Lights on and suddenly, a whole world is there for the eager and hungry

I am fully stocked

Knives from your boss, a wedding gift

Cutting boards that have seen showy summer cilantro and many cuts as an amateur learns

how sharp sharp can be

I have seen your exuberance

I have seen you become more

...seasoned

I watched for hours as you painstakingly chopped, simmered, stole every bit of grandma's recipe,

impressing friends and your husband

I have seen you open new worlds,

splatter the walls like a mad painter/scientist

evoking the spirit of an ecstatic Julia Child and the

steel will (wool) of an iron chef

I can seem as foreign and expensive as your saffron threads

and simple as honey

I have seen you become his true wife,

getting the ingredients just so...