The first time.

Posted: May 16, 2010 | Author: Alyssa | Filed under: Alyssa | No Comments »

I have been single for three years.  Don’t get me wrong, I’ve dated guys over the past three years, but nothing has really stuck.  I have been a serial monogamist all my life, and after my last relationship I realized that I needed some time to sort my life out and get to know myself again.  The end of the relationship also happened to coincide with graduate school, so I was really focused on getting my life where I wanted it to be for a while.  I kept dating along the way, but those of you that remember the dating world, or who are still in the midst of it, know how absurd and crazy it can be.  So when I started dating a new guy a couple months ago, I was terrified.  Dating, to me, is just a series of nerve wracking, terrifying, and awkward firsts.  The first date, first kiss, first time meeting friends, and for me, the first time I cook him dinner.  Luckily, all the other firsts with him had gone amazingly well, so when I cooked dinner for the first time, I was a little less nervous than I could have been.

In a conversation prior to dinner, while I was figuring out what I would make, he mentioned to me that he preferred boxed mashed potatoes to real ones.  Those of you who know me, know that this statement alone was enough to infuriate me, so I was determined to change his mind.  I finally settled on fried ravioli for an appetizer, Asian marinated flank steak with loaded mashed potatoes and flour-less chocolate cake for dessert.

Ironically in my over zealous attempt to make my mashed potatoes better than a box, I ruined them by over mashing them and they came out totally pasty.  Being the incredible sweet man that he is , he told me they were delicious anyway, but I was angry about it all night.  So my quest will continue to make him great mashed potatoes.

We started dinner with fried cheese ravioli, which are phenominally easy and delicious.  Just take prepared ravioli (I used Buitoni because they were on sale) dip each piece in buttermilk, then in seasoned bread crumbs.  Fry in 350 degree oil until they are golden brown on both sides.

For the flank steak, I just marinated it all day and then seared it in a pan for about 5 min on each side at medium-high heat.  The marinade was easy enough, I pretty much just threw everything in my pantry that seemed asian into  abag with the steak: Soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic, green onion, cooking sherry, green onion, and ginger.

The potatoes we will not discuss at length because I will start to get depressed again, but just make standard mashed potatoes and add cheddar cheese, bacon and green onion to them (a dash of garlic powder and cayenne will kick them up even more).

The chocolate cake was also fairly easy and came out really well:

• 8 ouncess semisweet chocolate.  I use chocolate chips b/c they melt easily
• 1/2 cup butter
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the over to 300 degrees.  Melt the butter in a double boiler (or a bowl resting in a pot of boiling water if you’re anything like me), and then add the chocolate a couple of ounces at a time until it is all melted together and smooth.  Remove it from the heat and add the rest of the ingredients, again mixing until smooth.  Bake for 38 minutes at 300.

All in all it was a good dinner, although I am pretty critical of myself, so I was really upset about the mistakes I made.  Luckily, boy didn’t seem to notice, or he’s a good liar.  Either way, I guess it works

I know I stated this before but cooking for someone, in my mind, is the ultimate way I can show them that I care about them and want to take care of them.  A couple of friends have recently had babies and one of the first things I thought about (after, holy cute baby!) was what can I cook for them to make their lives easier.  So I guess dinner was just another step in the whole dating process, but for me it was a big one and I’m really glad it went well