Life update

As a general update on recent events, I think we are going to book the people from the kirtan festival to play at an arts organization where I volunteer on the performance committee.  How exciting!

I have also decided to go ahead and try out the first course for the web design program next month -- fortunately for me, I figured out a way so I could try out the first class with basically no risk involved.  I plan to take some vacation time at work, stay with my sister (who lives close to the college) for 2 weeks, and take the class to see if I like it.  This way, I can try it out without risking my paying job.  If I like it, I can start making bigger decisions, and if I don't like it, then I can just drop the whole thing and try something else.  Somehow I feel like I should have a better idea of what I want to do by now (at the whopping age of 27), but I just don't.  Does anyone else feel this confused at my age??  How does one figure out what to do with oneself?

Strawberries and Milk

I made a simple dessert tonight -- sliced strawberries, slightly smooshed with a little sugar, then topped with milk (about the same ratio as you would have for a bowl of cereal).  Fresh and delicious.

Feeling French... Healthy Quiche

I was feeling very French on Sunday -- went out for brunch at a crepe restaurant (smoked salmon with creme fresh and chives -- delicious!), spent the entire day shopping for dainty lady clothes, and then made quiche for dinner.  I'm also going to see Les Miserables next week  :-)

I call this quiche "healthy" because I use 2% milk instead of the usual heavy cream.  It also contains vegetables, and uses a butter-free crust that only has 2 tbsp. oil in the entire crust -- in the world of quiche, I think this is pretty good, and it tastes just as luxurious.

Mushroom and Onion Quiche

4 eggs, beaten

2 c. milk

1/2 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. nutmeg

dash of cayenne

1 c. shredded swiss cheese

6-8 mushrooms, sliced

1 onion, sliced thin

1/2 tsp. fresh thyme

olive oil

1/2 recipe, butterless pie crust

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F, and par-bake the pie crust (arrange pie crust in greased pie pan, and pierce crust thoroughly with fork before baking).  Bake crust until partly cooked, but not brown.

Saute onions, mushrooms, and thyme in olive oil until soft.  Add salt,  pepper, and nutmeg to taste.

Mix together first 5 ingredients in a bowl.  Sprinkle cheese in bottom of par-baked crust (this prevents the crust from getting soggy).  Layer the cooked mushrooms and onions on top of cheese, then slowly pour in egg mixture.  Bake at 425 degrees F for 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 degrees F and cook 30 minutes longer.  When done, eggs will have puffed up slightly, and knife inserted in center will come out clean.

Other possible flavors besides mushroom and onion would be steamed broccoli, crispy bacon, spinach, arugula, roasted red peppers, goat cheese, chives, cheddar... there are a lot of options, and all of them are good, so definitely experiment to see what you like -- just make sure all ingredients are cooked before being added to the quiche.  I love quiche, especially alongside a crisp green salad with a tart, mustardy vinaigrette.

Mini Reunion

Last month was my 5-year college reunion.  I didn't go.  I don't have any major regrets about it, but there are 4 or 5 people I would have liked to see.. Anyway, one of them came to visit this weekend, so that was a lot of fun.  We hadn't seen each other since college, so I wondered if we would still have anything to talk about, but we did, of course.  It was a good weekend.  The weather was perfect, and everywhere we went, we stumbled upon cool and fun artsy things to do. 

On Friday, we went to a funky bar called Kelly's -- they make old-fashioned cocktails and play music like Johnny Cash.  I love that place.  We ran into two other people from our old alma mater (which is actually quite rare considering that my undergrad college has less than 1500 students total and is in another state), and ended up having drinks until 2am.  

---------

Saturday, we explored the exhibits at all the downtown art galleries, walked around the riverside park, saw a show called "Swing!", then hung out in a loungey bar with live music.

The galleries were great -- normally when I go, they are so packed you can't actually appreciate the art much, but we had them completely to ourselves, which was pretty cool.  My favorite was one where you could put on headphones and listen to a selection of music with which to enjoy the art.  Really neat.  Then, since it was such a nice day, we walked across to the other side of the river and looked at the view of the city for a while.

