Make your husband something special in the kitchen (reservations don’t count).

It’s an unfair fact of life – men like a woman who can cook.

Most of us didn’t grow up with a mom who passed down an exceptional culinary legacy. Many of our mothers were out there bringing home the bacon and frying it up in a pan (or nuking it in the microwave before she had to get a bunch of kidlets off to soccer practice).

My mom worked outside the home, and is a great cook. But, like her sewing skills, natural cooking abilities skipped a generation.

In my first tiny apartment living alone, I survived for a year on takeout food and ham sandwiches. I was deathly afraid of cooking anything as complicated as chicken, fearing that I would certainly poison any partakers with a lethal case of salmonella.

When I got married, however, I quickly realized that perhaps my groom would not be quite so satisfied with a steady diet of take-out sushi, yogurt smoothies and Diet Coke. It was time for me to spend some quality time with my soon-to-be new best friend, Betty Crocker.

I decided to dedicate myself to the task at hand and learn to cook. Diving into the culinary deep end, I tackled teriyaki chicken. While the first Your Results were a bit dry, they were not lethal. This gave me a great deal of confidence to try and jump a few more epicurean hurdles.

If you’re not a cook, but you know that your husband would like for you to be, here is a fail-safe recipe that I know you can do, and that your husband will love. How can I be sure? Both our teenage boys cook and eat this recipe. If they can cook it, you can cook it. If they will eat it, your husband will eat it.

Teriyaki Chicken

I make this marinade again and again – it is much better than any prepared marinade you can find in the store.

4 each Chicken legs and thighs (or use six chicken breasts)

½ cup Soy sauce

3 Tbsp Honey

1 tsp Grated, fresh ginger

1 clove Garlic, minced

2 Green onions, thinly sliced

1. Prepare: Place the chicken in a gallon plastic bag. Mix the remaining ingredients together in a bowl. Pour the mixture over the chicken; fully coating each piece. Seal the bag.

2. Freeze: Place your bag in another gallon bag and lay flat in the freezer.

3. Serve: Defrost the chicken. Pour off marinade and bake chicken in a pan at 350° for 30- 40 minutes (or until no longer pink in the center).

Servings: 4