Tuesday night at the cottage was not unlike Monday night at the cottage. I came home from work, and it was raining, delaying my portobello mushroom grilling extravaganza for one more day. I had no other plans, so the night was dedicated to reading, phone calling, and DVD watching.
Since I’m in Netflix limbo, the only DVD on hand was “The Butterfly Technique.” No, that is not the Ashton Kutcher movie, or even a nature channel thing. It’s a video made by the Auburn State University Swim Team about improving the butterfly stroke, which is beautiful if you do it right. But if you do it wrong, it is akin to a drowning cat mostly going nowhere, which is how I do it. I watched the whole thing while eating dinner, and forgot all of it by the time I got to the pool in the morning.
After dinner, I called my mom. I’m so glad that everyone I talk to these days says funny things, because otherwise this will become a blog dedicated to improving stroke technique. (Elbows up!)
Mom told me that yet another girl from my high school class is now engaged. I was about to say something dumb like, “I wish I could be married!” but I caught myself and realized it wasn’t true, because I had just throughly enjoyed a bowl of Ramen Noodles, and I’ve concluded that only single people eat Ramen. It’s like our official meal or something. And while it would be nice to have the constant companionship of a marriage, I would never give up the noodles for a man.
My mom told me that she had never had Ramen Noodles, which seems shocking, but I’m pretty sure I knew that. But she was curious about the 6-packages-for-a-dollar staple.
“So is is just soup for one?”
“Yeah, there are about a million ways to eat Ramen, so they put them in individual serving packets. In fact, one of the biggest problems I had with Birmingham was that he broke up his noodles before cooking them. I don’t think I could live with a person who did that.”
“I also prefer long noodles. The noodles are long, right?”
“Yes! That’s what makes it great! I like to keep them as intact as possible and then slurp them up and little drops of water get on my computer. Tonight I made mine with carrots, an egg, and some leftover kale.”
“I have never in my life had leftover kale. I’m going to have to try this Ramen. How should I make it?”
“Like I said, you can do it however you want, it’s like eating a Reese’s, there’s a million different ways.”
“Wait, you’re telling me there’s different ways to eat Reese’s?”
“Yeah! (Mom never, ever watches commercials) I like to eat all the ridges off first, and then enjoy the center with equal parts chocolate and peanut butter. How do you eat yours?”
“I just chew it until it’s gone.”
Mom and I now have a standing date to eat Ramen noodles. If I get a chance this weekend, it could be the highlight of the holiday.
How do you like your Ramen? And for you married folk, how do you like your Reese’s?
May 21, 2008 at 9:16 am
Wait a minute, wait a minute – no one told me I was supposed to stop eating Ramen when I got married. Was there a memo? I didn’t get the memo!
Regular size Reese’s I eat like your mom – I just chew it. But the mini Reese’s, those I pop in my mouth whole and let them slowly melt. Gross, but delicious.
I would like to hear more about how the Ramen for 2 thing works. There’s hope!
May 21, 2008 at 9:18 am
See, to me, Ramen is so much more than the .10$ a package, it’s also about the “i’m hungry right now and if I have to wait more than 3 minutes for food I might pass out and die” so I make it just as the recipe suggests because anything more will take more time.
Oh yeah, I usually don’t plan my meals, and Ramen becomes disproportionately important.
May 21, 2008 at 9:18 am
You will probably no longer be my friend once you know this, but I do not enjoy Ramen. Then again, you don’t like bananas and I love them, so I am willing to agree to disagree.
As for Reese’s, the best way to eat them is in a giant chocolate peanut butter sundae.
I think I can still be your friend. I don’t quite understand you, but I think we can look past that.
May 21, 2008 at 9:26 am
hahaha
I’m married and still looooooove Ramen. Also like it with the noodles long. It’s weird – I like my spaghetti noodles cut/short, but my ramen (and all other kind of soup) noodles long.
And I eat my Reeses like you – edges off, then go for the yummy peanut-butter-chocolate middle
My theory is not holding water well, is it? I love all my noodles long. (that sounds really dirty.)
