With Valentine’s Day just a few short days away, I wanted to take this opportunity to dedicate my food column this week to my #1 taste-tester and good looking husband, Kurt. Kurt and I met in Statesboro at the Millhouse, and our love story is one for the ages.
My handsome in his happy place: Cheering on his high school football team.
It was a pleasant Friday evening, November 2, 2012, and at the time, I worked at Georgia Southern University. A good friend and I had just attended an annual work event where the Swinging Medallions had entertained us until midnight. We had danced the night away and stayed until the very last call, but when the event was over, we weren’t quite ready to call it a night. As fate would have it, we ventured over to the hot spot in town to continue the party. I was wearing a blue cocktail dress and my red high heels. The details of that evening still stand out fresh in my mind, like it was yesterday. I walked into the bar area, and though I didn’t know it yet, my husband-to-be sat across the room watching a football game on the big screen. To hear Kurt tell it, as soon as I walked through the doors, he thought, “Business just picked up!” That line always makes me laugh. Soon enough, Kurt and I made eye contact, at which point he seized the opportunity to wink. I blushed, he approached, and in the first few moments of conversation, we got all the priorities out of the way, such as whether he loved Jesus and what he did for a living. I don’t believe in wasting time! Though he looked a little scruffy, he had kind eyes and made me laugh. The following Sunday, we went on our first date to the Olive Garden. He had cleaned up nicely. Kurt and I dated for three happy years, and decided to tie the knot on our beloved Georgia Coast. We got married in the hot summer sun one August evening on the lawn of St. Simons Island’s Lovely Lane Chapel. During our ceremony, I surprised Kurt and sang George Jones’s “Walk through this World with Me.” It was an unforgettable celebration. We exited the aisle to a foreshadowing tune by Natalie Cole, “This will be an Everlasting Love.”
Our Wedding Day: August 15, 2015
Long before we met, Kurt and I both experienced other relationships and life experiences that made us truly appreciate each other. I’ve often said marrying him is one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. Aside from being smart, hard-working and thoughtful, he is well-respected, chivalrous and funny. We share so many of the same interests–food being one of those. We will sit down to a meal and talk about the flavors in a dish or the components of a plate, dissecting every detail with true interest and awe. One of the things I noticed about Kurt right away is his keen palate. In a dish I’ve cooked or at a restaurant, he will pick up on the smallest amount of cinnamon or a touch of sweetness. He can appreciate a fancy feast such as Lobster Thermidor or Beef Bourguignon, but more often than not, it’s the simplest of meals like Manwich sloppy joe sauce over ground beef and tater tots that suit him. I once made him a beautiful beurre blanc, that’s a classic French white butter sauce, which I served over pan-seared chicken breast. At first bite, he literally responded in all sincerity with, “Wow, that’s better than Parker’s sauce!” He keeps me grounded. That’s why I love him.
So, to my number #1 fan in the kitchen and in life, I quote a line from Julie and Julia, my all-time favorite movie. Kurt, “You are the butter to my bread and the breath to my life.” Happy Valentine’s Day, my handsome.
August 14, 2015 – Our rehearsal dinner was held on St. Simons Island’s East Beach with our closest family and friends (who apparently love to photo bomb!).
This article originally appeared in the Statesboro Herald on February 11, 2018.
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Georgia native Rebekah Faulk Lingenfelser is a freelance writer, entertainer and food enthusiast who writes and speaks about her love of good food and the Coastal South. A Season 2 Contestant on ABC’s “The Taste,” she is the Statesboro Herald food columnist and host of SKG-TV on YouTube. A public relations graduate of Georgia Southern University, Rebekah also attended Savannah Technical College’s Culinary Institute of Savannah. To learn more, connect with Some Kinda Good on social media, or visit RebekahFaulk.wix.com/RebekahFaulk.
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