Thanksgiving Potluck [Two Words That Scare the Crap Out of Me]

So if you haven't gotten it quite yet (from the posts or the title of this blog), my cooking skills are one component of my life that has some room for improvement. So I try to avoid events that require me to contribute food (especially in my professional life).

So when my work announced we were doing a Thanksgiving Potluck and everyone had to sign up to bring a side dish (alcohol doesn't count) to share at the potluck, I tried to think of an excuse for me to be "OOO" during that time.

As the potluck approached and it became apparent that I wasn't going to pull that off, I realized I had to sign up for something. And of course, by then, all the easy things were taken (crackers & cheese), salad, etc. So I signed up for a fruit or vegetable dish and figured I could decide it later. 

And suddenly, I found myself idea-less and less than 24 hours before the potluck. As one does in emergency situations such as these, I pulled out my phone and immediately consulted Pinterest. Where I immediately found a slightly hilarious, slightly cute fruit arrangement in the shape of a turkey. 

I could do that, I thought. I'll just get all the materials on the way to work and put it together right before the event. $23 later and loaded down with skewers, fruit and a platter I stumbled into the office, ready to assemble. [Side note, if you had seen me struggling down the street that morning you would have realized that the struggle is alive and well].

But despite my lack of planning, cooking skills and my nay-saying friends, it actually turned out okay. See for yourself. I bet you can't even guess which version is mine & which version is the Pinterest inspiration. 

Question

Is it okay to be almost 30 and have marshmallows, peanuts and Coors Light for dinner? 

... it was after our championship kickball game... 

How Is That Something That Happens?

As you may be aware by now, cooking and meal planning is not my strongest suit. So one Wednesday afternoon, I was rummaging through the work fridge, trying to make some sort of concoction for lunch out of rogue items I had brought in over the past few days. 

After quite a bit of work, I was able to scrounge up edamame, carrots, spinach, cheese, a tomato & some salad dressing (leftover from a client meeting) and things were looking pretty good. 

I put my plate on the edge of the counter as I was cleaning up the knife and other supplies and chatting with Kattie and another coworker, when a third co-worker came by. He reached his hand out - and I am not making this up - grabbed a handful of my dressed salad off my plate!

My jaw dropped in disbelief "What? What are you doing?" I cried, as Kattie and my co-worker burst into laughter.

Did that just happen? 

"What?" Coworker asked between bites, is this not just leftovers from the meeting? 

"No! That's my lunch!" I sighed. 

"Oh, sorry," he mumbled. "I'll bring you a tomato tomorrow." 

That is not even the point. Who eats dressed salad with their bare hands, when it's not even theirs!

And for some reason this is not the first time something like this has happened to me. Last year at the Chiefs game there were 2 different people who took french fries out of my order of fries as I was walking back to my seat. 

2 people I didn't even know. 

How is this something that happens? 

And BTW - the next day my co-worker brought me a tomato. 

Edamame Brought to You By the VML Chicago Office

What can you make with edamame? Juan asked after Day 3 of eating edamame for lunch. I gave a few suggestions and then tried to investigate. Well it turns out that you can almost make this recipe using stuff we have in our Chicago office! 

I’ve annotated it to demonstrate. Will check back if it actually comes to fruition. Or perhaps try it out at your office and report back. 

Rainbow Peanut Noodles

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Yield: About 4-6 servings

Ingredients

Rainbow Pasta Ingredients:

• 12 ounces whole-wheat pasta (I used DeLallo whole-wheat linguine) - You could use the Ramen noodles instead
• 1 Tbsp. peanut oil (or olive oil)
• 1 red bell pepper, cored and julienned (thinly sliced)
• 1 yellow bell pepper, cored and julienned – you might have to bring your own peppers, can’t help you there. 
• 1 large carrot, peeled and julienned – I saw some carrots in the second drawer
• 1 cup shredded red cabbage
• 1 cup shelled edamame – well obvi you have this 
• topping: thinly-sliced scallions (green onions), toasted sesame seeds (sesame seeds you can dust off some sesame seeds from the frozen bagels from breakfast a few weeks ago) and chopped peanuts (I think there were a few peanuts left in the cupboard from the Peapod order)

Peanut Sauce Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter – we should have this if Cloud didn’t eat it all 
• 1/4 cup soy sauce - I think a saw a soy sauce packet mixed in with the taco bell sauces on the counter 
• 3 Tbsp. water – just don’t use the bottle water in the drink fridge 
• 2 Tbsp. honey – I think I saw some of that yesterday 
• 2 Tbsp. rice vinegar 
• 1 Tbsp. grated fresh ginger
• 2 tsp. sesame oil
• 1 clove garlic, peeled - ?? 
• (optional) 1 tsp. sriracha hot chili sauce, or more to taste – got it 

Damn I Hope So...

Cooking Lesson #1: Uses of Basil

Apparently the notoriety of my cooking skills spans state borders... so my friend, Matt, invited me over for family dinner at his place. 

My first cooking lesson in Chicago was making pesto with fresh basil. 

First we picked basil from their plant on the patio. 

Then we washed it & added it to the blender... with some walnuts

And other things, including pink himalayan sea salt. (Who has this in their house?)

. 

The pesto was delicious. 

Alright, I said. It's my turn to whip up something with basil. :)