I’m under the gun to create six new recipes for Regence BlueCross BlueShield. This week we’ll be filming several short videos for posting on their member site. Plus I have a photo shoot tomorrow for four already-created recipes. These photos will grace printed recipe cards that I’ll be handing out at the Healthy Living Expo in Seattle next month. I will be representing Regence by doing live cooking demonstrations on the Healthy Living Cooking Stage and advising visitors in the Regence booth.

For Regence, recipes need to be healthy and taste good. They must also follow a particular theme: cancer, fertility, sex, addictions, allergies, and summer exercise. For example, Omega-3 fatty acids help the body to fight off seasonal allergies. As I write, Geoffroy is practicing several versions of a salmon spring roll using fresh vegetables and Asian seasoning. For sex, I’ve chosen dark chocolate and ginger – two aphrodisiacs. They come together in a molten chocolate cake that will make any heart melt.

Mountains of food are piling up in the refrigerator, and it all needs to be tasted. Thank goodness I have neighbors with healthy appetites! But being a guinea pig is a tougher job than you may think. Every bite must be scrutinized; each flavor analyzed. Are the textures balanced? Does one ingredient overpower the others or is there harmony throughout?

And when what seems like a good idea for a recipe fails, well… it’s back to the drawing board. That means more trips to New Seasons, quick Internet searches, and more scribbled-out notes.

Dishes pile up in the sink, the garbage threatens to spill over, and the windows look like it’s raining on the inside. But the smells emanating from the kitchen are sublime. Geoffroy and I work around each other, both in our own little worlds of concentration. We stop periodically for a quick kiss or to get the other to sample a concoction.

By the end of the evening, we collapse in a puddle on the couch. And there’s still more work to do. Now we need to do the impossible – figure out what’s for dinner!

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