If you would just tell me...

My Hubby is very good about eating whatever I make and never complaining about it.  I have watched some husbands who snarl their noses at what their wives put in front of them or just flat out refuse to eat it and I'm shocked every time.  Especially when most of those husbands don't even think about helping in the kitchen.  I think it is incredibly disrespectful for anyone, man, woman or child, to complain about food that other people have made for them.  My own children aren't even allowed to make comments about the food I make unless I ask them for their feedback, and even then they are to be respectful if they tell me they don't like it.  And heaven help them if they complain about something someone else makes for us.

OK, sorry for the soapbox, it's one of my pet peeves.  Anyway, the only time I actually remember Hubby not wanting to eat something I made was about 2 months ago when I made something that had sweet potatoes in it.  He had pushed them all over to the side and when I saw them in his bowl I raised my eyebrows and asked if he really wasn't going to eat them.  He rolled his eyes at me and proceeded to eat them all.  After which he tells me that he HATES sweet potatoes.  Not just doesn't like them, but that thinking about eating them actually makes  him kind of sick to his stomach.  I was beyond shocked.  After being married to this man for 12 years I had no idea he felt like this about sweet potatoes.  If I had known I wouldn't have cooked with them and I certainly wouldn't have questioned why he wasn't eating them.  I asked if there were any other food preferences I should know about.  He says no, but I have to wonder what else he hasn't told me.

OK, stick with me, that was just the intro to the story.  A few months ago I found a recipe on Pinterest for sourdough bread.  I enjoy making bread and rolls, especially since it is much cheaper than buying them, so I figured I would give it a go.  Well first of all, it is a pretty involved recipe.  And by involved I mean that I had to read it several times just to understand what it was that I was supposed to do.  Sourdough bread evidently involves a starter.  Some of you may know what I'm talking about.  I had no idea what it was or what I was supposed to do with it.  I finally figured it out and made the starter.

 This is from the blog where I got the recipe

So after two weeks of getting the starter going I made my first two loaves.  They weren't that impressive.  I figured out I let them rise too long.  The thing with a starter is, once you have one you just keep it in the fridge until you make more.  So I tried again a couple of weeks later and the loaves turned out pretty good.  However, I decided that since it actually takes 2 days to allow the loaves to sit and rise the way they are supposed to, and I have a hard time remembering to get them started the day before I need them, that I was going to just dump the starter and forget about sourdough bread. 

I pulled the bowl out at lunch to dump it and told Hubby what I was going to do.  He was like, "Well, OK.  If that's what you want to do."  But it was said in that "I guess that's OK, but I really don't want you to" voice.  Turns out he really likes the sourdough bread.  He told me I should know that because he's told me both times he ate it how good it was.  Apparently I'm too used to him complimenting me on my cooking.  He said I could go ahead and dump the starter if I really didn't want to mess with it anymore.  The thing is, when I know Hubby or my girls really like something, I like to make it for them.  I find satisfaction in cooking and baking things my family enjoys.  All I'm asking is for them to tell me when they like or dislike something.  Because I am apparently terrible on picking up the hints!