Do you remember going to keg parties in college? You know, like the first week of school when you don't know anyone and everyone is mingling and excited and looking forward to meeting new friends and hooking up?
Well modern day adult mixers and meet ups are NOTHING like that. At least based on my limited experience.
I went to my first (and probably last) Match.com "meet up" last night with a friend. We got a wild hair and decided to give it a try. We even put on eye make up and heels. Off we go nervous and excited about the possibility of meeting people and maybe even getting a little crazy. When we walked in, there were about 100 people, 40's and 50's, standing around the bar. Some were smart like us and brought friends. Others were there alone. I have the disability of "feeling" other people's emotions and thoughts so when I walked into the room I was overwhelmed by the array of emotions pouring out at me from the crowd; anxious, desperate, lonely, hopeful, but mostly discouraged. All of those emotions washed over me like sweat from a sauna.
Our initial plan was to walk up to the bar and order a couple of shots - you know, to set the tone for the evening. One step inside the room and we had both simultaneously changed our minds. "Maybe we'll get a glass of wine..." Granted, I am awkward with strangers. But holy cow this was a room of crazy-awkward people. We were determined to make the most of the evening, though, so we walked the "circuit" and talked to several interesting folks.
First, there was the "couple" who had met through Match.com, as friends, and came together. She was attractive, a bit too thin, and carried a long, slender, electric cigarette around on a black cigarette tip like a character from the Great Gatsby might have done. He was a head-shaven mustache-sporting stocky dude with a pleasant personality and interesting enough story-teller. That is until he broke out the cards and started doing random card and magic tricks to impress the crowd. Ut Oh. Walk away, quickly.
Then there were the guys who had done this circuit, maybe a few too many times. They knew everyone there and nobody was talking to them. Even with this, one of them (in his late 40's) hit on my 20 something year old, very attractive friend. I guess what did he have to lose, right? Good for him. But she wasn't interested and I was clearly too old for him.
The cool guys were there too. We were excited (that's how bad the night was) when they "chose" us to come and talk to. These three police officers, off duty of course, were the hit of the party. Not only were they somewhat attractive but they were funny and one of them was quite charming. I would have hit on him in college, no doubt. But he was more interested in my Match.com profile name so he could find me and "Wink" at me. "But I'm right here, now", I muttered. Strange new dating ritual, this "wink" thing. I hear it's like "liking" someone on Facebook. What has happened to our society that we would rather wink at each other online, exchange several rounds of emails and maybe meet a couple of times before we decide the inevitable; that we are not compatible. It would literally take 10 minutes if we just had a face-to-face conversation. Obviously I'm out of date.
About an hour into the night and right after the "cool guys" talked to us, we decided to end on a high note and go find some food. It was 8:00 pm, we'd each had one drink, and we were starving and completely worn out. After stuffing our faces with Bottom's Up pizza (she had the Chesapeake and I had the Jo Jo) we headed home and to our collective sofas. So much for a crazy night!
Tonight I just wanted some old-fashioned comfort food. But since I'm not eating meat, I had to improvise. My daughter shared this amazing Cherry Tomato Cobbler recipe with me and I can't believe how amazing it is. Nice to know that you can at least Mix It Up with recipes to get some good, old fashioned comfort!
Cherry Tomato Cobbler
I went to my first (and probably last) Match.com "meet up" last night with a friend. We got a wild hair and decided to give it a try. We even put on eye make up and heels. Off we go nervous and excited about the possibility of meeting people and maybe even getting a little crazy. When we walked in, there were about 100 people, 40's and 50's, standing around the bar. Some were smart like us and brought friends. Others were there alone. I have the disability of "feeling" other people's emotions and thoughts so when I walked into the room I was overwhelmed by the array of emotions pouring out at me from the crowd; anxious, desperate, lonely, hopeful, but mostly discouraged. All of those emotions washed over me like sweat from a sauna.
Our initial plan was to walk up to the bar and order a couple of shots - you know, to set the tone for the evening. One step inside the room and we had both simultaneously changed our minds. "Maybe we'll get a glass of wine..." Granted, I am awkward with strangers. But holy cow this was a room of crazy-awkward people. We were determined to make the most of the evening, though, so we walked the "circuit" and talked to several interesting folks.
First, there was the "couple" who had met through Match.com, as friends, and came together. She was attractive, a bit too thin, and carried a long, slender, electric cigarette around on a black cigarette tip like a character from the Great Gatsby might have done. He was a head-shaven mustache-sporting stocky dude with a pleasant personality and interesting enough story-teller. That is until he broke out the cards and started doing random card and magic tricks to impress the crowd. Ut Oh. Walk away, quickly.
Then there were the guys who had done this circuit, maybe a few too many times. They knew everyone there and nobody was talking to them. Even with this, one of them (in his late 40's) hit on my 20 something year old, very attractive friend. I guess what did he have to lose, right? Good for him. But she wasn't interested and I was clearly too old for him.
The cool guys were there too. We were excited (that's how bad the night was) when they "chose" us to come and talk to. These three police officers, off duty of course, were the hit of the party. Not only were they somewhat attractive but they were funny and one of them was quite charming. I would have hit on him in college, no doubt. But he was more interested in my Match.com profile name so he could find me and "Wink" at me. "But I'm right here, now", I muttered. Strange new dating ritual, this "wink" thing. I hear it's like "liking" someone on Facebook. What has happened to our society that we would rather wink at each other online, exchange several rounds of emails and maybe meet a couple of times before we decide the inevitable; that we are not compatible. It would literally take 10 minutes if we just had a face-to-face conversation. Obviously I'm out of date.
About an hour into the night and right after the "cool guys" talked to us, we decided to end on a high note and go find some food. It was 8:00 pm, we'd each had one drink, and we were starving and completely worn out. After stuffing our faces with Bottom's Up pizza (she had the Chesapeake and I had the Jo Jo) we headed home and to our collective sofas. So much for a crazy night!
Tonight I just wanted some old-fashioned comfort food. But since I'm not eating meat, I had to improvise. My daughter shared this amazing Cherry Tomato Cobbler recipe with me and I can't believe how amazing it is. Nice to know that you can at least Mix It Up with recipes to get some good, old fashioned comfort!
Filling:
- 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 large onions, thinly sliced
- 5 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- 2.5-3 pounds cherry tomatoes
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red-pepper flakes
- Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
Biscuit topping:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- Coarse salt
- 1 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
- 1 cup grated Gruyere cheese (2 1/4 ounces), plus 1 tablespoon, for sprinkling
- 1 1/2 cups heavy cream, plus more for brushing
Make the filling: Heat oil in a large high-sided skillet over medium heat. Cook onions, stirring occasionally, until caramelized, about 25 minutes. Add garlic, and cook until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Let cool.
Toss onion mixture, tomatoes, flour, and red-pepper flakes with 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and some pepper.
Preheat oven to 375°F. Make the biscuit topping: Whisk together flour, baking powder, and 1 teaspoon salt in a bowl. Cut in butter with a pastry cutter or rub in with your fingers until small clumps form. Stir in cheese, then add cream, stirring with a fork to combine until dough forms. (Dough will be sticky.)
Transfer tomato mixture to a 2-quart baking dish (2 inches deep). Spoon 7 clumps of biscuit dough (about 1/2 cup each) over top in a circle, leaving center open. Brush dough with cream, and sprinkle with remaining tablespoon cheese. Bake until tomatoes are bubbling in the center and biscuits are golden brown, about 50-60 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack. Let cool for 20 minutes.
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