"Ultimate Feast"

I spent my weekend in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. You might be asking yourself why I took an impromptu vacation there of all places but it’s only because my dear friend Jackie happens to have been living there for the past two months. The highlights of the culinary scene in Bartlesville pretty much begin and end with Chili’s so we took to the kitchen to prepare an “ultimate feast” if you will.

For anyone who doesn’t know either me or Jackie, we met on Day One of our freshman year at Fordham University in New York. I remember thinking she may have been a little bit of a goody two-shoes and I think she thought that I was too “cool” for school (ha!) but somehow in no more than a couple months later, we bonded over a subway trip to Target in Brooklyn and we were inseparable for four more years. Our lives were similar to what we do now that I’ve moved to Austin- running errands together, grabbing Starbucks, getting salads at the local deli, taking walks and exercising, and the self-dubbed “ultimate feast.” In college, Jackie and I would schedule in dates on the dry-erase calendar when we both had the night off from papers, classes, or work, etc. Then we would walk to the Associated Supermarket on 58^th and Columbus and head back to our dorm room kitchen and cook a meal for ourselves. Some of my fondest "ultimate feast" memories include popcorn shrimp from the freezer aisle, Velveeta Macaroni and Cheese, and cinnamon-sugar pancakes from my infamous pancake period.

I spent most of this past weekend in Bartlesville laughing at where we’ve ended up six years later. Here we are on a movie set in middle-of-nowhere Oklahoma following Kevin, the new year-and-a-half old addition to our set, around the Tulsa Zoo. But it’s nice to remember where we came from, how far we’ve come, and that some things just don’t change.

Our “ultimate feast” Oklahoma-style:

Salami Crisps with Sour Cream and Basil

Roasted Chicken with Orange, Lemon, and Garlic

Sausage and Peppers

Spinach Polenta

Salad with Pomegranate, Fennel, and Gorgonzola