Some kitchen Shinanigans 101

Ever feel like a hearty lunch? Today, being my first day off since finding myself employed in nearly months, or is it years? Wait, two weeks- I felt like lounging around and not doing anything stressful. Dragging myself into the kitchen, I found the shelves of the fridge barren and empty. My stomach, echoing what I had just discovered in the fridge, nudged me into recognizing that I would indeed have to get work done today, that is namely to feed myself. Whipping up a list of groceries I was soon off to the races, picking up the sempre bellazza Amanda who was also in dire need of sustenance. Navigating our way through the enclave of Vanier, we arrived at our destination: large unnamed grocery store with yellow letters! (Not sure if we’d be sued over this, so better we play it safe.)  Why head over to Vanier, almost all of you may enquire?  As with any student, I had stumbled upon gift certificates on my birthday but had placed them in a “safe” spot- only rediscovering them today.  And so, we entered into the cave of the cyclops…

Not unlike the ‘real’ cave of the cyclops, this place was abuzz with families foraging for their meals in the weeks (and judging by the trailers on the rear of the carts filled with frozen enchiladas) maybe months to come.  Navigating our way through the congested aisles would only have been easier if we had a plough on front end, with soft bumpers everywhere else.  On numerous occasions, Amanda was able to slide through oncoming carts (think Tom Cruise in Days of Thunder wiggling his way through the pack and into the lead!) while I was confined to slogging my way in the rear- staring at boxes upon boxes of enchiladas.  At one point, I swear a kid came up to me and called me daddy by mistake.  Is 22 really that old these days?

After packing up the groceries in the back of the hummer in a prius shell, Amanda coerced me into making her lunch.  Clearly, she hadn’t picked up enough food herself- and I guess I love to cook for women.  Grilled cheese sandwiches were on order, with a side of tomato soup- hearty student style!  Here’s what we did>

Grilled Cheese-

• 1/2 cup of grated cheese (we used Fruilano and a Mild Cheddar mix.)
• 1 tbsp unsalted butter (at 22, we can always take care of our sodium intake!)
• 4 slices bread (cracked whole wheat seemed to do the trick, see above health related comment.)

Cracked out Tomato Soup-

• can of soup
• 1/2 cup of milk
• smidgen of cream
• a dash of your favourite hot sauce
• crack some cracked pepper
• shredded cheese
• a whisk

Now you might think I just got off the short bus for breaking down the construction of a grilled cheese sandwich and soup, but before you castrate me for my insouciance, give this a look-see.  A lot of traditionalist out there tend to just use cheese slices, texas toast and a slab of butter.  Lambaste me as untraditional, but I found a round of Fruilano cheese today for 10$ and went nuts.  This mild tasting cheese from the Friuli region of Italy has soft undertones and a milk fat content that lends it to melting into a molten mound of stringiness perfectly suited to grilled cheese. By grating the cheese instead of slicing, we ensured that the cheese would melt more consistently throughout the sandwich.  And finally, by tossing in some mild cheddar, not only did we give it a bit of zip but we gave it a cool look when we sliced it in half.  Not all food has to be art, but it helps when something looks cool before you eat it.

As for the soup, while it’s cooking, feel free to throw something in there- unless you really love that fresh out of the can flavour- then dare not!  But reality being as it is, a lot of our foods come from cans- but it doesn’t necessarily mean that we cannot change once it leaves its cylinder little abode. Today we wanted a bit of spice, so we tossed in some hot sauce and pepper.  We could just have easily thrown in a leg of lamb if we wanted to, or toss in fresh veggies just to mix it up, or what about some curry?  A culinary critic might crucify you, but who cares- this food is for you.  Do what you feel is right and 9 times out of ten (or for me, 7/10 is my personal best,) you might make something that tastes wicked awesome!

Therefore, as it takes a few minutes to cook, take the time and experiment.  Not to wax philosophical, but too often we accept what’s given to us without realizing how much power rests within our hands- and sometimes, nowhere is this subtle apathy more strident than in students.  Let’s regain control of our food and make it our own.  Let’s have fun it and remember the time as kids that we mixed all the food on our plates into some weird jambalaya and it tasted phenomenal.  We lead horribly busy lives in each our own right, but take the natural time it takes to cook some things and prod, add and dash it up a bit!

The product today was a refreshing bowl of soup, a grilled cheese sandwich worth writing an exam just to enjoy, and the simple joy of creating it all for yourself and maybe someone close to you.

It’s legit.