food, glorious food!

I live alone. Basically. Though I live with three other people, it operates more like that kind of antisocial floor in a dorm building- that is, bathrooms and kitchen are shared, but the bedrooms have heavy thick doors and we for the most part don't do much together. In 8 months living here we've had dinner together twice. I don't mind this- it's a lifestyle I actually enjoy, as I can live my life the way I like and don't need to work my schedule around eating with 3 other busy adults.
And so when I cook, I cook alone. Which makes things tough- without other mouths to feed, I can generally ignore my rumbling stomach or just toast a slice of bread with cheese on it.
But this year I've made the effort to cook a good meal at least once a week. Here are a few of my go-to's:

Aglio e Olio: Pasta, with oil, garlic, chile sauce. Made it tonight.
Garlic/Lemon/Shrimp Pasta: Pretty self explanatory. Delicious and lemony.
Kartoffelgratin: Kind of a potato casserole, that I learned from the great chef Thorsten.
Knoblauchbutter: Also from the Kitchen of Thorsten, it's just garlic butter. But it's homemade and really, really tasty, leaving you sweating out garlic for days.
Schniztel: I can't make it too often, because it's kind of expensive, but it's delicious. And pretty easy.
Baguette: Can't think of a better name, but it's probably the greatest afternoon snack ever. My kids will love it. It's a baguette, cut in two, with butter, garlic, grilled onions, tomatoes, and cheese, baked in the oven for 10 minutes. Yum.

Note a recurring ingredient in (almost) all the above recipes: yes, it's garlic, and it will be the secret to my longevity.

First Referat is already on Monday, so tonight (and the whole weekend) will most likely be devoted to that. April showers are bringing May flowers and it's really pretty and relaxing.