my hero.

well, sam paid the at&t bill. we are on the same plan, and his phone got disconnected, too. i am paying him back as soon as my paycheck comes in which, as it turns out, was the victim of a date mistake. so i should have my money by the beginning of next week.

so...still broke. still waiting for my paycheck. feeling sick with guilt that sam paid that bill, even though i am going to pay him back, because he is broke right now, too. but god love him, he is postponing leaving me for as long as he can and for that, i am pretty grateful.

refrigerator is pretty much empty, save for several bottles of assorted condiments, a couple sticks of blue bonnet, and a half-full jug of milk. we are going to make a trip to sam's club next week, as soon as my money comes in, so we can make a good grocery trip and split the bill. so while we don't have much to eat around here right now (half a box of frosted flakes, half a box of cream of wheat, a can of cheese ravioli, a couple of packs of chicken ramen), one thing we do have in abundance in this kitchen is rice. jasmine, basmati, medium grain, you name it: we love our rice. we also have a lot of spices; we are also big fans of spices. others might have a cupboard full of spices that languish unused for years (like my mom, for example), but we are not those folks. sam is actually a really talented cook; i spend hours poring over a recipe, hoping that it turns out okay, while he can just hop into the kitchen and whip up something brand new in a few minutes and it will be fabulous. being engaged to a man who is such a prodigy in the kitchen is intimidating and exhilarating at the same time.

anyway, i had anticipated being able to go to sam's club today, or at least to the grocery store, so we could get a little more food in the house. because of the paycheck mishap, that didn't happen. instead, i got creative with some basmati rice. i got two and a half cups of water boiling, and then i added a cup of rice, a couple tablespoons of margarine, about a teaspoon of salt, and about an equal amount of cumin. i let all that cook up, and then when i put it in bowls, i added a couple of tablespoons of worcestershire sauce (one of those assorted bottles of condiments in the refrigerator that i mentioned earlier) to each bowl and stirred it up.

this was pure improvisation, and i'm proud of myself, because it actually turned out pretty great. i'll remember this little dish for later.