I admit the Cheesy Bubble & Squeak did not turn out great. And even then, Melinda ate a whole patty of the stuff and said they weren't bad. (She really wouldn't lie about something like this, because we were both in a mood to happily point out each other's faults.)

Still the experience was lousy, and it's my fault. Even as I wrote that thing last night, I started quibbling at the end, trying to explain my feelings, noticing that I sounded too desperate, so I deleted that part. The thing I would probably notice if someone else had written it, is that even after denying that I would feel any pressure to impress Melinda, the whole point was still that I was trying to impress Melinda.

My first mistake was asking Melinda to make 3 cups of instant mashed potatoes to help me with the recipe. Not a strenuous or tiring task, and she buys potato flakes and makes it for herself occasionally. (It must be either her or mice using it up, cuz I never touch the stuff.) So I go upstairs for a minute and she calls up that there's an insurmountable obstacle. No, she didn't use the words "insurmountable obstacle." The directions on the potato flakes don't say how to make a certain number of cups. It only shows "servings."

I read the Nutritional Information to translate the serving size into number of cups. We're already arguing, because she could have figured it out if she thought about it. Then we're arguing about which bowl or pan to cook it in.

You'd think after writing, "See, no pressure for her to eat it, no feelings of inadequacy for me if she doesn't like it, just an added bonus if she likes it too," that I wouldn't need to argue over how to prepare instant mashed potatoes or that a potato patty falling apart in the frying pan wouldn't make me feel like putting my fist through the door of the microwave. (I didn't do it. Managed to not punch anything last night.) You'd think we would have gone through this often enough that I would have learned my lesson, but not quite. Last night her reaction to the goofy recipe name got my hopes up, or I just got my own hopes up, and simple complications brought me crashing down.

...Tonight: Swanson's!