We invited two of our friends over to dinner at my place so that they could visit and see the counter Ray built me. Since Ray also loves to cook he was in charge of planning the meal. Letting Ray cook dinner goes something like this:
We go to the store and I help Ray gather his ingredients. This could take anywhere from an hour to maybe 2 or 3 depending on whether or not he has an idea already in mind and how bizarre the ingredients for the meal are. Let me tell you, if you want to find roasted onion garlic jam you better be prepared to go to several different stores.
Then we come home and put groceries away and prep the kitchen. I may ask what we're having for dinner, but the answer is usually "you'll see".
Usually I know all the ingredients needed ahead of time. On this particular night, however, Ray managed to sneak the can labeled "Snails" into the grocery cart. He sent me on an errand while we were checking out so that by the time I got back everything was in bags. He also found some time to remove the can BEFORE I got to putting the groceries away. I did manage to see the can on the counter during food prep and made a comment about it. I don't really remember what he said, but I honestly didn't think too much about the can because I was preoccupied with cleaning.
One would think that if you're having dinner guests that the food you serve would be something they'd like to eat. Upon entering the living room Ray told us all that he's going to try the appetizer first since he's never made it before and has never eaten it before. That's when I remembered the can...of snails. Being the hostess I couldn't exactly react how I wanted to react - which was gagging. It didn't help that in my bowl was three things that looked exactly like snails. Ray was so proud of himself for making them and after tasting them he said it was like eating shrimp scampi. I was highly doubtful. After much hesitation, our guests ate theirs and declared them chewy and somewhat salty, but otherwise good. I was still less than enthusiastic. I had to close my eyes as I put one in my mouth. It did have the consistency of shrimp, I'll give him that much. Unfortunately I kept picturing a living snail in my mind. It didn't help that I was told I was eating slugs since the snails didn't have their shells attached. Good grief. I thought eating one slug would be okay. Then Ray looked at me and said something to the effect of whether I was going to eat the other two. And so I ate the other two - with my eyes closed of course.
Thankfully this was the hardest part of the meal for me. Ray then brought out a wonderful salad, meat, and baked potatoes. We had a moose chocolate cake for dessert. Overall it was a very nice night and I think I can honestly say that I'm getting better at trying new foods. Although should I ever happen to eat in a restuarant serving escargot, I will probably opt for a different appetizer.
Although I don't have a picture, I did find one on google images which most closely resembled what I ate:
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