These days, much of my creativity is expressed through cooking. My husband, Danny, is a more than appreciative audience. He enjoys good food and he thinks mine hits the mark, well most of the time. I do have some royal failures occasionally.

Yesterday morning, I did not know what to pull out of the freezer. I am trying to work through the freezer, eat up the (undated) stuff that’s been there way too long. But nothing spoke to me. I knew I was going shopping and thought I’d find something at one of the 2 stores I was aiming for. Bingo, I hit pay dirt.

First stop was Aldi. There I found angus beef – chuck (my mother’s go-to cut) and boneless beef ribs. Another store had advertized ribs at a similar price, but bone-in. I’d much prefer not to pay for the bone, even if they give the meeting flavor in the cooking. I will cut the chuck into 2 or 3 pieces to be used at another date; some marinated and grilled Korean style, the other crusted with a coffee, pepper, etc mixture and broiled. One pack of ribs was transformed into a quick tagine to serve over (instant) couscous.

Ok, first I cut the meat into sizeable chunks. Next to brown in a bit of oil. I cut up two small red onions. When the meat came out of the pot, the onions went in. The 2nd store I stopped at had nice pumpkin (calabaza), so I cut that up into chunks. When the onions were browned, in went the spices – cumin, coriander, ginger, some pepper, maybe something else vaguely Moroccan, and fresh, shopped garlic. I returned the meat to the pot with its drippings, added the squash, and some wine to pick up whatever stuck to the pan, and then some water. When it came to a boil, I turned it down and it cooked for an hour. Then it sat … and sat, while I went to yoga class. An hour before dinner, I added a generous handful of unchopped cilantro – another purchase of the store – and cooked it longer. I fished out the cilantro when I served, it gave a really lovely aroma. Served with a bowl of couscous and a slaw of chopped cabbage and red and orange peppers (another purchase earlier in the day). I top my slaw with a vinaigrette, not a mayonnaise dressing.

Yes, my husband enjoyed. Long ago, he had served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Morocco so I enjoy trying to replicate the flavors he really savored there.