"Swing!" is one of those musical productions that doesn't have a plot -- they just go from scene to scene and throw in some one-liners here and there.  Had I actually read the description for the show, I probably would not have gone -- it's just really not my kind of show, but I had an offer for free tickets, and my friend thought it sounded good, so we went and I didn't even bother to look into it any further.  The main flaw of the show was that most of the numbers had no heart -- the dancers looked as though they were just going through the motions, and ended up just lo

oking like a bunch of robots throwing their arms and legs out every once in a while.  The second flaw -- the costumes were all wrong.  In a swing show, you'd think they would have a lot of fun with the costumes, but they were not right for the time period at all.  The dancers looked like they were in some 1980's show and doing swing moves.  And even worse, at one point they had a woman do this "sexy" dance coming out from behind the bass player (there was a live band on stage), and she came out wearing a brown skin-tight velvet body-suit with f-holes painted on the front.  Why would they pick such a hideous outfit for an otherwise half-interesting number?  Flaw number three -- one of the main singers was singing songs that were way too high for her vocal range.  They did a much better job in the second half of the show where she sang songs that were lower in her range -- sounded much better.  The band was pretty good when inspired, but in general the whole show just seemed a little too rehearsed.  I like to see a show where there is still artistry in it -- this means that every show is a little different because the artists are actually thinking while they perform, not just going through the motions.  This is not to blame the artists -- as a musician myself, I know that it can be very boring to play the same pieces over and over again, but if you're that bored, perhaps it is time to move on to something new.  There were a few moments where people broke out of their routine, and you could tell, but these moments were rare.  Too bad.

The musicians in the bar afterward were very entertaining -- you could tell they were having a good time joking around as they played.  They were taking requests from the crowd and my friend was an instant hit.

-----------

On Sunday, without even having a plan, we ended up having an Indian cultural day.  We decided to go to the natural history museum, and since there is a good Indian restaurant over that way, we stopped for lunch there first.  After lunch, we headed for the museum and checked out the dinosaurs (side note, I frightened myself by actually busting out some knowledge from a museum visit out at the La Brea tar pits when I was twelve years old -- I had no idea that so much of that had stuck with me, but given the right surroundings, it came right out!).

After the museum, I gave the rest of the tour of the neighborhood, including my grad school campus, and a hike on my favorite trail in the park.  In the park, we stumbled across an Indian-themed festival -- they were doing henna tattoos, yoga, playing Indian music, and eating Indian food.  We walked around for a bit and realized that they were going to show "Slumdog Millionaire" that night (they do free movies in the park during the summer), so we decided to go get dinner, grab a blanket to sit on, and come back for the movie.  On the way back to our cars, we came across another Indian music concert -- it was a kirtan festival, but completely unconnected with the other Indian festival going on just 2 blocks away.. crazy coincidence -- I figured it must be some kind of special holiday to have all these Indian celebrations going on, but they assured me that it was just coincidence and it was not a holiday.

I really enjoyed the kirtan festival -- I had never really attended anything like it before, but it was a very communal experience.  The musicians play on and on for a long time, chanting.  It has sort of a call and response format, and the audience was singing back to the musicians.  After a while, people started dancing too -- and they were all wearing beautiful colorful saris and other Indian-inspired styles.  I have always thought the fabrics used for this type of fashion were beautiful -- so many bright and colorful patterns, vibrant, metallic, floral, geometric.. I just love it.  We ended up staying and listening to the kirtan music for about 2 hours, until they were done.  I really enjoyed it.  They also served some kind of little dessert cookie bars that were very tasty -- I think it was made of coconut and anise, but I'm not sure what else.  Perhaps I will do a little research

After the kirtan festival, we went back and watched "Slumdog Millionaire" on the hillside in the park, completing our weekend and our day of Indian culture.  The thing about this weekend is that all of the things we did are things I would normally end up doing by myself since I don't have many close friends in town any more.  It made them so much better to enjoy them with an old friend.  

Rainbow Trout

As a general update, I just found out this week that I have been accepted into a web design program where I can get a degree in one year!  I think I'm going to do it.  Then perhaps I can have a little more career freedom.  Ahh.. it feels good already.  I even may be able to continue with my paying job while I do so -- which, no, I don't really like my job at present, but I do like getting paid, so this will help for a little while.

Also, I have an old friend coming to visit this weekend -- he is arriving tonight.  I haven't seen him in about 5 years, so it should be fun.  We are going to see a show called "Swing!" tomorrow night -- I'll let you know if it's any good.

