Pyrex

“I hope you have the pans you need so you don’t have to run out and buy cookware!”

This is a sentence that found its way into an email to me from my mother. My mother, who lives the conundrum of being an excellent cook but despising all kitchen-related activities. Little does my mother know that for this penny-pinching AmeriCorps member, cookware is one of those things I have very little hesitation in buying. Cooking genes seem to skip a generation, because where my mother hates cooking, my grandmother, sister and I can’t really get enough of it.

Every week I budget a certain amount for food and drink. Like anyone, sometimes I go a little over, sometimes a little under, but it’s a good guideline to curtailing my shopping and impulse-buying instincts. But when I go under, there’s always an aisle of the grocery store I head to for a little something extra.

The baking goods aisle.

I’ve made several purchases in this aisle that can’t exactly be written off as absolute necessity. Food coloring. A rolling pin. Others are a little more utilitarian—a pie plate (savory pies; bake once, eat all week!), a Pyrex pan. But in the end, I tend to be more pleased with these purchases than any others I make because they’re investments. Things I will be using for years to come. (Okay, maybe not the food coloring….)

The most recent purchase that I’ve made is the Pyrex pan. A nine by thirteen to be exact. Against all odds, I’ve decided to attend an AmeriCorps brinner-themed pot luck. Being social and sharing food in one go? Who would have thought? But go I will, and for my breakfast-dinner contribution, I’m making a sweet Kugel my family eats for breakfast on holidays.

So what is inspiring this sudden drive for the homebody to leave her house and share food? It seems I’ve discovered (with the persistent presence of a few people down here) that I really enjoy the company of many of the AmeriCorps members, and that while sitting inside watching Pushing Daisies is all well and good, going out getting to know people is even more enjoyable.

In fact, I was even planning on going out to a pub with several AmeriCorps members this evening until I discovered how much longer it took to cook this Kugel than I thought it would. Oh well. There’s always next week.

So, I haven’t updated for the past few weeks. Life’s been busy. But that’s mostly because I’ve been spending large amounts of time with friends here. Having new experiences, gaining massive amounts of sleep debt, and having a general ball.

Too much has happened in the past few weeks to even try covering them all.

I’ve gone camping.

And loved it.

I went on the Cupcake Saga parts II and III.

And loved it.

I attended Boomsday (a fireworks display on Labor Day).

And…had fun…(never been that big on fireworks.)

I went apple picking.

And loved it.

I’ve hung out with some awesome people.

And loved it.

I even went to the Tennessee Valley Fair, which included rodeo, petting zoo, unsafe rides and ghetto circus, but forgot my camera, so I can’t really show you that one. (Safe to say, I loved it.)

Not everything’s perfect, obviously. “Volunteer coordinator” seems to translate in AmeriCorps language to scullery maid and furniture mover, not to mention overall office secretary and organizer. I’m still not allowed to go outside and work on the farm in my job (the part of the job description which caused me to take the position in the first place). And as long as we still don’t have enough office computers for everyone who needs them, one of my favorite people from the office will be working at home on his computer, depriving me of his fantastic company.

But work is only 40 hours a week. There are evenings to be had, weekends to be taken advantage of, and lunch times to spend outdoors with great people. I live right next to a library and work in the same building as another. I’ve even bought a new bike (with the help of one of those wonderfully persistent people who convinced me that I still like the company of others) which helps me get around faster, more enjoyably, and spend less time commuting. Meaning more time for fun.

But my Kugel seems to be done. My oven has room-temperature and doom-temperature as a friend put it, so it’s inevitably burned. But it smells good enough, and it’s reminded me that I haven’t yet had dinner. (This is a constant problem. I spend a lot of time on fun-cooking and forget to sustenance-cook.) Hopefully it’ll go over well tomorrow at the pot luck. But it’s late, so for tonight, I think I’ll go with the simple PBJ.

So much for spiffy cooking equipment. A table knife and plate are all I really need.