Our first "fancy meal" of the school year! - Roast Chicken with Potatoes and Salad

Friends and I decided to test out our new apartment digs and roast a chicken for the first time! I followed a quick and easy recipe out of Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything. Everyone who notices my cookbook collection upon stepping into my bedroom laughs at the title, as though it's an easy fix for everything the typical college student can't do. But his recipes are simple, adaptable, and great for someone who just needs to hone his cooking skills. I'm roasting a bird.

It sounds super intimidating, and having never done it before, I made sure to allot several hours to be able to prep, cook, and enjoy the meal. Following an easy, simple recipe, and not getting too experimental the first time around definitely helped.

All it took was a whole chicken (yes I gutted it), with some fresh herbs I bought at Star Market (rosemary, thyme), some olive oil, potatoes, and salt and pepper. And *patience*.

I'm going to try to be better in the future about taking photos as I'm prepping and cooking to give you a more step-by-step reveal of what's going on in my kitchen, but as this is a retrograde post, here's what I've got!

TIP:
Here's a good tip that any college kid on a budget (absolutely totally me) can take to heart: if I have a recipe I want to make  for friends, I ask them to either chip in some funds for the purchase or bring something to go with it. In the case of the roast, Greta brought salad with strawberries and goat cheese, and Emily brought a baguette and excellent cheese. So here's a point: you don't have to get and pay for everything by yourself!!! A little in abundance is a lot!