Letters To Stina

To the Co-co-co-co-co-co Pilot, also known as Co⁶-Pilot,

Once again I have to wonder how things are named. The city I’m living in now has a name that translates directly into “The Port” or “The Harbour”, because it is one. I have no clue how they came up with the name. Really, none.
I moved into my box. Initially it was the most depressing thing I had ever seen, all grey and white and empty. It is a pretty big box, though, especially since I’m only three inches tall. Then I started decorating, and now it’s looking much more like a place where I can actually stay.

Wall 2.0

Hanging out on my new desk

All my friends came along for the party

It’s like a little cave. The only thing that I’m really lacking is an oven, which is a pain in the butt because I’m craving chocolate chip cookies like you wouldn’t believe, and trust me, we’re at the point where I would try to make them without brown sugar. There’s no brown sugar here, just sugar in the raw. If I get desperate enough, I might try to make some out of molasses. I also can’t find oats (like for making oatmeal), green onions, broccoli, or baking powder. Soda, yes, but not powder. I think. Whichever levure chimique isn’t.

I might even have to try making them without an oven. I haven’t seen any little toaster ovens, either, or I would seriously consider buying one no matter what the expense. Every time I go grocery shopping it’s highway robbery, seriously. Most things are the same numerical value as Dollars, except no wait, they’re Euros. Tears. Absolute tears. I went into H&M and the jeans were 40 Euros. That’s 60 dollars for H&M jeans.  I’m starting to hate that little E sign.

The first night I mostly walked around and cooked late.

I bought beer. I don’t love beer, but I did not have to be 21, they did not check my ID, and it was Carlsberg.

 DEN BEDSTE ØL. SKÅL TIL ALLE.

There was something very satisfying about eating on the edge of some water, watching the sun set, and drinking a cold beer. It was hygge.

But what did I eat? Well, I’m two burners short of a stovetop, but that still leaves me with 2, which is sort of enough. Here is the recipe. I didn’t put specific quantities for two reasons. One, I don’t really measure, and two, when you’re cooking for yourself, you really just have to go by what you like and how much you’re going to eat. If you don’t like mushrooms, don’t use them. If you think this would be better with potatoes, go for it. If you only want chicken, don’t make the rice. It’s easy.

Two-Burner Chicken
Ingredients:
Rice or Pasta
Chicken
Butter
Smoked Red Pepper (I used the harissa pepper. if you’re wondering where it is, by the way, it’s in France. I took it.)
Salt
White mushroom

1) Start cooking your starch.
-For pasta, boil a large quantity of water with a little bit of salt and put in the amount of pasta you want to eat. Remember that it expands a when it cooks. Boil for about 8 minutes (test periodically to see if it’s done—it might be more or less, though it usually says on the package), then drain when it’s done because it will keep cooking in the hot water. Pasta mush is gross, by the way.
-For rice, boil 1,5 times the amount of water as rice (meaning if you’re cooking half a cup of rice, boil three-quarters of a cup of water). Once boiling, add rice, reduce heat as low as it goes, put a lid on the pot, and let cook for about 15-20 minutes until done.

2) Start cooking your chicken.
-Heat up your pan. Put in a solid amount of butter—probably a tablespoon, or whatever’s going to keep your chicken from sticking to the pan. Remember that you paid for that, and you’re eating it, so if it’s all stuck to the pan, that’s less for you, and you will be hungry, which kind of negates the point of eating. If you need more butter at any point, use it.
-Cut your chicken into manageable pieces. The bigger they are, the longer they take to cook. Remember to cut them all about the same size so they cook at the same rate. You can use a knife of scissors, it doesn’t matter.
-Put your chicken in the pan. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. You can always add more, but it’s nearly impossible to take away, so don’t go dumping the whole thing of salt in at once. Cook until mostly done, making sure to flip the pieces over at some point. You want them white on all sides, no pink.
-Add the mushrooms (sliced, diced, or generally cut up—but remember to wash them first, because you don’t know where they’ve been) when your chicken is looking like a white person on the first warm day of the year—pasty pale and a little sweaty.
-Keep cooking until the chicken is golden brown and the mushrooms are done. It’s totally fine to cut a piece of chicken to see if it’s done or not. You don’t want it to be pink, but you also don’t want to cook it forever, or it will be tough. Don’t forget about your pasta or whatever you’re cooking either.

3) Combine for magic.
-Put your starch in with the chicken and mix to combine.

4) Eat.

Do you think I should make videos out of the cooking bits? Writing everything out takes a whiiiiiile. Then you would also get to see me turning on the wrong burner and wondering why the food is taking forever to cook like a huge moron.

Best of luck,

Your Superior

Co³-Pilot