This morning my mother had planned to take me and my sister to breakfast at Schoolcraft College hosted by the excellent culinary students who attend that school. I was so excited by the promise of huge pancakes, freshly squeezed orange juice, and hand-made doughnuts. It was the picture of a perfect breakfast. And because I knew that they were almost professionals at cooking - had made it their passion and work- I thought that they would be perfect candidates for the short-ish interview I had whipped up. But of course, I woke up today to my mom telling me that they weren't open today. It's like they knew I was coming and deliberately dodged my interview and cheated me out of the best breakfast of my life!
Anyways, it really pissed me off, but I think it was more because I knew that I had to start my own experiment in cooking. To tell the truth, I've been trying to put it off for a while now, but finally, today I was forced into it. Thanks to an awesome idea from one of my friends in my English class, I have decided that I'm going to start off with making breakfast meals, then move on to lunch, and finally dinner (and maybe, if I feel confident enough, dessert). This will hopefully correspond with their difficulty levels: Breakfast = easy, lunch = intermediate, dinner = hard.
Anyways, back to my first expedition into the Great Unknown (otherwise known as cooking). Today I made a ham and cheese omelet and some Belgian waffles! It was amazing! I mean, at first I was really not into it because I had hurt my ankle (random fact, sorry) and all I wanted to do was lay down and read, but I stuck it out. Here's how it went down: When my dad got home I told him I was cooking dinner so he gave me a twenty and I went to the store to buy the ingredients that I needed. I knew I needed eggs and maybe some veggies, and of course the Belgian waffles mix (hey! I don't need to totally pioneer into cooking, I just have to be able to do the basics for the future). I was trying to find the same ingredients that my mother uses in the omelet that she always makes for me, but when I saw these little pepperoni bites I got really excited and decided to try putting some random ingredients into my omelet. When I got home with all my culinary goodies I was prepared to get crackin' ...the eggs (sorry, another cooking pun! They're my favorite part of this project!) However, my whole family put the ka-bash on my little pepperoni endeavor, so I had to stick to the boring and predictable ham and cheese omelet. At first, I wanted to cook the meal with no help from anyone in my family, but I ended up asking endless questions anyways. Lesson one that I learned: start cooking the thing that will take longest to finish first (in this case the waffles), so that everything is ready at the same time. (This is definitely something I have to work on). Lesson two (an expert tip coming from the Queen of Cooked Eggs herself, Darbi O'Brien): when scrambling eggs for an omelet, tilt the bowl slightly and whisk at an angle. Lesson three: when cooking an omelet, let the first layer on the bottom of the pan to soak up the Pam and cook a little, then scrap it off towards the middle and let some uncooked egg take it's place. Have you noticed how all of these tips pretty much have to do with the omelet? Well, they have and for good reason. I have watched and sometimes even assisted my dad in making waffles so it wasn't the biggest challenge of this meal. Also, I'm not as afraid of the waffle maker as I am of the stove. (Side note - I have come to realize that when I have my own kitchen, I will most definitely have an electric stove rather than a gas powered one. They are so superior, it's remarkable to me why anyone would want to still have a gas powered one anymore).
Back to my meal: I whipped up about half a dozen fluffy and delicious Belgian waffles, which according to my family were very delicious. (I didn't try them because by the time they were done I was working on the eggs and didn't have a chance to eat them before they turned cold). Lesson four: The cook eats last! What a bummer! I always took for granted my mom and her sacrifice to eat last and then, be the person to get up and get something for someone who is already halfway done with their meal. If I say so myself, my scrambled omelet was one of the best I've ever tasted. I put about four slices of Canadian bacon (which to me is pretty much just ham with a fancy name) cut up, a sprinkle of cheese, a dash of pepper and a small handful of chives. The dish was balanced perfectly. I even had my father take some pictures of it while it was in the pan cooking:
Anyways, my first meal was a complete success and has boosted my confidence in my undiscovered cooking abilities. Despite the time it took planning and making this breakfast-dinner, I can't wait to give it a try again. Even if it's just to hear my family's praise for something I did which I believed was beyond me.
Lauren
