Look, Ma! I Can Cook!

Saturday, May 30, 2009

All right, blogosphere. I've been pretty late in making this announcement, initially because I was too afraid of jinxing my rickety plans. And then I didn't blog about it because I was too busy being busy executing the plans. And now, as I sit in a t-shirt & my underwear on a lazy Saturday afternoon, the plans have been successfully carried out, there's nothing left to jinx, I'm clearly not busy &, therefore, it's announcement time.

I MOVED!

As you all know, I've lived since October 2007 in an apartment that lacks a kitchen, something I mention at every opportunity possible (like here, here, here, here & here). I've spent 19 months draining pasta cooked in a hot pot into the toilet, a fact of which I'm not exactly proud - except a little, because hey, that's resourceful. Still, it made for difficult when I considered entertaining.

Now, though, the wait & the complaints are over: I HAVE A KITCHEN!

Do you hear the angels singing?

I'm still living in a studio, but this one's got a little kitchen off to one side - including a real kitchen sink! So what have I done to break in my long-awaited luxury? Cooked, of course!

On day one, as I waited for my friends to come help me move my furniture in, I whipped up pesta pasta with chipotle meatballs, my very first dish in the new place:


Final product, with the meatballs only slightly charred:


But I didn't have any furniture yet, so I had to eat it balanced on my knees as I sat on the floor. Classy!


That pasta lasted my the next couple of days, saving me lunch money & keeping me content. Yesterday, I finally went on my first I-have-a-kitchen grocery shopping spree, for which I actually used a shopping cart, despite knowing that I'd have to carry home everything I purchased:


After carrying home at least 25 pounds of groceries & nearly tearing my arms off my body from the weight of the grocery bags, I got to work baking these:


I haven't made cupcakes for... well, I don't know that I've ever made cupcakes, actually, so I wasn't sure how high to fill the muffin tins full of batter. As soon as I popped them in, I began to fear they'd bubble over the edges, causing a lemonade cupcake explosion in my brand new oven. A Twitter follower suggested that "Lemon Cupcake Explosion" might make for a nice all-girl punk-pop band name.



Alas, they did not explode, & I frosted them happily. The end result? Strawberry lemonade cupcakes that I've had to force myself not to eat as they wait to be taken to a friend's birthday BBQ.

And finally, not done testing out my culinary acumen, I created some vegetarian quesadillas for lunch/dinner. These, too, have carried over into leftovers that have made me quite happy this afternoon:


It's safe to say I've caught the cooking bug. If you've got an beginners recipes I can try out, shoot me an email at suburbansweetheart@gmail.com.

9 comments:

  1. Congratulations on your move! That's so awesome. Your place looks great, so clean and bright. And those cupcakes have me jonesing for something sweet!

    My hubby and I are in the midst of a move to Arizona so I am going to be just like you in 2 weeks. Sitting in a nice apt with no furniture! But I'm still excited. :)

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  2. i somehow found you on twitter, which lead me here
    (love it).. cooking bug! that's so cute! cooking.. it's like a mystery you get to solve :D

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  3. So excited about your new place and that I get to see it soon!! And I really like recipes from www.kraftfoods.com because they are easy and quick and have healthy stuff that tastes really good, too!

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  4. I WANT YOUR CUPCAKES NOW. You should e-me the recipe :)

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  5. No kitchen? How is that even possible?

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  6. Look Ma is so very proud! And just think of all the chaching you'll (hopefully) be saving. Cooking is an art & fun, not the mac 'n cheese kind though -- recipes coming your way soon! Love you, "Ma"

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  7. You need a copy of "Jewish Cooking In America" by Joan Nathan. It's a fantastic cookbook and has all kinds of neat little stories about Jewish immigrant cooking. Also, make sure you learn to make your mom's latkes. No one makes latkes like your mom... next time I'm thinking of making them maybe I should ask her... :o)

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  8. Yay for a new kitchen...your new apartment looks VERY nice too!!! Congrats!

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  9. I love the recipes on this blog...even though they're really anything but healthy. I've modified some of them. But mostly I just cook this stuff if I'm having people over. It's fine to make other people fat. Just so you know.

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