February 2006 Archives
I submitted the first part of my five part "thesis" last night. I'm now 1/5th done with five weeks to go. Thesis is in quotes because I feel I'm dissing those who have had a thesis as a major component of their graduate or doctorate work. I fully realize one doesn't write a thesis in six weeks but it is just a bit bigger than a book report on Romeo & Juliet so I'm good with thesis in quotes. It's actually more of a strategic management overview of expanding the scope of research at my institution.
Fuck it, I'm just adding dollars to my Annoying Bucket every day just to be able to say things like that.
Awesome. I just scheduled my Lasik surgery for April.
Apparently I've managed to pull the wool over the eyes of my finance professor one more time and low and behold, "A". I'm not gloating, I'm just saying. The fact that I got an A in a finance class is simply ridiculous. Yay me.
J.Go tagged me ages ago on this meme that I'd dutifully forgot until today. Here goes:
FOUR JOBS YOU’VE HAD IN YOUR LIFE:
Pharmacy Technician
Night Janitor
Waiter at a gay bar
Emergency Room Nurse
FOUR MOVIES YOU COULD WATCH OVER AND OVER:
BladeRunner
Death Becomes Her
All of Me
How To Make An American Quilt
FOUR PLACES YOU’VE LIVED:
Tipp City, Ohio
St. Louis, Missouri
Morristown, New Jersey
New York City, New York
FOUR TV SHOWS YOU LOVE TO WATCH:
Grey’s Anatomy
Project Runway
How I Met Your Mother
30-Minute Meals
FOUR PLACES YOU’VE BEEN ON HOLIDAY:
London
Amsterdam
Cruise up the East Coast to Nova Scotia
Carribean
FOUR NONPORN WEBSITES YOU VISIT DAILY:
SuperheroHype.com
Joe.My.God
Bloghungry.com
Wikipedia.com
FOUR OF YOUR FAVORITE FOODS:
shrimp
potato salad
roasted garlic soup
Indian
FOUR PLACES YOU’D RATHER BE:
Delaware River Valley of New York, full time, times four
I keep a bucket handy and every time I reference school in any context, I drop in a dollar. Whenever I reference being finished with school in any context, I drop in two. This was suppose to put me off being so fucking annoying about it and to keep intact my last few remaining relationships so that when I finish, I actually have a life to come back to.
The bucket is full, dammit. So before I start on bucket #2, I thought I'd go ahead and treat myself since our federal tax returns were just deposited (and to that, I'd like to thank the Federal Governement because when they say an 8-day turn around time for refunds on electronic filings, they mean it).
Back to me: I've posted my final draft for my very last Healthcare Finance project which means on Tuesday, I will have finished and survived Healthcare Finance (and I think I'm getting an A, not some stinking, worthless A-, thankyouverymuch). This also means that on Tuesday, I'm starting my very last class ever (Healthcare Strategy)and the end of my MBA program will come to a conclusion six short weeks from now.
I am completely crapping my pants.
OK...I've now added in $10 dollars in my to cover the annoying school crap in this blog post.
Well, that isn't true. I can be mean, I just can't seem to share that side of me well. By the time I got up this morning and into work at 7am, the post I made last night at 11pm that WAS really mean just didn't work for me any longer. I'm not saying it isn't true and the feelings about a certain blogger remain very,very real, but honestly, in the light of a good five-mile walk to work this morning, the post just didn't seem that important to publish and share with people, so I took it down. Also, I think my continued use of saying he was fat was rude on my part and could really be taken out of context since I'm not Ab-fabulous either....but then again, I admit that I'm not ab-fabulous and don't go around pretending I'm not. Anywho...
So in short, I CAN BE mean and unreasonable and apparently, according to a friend, completely psychotic, but I prefer to keep those deep down inside and focus my days on being better. I'd be better if I didn't keep tripping over said blogger's (dumbass) blog, but then again, why do we fall? To pick ourselves back up.
I whipped up another batch of Paula Dean's Almond Danish Swirls yesterday to sooth myself and my aching head (bond-ratings! alternative capital financing strategies, pork! pork! pork!) with every intention of eating every last one. From the ingredient list, that's two full tubes of cresent rolls and a whole package of cream cheese mind you. Loveless chicks with spoons and pints of Ben & Jerry's have nothing on me.
