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Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Smell What I'm Cooking?

My new job is taking all my time.  Ridiculous!  Don't these people know I need to WRITE?

Please enjoy a post from the summer of 2013...


Willie is known for his baklava.  Painstakingly constructed, flaky and delectable, the appearance of his baklava is as anticipated as the appearance of his other homemade contributions to local parties. 

Chili.  Caramels. Taco dip.  Baklava.

Friendship with Willie is delicious.

I rise from my chair, put down the book I am reading and follow my nose.  The house reeks of lemons and honey, of home-made goodness and the next pants’ size up.

I wander toward the kitchen, stand in the doorway and watch as the baklava is being built, watch as tissue-thin sheets of phyllo dough are laid out, brushed with a buttery paintbrush. 

Willie is wearing headphones, the tinny overflow seeping out around his ears and into the silent room, oblivious to everything but the music and the dessert currently under construction. 

He looks up, grins at me. 

“HOW’S IT SMELL?  CAN YOU SMELL THE LEMONS?”

I laugh.  “Can I smell it? What do I look like, like I’m hard of smelling?”

He pulls the headphones off.  “I’m sorry,” he says.  “What?”

I shake my head: no apology necessary.  “The house smells of nothing BUT lemons,” I say.  “If it tastes even half as good as it smells, it’ll be a big hit.”

I make a half-hearted reach for some uncooked phyllo.  Willie bats my hand away. 

I like to make the effort.

And Willie puts his headphones back on, returns to baklava assembly, head already nodding in time to the music. 


“MAN,” he shouts, “I LOVE COOKING.”

17 comments:

Indigo Roth said...

*tummy rumbles*

Dang you to heck, Pearlygirl!

Pearl said...

:-) The baklava is delicious.

Hilary said...

I swear I can smell it too. I had to glance up to make sure Willie is not in my kitchen. I'm disappointed that he isn't.

Leenie said...

Wow! A guy who cooks!---who cooks baklava! (hard of smelling...heh, heh)

Joanne Noragon said...

I wasn't through the kitchen first time around. Thanks for sharing again. I adore baklava. And anyone who makes it.

jenny_o said...

I used to love cooking, too, until I had to do it every single day :)

Baklava ... mmmmm

Catalyst said...

I just read this (drool) for the first time, too. Thanks for re-posting it. Lemons. Yummmm!

Anonymous said...

A man who cooks, a man who bakes....Willie is my kind of guy.

Yamini MacLean said...

Hari OM
Oh for Heaven's sake, it made my mouth water all over again. YAM xx

Anonymous said...

I could use some baklava. Just sayin

Anonymous said...

Baklava is one of my favorites. How cruel this post was... ;)

Gigi said...

Pfft...what's with these people? Don't they realize we need you to write too?

Those cooking men...they are keepers!

Launna said...

I couldn't be around Willie too long, I would gain back all that weight I lost and I don't plan on that... I did love Baklava :)

HermanTurnip said...

It's funny, but we're both in the same boat this week. Tomorrow's post...re-post!

Connie said...

Hard of smelling--ahahaha! :D

River said...

I've only had store bought baklava and it was very sticky and overly sweet. Is that how it is supposed to be?

Rose L said...

"next pant size up" I wish all goodies would not add inches or pounds! I would live on thedeliciousness of sweets if I could.