Dinner Party
Yesterday I organised a dinner party at L2's flat. I was a bit worried that it would be a disaster because I didn't have full control over what was happening and I didn't know if it would all come out well. In fact, quite the opposite happened. L2 was pretty awesome in the kitchen and we worked well together. It took a lot of the stress out of it. I didn't have to do the shopping and all I had to do was cook and I got to have a nice chat with L2 before the guests came. Cooking really is the best therapy.
We ended up cooking pork and apple casserole, because it's autumn now and that's something I associate strongly with autumn, especially when the apple harvest is fresh. I made a salad to go with it. L2 also wanted to make spinach soup according to a recipe his mother gave him. I wasn't so confident about that and when I arrived and heard the first step was to make a roux, I nearly panicked. Roux are hard and can go very lumpy if you're not careful. My mother is scared of making them and helped show me how to make one once, but she tends to be quite afraid of them.
However, L2 wanted to do it and, once I had the casserole and salad prepared, I was more blasé about it going wrong. L2 phoned his mum and she told me how to do it and, thanks to L2's help, my memories of watching my mother do it and a large dose of luck, we made the roux, added milk to it to make the sauce, added a little bit of bouillon and then put some frozen spinach into it. It worked beautifully. I've never made soup using milk before.
The meal itself worked out really well. Everyone said the food was lovely and it had a nice vibe by the end. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, which is what it's all about and we got to hear L2 play some of his songs. They have some great lyrical content, although they can be quite raw, and his voice is really lovely.
A group of us were broadly heading back the same way, so we went together and I ended up alone with B on the underground going north. B started hormones recently and just seemed calmer and more content. Less cynical. It was good to see another trans person coming into their own, and it reminded me of the first time I felt the hormones coursing through me and all the feelings that were there. I finally understood what darwinian_woman meant when she said she was a little jealous of me that I would get to go through the transition process myself. It's also sad, because I remember when they first walk in to TransLondon looking nervous. They grow up so quickly. We had a really awesome chat about hormones and the effects of hormones as we went through the stations.
We ended up cooking pork and apple casserole, because it's autumn now and that's something I associate strongly with autumn, especially when the apple harvest is fresh. I made a salad to go with it. L2 also wanted to make spinach soup according to a recipe his mother gave him. I wasn't so confident about that and when I arrived and heard the first step was to make a roux, I nearly panicked. Roux are hard and can go very lumpy if you're not careful. My mother is scared of making them and helped show me how to make one once, but she tends to be quite afraid of them.
However, L2 wanted to do it and, once I had the casserole and salad prepared, I was more blasé about it going wrong. L2 phoned his mum and she told me how to do it and, thanks to L2's help, my memories of watching my mother do it and a large dose of luck, we made the roux, added milk to it to make the sauce, added a little bit of bouillon and then put some frozen spinach into it. It worked beautifully. I've never made soup using milk before.
The meal itself worked out really well. Everyone said the food was lovely and it had a nice vibe by the end. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, which is what it's all about and we got to hear L2 play some of his songs. They have some great lyrical content, although they can be quite raw, and his voice is really lovely.
A group of us were broadly heading back the same way, so we went together and I ended up alone with B on the underground going north. B started hormones recently and just seemed calmer and more content. Less cynical. It was good to see another trans person coming into their own, and it reminded me of the first time I felt the hormones coursing through me and all the feelings that were there. I finally understood what darwinian_woman meant when she said she was a little jealous of me that I would get to go through the transition process myself. It's also sad, because I remember when they first walk in to TransLondon looking nervous. They grow up so quickly. We had a really awesome chat about hormones and the effects of hormones as we went through the stations.