I had a change of plans about half way through this orgy though, when the glob of confectioner's sugar glaze I licked off the back of my hand turned out to be the Neutrogena moisturizer I had just slathered on. Brought up short by this assult on my hungry inner child and left with a taste of Alpha Hydroxy well into the evening, I saved myself the estimated 2534 calories left in the almond swirls and packed them away for another day.
Almond Danish Swirls
6 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup slivered almonds, chopped fine
2 (8-ounce) cans refrigerated crescent dinner rolls
1 egg white
1 teaspoon water
Glaze:
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
4 teaspoons milk
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
In a small bowl, beat the cream cheese, almond extract, and sugar until fluffy. Fold half of the chopped almonds into the cream cheese mixture. Separate 1 can of dough and assemble into 4 rectangles. Firmly press the perforations to seal. Press or roll each piece of dough to form a 7 by 4-inch rectangle, and spread each with about 2 tablespoons of the cream cheese filling to within 1/4-inch of the edges. Starting at the short end, roll each rectangle tightly into a cylinder. Repeat with the other can of dough and remaining filling.
Place on a plate, cover with plastic wrap, and chill until firm, about 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F while the rolls are chilling.
Remove from the refrigerator and cut each roll into 4 slices. Place 1/2-inch apart on ungreased baking sheets. In a small bowl, combine the egg white with 1 teaspoon water. Brush over the swirls. Sprinkle with the remaining chopped almonds. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, until light brown.
While the swirls are baking, combine the glaze ingredients in a small bowl. Cool the swirls for 3 minutes on wire racks placed over a sheet of waxed paper. Drizzle the icing over the warm swirls.
Everyone should head over to Barnes' blog. His current entry encourages you to submit your best fictional memory of the two-of-yous. It doesn't matter if you know him or not, I'm sure there is a made-up memory of you guys together somewhere. Mine started out, "Remember that time you were helping me write my Healthcare Finance paper on the impact of bad debt to an organizational budget?" but since even I can't be that lame, I went for chocolate seduction, instead.
I've been going through Rachel Ray's "365: No Repeats", marking up potential recipes to try so when it came to tonight’s dinner, it was either ordering in pizza or trying something with stuff we had on hand. I opted for cooking and canoodled Jeff into it, promising as I always do that if it doesn't taste good, I won't be offended if we toss it and go with plan B. I'm still so new at cooking that I can't be surprised if things turn out inedible and would never force anyone to eat it just to sooth my fragile psyche.
All that being said, the chicken croquettes with sweet potato mashers and pan gravy were completely edible and are on the repeat list. Lessons learned: mashed potatoes are simple and quick to make, so I need to stop being a pussy about side dishes. Also, pan gravy isn't rocket science.
Chicken Croquettes with Spinach Mashers and Pan Gravy
from "365: No Repeats", Recipe # 74, page 66
3 lg. potatoes, peels and cubed (I subbed in sweet potatoes)
Course salt
1.3 lbs ground turkey or chicken
2 celery ribs, finely chopped
1 sm. onion, finely chopped
2 tsp. poultry seasoning
3 tbls. chopped fresh thyme
3 tbls. chopped flat-leaf parsley
Coarse black pepper
1 egg yolk
2 cups bread crumbs
1/4 cup vegetable oil
4 tbls. butter
2 tbls. flour
2 1/2 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup cream or half-and-half
1 lb. baby spinach leaves
Place the potatoes in a pot adn cover with cold water. put a lid on the pot and bring the water to a boil. Salt the water and cook the potatoes until tender, about 15 minutes.
While the potatoes cook, make the croquettes. Place the meat in a bowl. Add the celery, onions, seasoning, thyme, parsley, salt, pepper, and egg yolk. Combine and form 8 patties. Coat both sides with bread crumbs. Heat the vegetable oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium to medium-high heat. Cooke the patties for 5 minutes on each side. Remove the croquettes to a plate and cover loosely with foil to keep warm. Reduce the heat under the skillet and add 2 tbls of butter, melt, then whisk in the flour. Cook the roux for a minute or two. Whisk in 2 cups of chicken stock and bring to bubble. Thicken for a minute and turn of the heat. Season with sauce with salt and pepper.
Drain the cooked potatoes and return to the hot pot. Add 2 tbls butter, 1/2 cup of chicken stock, and the cream. Mash and season with salt and pepper. Fold in the spinach leaves until they wilt.
To serve, pile the spinach mashers on the plates and top each portion with 2 croquettes and gravy.
