All over again

The one thing I've realized after getting married is that I feel like a freshman all over again. I packed up my stuff, trying to make sure I had everything I could possibly need. Once I moved in, I put everything away in a neat order and am currently trying my hardest to keep things in order around the house for as long as I possibly can. When people come over I'm so proud to show off my new living space and my things, specifically my things because it's my own.

The only big difference is now I'm doing the things my mom used to do for me and it's as hard as all get out. I don't know about you, but I've discovered I'm a horrible cook. I didn't have to cook my food when I started college because I lived on campus. Even when I transfered to U of A in '06 I lived in the sorority house where we had cooks.

To continue with my story...one of my favorite things to do is to watch Barefoot Contessa on Food Network. She cooks so effortlessly that I thought I could whip up a recipe out of thin air, as well. On Friday night, amidst image of domestication while doing laundry for my husband (I was so proud of myself), I started thawing out some steak pieces we bought from Fry's, thinking I could make fondue or something sophisticated.  I had just put the package in water so it would thaw faster and commenced folding laundry to the sounds of Reik from the stereo and Louis* (my husband) calls me.

He proceeds to tell me that he's at his mom's house and that his sister Eriel* and her husband Carlos* wanted to have a game night over there. At any other point in time I would have been o-so ecstatic to have a game night with them, but I was comfortable and getting work done and, unbelievably, enjoying myself. It was also cold and rainy. Not to mention, our house is half-way to Phoenix and his sister and her husband live just down the street from his mom, who lives half an hour down I-10 and I-19 from our house. (confused yet?)

Of course, I said, "Sure."

I finished folding the laundry, threw on a sweatshirt and stuck the steak in a frying pan to put in the fridge since I really didn't have time to cook it.

I tried channelling Ina Garten and decided that a marinade would work great with the steak! I poured in some red wine that we had in the fridge, left over from when Eriel and Carlos lived with Louis (a few months before we got married), and some oregano and garlic powder and called it good.

Sunday, after the Colts victoriously sent the Jets packing in the AFC Championship game, I started cooking up the steak and some side dishes of rice and Texas Garlic Toast I found in the freezer. Not only was I getting proud of myself that I'd successfully put together a meal with side dishes, I was doing it all by myself! But then...it happened.

I took a bite of steak and it was HORRIBLE! It was tough because I'd cooked it too long - Louis eats his steak well done because he's got a thing about raw meats. And this wasn't just well done, it was just plain...ew. There's really no way to describe it. The wine I used was probably too sweet and it gave the meat a funky taste.

On the plus side, I heated up the garlic toast perfectly and barely missed burning the rice!! That's good right? Louis was very supportive of my moral victory, and did eat most of the dinner. :)

In other words, starting out in marriage is like starting out in college. You're learning how to live with yourself all over again, except this time you've got to think about living with someone else too. Luckily for me, there's no givesies-backsies on our marriage contract :)