Culinary Delights

I was in a staring contest with Microsoft Word.  There was text on the page, at least - text which I kept deleting and rewriting and trying to turn into a proper manuscript, but I was failing.  I stared out the dark, fifth-floor window at the hulking shadows of hills outside the city, at the traffic gliding past the Meadows, at the spot where my own flat sat waiting for me to come home.  I'd been in the library since noon that day, watching the scenery as it changed from a Scottish noontime to an early night, with a break for seminar at 2.  Scottish noontime meant that the sun was low in the southern sky and I had to wear sunglasses in order to face the window, the early night (which has only gotten earlier with the end of Daylight Savings) meant that five hours later the sun was inching its way toward the hills.

I glanced at my clock.  6:45.  I'd been working hard for seven hours, and hadn't eaten since I'd left the flat earlier that day.  Maybe that was why I couldn't write good prose.  I deleted my latest attempt on screen and packed up to go home.

I had just turned onto my street when I got a text message from Michelle - "Where are you?" it said.  "We're having Chinese Food Night!"  The week before, we'd had a big Chinese food night where Michelle and I had cooked for the other girls.  I made my famous DanDan (to which Michelle became immediately addicted), she made chicken wings, pork and eggplant, and rice.  Chopsticks, of course, had been a must.  I remembered the previous weekend, when Tracy, Yi Xiao, and I were at Costa Coffee in New Town that Yi Xiao wanted to cook a dinner for us as well.  She wanted to make sushi - which for me was intimidating, as I don't like fish, but I promised I'd try.  I'd gotten a note that morning from her, however, saying she was sorry but she'd have to reschedule when she'd cook for us.  No biggie, I had leftovers in the fridge anyway.

So I was confused when I got that message from Michelle.  Maybe she was trying to throw together another Chinese Food Night, even though most of us usually eat between 5:30 and 6:30.  I sent a quick message back saying I'd be home in a minute.

My room, of course, is directly across from the kitchen, and the door to the kitchen has a window in it.  It's a habit to glance in and say hi to whoever may be around before dumping my stuff off in my room.  This time, though, I saw four plates on the table, all with food already served, and three girls yelling "CHINESE FOOD NIGHT" as soon as I walked through the door.  My exhausted and hungry brain had a hard time comprehending.  I stuttered out a response asking if I could drop my stuff off in my room and use the bathroom before joining them.

When I got back, Michelle pushed one of the plates in front of me.  "Really?" I asked.  "This one's for me?"  It was like magic - I'd left the library mainly because I was hungry (and partly because I hadn't written anything substantial in an hour), only to find that food had already been prepared for me when I got home.  Almost like the scene in Hook when the Lost Boys convince Peter that the imaginary food they're eating is really filling.  It was delicious magic.

Other culinary adventures so far have included baking peanut butter cookies, the aforementioned night when Michelle and I cooked, and making pierogis from scratch with Hanna's recipe.  The pierogis were, by far, the messiest and most difficult of the three (that dough isn't so easy to make and work with), but so far Michelle has fallen in love with everything I make and wants to cook it all for her husband.  Granted, the other girls enjoy what I make as well, but there's nothing quite so funny as watching Michelle rub her full belly while wondering if she should have more noodles.