It’s Friday night, and I found myself with some free time, which is a lovely thing to find yourself in possession of.

I bought a bunch of groceries today, but most of them are earmarked for things other than dinner tonight.  That left me wondering what in the world would make its way to my stomach between now and tomorrow morning.

PBJ, of course!  PBJ and PBR, actually.  I remembered my favorite orange marmalade in the fridge, and the plan was all set.  I picked up said marmalade and innocently took a peak at the expiration date, which read “blah blah blah 2009.”  Oops.  I then looked at the expiration dates throughout the fridge.  It wasn’t pretty.

A few minutes later, clean fridge and I started the process of finding the perfect dinner one more time.  This time, cheese toast was the answer (feta and a few sprinkles of leftover cheddar).  The tastiness was a small piece of the bigger picture, because I busted out the small roasting pan my mom gave me when I moved into my own place.  It’s the same roasting pan that her mother-in-law gave her when she was learning to cook.

There’s something about using the same cooking tools that my mom and my grandmother have both used that’s just wonderful.  It turns leftover cheese toast into something special and fun, and it makes me feel like even when I’m not making the most gourmet food, I’ll learn someday.  Both of the women who used that dish are great cooks now, and I’ve heard all of the stories about how their cooking started out.

So now, cheese toast in my stomach, I’m going to make some coconut cake icing and whipped cream.