"Island in the Sun" by Weezer :)
A kid started playing this while I was washing dishes... I love this song.
So welcome to the college life.
Cramming for tests, running to rehearsals or club meetings or practices, reading reading reading.
I know how you feel. Not to mention, I moved back on campus... Living with a great friend who loves when I cook.
Tonight being no different.
I got home early for the first time in so long I can't even remember, and resolved to make myself dinner. And it was Glorious.
Tonight I made Pork Fried Rice and sausages to be put away for breakfast time tomorrow, and hot and sour soup. So easy a caveman could make it.
Yes I still do have my kitchen wares from my apartment this summer but it's no big deal- a fry pan, a saucepan and spatula. It was so cheap I don't even know what to do with myself.
Rice which is like 5 cents at the closest Harris Teeter for a bag the size of a small child. It's sort of amazing. And other things easily accessible including a log of Jimmy Dean sausage, a packet of seasoning from a package of Ramen (if you don't have this, I might kill you myself. COME ON.), soy sauce, and some left over hot and sour soup from ordering out a night or so ago, salt/pepper etc.
So I headed downstairs to the kitchen in my dorm with all my wares in hand, along with my Nalgene, computer and World Lit homework.
So can I just rant a bit more about rice? Seriously. So easy. And delicious.
I started the baby sized pot with about 3 cups of water. Turned the stove to High and sat down to read a bit about Ben Franklin. About 5 minutes later, I had a rolling boil* and poured in the rice what looked to be a good amount of rice for a personal serving... Yeah probably should've measured that one out but whatev... Then I popped on the lid and turned the rice down to Simmer and let it be. Turned the fry pan on and cut off a hunk of that delectable cold sausage log (sounds nasty but SO WORTH IT). Within a few minutes it was sizzling and spitting at me (thank god for long sleeves on chilly nights) and I broke it up, let it cook for a second and read a bit more on how awesome Ben Franklin is. You gotta let it get golden and brown and it's so tasty. After a little while, sometime in the time table of 20 minutes, all the water had finally boiled down out of the rice which means it's allllllll ready. Then I poured the rice into my pan with the sausage. By now is when I started getting compliments from the hallway "hey! It smells amazing in here! Whatcha makin??". After the hubbub died down for a sec, I splashed about a 1/4 of a cup of soy sauce and that package of seasoning from the Ramen and mixed that deliciousness around. I kept my sauce pan on and dumped in my cold-at-the-moment hot and sour soup and put the lid back on.
So at this point, while I was looking at my fry pan, realized that I had enough rice to last me like 3 days (thanks Mom, learned from the best) and texted the roommate to bring tupperware-calvary. And I let the amazingness brown on one side and flatten it cover the bottom of the pan and added a bit more sausage, because who can get enough sausage?? But then after about a minute I'd flip sections and continue the browning. I did this process about 3 or 4 times until I was satisfied and my stomach was yelling at me to eat it. So I plated it, and snagged the rest of the sausage and sliced it over into the fry pan.
Yes, I made breakfast for my roommate and myself tomorrow. I rock So Hard. AND- I ate a bit of my pork fried rice, read about The Franklin a bit more, got a slight 3rd degree burn in my mouth, skyped with my sister, and got approving comments from residents in my building (along with one disapproving comment from whom I'm assuming was a vegetarian freshman. You, my dear, do not understand the beauty of the smell of sausage. Back the fuck up.)
It took about 8 minutes to brown up the rest of that sausage and find an empty Coke can to pour the grease into**. Which had given my food time to just about completely cool down enough so I didn't get 3rd degree burns on my tongue Again.
Took the soup off the burner, sat down to read and eat and proceeded to thoroughly enjoy the "Wow that smells so good!!" and an RA in my building periodically running in to steal a sausage and then run out. Yes, Jacob, I'm looking at you.
But seriously, dinner (it may not be crazy healthy but who cares at 9pm) and breakfast for about 3 people- for under $7 dollars in about 30 minutes WHILE doing homework.
College cooking ain't bad :) Saves money and also you can be in the middle of studying to do it. No issues, no worries. Just don't get grease in your World Lit book... *sigh*
Happy Cooking errybody!
*My mom would describe a rolling boil as "the bubbles look like fish eyes" which for those who didn't grow up in my house, it's when the bubbles come to the surface and you can easily see light on them, and they look glossy kinda... like.... "fish eyes".. Damnit Mom, getting me to remember things!
**DO NOT POUR BACON/PORK/ANYTHING GREASE DOWN THE DRAIN. I WILL KNOW. You can easily destroy a sink drain pipe that way. Because if it sits in the U-bend of a pipe, it might harden and I Will Kill You. ALSO- do NOT pour it right into a trashcan. It'll burn through the plastic bag and ooooh we do not want that. A metal Coke can, a glass dish, a ceramic bowl, or something that can withstand heat is good. A plastic bottle will melt. Do Not do it JUST SO YOU CAN WATCH IT. Good god people common sense please! Thank you :)
