2 months…that is how it has been since I last posted! What a shame it is too, since I have had ample opportunity due to my 3 week Christmas break. Oh well. I have been very happily employed, working the shifts that my coworkers could not whenever possible, cleaning and organizing my room (a much needed endeavor), catching up with friends, and reading.
In making the final preparations for my classes that begin on Monday, January 3rd, I have been sending out emails to various classmates, offering to buy a textbook here and trying to sell a workbook there. In one of my emails I described the inevitable excitement that I think every student feels at the start of a new school year/quarter/semester:
"I don't know about you but no matter how difficult the classes promise to be there always seems like there is a little happy sparkle of hope at the beginning of each quarter. It's like a fresh box of crayons... you just want to sniff it, to look at it and to run your finger across the tops of the perfectly pointed crayon tips. Sigh."
Perhaps the Christmas break has made me something of a nostalgic, romantic. Or maybe it is all of my Jane Austen reading (although she never did mention her heroines’ explicitly using crayons that I recall*smile*). But seriously now, I don’t think I am the only one that feels the “little happy sparkle of hope “ at the beginning of the quarter.
To all the students who start school tomorrow I wish you all the best. To all of you lucky students who don’t start until January 17th (or even you wretched people who don’t resume your studies until…dare I say it… February!) I pray you continue to enjoy your holiday!
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
College Classics
Honk…shooo...Honk…shooooo....
So I heard this rather loud snoring one day last week while I was studying in the College library. I looked around bewildered. Cursory glances to the left and right left me puzzled. A quick duck under the table told me the answer...
Yes, that is a student laying across 2 chairs!!! Consider you self lucky my dear reader… at least you can laugh out loud without drawing attention to yourself. I on the other hand couldn’t!
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Sunday Night Cooking
No, these aren't ants, roaches or beetles....they are the uncooked penne pasta shells that scattered all over the floor tonight as I was trying to finish up my cooking for the entire week. One snip of the scissors, one slight lift of the plastic bag and whoooosh...clatter. Out came all of the pasta. All except for the 10 or so conscientious objectors who decided to remain behind.
The conscientious objectors
What did I do this the mess you might ask? Certainly I didn't use it? Yup. Hey, it was going to be boiled anyhow and it is not like I am going to serve it to guests. I boiled it up, measured some of it out into baggies to freeze and deal with later and mixed up the rest with some shrimp from Trader Joes! Yum-O!
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Summer Sewing: T Shirts
As summer is fast coming to a close for me, I figured it would be appropriated for me to share some of the goodies I have been working on this summer. Earlier this summer I started the process of creating my own patterns from pieces of my existing wardrobe. I have created 3 shirts: one short sleeve (from with interlock), one tank top, and a long sleeve shirt (both from ribbing).
The entire process was fun and worked my mind like a good puzzle or riddle. Some adjustments still need to be made on the patterns I created before I make more tops with them (notice that I did not post a picture of the tank top. Let me just say it was a little snug at one part of the side seam. Hmmm, must have messed up on the seam allowance?). Although I did my best to choose fabrics similar in texture to the ones I was copying, the little nuances in the fabrics highlighted some of the problem areas I had not noticed before. For example, the teal, long sleeved top featured above needs to be 1inch shorter in the chest area (to keep the wrinkles around the pits) and 2 inches shorter in the upper back. These issues did not manifest themselves as clearly with the thinner, lighter fabric that the original top was made from and only came to my attention when replicating it with a slightly heavier ribbing.
This was the first T Shirt that I replicated...
It came from this brown T shirt (not the best picture since it is lying down; however, you get the idea right?)...
Soon, I will be posting about how to copy and recreate your own pattern from a whole T Shirt without riping it all to pieces. Stay Tuned!
(Please don't ask me what I was doing with my hands...like I really want to draw the attention to my hips. Humph! I also really dislike the bulge my belt makes...sigh, I guess you can't have everything look perfect. *smile*)
The entire process was fun and worked my mind like a good puzzle or riddle. Some adjustments still need to be made on the patterns I created before I make more tops with them (notice that I did not post a picture of the tank top. Let me just say it was a little snug at one part of the side seam. Hmmm, must have messed up on the seam allowance?). Although I did my best to choose fabrics similar in texture to the ones I was copying, the little nuances in the fabrics highlighted some of the problem areas I had not noticed before. For example, the teal, long sleeved top featured above needs to be 1inch shorter in the chest area (to keep the wrinkles around the pits) and 2 inches shorter in the upper back. These issues did not manifest themselves as clearly with the thinner, lighter fabric that the original top was made from and only came to my attention when replicating it with a slightly heavier ribbing.
This was the first T Shirt that I replicated...
Monday, September 13, 2010
Monday, September 6, 2010
Friday, September 3, 2010
Food Fact and Fitness Friday: Slow Cooker Soup
This will likely be one of the easiest soups you will ever make! Dispite it's simplicity, it is delish. It passed the Family Dinner test so it is official!. This recipe is taken from Gourmet Vegetarian Slow Cooker cook book
BARLEY, MUSHROOM, AND ONION SOUP
It's delicious. It's typical of the kind of peasant soup you might find in a mountainous region where barley grows plentifully, and mushrooms are to be had in season. And best of all, it's a put-the-stuff-in-the-pot-and-walk¬away-from-it no-brainer.
Ingredients:
1 cup pearl barley, rinsed thoroughly
8 cups water
2 tablespoons olive oil 1 onion, thinly sliced 1/2 ounce dried porcini
mushrooms
2 tablespoons tomato sauce 1/2 cup diced carrot
1 cup diced celery
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
In a saute pan, heat the oil and saute the onion until golden brown, about IO minutes.
Rinse the dried mushrooms and then soak them in a small bowl in about a cup of water for 30 minutes. Lift out the softened mushrooms, leaving any grit behind, and squeeze the excess liquid out of them. Pour the soaking water through a strainer lined with a damp paper" towel or a coffee filter. Coarsely chop the mushrooms.
Add the mushrooms and the strained soaking water, the sauteed onion, the tomato sauce, carrot, and celery to the barley. Cover and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours, or until the barley is completely tender. Add the parsley and salt and pepper to taste.
Serve sprinkled with a tablespoon or two of freshly grated Parmesan.
BARLEY, MUSHROOM, AND ONION SOUP
It's delicious. It's typical of the kind of peasant soup you might find in a mountainous region where barley grows plentifully, and mushrooms are to be had in season. And best of all, it's a put-the-stuff-in-the-pot-and-walk¬away-from-it no-brainer.
Ingredients:
1 cup pearl barley, rinsed thoroughly
8 cups water
2 tablespoons olive oil 1 onion, thinly sliced 1/2 ounce dried porcini
mushrooms
2 tablespoons tomato sauce 1/2 cup diced carrot
1 cup diced celery
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
In a saute pan, heat the oil and saute the onion until golden brown, about IO minutes.
Rinse the dried mushrooms and then soak them in a small bowl in about a cup of water for 30 minutes. Lift out the softened mushrooms, leaving any grit behind, and squeeze the excess liquid out of them. Pour the soaking water through a strainer lined with a damp paper" towel or a coffee filter. Coarsely chop the mushrooms.
Add the mushrooms and the strained soaking water, the sauteed onion, the tomato sauce, carrot, and celery to the barley. Cover and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours, or until the barley is completely tender. Add the parsley and salt and pepper to taste.
Serve sprinkled with a tablespoon or two of freshly grated Parmesan.
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