Archived Observation

I'm really glad that Avery is back from his business trip to Mississippi, because now I don't have to cook for myself anymore. Whenever Avery has had to go out of town in the past, I would make the simplest things ever, like Noodles With Butter and a Side of Green Beans, or Success Boil-in-the-Bag Rice with Butter and a Side of Greenbeans, but this time I had lofty aspirations. I thought, Why couldn't I make something with pork or beef like we usually made, but in a smaller portion? I went to Safeway on Sunday afternoon, armed with the unique and frightening ability to make my own dinner decisions. I decided that I would have a pork stirfry one day and pasta tossed with steamed asparagus the next, and Rice and a Side of Green Beans on the third night just for the sake of tradition.

The pasta was a disaster. I have no patience whatsoever, and while cooking seemed like a fun and enjoyable idea on Sunday afternoon, it didn't seem like such a great idea at the end of a busy, tiring day of work the next day. I also have no idea how to time the different parts of a dinner so that they all magnificently and beautifully come together as one when the little timer-thingee goes off. There was a picture in my head of what the pasta was supposed to look like, something straight out of Food & Wine magazine (but without all the pastel-colored Pottery Barn dinnerware.) The penne boiled fine, but the garlic was a little too browned and the asparagus…well, let's just say that when I lifted the asparagus out of the steamer, it drooped over the fork like a pair of filthy socks. I steamed the life right out of those babies. I didn't let that discourage me, and went on with my plan to toss the asparagus with the penne, the garlic and some olive oil. The asparagus ended up looking like pesto. It was that mushy.

When it came time to make the stirfry, it was the last night that I had to cook for myself, and I had gone to the gym after work. Getting from the gym to our apartment involves taking two buses, and there was obviously a typical MUNI disaster, because I didn't get home until 8:30 PM. Who wants to chop all those vegetables for a stirfry at 8:30 PM? Not me! I didn't even want the stupid pork stirfry anymore. Patience-less me haphazardly chops up the vegetables (most of which are still sitting in the refrigerator because I obviously can't seem to judge how much is enough for one person) and throw them in with the pork and some soy sauce. I overcook the pork, because as I'm stirring and frying, I start having anxious thoughts of food poisoning. Tough, overcooked pieces of pork with hastily chopped, overcooked vegetables over boil-in-the-bag-rice. Yum. I'll choose doing the dishes any day, as long as I don't have to ruin another meal.