Smoked Sausage
with Peppers, Onions & Rice

Hailey Miller

Approximately one year ago, in 2007, I was on my way home from work at the University Book Exchange, and I remember it was raining so hard I could barely see the road. When I got home, I noticed the power was out, but there were candles all around the house. Then I saw this cooked meal on the table: spicy smoked sausage, large green and red peppers, onion, and Saffron yellow rice.

I knew it was something. I had never seen my boyfriend Will cook before, so I was surprised and wondering if it was even any good. After seeing the old propane grill on the counter, I had my doubts, but he assured me it was almost done when the power went out and he had to use it. After taking my first bite, I knew I was hooked, and it was a meal I was definitely going to look forward to eating in the future.

Most of the time, my boyfriend is the one who cooks it, although, there are times we both lend a hand in making it--taking turns stirring the sausage, peppers, onions and rice. Almost every time I start to cook it by myself, he always says I am doing something wrong, so I end up letting him finish. Even though it tastes exactly the same, I let him cook it because I get tired of hearing him say, "You can't do it like me." He is the one who cooks most of the food at our house because cooking is something he enjoys doing, and he is really good at it.

We only make it sometimes because we don't want to eat it so much we get tired of it. When we do make the meal, we always get really excited and can't wait until it's done to eat it. Usually, we only make it for the two of us, but our friends and family are always asking us to make it for them because we say it is so good.

We serve the sausage, peppers, and onion with rice on the side, but I usually mix mine all together. Making it a meal at dinnertime is the best because it is so much food for two people, and that's when we are the hungriest.

Since that night, cooking smoked sausage, peppers, onion, and rice has been a meal we cherish and grow to love more every day. It is my favorite meal, because it is shared just between us, which makes it special--the perfect meal.