Baked Pasta with Butternut Squash and Ricotta

[Taken 30 August 2010 | iPhone 3G | processed with TiltShiftGen and Photoshop CS2]

I decided to be all domestic on Monday and bake some pasta for dinner. It's not as decadent as you might think, either: whole wheat rotini, low-fat Ricotta, fat-free milk, and only five Weight Watchers Points® per one-cup serving.

O-Jing-A Bokeum

Aaron and I introduced his brother to Korean food on Saturday, by treating him to lunch at Korea Na. He had the bulgogi as his first-ever try at Korean food, and seemed to really enjoy it. I ordered the spicy squid stir-fry; as always, it was delicious.

Koreana: Delicious Food, Friendly Service

Koreana serves up delicious Korean food with genuine hospitality, time and again. That's why my husband and I are repeat customers, dining at Koreana an average of two to three times a month.

The owner is friendly and gracious, and will gladly give suggestions on what to order — which is helpful when trying Korean food for the first time. For first-time diners, he frequently suggests that each member of the party order something different and share with the others.

There's something on the menu for just about everyone. For those with a low tolerance for spicy heat, bulgogi (marinated beef), chap chae (thin noodles with beef), or jajang myun (noodles and pork with black bean paste) may be a great introduction. Tang-su-yuk is essentially the Korean version of sweet and sour pork, but with more of a distinctly tangy sourness than the sickly sweetness of American-Chinese sweet and sour.

For the slightly more adventurous, there's dolsot bibim bap (beef, vegetables and egg with rice in a stone bowl) — or, for those with a penchant for sinus-clearing spice, the kimchee chigae (fermented cabbage soup), o-jing-a bokeum (spicy stir-fried squid), or any of a number of savory and spicy soups involving various meats and vegetables.

Each meal is served with several side dishes, some of which look unfamiliar to the average American diner. Try them all at least once; my favorites are the fish cakes and the black beans. A word to the wise, though: the red ones (kimchee) are indeed spicy.

Plenty of the soups and other entrees are appropriate for those who, like myself, are watching their girlish figure. Bad news for the vegetarians, though: the vegetarian selections are basically nonexistent.

The only other minor complaints I have about Koreana, as a frequent patron, are the sometimes-odd musical selections (from easy listening to classical) and the slowness of receiving the final bill. Those are minuscule issues, though, compared to the consistently delicious meals we've enjoyed there, especially over the past year. The owner's handcrafted woodwork continues to beautify the restaurant, adding charm to what was once a small, plain restaurant next to a strip bar. His wife's cooking is always extraordinary. And we will keep coming back for more.

(The Toledo City Paper is currently running a coupon for a free appetizer at Koreana! Try the shrimp shumai.)

Enjoying Toledo: Korea Na or Koreana (1/24/2010)
Toledo Blade: Restaurant review: Korea Na **** (7/9/2009)

Spinach Lasagna

As I was sitting at my desk at work this afternoon, distracting myself by trying to come up with something to make for dinner, I realized that I probably had the ingredients at home for spinach lasagna. Lasagna noodles, frozen spinach, ricotta cheese, spaghetti sauce... So, I scoured the internet for a recipe that fit the bill, to no avail. I found a couple that sounded delicious, but with a few too many calories from a Béchamel sauce (white sauce), or with ingredients I didn't have handy.

Finally, I figured: Fuck it. I'll make my own.

I assembled the ingredients and wrote them down as I added them:

1 pkg frozen spinach
1 cup lowfat ricotta cheese
½ cup lowfat cottage cheese
1 egg
2 cups parmesan cheese, shredded
2 cups nonfat mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 can mushrooms
2 cups spaghetti sauce (e.g. Prego Chunky Garden Style)
6 lasagna noodles, cooked

Combine ricotta, cottage cheese, and egg in a bowl. Stir until smooth. Add thawed and dried spinach to the cheese mixture and stir to combine. Set aside.

