“Why did I even offer to do this?” I muttered to myself.

I was in the process of cooking chicken parmesan for my brother, cousin, and roommate – something I had never tried to do before. Truth be told, the most difficult meal I had ever made was a salad, and we all know how easy that really is. All you have to do is put some lettuce in a bowl, cut a couple vegetables, add a little dressing and voilà – it’s a salad.

Anyway, I was frying the chicken exactly like my mom told me. Once I thought the pieces were brown enough, I put them in a glass pan so that I could bake them later. At that point, I was pretty proud of myself, because it looked like I knew what I was doing.

Boy, was I wrong.

When dinnertime finally arrived, I put the chicken in the oven so that it could finish cooking. While that was going on, I boiled water for noodles and heated sauce in a pot, and my roommate made garlic bread. Everything was going smoothly, so it seemed as though my first attempt at preparing food would be successful.

After 30 minutes went by, I took the chicken out of the oven to make sure it was done. Using a knife, I cut into one of the pieces.

Would you like to know what I saw?

It was still raw inside; apparently, I hadn’t fried them long enough.

Not knowing what to do, I started to panic. My brother and cousin were supposed to show up at any minute, and the chicken wasn’t even close to being ready. Thankfully, my roommate came to the rescue and suggested that we just turn the oven up 100 degrees.

Eventually, the chicken was cooked through, the sauce was hot and the noodles were boiled. Sure, the garlic bread was slightly burnt, because my roommate and I accidentally forgot about it, but it was definitely still edible.

Remember when I asked myself why I was making dinner? Well, once the four of us were sitting around the dinner table, my question was answered – it was the camaraderie of it all.

So, why does any of this matter to you? Well, I think that everyone should take the opportunity to get together with friends or family and bond over some good food. You’ll be making memories that will stay with you forever.

I mean, seeing as how I almost served everyone raw chicken, I don’t think I will be forgetting that night any time soon.