Cooking

I am very seriously thinking about turning this blog into a blog about cooking. My life is so boring; what I cook every night is much more interesting. I hope no one minds when I start singing the praises of tomatoes or goat cheese.

ciao

A Failed Attempt

So tonight I tried to make gnocchi, one of my favorite Italian pastas. I have a recipe from the Italian women who ran my study abroad program, so I decided to give it a shot. Unfortunately, the potatoes I bought were too big - I needed boiling potatoes - and they didn't get soft enough when boiled to be mashed properly. This resulted in lumpy, chunky gnocchi, which was not good in the slightest. The tomato sauce that I made to go with it, however, came out perfectly. It's really very easy to make your own tomato sauce, as long as you have fresh tomatoes. You just saute an onion and some garlic in olive oil, then add fresh diced tomatoes and whatever spice you wish (I added fresh rosemary and some dried basil), then set the heat to low and cook it for about two hours, or until it thickens up nicely.

I intend to try gnocchi again - with the correct potatoes this time - soon, but for now I think I'll stick to recipes I know and have done before, at lest during the week. It's frustrating to go through all that effort when you're already tired from work just to have it not work out.

Today was a bit overwhelming for me. After looking at everything I needed for applications yesterday, I went to talk to a mentor about my resume, and whom I should ask for recommendations. Thinking about the whole thing, and trying to keep all the information in my head, just stressed me out incredibly. It's definitely going to be hard to get everything done on top of all my obligations at school. Hopefully this weekend I can get some stuff sorted.

ciao

Apple Crisp and Applications

Yesterday, due to an excess of soft apples, I decided to try making apple crisp. I'd never done it before, but after looking at the recipe, I thought to myself, "How hard can this be?" That was until I opened my can of oatmeal. I only had steel cut oats; the recipe called for rolled. Well, I'd measured and mixed enough already, so why not just throw those steel cut babies in there and see what happened? The result: a slightly weirder textured apple crisp. At least it tasted delicious.

So, a while back, I talked about re-taking the GRE sometime in the fall. A few days ago, I decided not to. Though my scores aren't awesome, I really believe the strength of the rest of my application can overcome an average standardized test score. So, today I started looking at the M.A.T. programs I'm applying to in an attempt to get everything together so I can start getting that application together. I'd completely forgotten what a hectic/frustrating/complicated/confusing process this is. I only applied to two school in high school and neither was a huge effort. Now, I'll be applying to at least three programs, all of which require transcripts and recommendations which have to be obtained from a different state. *sigh* So many moving parts.

Also, my dad called me this afternoon saying I needed to get MA plates, since I've lived here long enough to count as a resident, and that if I didn't, I'd probably get pulled over. Great.

On a happier note, classes went well today. Gotta love those kids. :)

ciao

A Quiet Sunday

Hey all!! I know I've been totally MIA recently, and for that, I apologize. I don't even have to excuse of having nothing to write about; last weekend was Parents' Weekend! It went well, and for those of you who remember my experience last year, that's saying something (a very nasty mother made me cry). My classes went well and the parent-teacher conferences were great too. It was such a relief to be able to speak frankly to parents about their child's progress and know that if things went badly I could handle it now. All the parents of kids who aren't doing well were wonderfully supportive and helpful, ready and willing to join me rather than fight me in helping their child.

I was very surprised when it was all over; it seemed to sudden! We had spent so much time gearing up for it and preparing, then, just like that, it's Saturday afternoon and you can go back to your regularly scheduled programming. I definitely felt that after-event crash, a slight feeling of melancholy that I seem to always get after something big has come and gone. I got over that quickly enough to find that I caught a cold somewhere between parents. Oh well, I'm surprised it took me this long to get sick.

Last night, The Boyfriend and I went out to Sel de la Terre to celebrate our one year anniversary. I don't really think of it as one year; we dated seriously in college then broke up the summer after senior year due to my own emotional confusion. I like to think of it as a one year reunion, a celebration of our decision to commit to each other, to make our relationship work in the real world. It is amazing how different a relationship can be when you're not retrained by a college campus. For us, different has been very good. :)

Oh, and Sel de la Terre is wonderful; go check it out.

I've been cooking a lot lately, and will hopefully post more about that later. Exciting events next weekend include: Wine Riot on Friday night, the symphony Saturday night, and book club meeting on Sunday morning. What an exciting weekend! I'll try to be better about posting more often.

ciao

A Real Question

Is it totally gross to be sitting on the couch in sweatpants drinking white wine?


...


don't answer that. ;)



ciao

Sweet October

I made it! A whole month without eating any sweets!! And it's FINALLY over!! This does not mean, of course, that I will revert to my sugar consuming days. I've learned a lot this month, especially that restricting your diet in a healthy manner is the best way to lose weight if that's your goal. I didn't work out once and lost two pounds. However, I also think that cutting something out entirely isn't very good, either, since you'd probably just become a bitter, angry person after a while. I would too, if I couldn't have Funfetti. So, that's that, and while I'm glad I did it, I'm glad it's over. I'll be having a celebratory ice cream with a friend later today, but I'll be sure to keep an eye on the sweets on my plate from now on. :)

ciao