OK, I Lied: It Sucks To Cook After Work
Remember that time that I was a full-time food blogger? And I had the nerve to say things like: “You can cook after work! It’s easy.” Well I’d like to take that person, pin him against a wall, and say: “You have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Because now that I have a full-time job, I come home happily exhausted (I love where I’m working) and the idea of making a big mess in the kitchen at 6:45 PM (when I get home) and then cleaning it up holds very little appeal to me on a weekday night. So the picture you see above is my saving grace: Dune Falafel is on the other side of Atwater Village from me, so my new favorite thing is to come home, give the cat some treats, and to go for a 20 minute walk along GlenFeliz Blvd to procure the hummus plate you see above (it really is the most dazzling hummus plate I’ve ever experienced). And then, every so often, I do manage to make a dinner.
As a person who defaulted to pasta even before I had a real job, now pasta is pretty much the only thing I want to make when I make anything at all. My first week of work, back in June, involved this penne with raw tomatoes, garlic, basil, and Parmesan—a good summery dish:
Then there was this pasta I made with broccoli, zucchini, and lots of olive oil and garlic and a little lemon juice at the end:
One Sunday, I decided to make some food for the week ahead. So here’s an improvised coleslaw that held up pretty well (with cabbage, carrots, radishes, etc):
Oh and some braised chicken thighs with Peppadews:
Don’t get too impressed, though: these mostly happened my first few weeks of working. Now I’m more likely to bake something to bring into work than I am to make myself dinner. For example, these Smitten Kitchen Oatmeal Raisin Cookies which my co-workers gobbled up pretty quickly.
I also made a killer coffee cake, but maybe I’ll write about that in another post (yes, I’ll try to keep writing posts. Stop yelling at me!)
Things may change dramatically when Craig gets home from shooting his next movie at the start of August. After all, it’s very different to cook just for yourself after work than it is to cook for someone who really appreciates it (and who’ll be forced to do the dishes).
But I owe a huge apology to all of you hard-working people who I’ve shamed over the years for not lifting a spoon after 9 hours of sitting behind a computer. Trust me, now: I get it.
