Welcome!

Congrats to Em and family over at Totblock who welcomed their newest addition this week. You can see pictures and share the love at http://totblock.blogspot.com/2008/02/newest-addition.html

We're so happy for you guys.

Presents!

Today was a very good day. Today involved a lot of presents!

My favoritest sister sent me these:

Now, while YOU may think, "seriously? She's excited by that?" the truth is, I have been dreaming of these since we moved to Farm State. PEter and I have a large collection of mason jars and store lots of cooking stuff in them. I've been looking for these everywhere and they are not here.


Then, after that, Cool Accent Prof took me to the Italian Grocery in the big city. I came home with proscuitto, oil cured olives (the black wrinkly ones), sopresatta (a spicy salami type), and a jar of spicy mixed pickled veggies. This little store was great fun! PEter visited it a while back and wrote a post about his trip here.

So now, I'm enjoying olives and cured meats and grading and writing papers. Woo hoo, what a Friday night!

Allow Myself to Introduce...Myself

The other day, Kimberly mentioned that we were making ourselves an Indian-style meal, with naan, tikka masala, and saag. There was a huge outcry from our readers (well, 2) to know how things turned out from that experiment.

So we've decided to take this opportunity to introduce something we've been fiddling with on the side in our copiuos free time: the What We're Eating blog.

Whenever we cook something, we usually write down little helpful tips and suggestions in the margins of the recipe. In my bread making experiments, I was keeping a little bread journal to try to remedy problems (a project which has somewhat stalled with my recent new job). So we decided to start taking these notes online and having feedback from people that aren't us in an effort to cook better food.

We hope it becomes a collaborative effort, an online community of people who like to eat, want some inspiration, and like to share inane details of their everyday life anonymously and with complete strangers. Isn't that what the Interwebs are for?

We hope you enjoy it.

[and for those of you not lucky enough to grow up in the Boston area, Chow Daddy (up top there) was the mascot for our lunch program. Yes, that guy was promoting healthy eating. Unfortunately, he didn't mention Dynamite Bars, which in my memory, were the highlight of the public school lunch plan]

Hot Oven, Cool Scars

I hope this doesn't become a weekly update, but I figured I would show you all the cool new burns I got this week at work. Remember, 600-degrees F is hot.

This one is on the outside of my forearm:

This one is on the inside of my forearm. I think it looks pretty cool (although the photo doesn't really do it justice):


Someday, when I have kids, I can tell them cool stories about how I used to get into knife fights and got all these cool scars on my arms. But I wasn't a wussy, so we didn't use regular knives, we used hot knives.

And just so you're not all freaking out about the gross pus from my wounds getting on people's food, I treat them with ointments and cover them during work.

The Splendid Table

Our new hometown is featured on Lynn Rossetto Kasper's NPR show, The Splendid Table. Check out a review of our absolutely favorite divey dinner, The Grove Cafe. If you're in Oregon, The Splendid Table used to air at 5 or 6pm- check it out!!! If you come visit us, we'll promise you a meal there.

Internationalism in the Middle

Last night my program had an international potluck. We generally have a get together at least once a semester with the MA, PhD, and faculty for our small program.

So last night's party was bring your own favorite ethnic food (not necessarily from your own culture). And my what a spread we had! There was Syrian chickpea salad, kung bao chicken, Chinese pancakes, dolmas and yogurt, Ukrainian apple cake, bacalao, chicken and rice, beef stew, cheese, Indian curried squash, serbian cookies, spicy chili corn bake, ratatouille, apple pie and vanilla ice cream, Argentinian empanadas, and I brought pizzelles.

We feasted! And there was much discussion about why we weren't running restaurants instead of pursuing these degrees. Clearly there was much talent in the room. We finally decided that a rotating restaurant would really be the way to go. Each group could run the restaurant one night. So we could have Middle Eastern, the Korean, then European, then Chinese, then Latin American, etc etc.

So, while there are some serious limitations to living here in the Middle, my new friends and colleagues can certainly cook! And tonight, while we stay inside to hide from the incoming blizzard, we're making chicken tikka masala, saag, and homemade naan. We'll let you know how it goes.

my eyes....

This week has been a killer. I've left by 9 every morning and don't get home until about 9 each evening. I'm actually on a 10 minute break from my Wednesday evening programming class right now. Yep, you read that right, I'm taking a programming class. Wouldn't Dad be thrilled! I have to confess that (a) I really wouldn't have signed up for this except for the fact that it's required, and (b) it's actually cooler than I thought it would be. It's odd because I'm kinda the third generation in the family to be working on computers. My Grandmama worked with the old punch cards (back in the olden days). Dad and Mom were both programmers for a while. It's been cool to talk "shop" with Mom a bit.