May 21, 2008 at 9:42 am
I’m both single *and* in college, so ramen is definitely a requirement. I eat it with the noodles long and the water mostly drained. I only use half of the flavor packet (ALWAYS chicken-flavored) so I at least feel sort of okay about eating my week’s worth of sodium.
I actually didn’t eat Ramen that often in college. And I admit, I always use the whole package, which I know is SO BAD.
May 21, 2008 at 9:49 am
I have never had ramen. My college roommate used to buy a brand called Smack, which led to many drug/Ramen related jokes.
I do not have a method to eating my Reeses. I just take a few bites, and then it is gone.
If I had not been allowed to go shopping by myself, I might have never had Ramen. But alas. I’m curious about this Smack thing.
May 21, 2008 at 9:51 am
I eat my Reese’s like your mom.
Also, my high school friend got engaged last night too.
I don’t eat a lot of Ramen. I usually eat them in this recipe with beef, green onion and soy sauce. It is delicious!
Putting things in the Ramen is the best way.
May 21, 2008 at 9:59 am
I’ve never had Ramen noodles. Even when I was singles.
As for the Reese’s (my favorite candy in the world, BTW), I eat around the edges, then I carefully bite off the top and bottom portions, leaving just peanut butter to eat at the end. Unless I’m in front of a lot of people, then I just take bites so they don’t think I’m a freak.
Yeah, if I am eating the Resse’s in a group, I usually just go for it.
May 21, 2008 at 10:06 am
You’ll hate this, but I do usually break the noodles a bit. Not into a million tiny pieces or anything–I’m not crazy. I drain almost all the water before I add the seasoning, so it’s all noodles and little broth. I usually eat them for breakfast at work, made in the microwave, with some nuts sprinkled on top. When I do make them at home, I like to add broccoli, onions and egg, along with the nuts.
Have you ever made ramen cabbage salad? You chop up cabbage and green onions, dress it with vinegar and oil and the ramen seasoning packet, and then crunch up the uncooked ramen noodles on top (yes…this time crunched into a million tiny pieces.) Good stuff!
I don’t hate that you do it that way. I do find Ramen for breakfast curious, though.
May 21, 2008 at 10:25 am
I didn’t realize you had to be single to eat Ramen; I just thought you needed a valid student ID.
That said, I have to admit I’ve never actually had Ramen, either (I have no idea why). A friend of mine used to like to make it by placing a Kraft Single on the noodle mass, though, so it melted into the noodles as it cooked.
Oh, and I eat my Reeses the same way as you.
Cheese and Ramen seems bad. Although I have attempted Parmesan in Ramen before.
May 21, 2008 at 11:04 am
I can personally attest to the fact that Ramen is the primary food group for the divorced male.
Forced by crazylaws to give up all his money, the diet of the divorced male in the wild consists of three ramen subgroups: The Beef/Chicken group, the Oriental group, and the Vegetable group. Thus, without any money, the divorced male is able to keep his sodium levels healthily elevated while wallowing in his lonely bowl of self-pity.
If you put a chopped carrot in there, you’ll find the meal goes from lonely to magnificent. I promise.
May 21, 2008 at 11:48 am
Ramen noodles is the reason the Japanese have high blood pressure.
I wonder if it explains their weird fetishes as well.
May 21, 2008 at 12:09 pm
mmmm ramen. have you seen <a href=”http://www.powells.com/biblio/62-9780740733260-0
I have seen that book! But I changed your link because this is a no-Amazon zone.
May 21, 2008 at 12:13 pm
What are Ramen noodles? Are they 2 minute noodles? If so, I do still eat them sometimes (happily married for 10 years) and my kids love them!! I like to leave them long, then when they are done, add some frozen baby peas… wait till the peas are hot, then add sweet chilli sauce and slurp them down! Yum! That just made me feel hungry!!!
When my little sister was at uni, she used to drain them then add baby peas, sweet chilli sauce and grated cheese and stir it all together into a yummy, gooey mess!!
Also I am sad to say I have no idea what Reese’s are either (I am in Australia and have never heard of them).
I think I love Australia if your noodles are done in 2/3rds of the time! (They take 3 minutes here…) But not having Reese’s… That is no good.
