Food & Friends

As somewhat of a minimalist, I try to eat out as infrequently as possible; food is just more expensive at restaurants. But sometimes this presents a problem for me. Food is such a social thing in our society, and often times my friends want to hang out at Local Burger or go to Haymarket together, and I'm always torn. Should I miss out on hanging out with them so as not to spend the money? Should I spend money I don't want to spend so as to have the experience with them? Often times I compromise by going and just sitting with them or getting something small.

But one of my absolute favorite things to do is cook with friends. It's inexpensive; not only are you buying from the grocery store and doing the preparations yourself, but it's also typically easier to buy and eat all of the food together rather than each of you trying to buy groceries for a single person. When I was taking spring semester of last year off from school and living in Portland, I would often cook with two of my friends, Erica and Dave. I enjoy cooking and eating a meal with friends at one of our houses much more than going out to eat with friends. That way you have the experience of sharing the work and making something as a group, and you get to spend that extra time with them; I also just think hanging out and talking while cooking is relaxing and fun, and it makes cooking and eating that much more enjoyable. Many of my favorite meals have been with them, and the one below is no exception. We created a huge lunch spread of really delicious and healthy foods. My personal favorite was the dip, which is extremely simple to make. All you do is combine goat cheese and salsa, and it makes a nice creamy dip with the best of both the cheese and salsa flavors. Here's a picture of our lunch spread on that Saturday afternoon:

The goat cheese/salsa dip was in that white bowl in the center (and, as you can see, was quickly diminished). We paired it with those blue corn tortilla chips in the foreground - one of the best simple combinations.