Alas, between this class, the numerous papers I'm writing and grading, and the two research projects I have going on, I'm spending 6-9 hours a day in front of the computer, 6-7 days a week. My eyes are not appreciating this activity (or lack thereof) very much. I may need to invest in saline company stock, the rate I'm going through it.

One of these days, I just know that they'll invent a screen that doesn't hurt so much. Until then, well, I guess I'm suffering for passion.

Back to class!

Reading is FUNdamental!

I'm fairly ambivalent about technology. Only a few years back, I referred to myself as a Luddite. However, over the past few years, coinciding with my move to the NW, I decided I needed to more fully embrace technology. I've made strides, but I'm still certainly no first-adopter.

But this new product from Amazon is really cool. Books without killing trees! Reading on a computer, but without the eye strain! Free Wikipedia!

From the video and some of the reviews on that page, it seems like it still needs some fine tuning and some of the bugs to get worked out. And hopefully the price tag will come down. But honestly, I hope that they can work things out and that we have one of those within the next couple of years. Maybe we can get Kimberly to be a tester, since she reads a million words a minute.

Blisters are for Healing

Hi all (if there's anyone out there that still reads this).

So, I haven't posted on here in weeks because I've been kind of busy - I finally got myself a job. I'm working in a kitchen at a local restaurant; it's probably the best restaurant in town, having beat out the other 1 good ones. While it's not the greatest job in the world, it gets me out of the house, gives me something to do, and almost doubles our monthly income. And it's a good job for the near future, while I wait for a decision from Farm University on my future plans.

I work at the brick oven station, making pizzas - I decided I needed to start living up to ethnic stereotypes more accurately. The oven runs between 580 and 600 degrees, which is really hot and makes for some pretty good pizzas, which is a nice perk. Unfortunately, I also occassionally nick parts of my arms on the mouth of the oven or the oven floor, all of which are also at 580-600 degrees. As you can see from below, at these temps, human skin doesn't stand a chance:


I have absolutely no idea how I got that first one my wrist - I came home and Kimberly inquired to the red mark and blister on my wrist. I got the one on my finger on the first order of the night last night - reaching into a hot oven with a heat blister for 5 hours does not feel good.

Keep your fingers crossed that I get into the program I applied to so that I don't have to keep working on the hot oven - the nerves in my fingers will appreciate it.

Dreaming of the summer....

Well, it's only February, but summer plans are beginning to take shape. It looks like I'll be headed south for part of the summer, Mexico in fact. Doesn't that sound just terrible? :)

Professor Mentor here at Farm School teaches over the summer at a universidad in Mexico. It turns out that not only does she need an assistant, but this universidad is in the same exact city that I studied in during my undergrad days. So, after some negotiation and waiting, I've been officially asked to go with her! I'll be teaching a conversation class to Mexican engineering students and working to create camaraderie between them and the American exchange students.

I'm working on a plan to have some travel time for me as well, so time to enjoy and experience Mexico again. It's hard to believe, but that first trip to Mexico (10 years ago!!) was what started my traveling experiences. And, I haven't made it back to Mexico since. There are so many wonderful things I'm looking forward to seeing and doing, from gazing at the amazing Diego murals to each tacos on the street to having the little girls pull my hair on the bus.

So, while it's still cold, blustery, and icy here, the future looks sunny and warm. A little something to look forward to!

I get the wierdest things.....

I'm not sure a) why this is related t0 the wrestling team and b) why they'd be sending this to me but here it is for your viewing enjoyment.

Yep, That's right... a facial hair competition!
The person who grows the best facial hair wins a Cyclone shaving prize pack!

According to the American Mustache Institute... "it is important to note that the greatness of a mustache is that a new style can be created each day by any mustached man... and sometimes a woman." As the AMI often notes, "A mustache is a terrible thing to waste."

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Here are the rules:

1. Email a picture of yourself freshly shaven to (deleted)
   no later than Feb. 7 (please include your name).
   
2. Send an updated photo of your progress by Feb. 14.
   
3. Submit final photo of your three week facial hair
   growth by Feb. 21.
   
4. Be creative and have fun!

Winners will be selected during intermission of the Iowa State vs. Nebraska wrestling meet (Feb. 24 at 2 p.m.). Contestants must be present to win.

For complete guide to growing and grooming your facial hair, click here.

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Check out these great examples...