Ok…so I’m cheating just slightly with this story. It’s one of my own, a recipe I share with my best friend Molly. Our friendship was built off this dish, and many of my most treasured high school memories are centered around it. This story will take a slightly different form than the previous five yet I hope to maintain a similar point of view.
THE HISTORY…
Molly was not my friend. She had the ability to guess on our weekly current event quizzes and always get it right. She would waltz into our world history class just as the bell rang the day of a huge test, turn around in her seat and face me laughing as she said, “Winging this one! Studied for like 10 minutes last night.” I who had poured over my notes for days, leaving every ounce of energy and tears I had in my text book would just look at her in amazement. When the tests came back, Molly would only miss one or two more questions than I had. No, we were not friends. Acquaintances … sure, but I held a fiery contempt for the confidence she had in her guessing abilities. This was Sophomore year, one where my course load broke my back and I often had trouble lifting my spirits. Somehow fate brought me and that monster of a guesser together, alphabetically she had sat in front of me the whole year, and though I didn’t know her – or like her all that much - we bonded that summer when we found ourselves at the same camp on Salmon lake. We may be different, certainly our study habits show that, but we grew closer through the losses that we had both experienced in our lives. By the spring of Junior year she was my closest friend and she invited me over for dinner and a movie. That is where this recipe was born, from ingredients we threw together with some rice and a hunger for friendship and food.
ON THIS SPECIFIC DAY…
The Baumstark home is nestled on a wee concrete island in the middle of Missoula. It is run efficiently; there is always someone coming or going and everyone is welcome. Today the door is open so I walk right in, as usual without knocking. I find Molly on the computer and we head into the kitchen to get started. We crank up the iHome immediately, a key ingredient to this dish and our friendship. We start dancing and singing while Molly measures out the rice and water. I am just getting warmed up, not quite ready to put all my dance moves out on the floor; so I set the pots and pans out on the stove.
I open up the fridge and start looking for something to cook as Molly switches the song to “Callin’ Baton Rouge”, (we share a secret love for Garth Brooks.) The fact that I am trying to find ingredients is all part of the fun. The only sure thing about this recipe is that it always includes an iPod, chicken and rice. Three staples in the Baumstark home. Our process comes to a slight halt when we can’t find any teriyaki sauce. We could improvise…but how are we to make chicken teriyaki without teriyaki sauce? Molly calls in reinforcements…her dad David, and he encourages us to make the sauce ourselves and over the phone he recites the recipe from memory. David is a magician in the kitchen, he loves to cook and can make a wine glass sing by smoothing his finger over the rim.
Molly is determined to help me with my project and make this cooking adventure a success. She sets out to make the sauce herself. As I wash up the peppers I found in the fridge she is measuring out cooking sherry. Like the bright individual she is Molly tastes the cooking sherry…and almost dies choking on the salty liquid. I laugh loudly, this is why I keep her around. Now, she is determined to show me up in the kitchen…while I chop and sauté the red and orange bell peppers she is experimenting with different bottles of liquid behind me like a chemist. Molly is an athlete, she has a competitive spirit and intense drive. She also is a great friend. She can hold a conversation with anyone and makes even the most awkward situations comfortable. Though not the most experienced cook she is the most positive and pro-active person I know.
Which is why she is doing dishes and mixing the teriyaki sauce at the same time. I take advantage of this time to ask her my journalist questions. As I add garlic to the peppers and let those flavors combine she tells me about her eating habits. She mostly associates food with family, friends and comfort. She has a simple palate, and eats very little vegetables. I ask if she is a meat and potatoes kind of girl. “Ya I am, well actually I am a chicken and rice girl.” Appropriate since that is what we are preparing today. (Over the months that we have been making this dish I have gotten Molly to try bell peppers; I am happy to report that she doesn’t mind them.) Her little sister Gretta comes in and interrupts our interview. I am used to Gretta’s frequent outbursts and need for hugs. We help check her homework then I add chicken to the pan. This is why I love spending time at the Baumstark home. I learn about family when I am here. How to deal with annoying little sisters who like to repeat everything you say, or how to double bounce someone on the trampoline. These are things I didn’t get the chance to learn at my home; I cherish the moments I spend with Molly’s family and the dance parties we have in her kitchen. Molly is working hard on her concoction, adding another dash of this or that until she gets the sauce right. I feel like a proud Mama watching her make the sauce. Our favorite song comes on and we take a quick dance break to shake away the stress of school and senior projects.
The song ends and the sauce is ready to be added to our chicken. I am so excited for this, it smells amazing and the homemade sauce is going to make this dish extra special. The rice is done but we wait for the chicken to fully join forces with Molly’s awesome teriyaki sauce. As we wait I take some notes for this story and Molly loads the dishwasher. We would dance but Gretta has switched the tunes from Shakira to Alvin and the chipmunks. Gotta love a 6 year old. We dish up and head out to the back porch to eat our meal. It is a beautiful sunny day. The dish is amazing as is the time I am spending with my best friend. I tell her this with my mouth full of food, a true sign of our kinship. Our friendship grew stronger around this dish and our kitchen dance parties. They were our way of unwinding as well as bonding together. Though the future is uncertain and the days until graduation are nearing single digits, I still have so much to learn. Yet sitting here with Molly, watching Gretta run around the yard and eating the product of our hard work, I realize I have a couple things figured out. I have a friendship that came to me by surprise yet has lasted and grown stronger, I have memories in this kitchen that will last a lifetime, and I have a quick recipe that can lift my spirits. Yep, it’s been a good year and I can’t wait for what the future holds, both in food and in stories.
Teriyaki Sauce
¼ cup cooking sherry
Just a bit of fresh ginger
¼ cup soy sauce
1 Tbls white vinegar
2 ½ Tbls Brown Sugar
Pinch or two of sesame seeds
1 cup of water mixed with 1 Tbls cornstarch
Mix ingredients well and add to your favorite stir fry dish. Molly and I just use what we have and with this sauce it will all turn out ok. Enjoy with a good friend and over rice!
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