasta School of Instant Cook-
ing, I have a limited culinary reper-
toire: boil pasta for three minutes,
open jar of Newmads Own, mix in
cold, add cheese. When I tasted his
walnut oil and balsamic vinegar dress-
ing, I fell in love.
Food has never been top billing on
my family's list of important issues.
Fat yes — like how much fat, or how
many pounds overweight. My moth-
er's culinary repertoire has always been
skinless, fat-free and with substituted
vegetables whenever possible. To me, a
man who dared to use heavy cream
seemed exciting and dangerous.
I was also glad to have found some-
one who would happily assume all the
food chores of our relationship. I
encouraged Jared to cook and eagerly
sampled all the results. I would rise in
the morning and slowly make my way
to the kitchen. Waiting for me were
freshly brewed French Roast, a careful-
ly cut grapefruit and poached eggs, my
favorite. I was quickly fulfilling a gen-
der-reversed version of the heart-via-
the-stomach direction set.
While other guys were shooting
baskets or lounging on couches watch-
ing football, Jared spent Saturdays

mastering new recipes. I would enter
the kitchen to find open cookbooks,
splattered cutting boards, strange
dried matter soaking in glass mixing
bowls on all countertops.
Sure, I thought he occasionally
took things a bit too far — like the
times he ran out, 10 minutes before
dinner guests were to arrive, in search
of a rare brand of mustard. But his
dishes were delicious and they made
me feel special.
And on the evenings we dined out,
Jared knew exactly where to go for
great food — from Mexican, to
Afghan to Japanese.
Admittedly, I overlooked some of
his culinary quirks. Following visits to
my parents':house for dinner, Jared
always stopped for take-our Chinese
on the way home.
"Your mother is completely tone-
deaf when it comes to food," he com-
plained one evening. "She hacked
away at that turkey as if it were fire-
wood."
He also couldn't bear to live in a
house with an empty refrigerator or
sparsely filled cupboards, and he took
advantage of our 24-hour neighbor-
hood convenience store. ,
"It must be great having a partner
who's such a fabulous cook," remarked
my friend, who had sampled his
mushroom barley soup. At first, I
agreed. But after a number of months
of living a 24-hour a day segment of
the Food Network, I wasn't sure. I
began to crave frozen dinners and fast
food.
"Do you want to grab a burger?"
I'd plead to the friends I met solo.
"My husband just expects the food
to appear on the table no matter what
time he gets home," my friend Karen
complained. "At least Jared does some-
thing in the kitchen."

"Would you mind moving to the
other room? Jared is about to sear the
meat in a hot iron pan. I won't to be
able to see you through all the
smoke," I replied.
"You know," I explained in a hushed
tone, so as not to be heard above the
kitchen exhaust fan, "all this food busi-
ness sometimes gets to me. Once in
while, I wish he'd spend a Saturday
afternoon in a hardware store."
Later that year, Jared's job demand-
ed he work late every night and most
of every weekend. At first, I ate frozen
dinners and ordered in to my heart's
content. Then, slowly, my refrigerator
and cupboards thinned. When my
freezer was so empty that it echoed
when the automatic icemaker dropped
cubes into the bin, I found myself
alone at FarMer Jack, buying chopped
sirloin for one.
A. few weeks of freedom to enjoy
junk food and take-out were no sub-
stitute for Jared. Life without smells of
simmering stews and baking bread, or
the sound of the food processor
whirring over Jacques Pepin's televi-
sion show, felt empty. I'd grown
attached to Jared during the months
we'd been together, and it was impos-
sible to separate him from his love of
food.
I put down the package of chopped
sirloin and picked up a free-range
Empire chicken. I stuffed it with 40
cloves of garlic, grilled porrabello
mushrooms and made mashed pota-
toes from scratch.
I called Jared at the office. "Come
home early tonight, please? I've
cooked you dinner."
He was just finishing up and
promised to be there in 20 minutes. I
uncorked a bottle of Chardonnay,
flipped on the Food Network and
waited for him to arrive. El

Register now!

Jewish Professional Singles
trip to Toronto, July 17-19.
Cost: $197 per person, dou-
ble; $307, single. Lisa Boose,
(248) 353-5811.

Sunday, June 28

Canoe rendezvous and BBQ, Hil
lel of Metro Detroit. 2 p.m. Cost:
$7. Argo Park, Ann Arbor. (313)
577-3459.

Evening of comedy, featuring
Gilda Hauser and Ben Konstan-
tin, with JEMS. 7 p.m. Cost: $18
in advance, $25 at the door. At
Temple Israel. Reservations
required. Susie Leemaster, (248)
661-5700.

Monday, June 29 •

Young Adult Division bar night at
Dick O'Dow's, 160 W Maple,
Birmingham. 8:30 p.m. Marc
Berke, (248) 203-1458.

Monday, July 6

Hillel of Metro Detroit Coffee
House Night. 9 p.m. Lonestar
Coffee Co., 207 S. Woodward.
Birmingham. (313) 577-3459.

SIMS TRAM

AUGUST

Aug. 2-9

Jewish singles vacation to Cape
Cod, Martha's Vineyard, Nan-
tucket Island and Newport, R.I.
Ages 30-49. (617) 782-3396.