I did not do much cooking this week because I was so stressed about making a decision (to quit or not to quit), and was living off of my chicken and beans and rice leftovers, but I did make a very tasty rainbow trout for dinner one night..  I used a whole trout, and it was pretty easy.

Broiled Whole Rainbow Trout

Ingredients:

1 whole rainbow trout, cleaned

1 large sprig fresh rosemary

1/2 lemon, sliced in rounds

salt and pepper to taste

olive oil

Instructions:

Set oven to broil.  Season inside of fish with salt and pepper.  Place lemon slices and rosemary sprig in cavity of the fish, and fold fish closed (you may need more lemon slices and rosemary sprigs if your fish is large -- rainbow trout can vary in size quite a bit).  Brush outside of fish with olive oil.  Lay fish on a broiler pan and place in hot oven.  After a few minutes, the skin on the outside of the fish will start to look slightly burned.  Turn fish over and let it cook a few minutes on the other side.  It will take less than 20 minutes total to cook, depending on the size of the fish, so keep a close eye on your fish.  When it is cooked on both sides, you can check it for doneness.  The skin on the outside will be slightly burnt and splitting, but the meat inside will be moist and flavored with the lemon and rosemary.  Serve with mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli.  It takes very little time to prepare, and is quite good.  It could also possibly work well on the grill.

My "Mexican" Food

I've been thinking about mexican food for days, so I finally decided to make some for dinner.  No, these recipes are not the "real thing", but they were delicious -- I guess it would be more accurate to call them "latin-inspired" dishes rather than claiming a nationality.  I wanted to try using dried black beans since they are cheaper than canned, and I've heard they are actually better when prepared this way.  These, like most of my recipes, are completely adjustable to your tastes -- I like to experiment in the kitchen, so I hope you will too.  Let me know about your variations!  Both of these would probably be good with lime juice instead of vinegar, but I didn't have a lime, so vinegar was good.  The chicken actually tasted like something I've had in a Peruvian restaurant.  Yum!  This is also a great excuse to use lots of cumin which has been my absolute favorite spice ever since I was about 12 years old.

Black Beans and Rice

1/2 lb. dried black beans

plenty of water for soaking, then about 4 cups for cooking (depending on desired level of soupiness)

1 large onion, chopped

1/2 bell pepper, chopped

2-3 cloves garlic, chopped

1/2 can diced green chilies

1 small bunch fresh cilantro, chopped

green onion(s), chopped (optional)

herbs and spices to taste: chili powder, cumin, cayenne, paprika, dried oregano, salt and pepper

1-2 tbsp. red wine vinegar

Soak dry beans in cold water overnight.  I drained the beans and added fresh water in the morning and let them keep soaking while I was at work today.  Drain and rinse soaked beans.

Saute onions, bell pepper, and garlic in 1 tbsp. olive oil.  Add your herbs and spices of choice -- heating them in the warm oil helps to activate the flavors.  When onion and peppers have softened slightly, mix together with beans and 4 c. water in a saucepan, and bring to boil.  Add green onions, green chilies, cilantro, and vinegar.  Allow to simmer until beans are soft.  Taste during cooking to adjust seasoning as needed.  Serve on top of steamed brown rice.  This can be served as a vegan main dish, or as a side dish to other things.. like spicy chicken :-)

Latin-Inspired Roast Chicken

3 chicken quarters or other pieces

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tbsp. olive oil

1 tsp. red wine vinegar

1 tsp. taco sauce or salsa (a little tomato paste could have worked too)

herbs and spices to taste: salt and pepper, paprika, chili powder, cumin, dried oregano, cayenne (I did equal parts paprika, cumin and chili powder, dash of cayenne, 1/4 part oregano, 1/2 part salt, and a few grinds of fresh black pepper)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  In a small bowl or mug, mix together oil, vinegar, garlic, and seasonings to taste -- it should be a thinnish paste.  Brush oil and spice mixture on both size of each piece of chicken, and bake for about 1 hour, or until done (for poultry, internal temp. should be 180 degrees F when done).

Omelette with Mushrooms, Swiss, and Thyme

For breakfast this morning, I made myself a great omelette, accompanied by homemade whole wheat toast, and pink grapefruit juice.  It was delicious, and made all the better because it was a beautiful morning out and I ate out on my deck and listened to the birds.  

