tonight's menu - one choice (eat or don't eat)

let me present to you,
tonight's sumptuous dinner

from left to right: coke float, seedless grapes, grilled teriyaki chicken & spagetti accompanied by greens, cherry tomato & sunflower seeds.
(spagetti sauce made with traditional spagetti sauce, bacon bits, strips of honey baked ham and french onion)

hmm..considering this as one of my first few steps into cooking, this is one of the few times i manage to get all the proportion right, from the teriyaki marinate to the amount of spagetti needed for 3 pax. i'm happy with a job well done :D

***********

the day started around 3.30pm. woke up and told myself, today is a day for a tad of house work.
washed up. made the bed. unpack yesterday's bag (came back from perth yesterday morning). brought some clothes to wash. tidied the room & bath. planned to cook some dish and soup for dinner. but sis wants spagetti.

was starving since i woke up. so before heading out for the food stuff; i had some crackers and a hot choc. jot down a list of things to get from the supermarket, then headed out.
it was raining cats and dogs...but i was 'determined' to cook today...haha...big deal huh?!

sometimes, it feels great to do this at your own pace. when i do things like this alone, i feel so at ease; with no one to pressure or rush me through my shopping, i can put my mind on what i really need (or change my mind as and when). i was wondering what vegetables i should get for the greens. initially decided on broccoli. so, i took a broccoli to weigh. after throwing in a few more items into my cart, my fickle mind decided that salad would be better than just broccoli. i apologized and gave the broccoli back to the lady. i half expected her to give me a scowl, and thought twice about leaving the bag somewhere remote; instead, she smiled and say, "of course. it's ok" - (genuine smile. i know)

took around 20mins going up and down the aisles of the small 'supermarket', and then i was done. i realized i've got 70% of the items in my list, added 20% more that wasn't in the list, and changed 10% of the items (quite a good improvement for little miss fickle today)

not going to describe the detailed process of my cooking since it was quite simple. but the whole time, i was imagining myself as nigella lawson in the kitchen - with the cool spontaneity and a little bit of grace. i felt good!

for once, i was not as clumsy and nervous as i used to be with the pots and pans, and the low and the high of the stove fire.
a little improvement to record!
thanks for guiding me along, nigella...

but before i celebrate this small progress, here come's the most important part of this all;
LET'S HEAR FROM THE JUDGES:-
sis says:
GOOD! just nice a portion to fill the stomach and to crave for a tad more.
there was a "good chemistry between the spagetti sauce and the cheese" (whatever she means by that; as long as it means GOOD).
dear says:
overall, a good improvement among all my cooking that he's tried and tasted.
though, the chicken was a bit tough.
maybe it's the breast. or maybe it's the chef.

anyway, cheers to a day not-wasted...

it's been a while...how was your day?