In the bottom of an 8x8 baking dish, spread ½ cup spaghetti sauce, then layer noodles, spinach mixture, mozzarella cheese, cottage cheese, and mushrooms. Repeat. As the top layer, use the remaining noodles, then cover with the remaining sauce, then sprinkle on mozzarella and parmesan. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes; remove foil and bake uncovered for an additional 5 to 10 minutes or until cheese is melted and the sides of the lasagna are bubbly. Allow to set before serving.

Keep in mind that I intentionally didn't make a full 9x13 pan worth of lasagna because, hey, it's just the two of us, and we're on a diet. If there's a whole pan of possibly delicious lasagna in the fridge, it's going DOWN. So, best to keep the leftovers to a minimum.

I was pretty much winging it — really, how hard is it to make lasagna? — and was hoping the end result would be tasty. I'd calculated the calories and Weight Watchers Points while the lasagna was baking, and discovered that it really wasn't so bad: 340 calories (7 Points) for a small piece.

When I opened the oven door to remove the foil, I knew I'd done it right. The smell of lasagna was... wow. I haven't had lasagna in quite a while. I literally paced the kitchen floor, just waiting for it to be done so I could a.) take pictures of my lasagna for posterity, then b.) eat it.

Yeah, that first piece always comes out all messed up, but it still tastes delicious. This time was no exception.

When I make this again, I might go a little easier on the parmesan, since that's where a good part of the calories and fat came from (we didn't have any low fat or fat-free parmesan, and I'm not sure if it even exists). Other than that, I thought it turned out fantastic — much better than most of my winging-it recipe-free kitchen experiments.

Oh, and despite trying to distract myself with some fruit after my lasagna, I still went back for a second piece. It was just that good.

Engrish In My Neighborhood

Doesn't it figure? We go all the way to Japan — twice — and only see the occasional notable bit of Engrish. Go to the Asian market just down the street, and in one trip, we come up with Engrish comedy gold.

Well, truth be told, the "soya bean crud" wasn't truly Engrish.

(It also wasn't stuck to the roof of the cooler; it was upside-down in the cooler, so I flipped the image so it could be more easily read, rather than opening the cooler and turning the bean curd right-side up at the time.)

Although my reading skills have gotten rusty in the months since our last Japan trip, I still find myself able to decode a few things, like biru, or beer:

Finally, we saw these tasty plum candies:

We didn't buy any of these items; our mission was squid jerky, and we accomplished said mission, along with some azuki beans (aka red beans). The cashier seemed perplexed when she asked, "Ah, making sauce?" and I answered that I didn't know what I'd be making with them. I'm still not entirely sure what my plans for them are, but I'll come up with something oishii enough.

Orange-Ginger Shrimp For One

I mentioned earlier on Twitter:

It's rare that one of my concoctions is blog-worthy, but I may have to share my new Orange-Ginger Shrimp For One recipe later tonight.

So, here we are. It's nothing spectacular — I'm no gourmet — but it's quick and easy and pretty tasty. Oh, and fairly low-cal, too.

Ingredients:
4 oz. frozen cocktail shrimp, thawed
1 Tbsp. cornstarch
1 tsp. ground ginger (approximate)
½ tsp candied ginger, diced fine
½ cup Tropicana Trop50 orange juice drink
1 tsp. honey
1 tsp. canola oil

Directions:
Heat canola oil in small pan over medium-high heat. In a small bowl, toss shrimp with cornstarch and ground ginger. Add coated shrimp to pan; cook, moving constantly, until shrimp is heated through and slightly browned.

In a small measuring cup, combine the orange juice and honey. Add the OJ mixture to the pan — the liquid should quickly come to a boil. Add the diced ginger and simmer until the sauce thickens.

Serve over brown rice.

