Food is a big part of every one's life. If they claim that it isn't they are either lying, or not enjoying life to its fullest. One of the quickest and easiest ways to bring a little more joy into your life, is enriching it with food.

I love to cook. Dan loves to cook. Perfect match, right? There is the occasional spat over one or the other of us taking over the kitchen, so we have devised the perfect system to compromise our equal love for the preparing of the meals: one chops and get all the ingredients together while the other does all the actual sweatin' (and believe me, in our kitchen, you are sweatin') by the stove. This plan is impeccable for the dual chef household.

So just what exactly have we made over the last couple weeks here in Alabama? Well, I won't go into detail regarding every single dish, but I will discuss a this weeks highlights:

Sunday:
With a some help from Paula Deen (who, according to REAL southern women, is not one) we made some delicious Buttery Tilapia with Lemon and Green Onions, served over rice with a side of asparagus. One think I like about fish it I don't get that weird "Ugh, I'm touching raw meat and I'm grossed out by it" thing. Sure it smells a little sour, but I much prefer sour to bloody...

Meatless Monday Excursions:
In order to be a little more Eco-friendly, and at the behest of dear Best Friend Mandy, Dan and I have agreed to participate in the Meatless Monday Movement. Rather than trying to explain and justify it myself, you can check it out ans decide for yourself: http://www.meatlessmonday.com/
Last Thursday we went to the ubertiny Farmer's Market they have on campus and got ourselves some fresh tomatoes and eggplant. Can you guess what we made on Monday?
That's right, Baked Eggplant Parmigiana with homemade, from scratch pasta sauce. I have never peeled tomatoes without boiling them ahead of time first. In the boiling method, the skin bursts and splits so its really easy to just peel away. Fresh, uncooked tomatoes don't peel quite so easily. I just used a potato peeler and with a little patience and a steady hand it worked out fine. I have no idea if there is a better way to do it, but it seemed to work out. I egged up the eggplant (ha!) coated it in the cheese and flour, fried it for a minute or two then tossed it in the baking dish, smothered away and tada! A most amazing dish. I've never cooked with eggplant before and was wary as to how this was going to work out but it was amazing. The eggplant was just the perfect flavor and texture with the sauce and mozzarella. And as a garnish on the side, drumroll please, we had super sweet Fatty Arbuckle, my first celebrity tomato! I was so proud of him!
And for desert Dan made a wonderful little dish called Banana Halva. Its an Indian desert where you mash up some bananas, fry them up until the mush turns into an almost toffee like consistency then you stir in chopped walnuts and pistachios. We didn't have the pistachios so we used almonds instead and it was still amazing! Get just a little plain yogurt on the side and the sweet and sour go together so perfectly.

Tuesday I was in orientation and was given *blah* pizza. But...

Wednesday:
We went to our neighbor and fellow Creative Writing MFA Megan's for dinner. Anyone who doesn't like seafood should either stop reading so you don't feel left out or keep reading so you will learn to appreciate some of the most amazing food in the world. Megan made Crab Cole Slaw, Crab Linguine and Mussel Linguine! I have no idea what else she used to season them, but all three dishes were so delectable I went back for seconds on all three. The Mussel pasta even had the shells right in there and some of them you have to pick out the little guys inside. Such good food. Then, right when I thought I couldn't stuff myself anymore, she brought out a Semi-Sweet Chocolate Meringue with Whipped Cream, Raspberries and Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips. Heaven! Had it been sweet chocolate it would have been too much, but the semi-sweet was just enough to melt you away.

And for tonight... We're having left overs. Can only cram so much good food in a week... But we have grand plans, I assure you. I will try and get pictures for those of who who love to look at yummy food like I do.