First minor loss

Some meals just don't turn out the way you hope, and yet I find myself with a partner willing not only to eat the less satisfactory experiments, but also to savor and enjoy them. Last night's meal was the first of those, at least since we've started this. I guess statistically I'll see more of these since we're cooking every day, but they're always a surprise and leave me festering with some deep seated disappointment in my efforts.

I guess one of the best skills Mary brings to this venture is her ability to remind me to be gentle in my self-reproach. And she appreciates what we cook. She's always been better at shaking off the little bumps life hands us, and it holds true in the kitchen. The meal was haphazard - my "plan" being some configuration of quinoa, chick peas, kale, carrots and taratour sauce (a tahini lemon dressing)... I came home later than I'd hoped, after a terrific massage, and M had started the meal in the best way she could figure - cooking the quinoa and heating up the chick peas. After M gave me a worried look in reference to eating chick peas whole, I shifted gears and mashed them up with quinoa as a makeshift binding agent. My attempt to fry patties yielded some hot oil burns to my bare stomach and arms, and a sort of crispy (and tasty if strange looking) mass of fritter-like scramble. The results can be seen here, and M quickly scarfed it down and pronounced it "Yummy".

Honestly it was better than simply edible, but just not what I'd intended. The other side of this equation was that I'd failed to prepare enough for the next meal, Friday's lunch... which meant we were both left to our own devices. It's not a situation I want to put either of us in. My work is like being in the middle of the ocean sometimes - water everywhere, and none to drink - with food being prepared and delivered all day all around me, but little of it suitable for this diet. M has the choice of the salad bar at the college cafe', which apparently means she comes home cranky because she didn't get enough for lunch, or there weren't many suitable choices. I lucked out, running to the grocery on the way back from an appointment and grabbing half a roasted chicken and fresh sugar snap peas. Together they were fairly inexpensive and both delicious.

Dinner tonight turned out much better, and we had a dinner guest! Our friend Molly, soon to be our landmate, joined us for a meal of sauteed catfish, kale, more quinoa and taratour (easy to use leftovers), and some tasty olives. We all realized too late that we forgot to photograph the meal. We'd been hungry and enjoying talking together and just dove in. So this is tonight's dinner picture, courtesy of Mary. She was wearing a wonderfully impish smile when she took it, and it meets our commitment to photograph each dinner, even if only the final morsels.