Many of my single friends who do not cook say it is because they feel silly doing "all that work" for just one person.  I think that is a little sad.  Single people, why should we not have anything good to eat simply because we are single?  How unfair is that?  The way I see it: We still have to eat; therefore, we might as well make something good.  Why reserve this pleasure for the coupled people?  Live for to today and make something good to eat! (ha, yes, I know this last statement sounds ridiculous, but seriously, we might as well enjoy our food.)  

So, this is how I prepared my omelette -- the addition of white wine brings it to a whole new level.

Omelette with Mushrooms, Swiss, and Thyme

Eggs:

2 eggs, beaten

splash of milk (about 1-2 tbsp.?)

salt and pepper

nutmeg and cayenne to taste

Filling:

5-6 mushrooms, chopped (add more depending on size. keep in mind, they will shrink)

fresh thyme to taste, chopped (I used about 1 tsp.)

1-2 tbsp. olive oil

splash of white wine

2-3 tbsp. grated swiss cheese (or just finely chop a few slices of cheese if you don't feel like grating)

Warm up skillet to medium high with the olive oil. Add the chopped mushrooms and thyme, and saute. Add salt and pepper to taste, a touch of nutmeg, and continue sauteing until mushrooms are almost cooked. Then add wine, and allow the liquid to cook off. It will start to smell really good.

Remove mushrooms from pan. Add a little more oil if needed, and pour in egg mixture while pan is still hot. You may look at the addition of nutmeg as weird, but it is actually delicious -- just use a small dash (less than 1/8 tsp.) and it really brings out all the flavors.  i first saw this idea in a quiche recipe, and now I never make eggs without nutmeg.  As egg cooks, pull  the sides of the egg into the middle of the pan gently, one side at a time. This will allow the raw egg mixture to flow to the edges of the pan and cook.  Rotate the pan so the eggs spread and cook evenly. Once the edges are done (they will be dry), you can begin slowly adding the sautéed cooked mushrooms and swiss cheese.  Add them to one side of the omelette only.

Fold the opposite side of the egg mixture over the filling and lay it flat. It should look like a half moon. When done, lift the omelette from the pan and lay it flat on a plate.  

This technique can be used for all different fillings if you feel like experimenting with omelettes, but mushrooms are definitely one of my favorite fillings.  It only takes a few minutes to make an omelette, but it always seems a little luxurious.  Alternately, if this sounds tricky, you can just make scrambled eggs and mix in the cheese and mushrooms as you go.

Serve your omelette with buttered toast, fruit juice, fresh fruit, and/or a nice crisp salad for a delicious brunch.

Getting Starchy

Okay, so in my previous post with the recipe for fat-free vegan bread, I mentioned that I would like to try the recipe with whole wheat flour.  Reporting back: this was a good idea.   I switched out 2 cups of white flour for 2 cups of whole wheat, and it turned out quite nice.  It would also be good with a variety of seeds, nuts, and dried fruits added.  I think I will try this next time.  In the meantime, I have two loaves of delicious fresh bread.  The texture is smooth and works well with sandwiches or just for eating with butter.

I also wanted to give out my recipe for cornbread since it is truly one of my "signature dishes".  Seriously, if you're single and in your twenties, and your friends regularly request your cornbread at dinner parties, you know you're doing something right, but I relate this back to my childhood -- yes, in the south, we probably had fresh cornbread at least once a week.  Here is my recipe:

Cornbread

1 c. flour

3/4 c. cornmeal, preferably stone ground

1/3 c. sugar

3 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 egg, beaten

2 tbsp. oil

1 c. milk

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.  Put 1 tbsp. oil into a medium cast iron pan (yes, it makes a difference), and put pan into oven to get hot.  Meanwhile, mix together dry ingredients in a bowl.  Once oven has finished heating, add milk, egg, and remaining 1 tbsp. oil to dry mixture, and mix together.  The baking powder will begin to react as soon as liquid touches it, so just do a quick mix to make sure everything is incorporated, and act quickly.  Pull hot iron skillet out of oven.  Carefully make sure all sides of the pan have been coated with hot oil.  Pour batter into pan (it should sizzle -- this is how you get a good crust), and bake in oven for 20-30 minutes until lightly brown on top.

I still make cornbread all the time, and actually just wrote down the recipe from memory.  It is a great accompaniment to just about anything, and the leftovers are also good for breakfast the next day.  I like it with honey on top.

