Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

GOP baffled that ‘we don’t care if you die’ is not a winning slogan.

Incompetence, fear, or corruption? why not all three?

It’s all just conspiracy shit beamed down from the mothership.

fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)

I see no possible difficulties whatsoever with this fool-proof plan.

A consequence of cucumbers

If you are in line to indict donald trump, stay in line.

One of our two political parties is a cult whose leader admires Vladimir Putin.

They’re not red states to be hated; they are voter suppression states to be fixed.

Nothing says ‘pro-life’ like letting children go hungry.

Shut up, hissy kitty!

If you’re pissed about Biden’s speech, he was talking about you.

Dead end MAGA boomers crying about Talyor Swift being a Dem is my kind of music. Turn it up.

The words do not have to be perfect.

There are consequences to being an arrogant, sullen prick.

It’s always darkest before the other shoe drops.

Glad to see john eastman going through some things.

Republicans can’t even be trusted with their own money.

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

Not so fun when the rabbit gets the gun, is it?

FFS people, this was a good thing. take the win.

with the Kraken taking a plea, the Cheese stands alone.

“I never thought they’d lock HIM up,” sobbed a distraught member of the Lock Her Up Party.

Balloon Juice has never been a refuge for the linguistically delicate.

You are here: Home / John Cole Presents "Stories from the Road" / Another Benefit of Shacking Up

Another Benefit of Shacking Up

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First things first- when it is overcast and raining here, you really feel it. Overcast is the default status in WV, so it is not as noticeable. Here, when you expect sun, and it isn’t out, it hits you hard.

Regardless, another real perk of shacking up is I am cooking a lot more. Left to my own devices I will make a big batch of things and eat it until it is gone four days later with other stuff interspersed. But when you are cooking for two, you can cook just enough for two without the recipe needing to be doubled.

It’s still a struggle with some things, like chicken breasts are just too fucking big and one steak is big enough for both of us, and so on. But it’s just much more manageable with two people to cook small batches of different things, and you also have the luxury of being able to plan ahead, so every raw ingredient you purchase can be used for multiple purposes. Use the bacon grease form breakfast to quickly sear the green beans for dinner tonight after parboiling them. Buy a head of broccoli, use as the veg for one meal, save enough for the stuffing in the chicken breasts tonight, freeze the stalk for vegetable stock. And so on.

It gives me something to think about- what can I make for the next week? What ingredients can I use multiple times? What does she like and not like? How long has it been since we had this? What is in season? What cheap cuts of meat were in the discount bin? And on and on. I like that because it lets me do things for much cheaper than normal, it gives variety and freshness, it lets me think things through and make balanced meals, it allows me to make more complicated meals that require multiple stages of preparation- 1 pm do this, 3 pm follow up, etc.

Speaking of, the first rise on the bread I am making is almost due to be punched down and parceled into loaves. When I was an undergrad in Morgantown in 1992, there used to be this place called Shakespeare’s First Edition and Deli. This was the first real place in town that had imported Italian goods and the makings of a little Italian Market. But what they were really known for were their soup and sandwiches. They made their own bread, and what they did was overstuff the bread pan so that the bread, when baking, would have a large muffin crown on it. They would then layer it with wafer thin pillows of meat, cheese, and what you wanted on it. I personally would always get roast beef and swiss with their in-house horseradish sauce.

At any rate, that is what I am going to try to recreate today. I will show pictures of the final product later.

Reader Interactions

42Comments

  4. 4.

    frosty

    @Nukular Biskits: ​Real John Cole always liked to cook. I remember his tales about his frat brothers coming by to chow down at Homecoming. This iteration of RJC is taking it up a notch because he’s got someone to cook for every day. Or so I speculate.​

  5. 5.

    WaterGirl

    But what they were really known for were their soup and sandwiches. They made their own bread

    That took me back in time to Bubby & Zadie’s, coffeehouse that was in Champaign.  A wonderful little place in a basement, that I hadn’t thought of in years.  Raven probably has photos, but here’s a drawing that captures the place perfect.

    Another Benefit of Shacking Up

  6. 6.

    satby

    @Nukular Biskits: John has always liked to cook. He used to regale us with luscious sounding dishes he was making.

    I made a curried pumpkin soup for the UU luncheon meeting today. Simple ingredients: roasted pumpkin (I roast it myself), vegetable broth, garlic, onion, curry powder or spice mix all simmered together, then pureed with an immersion blender. Add coconut milk, season to taste and cook on low to warm it after adding the coconut milk. Only one cup left out of 12 made*, so that was my dinner. I’m not a member, just a friend, so I was kitchen help during the lunch.

    * It was a soup bar, there were six different kinds, 3 vegan

  26. 26.

    Rusty

    The Benefits of Shacking Up.  The Washington Post has an article today on .ore older women for going marriage (often second marriages) for financial reasons.  They are having romantic and long term relationships but without tying the knot.  I know a number of guys with the same view. For myself, if my my marriage ended I would see no reason to marry again.  I would want to meet someone,  but shaking up is fine.  With grown kids, expenses, inheritances and more, marriage is pretty unappealing.

  28. 28.

    WaterGirl

    @raven:  That did sound familiar but it didn’t totally ring a bell.

    I took an independent film class at the UI my freshman year, so I was plugged in to some of that.  Were these the films that were often shown on Friday or Saturday nights, at various places on campus?  (Not at movie theaters.)

  30. 30.

    WaterGirl

    @raven: My class was called something different, with Independent Films in the title.

    We saw all sorts of “shorts”.

    I remember one where there were a bunch of people at a long dinner table, and the crazy thing was that they were all going to the bathroom together while at the table, but they excused themselves one by one to go to a special room to eat by themselves in private.

  36. 36.

    RandomMonster

    But when you are cooking for two, you can cook just enough for two without the recipe needing to be doubled.

    This is very sweet. But old MFers like me and the missus still cook with the intention of eating it for the next 4 days.

  37. 37.

    Greg Ferguson

    Loving hearing about your adventures in resettling (& welcome to AZ, man!)

    Why chicken breasts are so enormous now I do not know, but I split/butterfly them and that works pretty well, portion-wise.

    ❤️👍❤️👍🤠

  38. 38.

    dnfree

    @RandomMonster: My usual cooking for two plan is to cook something with four servings, eating two tonight and the other two a couple of nights later.  I don’t like it if we have to eat it a third time.  If done right, I cook three nights of the week, we have leftovers three nights, and we pick up restaurant food the seventh night.  Sometimes the proportion of restaurant dinners is higher.

  41. 41.

    owlbrick

    We made beef stock with some marrow bones yesterday, and had some leftover baguette and gruyere, so it was French onion soup tonight.  Caramelized onions, cheese, meaty gelatinous broth, crunchy toasts well sopped in deliciousness.

  42. 42.

    brendancalling

    The bonuses of coupling up are pretty great. Just for one example, my current gal is less of a cook than I am, so the “one person cooks,the other cleans” applies when she’s visiting. Everyone wins. Maybe someday we’ll move in. I really do love cooking for someone else—it’s a pleasure.

    In terms of stock, I save a lot of my scraps, but I have to say I don’t recommend broccoli or other cruciferous vegetables for stock. They’re a little sulfury for my taste. On a related note, I’m making gumbo this week: I’ve easily got a pound of shrimp shells for stock, but I’m on the hunt for a fish head and a crab carcass or two to make it complete. My local grocer doesn’t have heads, so tomorrow  I’m off to Chinatown where folks aren’t so squeamish.

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