Friday, July 18, 2008

Cooking Soup

I don't cook. I understand food and it's complexity. I love eating it. I just suck at making it. On occasion I feel the need to try making something because cooking a dinner can be fun and sometimes it works out great. I do this once, maybe twice a year. So I will state once again, I don't cook.

Last night I was at Casey's apartment with two friends. One is his roommate, the other is a weirdo we have both known and loved for years. I will call him Chad, because that is his name. So I bring over a couple ingredients for a gazpacho that Casey wants to try making. We are going to make this lovely soup, some scalloped potatoes from a box, and Chad brought 99cent bread from Traitor Joe's that we baked ourselves.

Things start off okay. We are chopping and mixing the ingredients like Bon Appetite told us to. I am stirring up the olive oil with what looks like butt-loads of tarragon but I'm following the recipe so I'm sure it is fine. Casey hands me all the crap I need to measure and mix including the salt and freshly ground pepper. I finish it up and I don't bother to taste it because it is a bowl full of oil and tarragon. Then Chad asks for the salt to add to the bread. When I try to hand it to him he rejects it and informs me by pointing to the large lettering that it is SUGAR. Crap. Oh well. Casey didn't read it either obviously but it does make me wonder how many times he has sugared his food and not realized it. This was just the beginning of our adventures.

Casey and Chad are both control freaks in the kitchen so I just stood there most of the time. That is the safest thing to do. I wasn't paying attention so I don't know how this happened but when it was time to strain the soup we discovered that what was supposedly enough for four servings made approximately one cup of soup. Hmmmm. I now have to assume one of the main problems was that I have no idea what 3 1/2 pounds of tomatoes would look like and I had to depend on the crappy scale at the grocery store which probably didn't work properly. Too late now. So what are we going to do? Instead of straining we will throw it all in a blender. But it still isn't a whole lot of soup and it's really thick. Adding water was denied. I suggested Vodka which was quickly denied. I still stand by that idea though. What could be better than Bloody Mary Soup? I opened the fridge and pointed at the spicy V8 in the door. We don't know how long it was in there but it was approved and added to the blender. The result? Deliciousness!

Sounds horrible right? Well, it was quite good. In the meantime the roommate had ordered a pizza and was finished by the time our meal was done. Chad forgot to oil the sheet before baking the bread pita style so that was a little torn up but for the record, 99cent bread from Traitor Joe's is very tasty. Hooray for cooking! Can't wait to try it again next year.

In completely unrelated news, Today is the birthday of Dana over at Amid Life's Crisis. Happy birthday Dana! I'm rolling out the tarp. Here is your card:



Unless you are into that sort of thing. Then may your birthday be a plethora of it.

20 comments:

Ed & Jeanne said...

You only cook with them every YEAR? Oh, and I thought it was rolling out the red carpet. Are cost cuttings that bad that we have to roll out tarp? What's next, TP?

Jay said...

Kitchen adventures are always a fun time. I've never tried gazpacho, but I've seen it made on Food Network. It looks pretty yummy.

I think the Vodka idea was worth pursuing though.

Just so you know, I'd cook for you anytime. ;-)

Knight said...

VE- They both cook all the time. I just don't participate much. The tarp is for the wrestling match.

Jay- It is pretty good if you like tomato. Vodka would have been perfect but V8 was good too. Thanks for the offer!

Dana said...

I think I'm having vodka soup for dinner tonight! Wait! That's tequila soup - my bad!

Thank you for the birthday mention. I don't know why but I am still really surprised when someone takes the time to mention silly me!!

Knight said...

Ha, that's a Margarita Dana. Not soup! I don't know why you are surprised either. Everybody mentions you all the time.

Tall Lanky Jew said...

MMMMM. Chilled tarragon tomatoe V8 soup. Delicious. In fact I just finished it off. Funny story... After I realized that Chad and I had kinda taking over the kitchen, my excuse was as follows, "Sorry for taking over. It makes me feel manly." One must remember, this comment was made as I was putting a chilled tomato soup in a blender. Granted, not the most manly thing in the world. But dammit I stand by that soup...and my manliness use of a blender!!

Oh that and the the Heiniken 'Light' I was drinking at the time. WTF?!?!?!!

Tink said...

I tried to make cheese and brocolli soup once, but I didn't have a food processor, so I used a blender. Yeah, that soup was green. I mean GREEN green. No one would eat it. I even tried to pay them. I ate it though and it was goooood. I've never attempted soup again though. So sad.

Anonymous said...

I love to cook~ I like that Casey & Chad were the Manly cooks that like to cook~~

Just sit back pour a glass of wine and watch! LOL! Let them control the cooking, you keep control over the alcohol!!!!

happy B-day Dana! I think I already commented on your page, I dunno! lol I blame it on the Rum!

Ne

Dianne said...

I think you and Jay doing a cooking show would be fantastic!! Imagine the hijinks

I laughed through all of this post. I love the way you describe situations.

Anonymous said...

ahhh i know how to cook...and i enjoy cooking but not alone... i prefer sum friends over..then we have a blast.... that bday greeting for ur friend was gr8!!!...

Reb said...

I think Vodka would have been wonderful in that soup. At your age, I excelled at mac & cheese, but not from a box, that required fresh milk (back then)and it would go sour between cooking bouts.

GMEyster said...

Ok, there are a couple things here that just cracked me up:

1) Traitor Joe's. That spelling put a whole different sense of mood on the story!

2) "I will call him Chad, because that is his name." Funny.

I wish I could have been a fly on the wall. Sounds like this whole process was a hoot!

captain corky said...

I have a friend named Doug who's a control freak in the kitchten and when ever I hang out with him when he's cooking I grab a beer and stand in the corner like a very good Corky.

Farmer*swife a/k/a Glass_Half_Full said...

AAAAHHHH-haaaa! I laughed the whole time I read this! When you mentioned adding Vodka I shot my own drool out my nose cuz' I laughed so hard!!

Oil and Tarragon...I didn't taste it cuz' it was oil and tarragon! LOL!

[SNORT....I'm still laughing!]

Anonymous said...

Awesome birthday card!

gary rith said...

maybe next time cook nachos--that one's hard to f#ck up

cat said...

I always find it a Hoot to cook with a bunch of friends, everyone has a input and different taste, so there for, it makes it a adventure and a lot of fun!

Sounds good, you'll have to post the recipe sometime. Yummy!

Darla said...

I do not enjoy gazpacho. I've never actually tried it... but damn it I want my soup hot! Hot hot hot! (like you)

Freakazojd said...

"Can't wait to try it next year" - haha! A perfect finish! I give you a 10!! :)

BBC said...

I like to cook, if you will spend the night with me I will cook you breakfast. :-)