Saturday, March 8, 2014

You win some, you lose some

There were a couple of days this week that both of my parents were out of town on work related trips and I was left home alone with our animals.  Usually for me, being home alone means trying some crazy things in the kitchen.  Sometimes they work out great. More often than not, they don't and I end up with a huge mess to clean up and a lot of wasted food.
 
 
This week's experiment was The Pioneer Woman's alfredo sauce recipe.  Only instead of white wine I was using an IPA.  I've never heard of anyone using beer in alfredo sauce but I figured I would give it a shot anyway and it was working really well.  I don't know if I was too busy planning the blog post I was going to write about how excellent my creation was or what, but I totally forgot that I should be cooking the noodles at the same time ( I have an issue with multitasking in the kitchen).  That's when everything went to hell.
 
 
By the time the water was boiling, the sauce was almost done and it looked, smelled, tasted good.  But by the time the noodles were almost done, the sauce was over cooked.  I'd never seen anything like this happen before.  The milk started curdling and everything was separating.  It looked really gross.  So I dealt with that and by the time I got back to my noodles, they were over cooked to the point of mush.  All I had to show from my adventures in the kitchen were some sautéed mushrooms and asparagus that I was going to use instead of chicken.

 
They were pretty tasty
 
 
I still firmly believe that there is still hope for IPA alfredo and I will be trying it again at some point, maybe with a few changes to the recipe. 

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Been a long time

Long time, no see! So a lot has happened since September so let's catch up.
  • I did get a job at GAP and started working there in early October
  • I finished my last semester of my undergraduate degree, making the Dean's list again
  • I graduated
  • I left both my job at GAP and at ISA
  • I moved back to Louisville and am living with my parents again (you know, saving money and stuff)
  • I tried to get a part time job, mainly to keep myself entertained but also to make a little money
  • I did not get hired for any of the 30 or so jobs I applied for (even the volunteer position I asked about didn't want me)
  • I have been preparing to move to China in June with doctors appointments and Visa applications and trying to learn at least a little bit of Chinese  
  • I had my 22nd birthday
  • And I have been knitting, cross stitching, spinning, working out, reading and watching a lot of television and movies.

 
My last semester felt insanely busy to me, with a full class schedule, working two jobs and trying to have some sort of social life. Over the past couple of months I've gone from crazy college life to having very few obligations. I've tried to keep myself busy but I have gotten a little bored and boredom is honestly a huge reason why I am getting back to blogging.  Maybe writing about my life will force me to get out and find more excitement in the world around me.
 
I think we all know that I'm not the most consistent blogger, so I'm not going to make any promises on when or how often I'm going to post.  We'll see what happens.