Carbonara and popcorn

After that last post, I was feeling a little nostalgic about cooking, so for dinner Monday I made carbonara. 

When I moved out of the dorms after my freshman year, I had my very own kitchen for the first time. I was just getting into cooking, and suddenly I had my own little workshop. Carbonara was one of the first dishes I learned to make. I had never had it before, but read about it in an interview with Rachael Ray.

She talked about carbonara being the dish that her husband fell in love with her over. I think, at the time, I had hoped this dish could have a similar effect for me. It might or might not have, but Jake is definitely another huge reason I cook - so we can enjoy some really fun meals. (Though I strongly suspect if asked, he'd say tteok-bogi is like carbonara for us)

I still follow RR's recipe, almost exactly to a T (I add an extra egg yolk and about 1/3 c boiling water to temper the eggs), and love it every time. 

My other recent food adventure was trying to pop my own popcorn. For this, I followed Michael Ruhlman's recipe and technique.  I had mixed results - my first pan was far too large, and so didn't heat properly, and half the popcorn burned. I used a smaller pot the second time, and had beautiful, buttery salt delight in no time.

Dreaming? Of my "spring break" trip this weekend - I'm headed down to Disney World to visit a friend from high school for a long weekend! Excited to spend 2 full days outside, walking and being WARM!