The Forty Days

Throughout the past thirty-nine days, I have challenged my endurance, my courage, my will, and my psyche.  But until now, I have played it safe–I haven’t had to cook a single thing.  I have an admission to make–if I have ever been to a dinner party or pot luck of yours, and Betsy and I walked in carrying a dish to contribute, I probably had absolutely nothing to do with the preparation of that dish, besides moral support (and probably not even that).  Some people love to cook–I am not one of those people.  Before I met Betsy, my idea of cooking was heating up some pre-made food in the microwave or oven.  And even after I started cohabiting with Betsy, I have only learned how to cook a select few items.

Accordingly, tonight is The Last Supper, which serves a two-fold purpose.  First, it is a dinner party to thank all those people who have substantially helped me throughout the past thirty-nine days.  This blog has definitely not been a solo effort, and I could not have completed this project without people to assist me in setting up the blog itself, to help me organize activities, and to participate in activities with me.  I have an amazing group of friends, whom I have drawn from like a leach over the past thirty-nine days, giving nothing in return.  I have also met some great people and established new connections along the way–connections which I hope will not fade with the passing of this blog.  Second, The Last Supper is to serve as my final challenge–throw a dinner party for twenty to thirty invitees, preparing a salad, the main course, and a desert.  Will I have the food prepared in time?  Will it be edible?  Will someone throw up, thereby causing another person to throw up, until a chain reaction of throwing up spreads throughout the party?

Betsy helps me prepare the menu–because I have absolutely no idea where to start.  I decide that the best idea is to keep things simple–make simple dishes that will feed a lot of people that will taste good.  For a salad, we decide on a simple Caesar salad with homemade dressing.  For desert, we settle on a delicious turtle cake–consisting of a layer of melted caramel and chocolate chips surrounding by two layers of chocolate cake.  For the entree, I decide I want to make lasagna–it’s not too complicated, it’s heavy, I can prepare a vegetarian and non-vegetarian version, and it will feed a substantial number of people.  I find a recipe for “Lazy Lasagna.”  Oh yeah, that’s the recipe for me.

After deciding on the menu, I have to find time to shop for groceries, prepare the food, and cook.  Part of my dislike of cooking is linked to my dislike of shopping for groceries.  Whenever I go to the grocery store, I always buy the same exact things, I know precisely where they are located, and I am usually in and out within twenty minutes.  After day trading on Friday, I find time to hit up Whole Foods and HEB to hunt down the ingredients for these dishes.  Usually I hate searching for new items in the grocery store–I don’t know their location, I wander aimlessly down the aisles, and I usually end up asking an employee where every, single item is located.  By the end of the trip, I am inevitably in a bad mood for some reason.  But my grocery trip on Friday is eventful, and I find the items on my list somewhat efficiently.  Yay!!  But when I get home, I still find myself in a rotten mood.  Why?

Yesterday afternoon, after skydiving, I begin making the turtle cake with Betsy’s supervision.  I use an electric mixer for the first time ever!  The cake takes about an hour to make and bake, and then I taste my concoction.  Yummmm.  So far, so good.

This morning, I wake up too early and begin to look over the recipe for the Caesar salad dressing.  Uh oh, what the heck is involved in “zesting” a lemon?  I wait for my supervisor to wake up, and after a few hours, I “accidentally” wake Betsy up so she can put me on the right course.  I vigorously zest a lemon with a grater, mix all the ingredients into a food processor, and then use a food processor for the fist time ever!  Look, Mom, I’m processing food!

At approximately 3 pm, my parents arrive from Dallas to witness this semi-momentous occasion.  They bring with them lots of good pre-made appetizers from Costco–chips and salsa, cheese, veggies, and sushi.  This way, if the cooking is terrible, at least the guests can fill up on appetizers.  I begin preparing the lasagna around 4 pm.  Here’s some thrilling video of me preparing the vegetarian lasagna.  Unfortunately, I do not think a cooking show is in my future.

After I shower and make myself beautiful, the first guests begin arriving shortly after 7 pm.  Instructing me to entertain the first guests, Betsy and my mother plate the appetizers and put the lasagna in the oven.  I breathe a deep sigh of relief.  I have nothing left to do but entertain and eat and drink.  As the guests arrive (about twenty in all), I circulate amongst them and realize how lucky I am to have such a supportive and caring group of friends.  (Or maybe they’re just here for the free food.)  After everyone has had a couple of drinks and is sufficiently hungry (because hungry, drunk people will think my food is better than it actually is), I get everyone’s attention, explain the menu, and thank them for their assistance and support throughout these forty days.

As everyone is eating, I wander around and make sure that no one has gotten deathly ill yet from the food.  People tell me it is delicious, and I am relieved.  We eat, we drink, and dare I say it, we are merry.  Before everyone leaves, I take one final picture for the blog.

Around 10 pm, people begin leaving.  I thank them for coming, they thank me for hosting, and they congratulate me on the end of The Forty Days.  After we clean up, I get into bed, and my heart swells as I try to think about all that happened, all I did, and all the people I met over these forty days.  But there’s too much.  It’s all a blur, I’m too exhausted, and I can’t hold onto it.  So I close my eyes and fall into a deep, dreamless sleep.

Tomorrow, I will leave you with my final and parting thoughts in one last post.