Dinner 6

Critical Chef
When I cook, I am my hardest critic. I should have added more pepper or less salt. Something is always missing. I doubt that things will turn out right. And this craigslist experiment has made me the same way with men. I don't have high expectations because people don't respond to my invites or they just stand me up.
This simple, fresh cucumber-avocado bisque recipe and other cold soups can be found here.

But sometimes men surprise me, just like unusual recipes. I met Week 6's Dinner Guest differently than the rest. We saw each other at the Valentine's Day pillow fight downtown and he missed-connected me on craigslist. We hung out one time before this dinner and things went well, so I invited him.

Sous-Chef
Although my dinner guest was late, he made up for it. He immediately started to help me cook, fitting into the kitchen and my rhythm perfectly. He diced onions and garlic, while I browned the turkey. He added the other vegetables, while I prepared the sweet potatoes. And we joked and debated the whole time about what ingredients to throw on the skillet first. He wasn't just my assistant, but a co-chef.

My friend told me about this Sweet Potato Shepherd's Pie at Gluten-Free Goddess.

During dinner my guest told me about his life back home in Kuwait. It's common there to have a cook, so he didn't learn to cook until he came to the states for school four years ago. The first time he tried to cook some canned tuna, he let the oil get too hot. When he added the tuna, it exploded into flame and he just waited for it stop. Then he ate the food anyway. He did claim that his mom was the best cook ever and I told him that every son says that about his mom. He swore that his friends agreed though.

He also told me that he had killed sheep and camels for meals. He once tried to cut off the horns of a sheep, which are really tough, but he accidentally cracked the skull so that they couldn't eat the head (which he said is really delicious). He said that camels were the hardest to kill because you had to stab them directly in the heart, otherwise they would thrash around and kill you. Camels have really good memories and if you are mean to them, they will remember you even after many years. The next time they see you, they will jump on you and crush you. Lesson: be nice to camels even if they spit.
This shockingly yummy, but unfortunately fatty flan can be found here.

I asked him about Kuwaiti literature and he said that there wasn't too much, but that Kuwait is one of the most informed countries in the world. Everyone reads the newspaper and once a week they all gather together and talk about the recent news stories and update those that didn't hear about something. They play music at these gatherings and he showed me some of his favorite traditional songs on youtube. He even pointed out some of the male musician's boyfriends in the video clips. Although my guest is closeted to his Arab friends, certain forms of homosexuality occur in his culture. Young boys experiment with each other and a man is still considered 'straight' if he tops. It's complicated, but what about sexuality isn't?

Dishwasher
Dishwashers may not be the best paid people on the planet, but I felt rich and full because after dessert, my guest and I washed everything side by side. His ideas about sex might be complicated, but this action was simple. It was like we had been doing weekly dinner's for many years. Maybe we skipped a few steps because he will go back home in a month. But maybe we're just a recipe that's quick and easy to make, and tasty too. Or maybe I found a stomach-heart.