Saturday, March 24, 2007

Sunday Scribblings: #52 - In the Kitchen


All’s well that ends [at least half as] well!

Having to make your own meal, and knowing that it’s ONLY for yourself can sometimes get to your nerves. Not when you’re 25 and all grown up, you say? *Sigh*

Well! It’s not as if I don’t like to cook. I’m pretty decent at South Indian cuisine. But it’s the postmortem activities such as cleaning up the mess that gets onto me. When I was living alone, and when I DID cook at home occasionally, I used to sit on the kitchen counter and eat directly from the same dish I cooked on, to save the ordeal of washing some extra dishes. :D


The part where I screwed up big time was during one of those days when I decided to cook not only for myself, but for another poor soul as well. It happened a little more than a year ago. I was late from work and just as I was leaving, it started to drizzle. A colleague and friend of mine, offered to make a quick dash and drop me home before it started to get heavy. As luck would have it, just as he dropped me outside my house, it started to pour.

Following a little etiquette, I invited him inside and we ended up bitching about some work people, all the while waiting for the rains to stop. Before long we realized that it didn’t seem to cease anytime soon and I volunteered to make dinner for the two of us. This was my first mistake. But it wasn’t just mine, was it? He should know better than that!!

I used up almost an entire hour to make a simple meal of rice, rasam, and ladies finger curry. Usually, when I cook, the only distraction would be the music from the radio or television. So obviously, with all the talking adding to the pressure of cooking, I don’t have to mention that my concentration was hardly on the stove.


Lotsa talking, very little concentration, lack of a fully equipped kitchen and ingredients! Consequence? Rasam as was good as salt water and the curry was only partially cooked.

If it was a disaster, thankfully, he never reacted to it. :)

Click here, to read more scribblings.



26 comments:

Lucy said...

It was still the nice gesture of making him dinner that counted. Doesn't matter if it was yummy. :)

Brecht said...

u sound like me when i hv to do the cooking once every purple moon = ) hee hee hee good scribbling G3

Beaman said...

He never reacted to it? You mean he keeled over unconscious? :p

TMTW said...

The food may have been terrible, but it's an amusing memory to look back on.

bonggamom said...

Oh well, better luck next time. I'm sure he appreciated the thought anyway, and since he didn't react, it probably wasn't half as bad as you thought.

Aditi said...

I am sure he appreciated the thought..but dont u hate it how when someone else is gonna eat is the only time things start going wrong..

dharmabum said...

i completely agrew that cooking for oneself is no no fun and can be totally uninspiring.

u r lucky it wasn't me u were feeding - not that i am in the least fussy about food - i eat just about anything. but i never fail to comment, and i do it quite honestly.

want lessons in rasam making? i can do a pretty good job u know ;o) *conceited smile*

Liza on Maui said...

I love dishes with curry...
yeah, I do not like the cleaning after cooking either :)
and like what lucy said, it was a nice gesture of making your friend dinner :)

gautami tripathy said...

Too bad but we do learn from our mistakes.

gautami
Cook up a tale

Prakaz said...

nothing related to this post. just wanted to let u know i was testing out some stuff with the post thing and completly forgot to delete that dummy page :-(

Anonymous said...

Rice and rasam are yum! Fun scribbling...one of those things that is always more fun in hindsight. ;)

Unknown said...

That's a cute story. Whatever became of him?

~Amber~ said...

It is a great story, though. I agree with you that the "postmortem" activities are less than enjoyable. Probably the main reason I don't cook as often as I should.

sundaycynce said...

Sounds like the best of this experience is the story to tell and you have told it delightfully. I feel the same way as you expressed about cooking for one and the necessary clean up afterwards. It really was a nice thing for you to offer to cook for him. I, too, addding distraction to dis-ease, would probably have messed it up big time.

Rethabile said...

So, what's your best lamb biryani recipe? I've nevr made a decent one. Groovy post.

Chandramohan 'CM' Kannan said...

like Dharma, I am a blatant comment artist too [:P]... but I give you kudos on being super sweet by inviting over a stranded homosapien when it was raining and play the role of a good samaritan to the hilt... [well almost]

deepthi vinod said...

did he not ask for dinner again lol...it is a pain to cook for only one person ..ask me I knw...however thnx to being back home I am lovin every morsel i get...even the karela...

Miss Iyer said...

LUCY,

Thank you for that kind remark and do stop by often. :)


MUSH,

There you are! My favourite commentator :D.. "once every purple moon"----> LOL


BEAMAN,

Yeah, he didnt react to it! You think he fell over unconcious? :-/ Well, at least he reached hom safe that nite :-P... sooo, I think not. :)


AUTRICE,

You bet it is. Back then, it wasnt so amusing thought. But looking back at it now, it sure is. :)Thank you for stopping by! Do visit more often.

Miss Iyer said...

BONGGA,

Thank. I hope you're right :)


ADITI,

U bet! I know! Why do we always happen to mess up things when we really wish it came out all well. :-/


DHARMA,

Thank God I wasnt serving you food. U'd have made me sound so much more miserable on that post ;)

Nah! I dont need no lessons. My culinary skills are quite good, but like Aditi says, I guess it just was the timing that went wrong :-|


LIZA,

Thanks! and thank you for visiting :)


GAUTAMI,

I still have no idea what my mistake was that nite. Let alone learn from them :-P

Miss Iyer said...

PRAKAZ,

I thought as much :)


MARDOUGRRL,

Oh you think so too? :D You bet, it didnt appear to be this funny back then ;)


BOLIYOU,

Thanks! What became of him? Let's just say, I always love to leave my posts that way; it gives an elements of surprise/suspense (call it what you may) to my readers ;) Thanks for stopping by, do visit more often!


AMBER,

Since we pretty much sail on the same boat, I was curious to visit your page. And God! I should mention it was quite hilarious! Do stop by more often :)

Miss Iyer said...

SundayC,

Thanks much for that remark. U bet, the clean up is the most terrifying job of all! :)


RETHABILE,

I'm afraid I cant help you out there. I happen to be a vegetarian :-/


CM,

@stranded homosapien ----> LOL CM.


DEEPTHI,

No. Sadly, he never ever did ask me anything close to even a juice ever after! :-/

Kristi Tencarre said...

I hear ya. My friend still teases me about burning grilled cheese sandwiches when I cooked for him once!

Kimberley McGill said...

I hate the washing dishes and scrubbing pots too. I usually do the cooking so my husband does all the cleaning up. I do love it that way!

Miss Iyer said...

SKYELARKE,

LOL, really? I guess each of us have our own burnt stories to tell ;)


KIMBERLEY,

What a convenient arrangement ;) I too am gonna find myself a husband that can do all the cleaning for me. :D I'll be glad to do all the cooking for them in that case :-P

Ayush Jain said...

Hey, in such a wonderful setting, with rain puring down in all its fury, and with you for company, I am sure the food would not have mattered.

Miss Iyer said...

AYUSH,

Thanks! I'll take that as a compliment!