Sometimes I vary the recipe by adding a little cayenne and/or corn kernels to the batter.  Feel free to experiment with the flavors you like.

Decisions and BBQ Chicken

So, I need to catch up on my culture posts... This past weekend, I attended a jazz concert, a community artists' event, and puppeteered at the zoo.  I also heard some jazz during lunch today -- much better than Friday night's concert, I think.

I just finished a book that my sister had recommended -- it is called "Bitter is the new black".  Not my usual selection from old classics at the library, but she kept bugging me to read it, so I did.  At first I did not like it -- I found the central character to be loud, self-important, and obnoxious; however, I continued reading, and she grew on me.  The book is basically about looking for a job in a recession, so I could totally relate.  It was written after the .com bust, and she gets laid off and can't find a new job.  Unlike her, I do not know what I want to do for certain, but I do know that I need a new job.

The more I think about it lately, I really do like me lifestyle right now -- I finally feel like I've worked my way into a variety of social networks, and I've become involved with a lot of different extracurricular activities.  The only thing that I can't stand is my job.  So, I've looked around at other things available in town, but there just isn't anything that sounds interesting to me.  I just don't know what to do.

Now, as I mentioned once before, one option I've always thought about has been additional education.  I've done a little research, and there is a web design program that I could start as early as next month if I so choose, but I'm just not sure if it is the right decision.  It is in another state, so that would mean moving.  And, what if I still can't find a good job then?  What if I find out I don't like it?  Is it worth uprooting myself to find out?  What would I do if I didn't go to school?  What other options do I have to maintain a steady income and get out of my current toxic job setting?  Ugh.  Very difficult decisions ahead, and I must make a decision soon so I can give appropriate notice at work if I am going to move.. Hmm..

In the meantime, I have mastered bbq chicken on the grill.  This is what I did:

Grilled BBQ Chicken

1- Light coals using a chimney starter -- allow coals to get hot and turn white, then dump into grill

2- Place oiled grill grate over top of hot coals, and allow to heat up for about 5 minutes

3- Salt and pepper chicken pieces (I used thighs) -- place skin side up onto the hot grill.  They should sizzle.

4- Cook about 10-15 minutes, then flip.  Cook another 10-15 minutes.  Test meat with a meat thermometer -- chicken should be 180 degrees F when done.

5- Brush with bbq sauce and allow to cook a little longer on both sides.

6- Eat.

Crappy Day at Work... Again..

I had dinner with Guy #3 last night just as friends – he was super nice (as expected), even though I was actually quite late (my own stupid fault!).  Yay for making new friends.  It was not awkward at all – somebody once told me that things won’t be awkward if you don’t make them awkward, so maybe it worked.  Hurray for *something* going well! What isn’t going well?  My job.  In short, it is killing me slowly and painfully, and I must find a way out pronto. When I first started my job 2 years ago, I thought I had hit the jackpot.  I was allowed to be creative, take on huge amounts of responsibility, and was promoted.  All my friends hated me because I gushed so much about how I loved my job.  Unfortunately, that was pretty short lived.  My manager (who had been on extended leave) retuned to work and suddenly started trying to squash me back down again – seriously, after having done a great job and having been promoted, my returning manager chose this time to pull back the reigns, start micromanaging everything I do, and finding little ways to discourage and keep me down.  Frankly, I think he/she felt threatened that things had gone so well in his/her absence, so he/she has done everything in his/her power to hold me back and make my job more difficult. (yes, staying gender neutral for fear of being identified.  but honestly, if you're reading this and recognize yourself, then you know what you're doing) Since then, I have exceeded my goals and made significant changes to improve operations of my department and save money, worked endless extra hours in evenings and weekends for meetings and events, and still get zero appreciation.  After a slew of layoffs earlier this year (which I thankfully survived), I ended up taking on a bunch of extra work because of the man-power that was lost – not only was I already working my butt off, but now I leave every day with a stress headache, and dread going into the office because I have so much to do, and no support.  I need to get out, and fast, but I’m not sure what to do with myself these days.. must figure this out soon. I know there must be a lot of people out there in similar situations, having trouble switching jobs because of the economy.. anyone want to trade??  Low energy dinner preparations tonight: Tuna melt on sourdough under the broiler with swiss cheese, bell peppers, and pickles Tossed salad with red wine vinaigrette Dessert: hot chocolate