If I Only Had a Blog

Allison and I love to cook. We spent a lot of time learning to cook and trying to new recipes in college. While typical college students were eating All You Can Eat wings at Buffalo Connection, Allison and I were cooking meals your momma makes at 1602 N. Donahue Dr. Here’s a few memories we share from our kitchen. Not all of them have to actually do with cooking. They might not be hilarious or even slightly funny to you…a lot of our memories are a “you had to be there” kind of thing. But I hope you enjoy anyway 🙂

1.  The Butter

We liked to buy in bulk when possible to be budget friendly. We always bought the huge tubs of Country Crock butter. I don’t remember if we were unloading the groceries or if Allison was just getting the butter out of the fridge, regardless, the tub was brand new. It slipped out of her hands and she dropped the whole tub. The tub cracked all the way around, but somehow none of the butter was actually touching the floor. Allison just stood bent over saying, “What do I do?” I was laughing too hard to talk or think. We didn’t want to throw away all that butter! We sat on the kitchen floor laughing (which was not rare for us) and finally came up with a solution. We put all that butter in a big tupperware bowl and put in back in the fridge. I remember it taking us FOREVER to go through that butter. 

2.  The Mice

Have you ever had a rodent in your house? How about 9 in 24 hours? Yeah…that’s right. One day we saw a mouse run across the kitchen floor. We were really freaked out, but not to the point that we felt the need to call pest control. However, when we saw more than one mouse run across the kitchen floor, we became concerned and called. I made Allison call them…I wasn’t going to tell them we had multiple rodents in our house. That’s gross! Instead of putting out traps that kill the mice, they put out the stupid sticky pads that the mice run over and get stuck to it, then they just yip yip yip for help. I hated hearing that noise. It meant there was some nasty mouse trying to wiggle free in my kitchen. I am so thankful that our other roommate, Emily, was brave enough to deal with the mice. Allison and I would not go downstairs without her. And poor Emily, she had to take the trapped mice to the dumpster because we were not about to pick up that sticky pad! We totalled 9 mice in 24 hours. We (with the expertise of the pest control) determined that they were getting in through the openings for the water pipes that run to the sink, dishwasher and washer. So he had to come back and seal the openings with some kind of foamy stuff. Allison didn’t mind him coming back…he was pretty cute! We were ecstatic to find out that the condo a few doors down was having the same problem. As a joke, I went the Pet Smart and bought a pet mouse and a cage. I left him on the kitchen counter for Allison and Emily to see when they got home. I bought this huge ball of food that was supposed to last for weeks. However, he died from dehydration because I never replenished his water supply. I didn’t want to put my hand in his cage. I still feel bad to this day. I was a horrible mouse mom. I’m sure PETA is very unhappy with me. 

3.  The Worchestershire Sauce

Allison and I were making hamburger steak one night for dinner. I had the meat in a bowl and I was going to mix in a little worchestershire sauce. I guess by “a little” I really meant the whole bottle. I don’t know what happened but somehow I got a little too happy with the sauce and before I knew it, the meat was covered in it. We were trying to not eat out, so I thought I would try to salvage the meal. Hmm…the meat is too liquidy, maybe I should add some flour. HAHA what an idea! Allison was skeptical, but she knew we really couldn’t mess this up anymore. So, I mixed in some flour to thicken it up, made the patties, and placed them in the skillet. Allison had already made up her mind that we were going out for dinner, but I kept pressing on. I tasted the overly marinated yet floury-fried hamburger patty and thought to myself, “Well, it’s still edible.” I tried to convice Allison to taste it and she thought I had lost my mind. She grabbed her purse and said, “Let’s go.” We ended up eating brownies at bible study that night for dinner. 

4.  The Double Duty Pantry

Typically a pantry is used to store food. Ours did. One night it also served as a hide out from strangers. It was past midnight on a weekend night and our neighbors were having a wild n crazy party…like they did every night of the week. We were in the kitchen probably eating some kind of dessert when we hear this VERY drunk guy beating on our door. Not like a nice knock knock, but a very aggresive beating on our door. For those of you that don’t know, I am a scaredy cat. I have seen one too many horror movies and the possibilities are endless. Who knows what this guy had in mind if we let him in? I certainly was NOT going to open the door. So, Allison just ignores it and starts her way upstairs. I, however, flip out and run into the pantry and yell for her to come back down and hide with me. I went straight to the pantry because the kitchen blinds were open, the lights were on, and there was a window in our front door that he could easily look into to see if we were home. The pantry was the only reasonably safe area at the time. He couldn’t see us. And we weren’t just in the pantry, we were crammed up by the door because if we had been too far to the right, he could have seen us through the window. We stood there for close to 30 minutes…no exaggeration. He wouldn’t leave and I certainly wasn’t going anywhere until I was postive he was gone. Allison tried to convince me to just take a run for it and get upstairs so we would at least be by our phones if something actually happened. I completely disagreed…I wasn’t going anywhere and she wasn’t going to leave me by myself. So, we just hung out in the pantry for a while until I felt safe again and could peacefully walk upstairs. 

So many wonderful memories. We talk all the time, reminisce and laugh as hard or harder than when it actually happened. I’ve never laughed so hard in my life (other than with my mother and Brent) than I did those four years at Auburn. I am so thankful and blessed that God allowed us to meet the very first day of classes in Mr. Blaufarb’s history class. It’s no coincidence that in a class of 300+ we sat next to each other. God knew we needed to be friends.