All of my life, finding food has never been a problem. My mom buys it, my college cafeteria supplies it, and there are always easy-to-make snacks in my fridge. So imagine the huge reality check I get when I move into an apartment style dorm for part of the summer. The cafeteria isn’t open until fall and I am off to fend for myself in the food department. While I am armed with a kitchen full of essentials (microwave, refrigerator, stove, etc.) there is one tiny problem; I have never cooked for myself.

Now when I say I have never cooked for myself I mean that I have never bought groceries for myself and the only thing I have used an oven for is baking brownies. If I want scrambled eggs for breakfast, I make them in the microwave. Mashed potatoes? Screw the stove; I use the microwave. Basically I am skilled with the microwave and nothing else. But since a summer full of microwavable foods did not sound that enticing, I have found a few tips for all those who are cooking in a small kitchen.

Establish food ownership: This is only needed if you are sharing kitchen space with other people. I know many roommates who have fought over ownership of a jar of salsa or accused their friends of eating their whole bag of pretzels. These situations could have easily been avoided had everyone sharing a fridge talked over how they wanted to share the kitchen. Read More »

You make a lot of mac and cheese. Right? Don’t lie. I’m onto you.

The thing is, you could very easy (and for much less money than going out to eat) make a much more enjoyable and fine-dining form of carby goodness: pasta with scallops.

This is a particularly good dish for entertaining. Also, did I mention it’s delicious? Well, it’s delicious.

Now get cracking:

Stuff You’ll Need

-1 pound of the pasta of your choice (but NOT something individual like bowties or elbows)

-1 1/2 pounds of scallops

-3/4 cups of butter

-3 shallots

-2 cups of a dry white wine (perhaps a Pinot Grigio?) Read More »