Bartering

Last night, Joe and I did a trade. I provided dinner, and he provided an iron and his handyman skills. Somehow I managed to get my closet door off its tracks, and y'all know I can't be exposing my clothes to the elements. It wasn't actually that hard to fix, and Joe would have done it out of the goodness of his heart, but I really needed to get rid of some food.

This could feed eight lumberjacks. So Maya and Joe were forced to help me.

I made this recipe for manicotti on Monday night, and it took forever. I'm clearly a ridiculous human being. I complain all the time about how long potatoes take, and then I decide to take on manicotti? It isn't like the ingredients are particularly hard, but it is a challenge to fill the pasta with the cheese mixture. I'm not what you would call a graceful cook, so when piping the filling like icing failed me, I used my hands. Once all thirteen manicotti were stuffed, I had to wait an hour for them to bake. And now I have too much, so Maya and Joe have been forced to eat them.

In addition to being the resident handyman, Joe is also our grill master. Maya organized a barbeque on Sunday afternoon, and it was the perfect end to our weekend. Our condo has a really nice outdoor area with a pool and tennis court (I mean, what else would I have in my yard?), as well as picnic tables and some grills. We bought hot dogs (for me) and brats (for everyone else), and Joe grilled them to perfection. He doesn't think very highly of hot dogs (ranked below spam! are you serious?!), but he willingly made them for me anyways.

I used this barbeque to get rid of my much hated potatoes using this recipe for fries. This was by far the best use of potatoes that I have come up with while living here (these three long weeks), and we all liked them a lot. Soaking the potatoes before you put them in the oven seems to be the key. I'm starting to think that I understand cooking because I thought of that before I read the recipe. How smart am I?

These still took forty-five minutes in the oven, but they were worth it.

Maya and I also made fruit salad using my mom's recipe. I don't know where she got it, but Roz certainly knows how to please a crowd, so obviously I stole a page from her book. You just add a little lime juice, sugar, vanilla, and mint to your fruit, but it is amazing! Always a hit! It doesn't keep super well though, so it is best to eat it within a day of making it. Lesson learned.

Prettiest thing I've ever made.

I also made an orzo salad for my workday lunches using this recipe (minus the olives, duh). Sierra and I have been twins this week because we both showed up to work with pasta and fruit salads for lunch. Sierra made a really good one with noodles, broccoli, pepperoni, cheese, and italian dressing. We've been trying each other's recipes (we're adorable, I know). Luckily for her, Sierra has a boyfriend to eat all of the pasta salad. Maya doesn't eat quite so much, but I forced her to take some to work for lunch today. I will probably make her do the same tomorrow. I'm a tyrant.

So I'm thinking PB&J next week?

P.S. When returning his iron last night, I told Joe that I hoped I put the water in the right part of the iron. His response? "Wait, you're supposed to put water in?" And I thought I didn't know how to iron...

P.P.S. Maya and I finished Bride & Prejudice tonight. It was a wonderfully horrible movie. The Bollywood dancing barely makes up for the horrible acting, but at least it had that really hot guy from ABC's Off the Map. But did you know that there is no kissing in Bollywood movies? Major letdown.