What's Wrong With This Picture?

Peach jam and tomato preserves sitting on my kitchen table, July 31, 2012.

This morning I sat in the living room drinking my first cup of coffee and thinking about everything I needed to accomplish today.  Before I could finish my mental list, my husband came into the living room and reached for my hand.  Then he gently pulled me up from my chair and walked me to the kitchen without saying a word.  I was a little worried when he guided me to the kitchen table where the jam I'd made yesterday was still waiting to be put away.  After standing there silently for what seemed like an eternity, he said in a soft voice, "What's wrong with this picture?"  I replied, "Uh... I don't know."  Now I was really starting to get concerned.

My husband said, "Nothing's labeled.  I ate your delicious peach jam this morning, but I was hoping it was tomato preserves.  Could you please label the jars today?"

I wasn't sure if I should try to rein in my sense of relief or laugh out loud.  I'm pretty sure I laughed.  I know I couldn't stop smiling and it was my husband's turn to be concerned.  He gave me a funny look and said, "why are you smiling like that?"  I mumbled something about being happy he liked the jam and that I'd pick out a jar of tomato preserves for him to eat tomorrow.

It's hard to describe in words how satisfying it is to make food that has a strong effect someone I love.   I imagined my husband looking forward to eating tomato preserves-- and then his disappointment when the jar didn't contain the sweet and sour taste he was anticipating.  It's not that I enjoyed thinking about his disappointment, but it did show me how much he really did like the preserves I'd made him on a whim.  Somehow it made the moment even sweeter.