May 21, 2008 at 1:50 pm
I am also a fan of leaving the noodles whole. They have those nice little waves that allow them to be easily curled around a fork. Yum.
I love the curls! They’re very chopstickable, too.
May 21, 2008 at 2:07 pm
You know, I have to say that the dinner situation is the one thing I don’t love about being married. There’s this pressure to like actually eat dinner, not just shove random food in your face so that you don’t go to bed with a rumbly stomach.
Since I’m all organic and fair trade and whatnot, I eat Newman’s peanut butter cups. The top layer comes off pretty easily in one piece and you can eat the peanut butter out of the middle, then let the rest of the chocolate shell melt in your mouth.
I’ve never tried the Newmans, but I do love their fig Newmans. (Can’t find the wheat-free, dairy-free anymore, sadly.)
May 21, 2008 at 2:08 pm
I haven’t had ramen in a really, really long time. It never occurs to me! Now, strangely, I am craving it…
Oh dear, if you’re not already in the habit, I don’t want to be the thing that broke your streak!
May 21, 2008 at 2:19 pm
I have never had Ramen noodles. It just never came up. And while I cannot get through one day without chocolate in at least one of its manifestations, I’m not big on the Reese’s, either, unless it’s the miniature ones in the bag and I can just have one at a time. A regular Reese’s is just too much of a good thing, at least all at once……kinda too much of the sweet.
Too much of the sweet? There are some things about you I’ll just never get…
May 21, 2008 at 2:40 pm
Here’s one way I eat my Ramen: Break off cracker-sized chunks and use them to scoop up baked beans. It’s like an edible spoon and surprisingly good. Granted it was a discovery based upon having only two available ingredients for dinner, but that’s how great things come to pass.
Also, I don’t get the butterfly stroke, or any other stroke besides the front crawl. Isn’t it kind of like race walking- deliberately choosing a slower way to hold a race, just for variety?
Baked beans being my other favorite desparation snack… And in freestyle, you can actually do any stroke you want, there are a very few people in the world who actually do fly faster than crawl. But yeah, that’s just for variety’s sake.
May 21, 2008 at 2:49 pm
I adore Ramen, but I always (yes, even married people eat ramen!) drain mine so it’s noodles on a plate instead of a soup. And then I mix in the seasoning.
When I was in college, I made my ramen in a small coffee pot. It was awesome: I’d stick the noodles in the pot part, and as the water dripped down, it cooked the noodles. Please note: i never made coffee with this coffee pot. It was for ramen noodle cooking only.
I wonder how the coffee would taste. Rameny.
May 21, 2008 at 3:31 pm
Now I’m craving Reese’s.
I actually opt for a bag of microwave popcorn as my single woman’s meal.
I’m so into the small bags of popcorn they make now. It’s totally perfect.
May 21, 2008 at 5:02 pm
I suddenly have the strongest urge to top my ramen with Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. I’ll let you know how it goes.
I’ll hold you to that.
May 21, 2008 at 7:45 pm
I haven’t indulge in Ramen noodles since 1998, but I think I liked ‘em long(?), fully drained and with only half the seasoning packet. I’m not married… but I do prefer to chomp the shit out of Reese’s PB cups because I just want them in my belly. I’m a big fan.
Would you eat Ramen if you could though? And is there a wheat-free version in the works?
May 21, 2008 at 9:37 pm
making ramen for me is an art. i make the noodles in the microwave then pour out like ALL of the water so it’s just like a bowl of noodles. i then put in half the seasoning packet and stir.
and yes, i’m single.
I respect that way of making it, but I do not understand it.
May 21, 2008 at 10:58 pm
i am single and GASP have never eaten ramen. i know, a sin. for real. sometimes i walk through the grocery store and reach for it and then decide against it. this time i’m going for it.
Good luck! You’ll have to try a couple of times to get it the way you like it…
May 22, 2008 at 6:26 am
when you named that Butterfly Technique movie I thought you were going to talk about some sort of instructional film for budding porn stars, or something…
Yikes!
May 28, 2008 at 11:32 am
I think it’s possible to be married and eat Ramen. Peter has Ramen for lunch almost every day.
As for Reeses – I’m definitely an eat-around-the-edges girl. After that, it depends on my mood.