If life were an RPG, and you were to analyze how my life skill points have been allocated, it would be clear that I’ve done some min-maxing. While I may be a pretty good video game player, I can’t cook. Having grown up in a family where my mom was a pro-star chef, I’m not afraid to admit that I took advantage of her cooking skills for all that it was worth. Left to my own devices, I couldn’t cook a Pop Tart without it burning and shattering into pieces in the toaster. If you’re wondering, yes, I actually did screw up a Pop Tart not too long ago to the point where I had to turn my toaster upside down to dump the charred remains of a burnt Pop Tart.
With that said, I made a commitment to myself that I would at least make an honest effort to figure this cooking thing out the moment I moved out on my own. Not too long ago, I went through a 3-night stretch where I had to fend for myself in order to eat dinner. I could have settled for fast food or a microwavable dinner, but I decided to grow up and try this cooking thing for real. With the limited cooking skills I have, was I able to turn anything around that didn’t completely suck?
(how I envisioned it)
Day 1: Steak and Pasta
On my first day of being alone, Steff was out for the evening to watch a Raptors game with her sister. Because Steff does not eat beef or pork, I felt that now was the perfect time to indulge in some beefy pleasures. We had steak in the freezer and I figured that it would be a good night to also challenge myself by cooking some pasta along with it.
Let’s start with the pasta. Prior to moving in with Steff, I’ve never attempted to cook pasta starting with just the pasta itself. My only experience has been with the pre-packaged pasta packets that have all the flavouring included. Though my first few attempts at it weren’t so great, I figured that I’d failed enough times to get it right this time. I decided to go with macaroni, mixed with alfredo sauce. As I started cooking it, I thought it’d be a good idea to mix in some shredded cheese. The macaroni in my opinion turned out pretty good.
As for the steak, I planned on frying it. I got the pan heated up with some cooking oil on it and threw the steak on when it was hot. This is where the meal went downhill. Upon placing the steak in the pan, I realized that the pan had too much cooking oil in it. The steak was just swimming in oil. Then I tried to season it with some salt. To my dismay, I had the shaker set to the big holes instead of the small ones. I tried my best to scrape off as much of the salt as I could, but my attempts were in vain. Then when I flipped the steak over, I saw that the side it was cooking on was already almost burnt. I realized that I had the heat on way too high. I turned it down and did my best to salvage what I could.
(the final outcome)
The end result was a hit-and-miss steak and pasta meal (pictured above). The pasta was good. The steak turned out to be a bit too well done and a bit too salty. Overall, this was a huge step up from burning a Pop Tart, but there’s clearly room for improvement.
Come back to see how my day 2 meal turned out!
In Third Person 