Monday, May 31, 2010

Sharing a kitchen

When I tell people about our living situation, they wonder how two couples can share a kitchen. They expect to hear about an awkward arrangement, I think. Truth is, sharing a kitchen and cooking for each other has been one of many unforeseen benefits of living with another couple.

Currently, each roommate cooks dinner for the other three once a week. We've chosen specific days -- I usually cook on Mondays -- but the schedule is flexible since there are three remaining days up for grabs. On the days when no one cooks we eat left-overs and simple concoctions (scrambled eggs, anyone?), or we eat out.

We didn't have any plans on this front when we decided to move in with Marc and Jen. I had some schemes in mind, as always, but we figured we'd let the meals sort themselves out once we were settled.

They sorted themselves out pretty quickly, in the end. It started on a fortuitous evening when Michael and I were too tired to figure out dinner plans.

We both arrived home without groceries and without the energy to go out for dinner. We had just finished moving over the weekend, we were back at work and we were pretty burnt out.

We dragged ourselves downstairs to get ready to leave the house, and that's when Marc and Jen announced that they had just finished making dinner and that they had plenty of food to feed us.

It was a magical moment.

The following weekend, Michael and I made a dutch baby pancake for breakfast, which came out of the oven just as Marc and Jen woke up. We had made sure to make plenty for everyone. These two events were so satisfying that they set the stage for formalizing our cooking plans. There are still pleasant surprises, though, like chocolate chip cookies or brownies for dessert after a long day, and that's what makes living with friends so fun.

For those of you interested in logistics, I can tell you that we each buy the groceries for our own meals and we share the cost of things like olive oil and sea salt. As far as sharing plates, utensils and other accouterments, we've found our supplies to be surprisingly complementary. That, and our new kitchen is bigger than our former kitchens, combined, so there's plenty of space for doubles.

I'll start keeping track of the meals that we've been making on Things Worth Making, if you're interested. You'll find that the vegetarian recipes of Peter Berley figure prominently in our menus.

1 comment:

brie said...

Mmmm, I'm glad that your living arrangements are turning out to be not only fun, but delicious! I yearn for a large kitchen one day. Until then I may pop by your place next time I'm on the island.