The Shake 'N Bake I made last night, that is. For the first time in Indianapolis and only the second time in my life, I had me a glorious chicken dinner. Though unfortunately I was the only one who benefitted from this, there are four meals' worth of leftovers that will finish out my lunches and dinner for the rest of the week, so it was a worthy endeavor overall.
It was a good feeling, to eat something that I didn't release from a can or some sort of "pull here" packaging. Having grown weary of Campbell's Soup at Hand, Lean Cuisine teriaki bowls, and moldy-bread sandwiches, I decided to spice things up at the Super Target last Sunday and purchased ingredients requiring the operation of an oven and having nothing to do with spinach-artichoke dip (which still ROCKS!, by the way). Maybe it's silly to feel so proud. It's not like I broke a sweat or even created anything from scratch. Truth be told, though, I've always been a little afraid of cooking. The most I'd done as a child was microwave vegatables, and I didn't even enjoy that. Once I moved out of the dorms and into my own house, I tried a couple of different things--tarts, pumpkin pie, sweet potatoes--with mixed success.
Actually, this cooking phobia is just one instance that shows how unwilling I am to try new things. I can take a new job and move to a new city all by myself but refuse to check the air in my tires, install my printer, or change a fuse. Maybe it's because I've always had someone to do these chores for me. Maybe because I'm a girl. Maybe because I'm just that lazy.
However, I'm even more afraid of the idea of my future family living on KFC and frozen lasagnas, so this cooking thing must be overcome. My parents were wonderful at it; there were pot roasts, homemade apple pies, mashed potatoes actually mashed by my mother's own two hands. And it looked so easy! They never let on much calculating it took to bring a meal and all of its various parts together. The only side dish I prepared last night was Rice-A-Roni, which turned out OK, but it finished cooking ten minutes after I'd taken the chicken out, so everything was eaten in stages. Really, I had my own little play, A Dinner in Two Acts, with an optional third act in the form of an orange sherbet push-up at 12:30 in the morning.
I'll get there, future Frema family. Have faith. I'll get there.
Hey! I do know how to cook, you know.
Posted by: Luke | August 11, 2005 at 06:52 PM
Technically, I think if you only have two acts it isn't a play. . . it is more like a meal sitcom.
"I don't know why they call it "Hamburger Helper . . . .tastes just fine by itself"
Posted by: Steve | August 12, 2005 at 05:12 PM
I can make Kraft Dinner 300 different ways!
Look for the book soon!
Q
Posted by: Queenie | August 12, 2005 at 06:59 PM
Blogging a Product: Do you know about Bionicles?
I remember, back in the day, when buying toys for my children was as simple as getting them their own set of keys to play with, so they could pretend to lock and unlock the door, every door, over and over and ...
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I have a real estate loan rates site. It pretty much covers real estate loan rates.
Posted by: Anonymous | August 12, 2005 at 07:20 PM
I am just learning how to cook. How old was you when you first learned how to cook?
Posted by: D-Town Divas | August 12, 2005 at 07:29 PM
Enjoyable reads! Johnny Depp and Judgement Day, cable mourning, and Parisian runways; a quirky cornucopia of fun... And no, I'm not trying to get you to read my blog about advanced gaming systems or cheap car insurance rates.
mus4mar.blogspot.com
Posted by: James | August 12, 2005 at 07:52 PM
Congratulations on your cooking extravaganza! I look forward to reading more... just don't set your oven on fire like I did.
Posted by: Liz | August 14, 2005 at 12:27 PM