Robs' Blog: incoherencies from an american ex-pat in exotic beijing,
  or: how i learned to stop worrying and love bureaucracy

To say that I am challenged in the kitchen would be both overly polite and a gross understatement. I can count on one hand the number of times I've used the microwave oven in my apartment. I don't think I've ever turned on the gas stove except to light the very rare cigar. My mom is a great cook. My grandmothers were as well. So, it's not that I wasn't exposed to it. Just never stuck.

I mean, I'm not as bad as an unnamed brother who once put a unopened cans of beans on a lit burner, but pretty damn close. (If you have to ask about why this was a bad idea or guess about what happened to said can, you probably don't belong in the kitchen, either.)

I was complaining about my plight a couple weeks back to a co-worker. Who, feeling immense pity for me and knowing the importance of having food cooked at home, made me an offer I just couldn't refuse... she said be glad to check with her ā yí (cook/maid) and see if she'd be willing to come over to my place a couple times a week to cook dinner.

In any event, I now have dinners cooked at my house on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I'm also trying to be home so I can look over the ā yí's shoulder in an attempt to learn something about the culinary arts.

As long as the dishes are unique, I'll be taking photographs and posting them on my blog. Please feel free to leave comments about the dishes. (Of course, white rice is served with each meal.)

番茄炒蛋(fried tomato and eggs)

木须肉(fried cucumber, pork and agaric)