Ya boy is learning to cook!

Hey y'all! Yeah, I am trying to be more consistent here. It's on my goal list to write more, read more, and get this blog thing straight. But life be lifin'! Quick life update: I got a new job in a different industry and my mom moved out of the house she had been living in for a very long time and she is living with me. Honestly, it was great timing because I have been struggling financially for quite some time. I've been living paycheck to paycheck for the past couple of years and my mom has been looking for a new place to call home for a while, so it's great that we can be here to help each other into these next chapters of our lives. There has been a ton of change just in this year. But I got this! It may take some getting used to, but I embrace change, for real!

Y'all... 2025 has been full of new experiences. One of the things I have had on my life checklist is cooking a good meal for my partner. I finally got the opportunity to do just that. Some time ago, I was having a conversation with JD and his friends about some things I really want to get more into. I believe it was one night that they actually got me to start watching RuPaul's Drag Race. Begrudgingly, I actually watched this reality show that I never thought I would watch and ironically, I liked it. Somehow they got me into it. Like, I really like it! The various costumes, the lip singing, the choreography, THE DRAMA. It's so entertaining. It makes me want to attend more drag shows now that I know how much effort goes into making a good performance.

Anyways, I guess one day while I was watching RuPaul for the first time with them, I mentioned how much I wanted to be a better cook. I am a master of using what I have to make a lot out of nothing, or making something good but quick, but I have never been one to spend time preparing a meal. I mean, there have been a few occasions over the years; i.e. Every Thanksgiving, my mama requires all of us to make at least one dish so she and my grandma are not the only ones doing all the cooking anymore. And when I was real poor and me and my cousin Semaj were roommates in East Point, I used to order meal delivery kits like Every Plate because there was a period I didn't have a car and it really sucked doing all my grocery shopping via Uber and depending on MARTA. Also, I just really hate grocery shopping, so it was way more convenient. So yeah, I got to have a little fun here and there making meals for myself and for my family, but I have always wanted to do more. I've always wanted to be able to prepare a meal for the person I love or for a group of friends and have them feeling secure knowing that I am the person doing the cooking. I want to actually enjoy cooking. So I guess JD's friends heard me and his friend Whitney said that she wanted to teach me how to cook someday. I had totally forgot about it until she brought it up about a month ago and she asked in the group chat, "So are we still gonna teach Xae (that's how they all spell my nickname) how to cook?", then bae responded, "Yes!".

I didn't respond initially, but she asked again within a few days. I tried to wiggle my way out of it, but I knew Whitney really wanted it to be a bonding moment with me. And I also thought about how much I really wanted to be able to cook better, not just to be able to say that I can cook, but because I want to be able to make great meals for JD just as he has done for me so many times over the past year that we have been together. So I swallowed the reluctancy and said, "Yes, let's do it!"

Whitney had this whole idea of how it would go. We agreed that we would do it on Friday, June 6. The idea was to make it into a date night for myself and JD. The plan was for me to go to Whitney's house and she coach me through making a meal and JD would show up just in time to be served. And that is exactly how it happened.

I arrived at Whitney's place around 4pm. The moment arrived, we greeted each other, I took off my shoes and washed my hands, put on an apron and she told me what we were cooking.. Lemon Pasta. We used fettuccini, lemon, garlic, parmesan cheese, an egg, heavy whipping cream, and parsley. She taught me how to properly boil by putting a dash of salt into the water. Then, for the pasta, I learned the pasta not ever to break it, but instead, to put all of the pasta in the boiler at once and to let it naturally shrink into the entire boiler. After inserting the pasta into the boiler, it was time to make the sauce. I was taught how to properly crack an egg without getting the shells into the mix. Then, I zested a lemon, juiced it into the mix with the egg, then added the heavy cream. Whitney got a whole block of parmesan cheese. I had never purchased a whole cheese before. I usually just get it already shredded and processed by Kraft or the generic version of it. She taught me how to shred a block of cheese! It was fun doing that for the first time. I tell ya, I am learning class!

I then whipped all of the ingredients in the bowl to make the lemon sauce. By this time, the pasta had been boiling for enough time. We tasted a string of it. It was a big tough, so we let it stay on the stove for five ore minutes. In this time, I got a clove of garlic, then pressed and chopped it. She got this huge loaf of Italian sliced bread. We buttered about six slices with this Italian herb butter and popped it in the oven on 280 for about 3 minutes. In the time that we were waiting for the toast, we tasted the pasta again and realized it was okay to turn it off because it was much softer than before. I turned off the stove, then strained most of the water from the pasta and added what was strained to the lemon sauce. I stirred the sauce up again and it made it a bit more consistent.

It was during this time that bae walked through the door. We let him know that we were just about done. I checked on the toast. It was not done yet, but I took it out to add the chopped garlic to each of the slices, then popped it back in the oven for 2 more minutes. Dinner was complete! Everything was finally cooked. Last thing to do was add the sauce to the pasts and sprinkle some parsley flakes on top. Voila! We had a nice Italian-themed dinner date served around 6ish! The pasta was definitely lemony. I could taste the zest in addition to the lemon sauce! This was actually the first time I had made my own garlic bread. It complimented the pasta very well. There was plenty to go around. We also had some Cabernet Sauvignon. I also served it with Caesar Salad and we added some crotons with lite vinaigrette dressing. Whitney added a bit of white wine to the dressing and it was pretty good actually. She even played Italian music for ambiance. It was an absolutely spectacular date night experience and bae loved it. He was so proud of me! This made me look forward to learning how to cook and doing this more often. I opened myself up to learn and had another yet great experience and great food. BIG thank you to Whitney!! I have always hated cooking, but this was fun! We used to cook together more often in the early days of our relationship. I'm hoping to bring that flare back because that was really fun. I remember how excited I was cooking with JD and how happy he was to show me and make a meal with me. I'm definitely gonna do this again and I'll be cooking more often!

Lemon Pasta Recipe: https://www.instagram.com/reel/C7pMCa5xK_c/?igsh=ZjM1bnByNHlvcGlu