Food is a big part of most people’s lives, especially as we’re known to include cooking and / or eating as a part of a lot of celebrations. It’s also not unusual for food to be a major part of the life of a couple, and millions of people could tell you things like what restaurant they got engaged in or what they had to eat on their first date with their eventual partner. Well, Emily Blunt has now revealed the meal she cooked that landed her a marriage proposal from John Krasinski, and, I gotta tell you, it’s definitely made me hungry.
Emily Blunt and John Krasinski met in late 2008, when both were dining in a restaurant and he saw her eating with what turned out to be a mutual friend. Krasinski abandoned his own dining companion, actor / writer Justin Theroux, and made a beeline for the lovely Blunt. The duo eventually wed in the summer of 2010, but, apparently, before Krasinski’s proposal, Blunt made him a roast chicken. As she recently told iHeartMedia's River Cafe Table 4 podcast:
I guess I just made something that I knew he would love. A roast chicken, who doesn't love roast chicken? The roast chicken I love is Ina Garten’s roast chicken. It’s called her 'Engagement Chicken' because I think when people make it for people they get engaged or something. Lemon, garlic, onions up the chicken, thyme, salt and pepper, all that. And you scatter onions around the chicken, but you pack them in really tight into the tray. And then you roast them really high [for] about an hour and 20 minutes, and they're done and they're perfect. When you take the chickens out you then kind of sauté in some wine and some butter into that oniony, garlicy mixture. Oh my God, it's divine. It's really sticky and yummy. … That's it! That's all it took!
Ummm...my goodness. If that description, even with the note to put some items “up the chicken,” doesn’t currently have you hoping to enter your kitchen and find this dish magically cooked and cooling on your counter, either you’ve just had the most fulfilling meal of your life, or you hate everything that is good in this world.
I, for one, can attest to the fact that my stomach is currently growling. Sure, that might be because all I’ve had so far today is coffee and water, but still! From what Blunt said about the meal she cooked for her future husband, it’s no wonder that this “engagement chicken” works wonders on those who eat it. There are literally no bad ingredients here, and, of course, Blunt is correct that everyone who loves chicken is going to love it roasted.
Luckily for them, the meal seems to have helped their already speedy romance along. Krasinski proposed after less than a full year of dating, and the actors quickly became one of the most beloved Hollywood couples around. They welcomed daughters Hazel Grace and Violet in 2014 and 2016, respectively, and thrilled fans by starring in the, now classic, sci-fi horror hit A Quiet Place in 2018 (which Emily Blunt broke a big career rule of hers to do), as well as its hugely popular sequel, which came out earlier this year.
Who would have thought that such a wonderful, loving, and productive relationship could have gotten a boost by something as simple as a delicious roast chicken? Emily Blunt didn’t note whether or not becoming engaged was her goal when she cooked the meal for John Krasinski, but it appears that she’s glad it seemed to work its magic and led to her fabulous family.
Now, excuse me. I, uh, have some grocery shopping to do.
