Food Porn Sandwiches and a Maybe Stalker

The irony of this is that I intended to write about this BEFORE I realized that it seemed to be a theme to mention porn in your blog today. I blame everybody else. But this is too good to keep to myself.

Last night I decided to try a new recipe for dinner. Something called "Croque Monsieur." It's apparently a popular ham and cheese sandwich that they go nuts for in France. I can't blame them.

Padawan and I dubbed it "Food Porn" after I pulled it out of the oven last night. And as good as it looked, it tasted even better.

Don't believe me?

Just sit there and tell me that doesn't look freaking fantastic.

And because I'm so nice, I'm going to share the recipe.

14 oz Gruyere cheese

4 tbsp butter, pluse softened butter for spreading

2 tbsp all-purpose flour

2/3 cup whole milk

2 tsp Dijon Mustard

8 thin slices of ham

8 slices of white bread

Before I get to the instructions, let me just say that I used substitutes. I looked for Gruyere cheese, and I found a block of ten ounces for sixteen dollars. WHAT? That's a lot of money for cheese! And not even enough! So I used Baby Gouda instead. It's very tasty, melts nicely, and is WAY more affordable. And second, Padawan and I do not drink whole milk. We use 1%, and I wasn't about to go buy a whole gallon or even a half gallon of milk that we wouldn't drink just so I could use 2/3 of a cup of it. So 1% went into the making of these sandwiches, and it worked just as well. Also, Padawan and I used Ciabatta slices instead of regular white bread. It toasts better.

1) Cut 4oz of the cheese into thin slices and shred the rest.

2) Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over low heat. Whisk in the flour and let bubble without browning for 1 minute. Whisk in the milk. Simmer, whisking often, until smooth and thick. Add the shredded cheese and mustard and stir until the cheese is melted.

3) Position a broiler rack 6 inches (15 cm) from the heat and preheat the broiler. Toast the bread slices on 1 side only. Spread the untoasted sides lightly with butter, then top 4 slices with the ham and sliced cheese. Press the remaining 4 bread slices on top, toasted sides up, and spread with the cheese mixture.

4) Broil about 2 minutes until the sauce is bubbling and golden brown. Serve at once.

The smell was divine. (Yes, the broiler STILL sets off the smoke alarm when I'm heating it up. I scrubbed that thing TWICE even though there was nothing spilled in there and it STILL goes off. Padawan is calling the Office today.) The taste? Well...I'm pretty sure it's the closest to Heaven you can get with a simple sandwich. And ONE of these was enough to fill both of us up. In fact, I didn't even finish mine.

Not even room for dessert.

That's how awesome it was.

Food Porn aside, though, I've got problems on my hands right now, and I haven't the faintest idea how to deal with them.

An old friend recently came back into my life. He graduated a couple of years before me, joined the army, and dropped off the face of the planet. He came into the store one day, recognized me, and since we'd been such good friends in the old days I didn't see any harm in giving him my number to reconnect. 

Except...I think he's no longer interested in me as a friend. I think he's above and beyond friendship. The man wants to move to my side of Austin to be closer to me. In fact, he just went and took a tour of the apartment complex Padawan and I live in. He even suggested moving into our exact building.

He showed up where I work today. He just showed up.  To talk. He wanted me to take a break so I could go look at apartments with him.

Huh? 

That's a big jump from, "Oh my god, I haven't seen you in years!" to "Oh, hey, I want to live close to you and I want you to help me find a place to live!!!" And frankly, I don't even do anything that personal with my sisters. That's something they do with their boyfriends. I've NEVER asked a friend to help me pick an apartment, let alone go look at one with them.

It's just weird.

Especially considering that when we ran into each other for the first time in ages he told me about his great apartment in South Austin and how he loves his neighborhood and his roommates....And suddenly it's a bad neighborhood full of drug gangs and he hates his noisy roommates and he wants to move to my apartment complex.

Of all the complexes in North Austin, of all the ones located near the commuters' train station...he wants our apartment complex. An apartment complex so new there aren't even any reviews available online! And one that is out of the way, hidden, and nobody has ever heard of...

I'm sorry. I'm just a little weirded out.

He knows where I work. He knows where I live (round abouts.) And after he left when he just showed up today, he sent me a text message. And when I didn't answer his message, he freaking called me. 

When we first talked to catch up I told him all about Padawan and Choo Choo and our life together as a little modern day family. I told him about how much I love Padawan, about how happy we are together, about how we're planning a vacation in the next month or so to get away and relax together. I told him about how we just bought a new car together, how we're getting pretty serious. And every time we talk I have to mention Padawan. I even showed him a picture of me and Padawan together! This was before I was worried, of course, but I find myself worrying AFTER all of that and that's just weird. Shouldn't he take a hint?

Am I overreacting here? I'm honestly thinking of changing my phone number. But then...he could always just show up to where I work. I can't leave my job. I love it and where else am I going to find a job with this much freedom? Nowhere.

So...how do I handle this? 

P.S. This is the closest to a stalker I've ever had, and I would not like to ever have this happen to me again. 

P.P.S. I don't want to deal with this now, either.

P.P.P.S. My stomach hurts.