I would've preferred a steaming cup of coffee to greet me in the morning, but when you live with a European Chef, you get a cow’s tongue.



Lucas woke up early the other morning.  I begrudgingly plodded down the stairs bleary eyed and bathrobed ready to start my day.  The last thing I thought I would see when I opened up our refrigerator was a COW’S TONGUE.  It took a few seconds to register then…”OH MY GAWD!!!  ETTOREEEEEEEE!!!

There was only one person responsible for this, my European Chef husband.



Me:  “What the hell is that in our fridge?”



Ettore: “It’s a delicacy.”



Me:  “Is that a cow’s tongue?”



Ettore:  “It’s fantastic with green beans.”



Me:  “UGH, is THAT a cow’s tongue?”



Ettore:  “No.”



Me:  “What is that then.”



Ettore:  “It’s a beef tongue.”



Me:  “Isn’t beef…cow?”



Despite it still being before sunrise (and before I had my coffee), my husband went on to extol the virtues of beef, not cow, tongue.  How you prepare it, (I will spare the details), what it is good served with (green beans), and why it is delicious (I am taking his word for it).  So there the tongue sits in our fridge.  When you live with a chef, your refrigerator always looks like a bachelor’s fridge with a slight twist.  Water, condiments, eggs, and cow tongue.



Last night was a bit awkward when I was giving our sitter the rundown of the house before we went to dinner.  “Here are our emergency numbers, have Lucas in bed by 8:30, and help yourself to whatever you want in the fridge…and FYI heads up for the cow tongue, although if you want it you are welcome to that too.”  She didn’t want it.  Ettore was kind enough to hide the tongue behind some water bottles.



Ettore is so excited about the tongue though, I don’t want freak out and make him feel bad.  It is just instinct.  It is like when I was a kid and my cat Puffets would kill a mouse and bring it into the house to show me.  Puffets just wanted to make me proud. She was doing what came naturally and proving her hunting prowess.  As grossed out as I was, I  was always extra careful not to scream and run.  I didn’t want to hurt her feelings.  Ettore is a chef, it is his instinct to love and share all kinds of food.  So there will be no running from the house screaming.  Besides, when I did run and scream Puffets would just chase me with the mouse. I can’t have Ettore chasing me with that cow tongue.  It is all kinds of wrong, on so many levels.

Meggan Ravazzolo of www.meggansamom.com is an over educated – under medicated stay at home Mom and Stepmom in Northern California.  Meggan is a former graduate of the UCLA school of  Theater -Film -and Television, as well as a former comedian, actress, model, and television reporter with a flat stomach, perky breasts and good memory.  All that is gone now.  After a career in the spotlight Meggan traded in her microphone, size 6 body, personal pride and ego for a life as a stay at home Mom and Stepmom.  Her life has never been better, funnier, or messier.