Before I begin, I’d like to officially title this blog, “No Rest for the Hungry: Or, a thank you to my mom’s friends for making sure I don’t starve” by Ellen Gordon.

Anyway, remember a few weeks ago when I blogged about all of my cooking adventures? I neglected to mention one thing: I can’t actually cook.

At least, until last weekend, I couldn’t.

And what happened last weekend? Well, I journeyed to the distant land of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to visit my old Judaica tutor, Tzvia, and her family. After seeing me stumble around the kitchen like a lost puppy, fascinated by the fact that, as a real grown up, she could afford more than one box of cereal, Tzvia quickly realized that I had no idea what I was doing.

Forever my tutor, she sought to remedy this situation. Thus: 48 hours of emergency cooking lessons.

We went through all the cooking basics a college student might need.

We went from scrambled eggs with spinach and mozzarella…

…to guacamole…

…to tuna lasagna…

…to omelettes…

…and finally, minestrone soup!

However, after learning to feed myself, I still had the minor problem of being unable to fill my pantry. Luckily for me, my mom’s friends are constantly worried about my survival.

So, after hearing that, despite my new culinary knowledge, I spent my monthly grocery money on books (whoops…), Rose and Larry (pictured below) took me to Whole Foods to teach me what steel cut oats look like, get produce for me and buy me a box of cereal.

That’s right! I’m now the proud owner of my own cereal box. And while I don’t have five boxes yet, I’m definitely on my way up!