Claire was a good cook — I think she was a really good cook. But one of the first “dinner parties” we had after we were married, may have shaken her confidence a little. Actually, I don’t think anything ever shook her confidence, but this is a good memory and — I think — an interesting story.
Since this was our first attempt at entertaining guests after we were married, Claire had prepared most everything ahead of time so she could spend time with our guests instead of being in the kitchen. I can’t remember what she served, but it was a dish that was served over rice.
After the guests arrived, I served drinks to everyone and we all sat in the living room. Claire was heating everything in the kitchen in preparation for dinner. She had everything all set except to cook the rice. She put the rice in the pan, put it on the stove, turned on the burner and then poured herself a glass of wine and joined us in the living room. When she thought the rice had cooked long enough, she excused herself and went to the kitchen — but — it turns out that she had put the rice on the stove and turned on the burner, but the burner she turned on wasn’t the one the rice was sitting on. So she moved the rice, and turned on the burner, and poured herself another glass of wine. She came back in the living room and told the guests dinner would be ready in 20 minutes (I’m not sure about the time she actually said.)
Well, 20 minutes later when she checked on the rice, she discovered that she had moved the rice and turned on the wrong burner again. I remember dinner being served a little later than planned that night, but by the time it was served, everyone had had enough drinks that no one seemed to mind.
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