Cooking

Today I would like to share a little bit more about my typical diet here in London.

For breakfast, I typically have either a bowl of cereal or some scrambled eggs. Lately I’ve been putting some ham and cheese in my scrambled eggs and making a sandwich or breakfast burrito with them, which is very tasty. I just drink tap water or milk, but I bought a package of eighty tea bags the other day, which I’m working my way through. I’m trying, for the sake of Britain, to learn to enjoy the acrid stuff.

Lunchtime typically calls for my first pasta dish of the day. By now, I have perfected my pasta skills. First, I choose between dry pasta, kept in the cupboard (see photograph), or refrigerated ravioli (see other photograph). Once I’ve made my decision, I boil some water in my pot and pour the pasta in. While it’s cooking, I gather the other necessary items, such as the frozen meatballs I found at the supermarket, the pasta sauce and cheese out of the refrigerator and the olive oil and salt from my cupboard (see photograph you looked at the first time I told you to see photograph). As soon as either eleven, eight, or five minutes have elapsed, depending on which pasta I’ve chosen, I take the pot off the burner and drain the water, using the lid to keep the pasta from falling into the sink with the water. I return to the stove and decorate the pasta with microwaved meatballs, pasta sauce and small chunks of cheese, and then place the pot back on the burner, stirring the mixture until it looks delicious (a very precise method I use on all my food to see if it’s ready). Then I eat it out of the pot.

For dinner, I’ll usually repeat the above process, except that it’s usually dark outside by this time, so I have to turn on the lights in the kitchen. Sometimes though, I’ll have a can of soup, or a sandwich of ham and cheese or peanut butter and jelly. Today I heated up a pizza I bought at the supermarket yesterday, and threw in some side dishes like a half-eaten sandwich and a cup of tea and some digestive biscuits (see the one of the two photographs I haven’t yet referred to which shows a picture of a pizza and a half-eaten sandwich and a cup of tea and/or some other things). I had quesadilla ingredients the other day, so I had a couple of quesadillas, and sometimes I heat up some of my frozen chicken nuggets or vegetables. But I can’t have vegetables with pasta, because I only have one pot. It’s a very complicated system.

Usually I’ll snack on digestive cookies throughout the day, and sometimes I have some fruit, like oranges and bananas which are good for me. I’ve bought raw meat a couple of times, but compared to pasta it’s a little bit expensive, and I have some trepidation about leaving it uncovered in the refrigerator. Tonight I tried to find the refrigerated rolls of cookie dough we have in the US to make quick, homemade cookies, but apparently that invention hasn’t crossed the pond.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this brief glimpse into the gripping, action-packed adventure thrill-ride that is my life in London. Stay tuned for another episode. What will I discuss tomorrow? Walking to class? Doing laundry? The world holds its breath in anticipation.