September 17th, 2007
Twenty years old, and I don’t know my way around a kitchen.
That’s right, I’m a full-fledged, card-carrying member of the generation whose sustenance emerges from a microwave, drive-thru window or pre-packaged container.
… and I’m living with a gang of Betty Crockers.
I have been blessed with three incredible roommates. They cook, they clean, they are considerate, thoughtful, understanding… and they’re enlightening my inner Emeril.
Let me start by describing a typical evening in La Casa Verde…
La Casa Verde is what we affectionately call our home.
It is also known as “The Hulk House”, depending on the situation.
As you enter through the breakfast room, you are greeted by the excited chatter of the day’s events accompanied by the clanging of pots and pans. The kitchen is a labratory for dining innovation, and after enjoying a home-cooked meal together, there is a collective effort to rinse the plates, run the dishwasher and mop the floors. Of course, as the most clueless one of the bunch, I spend most of this time asking for instruction. They chuckle in disbelief at my in-home ignorance and say with a sigh “Oh Brittany, you have so much to learn!”
Today is the 22nd anniversary of the birth of my fabulous roommate Jordan, which prompted a late night cake baking mission. “Finally!” I thought to myself. “Something I KNOW how to do!”
Previously, my idea of a baking a cake involved a box mix and a carton of icing… but why even bother with that when you could just as easily buy one?
Apparently, you can make them from scratch. And we did.
I was beaming with pride as I finished icing the double layer carrot cake. While it was only a cake, there is a special brand of self-sufficiency that you can only get from being able to cook for yourself… and all without the help of a microwave. I still have a lot to learn, but lucky for my future husband, these girls are willing and able to take on the challenge of house training me.
September 19th, 2007 at 11:51 am
As the mother of this “culinary challenged” child, I do want to defend her upbringing! Brittany was involved in every conceivable activity throughout her life….dance, music, piano, swimming, gymnastics, drama and scouts! As a teacher, I would leave school, pick her up and deliver her to whatever activity (or activities!) she had that night! Her younger brother was drug along until he was old enough to participate in extracurricular activities himself! Needless to say, the pattern was set for the drive through and microwave meals! But she did learn to use coupons!!!! We had the Entertainment book (purchased through a school fund raiser) in the car and the kids checked it out first to determine what they might want that night!!!! She may not have gotten the culinary lessons, but she did develop a sense of financial responsibility along the way! She claims to still use coupons today!!!!
I would make a deal with the kids, that if they cut out the coupons from the Sunday paper, I would split the savings with them. When the stores were doubling and tripling the values, that amount would really add up! Brittany and her brother would often argue about who would get to cut the coupons that week. Of course, it was based upon what they wanted that I wouldn’t “fund!”
Back to her culinary delinquencies…..it is ironic that at my school’s book fair (another fundraiser!) I bought a couple of cookbooks for La Casa Verde! Being fiscally responsible, I bought three to take advantage of the “buy three, get one free” offer! I am keeping two for myself! Maybe I can throw something new in a crock pot!!!!!
September 24th, 2009 at 7:46 pm
Most don’t learn to be domesticated until later in their 20’s so don’t feel too bad. I now love to cook and I was just like you when I was 20.