Mary is stingy (but not always), pt. 3 of a series.

Mary went out on a limb and spent two hundred little abe lincolns on a
bathroom trash can. Kudos to her for having the guts to make an investment.

Now I want to write about frittata.

Here are a Few Fun Frittata Facts:

-It is spelled very weirdly. It took me a lot of misguided google searches to
realize that it has one double t and one single t. I can't think of any other words
that do this. So we know right off that frittatas are special.

-If you make frittata, you will feel classy -- in the same way that jazz-listening,
volvo-driving, environment-saving, and latte-sipping do.

-Our frittata cost $3. I am not making that up.

Another fun fact unrelated to frittata: when you put together a string of words
that all start with the same letter, it's called alliteration. Fun Frittata Facts is a
stellar example of that.

Here is a basic explanation of how to make a frittata:

Sautee some garlic and onion in a skillet, of course. Slice up some potatoes
very thinly and lay them on the bottom of a frying pan. Cover it twice. Turn on
the heat and cook them until you can poke them with a fork but they aren't
super soft.

Put some more vegetables on top, from hard to soft. We added onions, red
peppers, and later on, spinach.

In another bowl, whisk together about 5 eggs and 1/3 a cup of milk. Add salt,
pepper, and maybe garlic powder.

Pour that mixture over the vegetables. Put a lid on the pan and cook it all until
the eggs are cooked.

Sprinkle cheese on top.

Slice it into wedges and eat it hot!

Feel sophisticated and cosmopolitan.

In retrospect, frittata probably won't make you feel that classy. But it's fun to
make and you can do pretty much anything with it.

Mary is stingy, pt. 2 of a series

I was secretly disappointed when Betsy arrived with a shower curtain.

Mary is stingy, pt. 1 of a series.

A few days ago, Mary finished drinking her first gallon of milk, rinsed it out, and suggested we use it as a trash can in the bathroom.

Q. Why don't we have a trash can in the bathroom already?

A. Because Mary refused to shell out $1.00 on a trash can when she first arrived here, and we haven't been to any stores that carry trash cans since then.

Needless to say, our bathroom does not have an empty milk carton in it. I will put my used floss in an old Kroger bag and sleep well, dignity intact.

Miser Tea: Life Before Betsy

I spent two nights in the apartment before Betsy got here, and I was all set to live my own stingy life with two card tables, four folding chairs (think 90s church potluck), one sleeping bag, two mixing bowls, one butter knife, a full set of dishes (borrowed from my mom's friend), three boxes of store-brand pasta, some aluminum foil, a frying pan, and no shower curtain.

I stumbled around town in my little blue Oldsmobile and found a grocery store. I bought some hamburger helper and some ground beef (this would be easy and not too ambitious), some pancake mix (after all, the frying pan couldn't cook my spaghetti), orange juice concentrate, and a pitcher (I thought I was real smart getting a pitcher).

Back at the apartment, I realized I did not have a pot and could not cook my spaghetti. I did not have a saucepan and could not cook my hamburger helper. I did not have a spatula and could not make my pancakes. I was in a pickle.

I had to spite the system somehow without breaking down and spending money. I had two boxes of tea and no kettle. (nb: I didn't spend any money on the tea: one box was gift from my mom and the other a gift from my college roommate.) I filled my frying pan with water, turned on the gas stove, and waited for it to boil. I put my teacup in the kitchen sink and, when the water boiled, I poured it all over the kitchen sink. Fortunately, enough of it landed inside my teacup, so I added my teabag and enjoyed a cup of spiteful tea.

This is a compilation of a couple e-mails I sent to Betsy before she arrived:

I'm at the apartment... some things we could use if you have them:

spatula
pot (for spaghetti)
pan with lid (for ramen noodles and other such things)
ice cube tray
trash bins
shower curtain

I took a shower this morning and we could get along without a shower curtain if we really wanted to because if you turn the showerhead toward the wall, it doesn't spill that much on the floor. We'll be fine as long as we don't let our mothers know. Or we could just buy a shower curtain. I've got a full set of dishes, a frying pan, some towels and dish rags, some dish soap, a pitcher, two card tables, four folding chairs.. I went to the grocery store this evening and was too stingy to spend $1 on a trash bin. They had some pots at the grocery store, but they were all state-of-the-art and $99 so I was like... I will boil water on my frying pan before I spend $99 on a pot. We don't have any hand soap in the bathroom. I've just been coming around to the kitchen and using dish soap.