i'm cookin, dog!

as i write this, aerosmith's "dream on" is playing on my yahoo launchcast radio (message). and with that, i had the strongest urge to write a flow. i even actually started. so i can't blame the likes of eminem, kanye west, master p, p. diddy, and the other hip-hop moguls that earn their keep by successfully sampling the previous works of others. hell, if it speaks to you, it speaks to you. and hell, if it's bringing in the dough, then it's bringing in the dough (granted that it's not immoral, degrading, culturally wrong, or harmful to others - but that's another blog). as a matter of fact, all of this is another blog. let me move on.

so last night, for poopoo's birthday (which, in reality, may be a disgusting nickname we have for each other, but blame my mother for the running joke - but that's another blog), i actually cooked dinner. granted, for a birthday, i kinda wanted to take her out. sylvia's is around the corner and we've never gone. there is a nice sky cafe around the other corner and we've never been. hell, this is harlem, and we haven't been to half the spots to eat up here. and thats why i didn't do it. how would going to a cool restaurant we've never been to before, for a birthday, be any different than going to a restaurant we've never been to before, for the sake of never having been before. and i guess on the same token, how is fixing her dinner for her birthday, any different than fixing her dinner because we're hungry and we have food?

good question. the truth is that i've never fixed dinner before. other than microwave dinners, doritos with melted chedder cheese, poptarts, peanut butter jelly sandwiches - i have never cooked. wait, eggs, i can scramble a mean egg. so i figure, why not share a first with her on her birthday. because just i have never cooked, logically, i have never cooked for her.

so last night - i buy groceries, preheat the oven, set up a tablecloth, two longstem candles, and put on KEM Album II (thanks Wes). the night before, i was on the phone with my chef of a mom, cooking master of a dad, culinary artist of a brother, and simply wonderful little sister for about an hour and a half. so all and all, in the morning of things, it went well. i cooked baked chicken, corn on the cob and steamed broccoli. things i can't mess up much. things i know she likes. and it was good (except for the chicken - i took it out a few minutes early, so we put it back in for a while, but it was seasoned great!) i slapped some rolls on it and it was a beautiful night.

the poetry though, was the money. oh man. i've always heard that cooking is better than eating out. but damn! i bought everything - chicken, corn, brocoli heads, seasoning, garlic, celery, and onions for 20 bucks! i didn't even cook it all!! and there were two of us!!! we didn't even eat half of what i did cook!!!! as a bachelor (by definition), i could by $20 worth of groceries and cook enough for a week!!! while i was eating last night, i was estactic! i was floored! i had cooked the food and had enough to spare for tomorrow. i'm about to have some now - for breakfast! and still have some left for dinner!!! eating out in new york, on average, will be anywhere from $10 to $20 a plate. hell, mcdonalds value meals up here are $7. i have to say, life changed yesterday. but then, life should change everyday (but thats another blog).

i'm going to go have some birthday chicken, have a nice day.