Weight Watchers Points®: 5 (not including rice)

Farewell, Saigon Bistro

Over a month ago now, Aaron and I were planning to take Aaron's brother out to lunch at the Saigon Bistro, the only Vietnamese restaurant in Toledo. When we arrived, we were angered and confused that the "Closed" sign was up. Upon closer inspection, they were VERY closed: the decorations had been removed from the foyer, and pots and pans were strewn about the dining area. Only then did we catch the significance of the truck and trailer that were parked in front.

The Saigon Bistro was closed. For good.

While we were contemplating where we were really going to eat lunch, I posted this unusually profane tweet:

Last weekend, Aaron and I drove past the restaurant again, just to make sure they hadn't been doing some major remodeling, or moved to another location. Alas, all the signage had been removed from the building, and a Restaurant For Lease sign was posted where the Closed sign used to be.

Writing a review is pointless now. Suffice to say that the Saigon Bistro had been one of our favorite restaurants, and became our go-to when we weren't sure what was for lunch. I sincerely miss my bún and chrysanthemum tea. Aaron was partial to the phở, which was also quite delicious.

I guess that when we want Vietnamese food now, we'll have to make a pilgrimage to Ann Arbor or Cleveland or some other more culinarily savvy city.

We miss you, Saigon Bistro.

Fujiyama Restaurant, Toledo OH

Fujiyama Restaurant is about two miles from our house; even if it weren't so conveniently located for us, though, I think we'd probably frequent this Japanese establishment more than the others in town.

Being the creatures of habit we are, Aaron and I tend to find something that works for us and stick with it. That said, although we stick with makizushi these days, we've tried several of the entrees at Fujiyama in the past, and haven't been disappointed with any of them. The shrimp tempura is huge, and could easily be shared by two people. The nabeyaki udon is also very large and very delicious.

Ordering from the sushi menu wasn't always up our alley, either; we used to prefer to pick the pre-selected sushi dinners, so we wouldn't have to choose from so much delicious sushi that we weren't really familiar with. The U.S. Collection was one of my favorites (Alaskan, Boston, California, and Philadelphia Maki). The sushi entrees also come with miso soup and salad (with the standard ginger dressing), so they're a great deal for a lot of food.

Lately, though, we order our sushi a la carte, from the sushi menu. We always start with a shiitake mushroom roll (one of the best in town) and usually a Philadelphia roll (possibly THE best in town). Beyond that, there are a wide variety of rolls to choose from, ranging from inexpensive vegetarian rolls all the way up to the Love Hotel (delicious, but expensive - see photo, left).

Most of the rolls at Fujiyama are inside-out rolls, with the rice on the outside and the veggies and protein on the inside. This leaves the outside available for the sesame seeds that we so enjoy, and that make Fujiyama's rolls just a little different from the others. Also worth noting is the size of the less expensive rolls; they all seem fairly large, unlike some other places in town that skimp on their cheaper vegetarian rolls.

(Top to bottom: shiitake mushroom, veggie futo, and Philly rolls)

Between the two of us, we generally order five rolls — four reasonably priced and one more expensive — plus an appetizer and tea. This usually runs us around $40, which seems to be on the less expensive side of sushi in Toledo.

Of the half-dozen sushi establishments we've visited in Toledo, Fujiyama remains our favorite. Their rolls are decently sized and reasonably priced, the presentation and plating is classy and unique, the service is always pleasant and prompt, and their location is ideal for us (and for University of Toledo students).

Fujiyama is highly recommended by Diana! If you're ever in Toledo, and you like Japanese food, definitely give it a try.

Apple Butter Festival 2008

I realized that I was getting some weird looks this afternoon in Grand Rapids, Ohio, at the Apple Butter Festival. Of course, I *was* wearing my Pump Up The Jam t-shirt from Hot Topic, prominently displaying a piece of toast with jam on each boob.

After discussing this unexpected attention with Aaron, he pointed out to me that I was "That Guy." You know. Don't be the guy who wears a condiment t-shirt to the condiment festival. Don't be that guy.

Not only that, but we purchased condiments at the condiment festival: three pints of apple butter (handmade in Grand Rapids, before an audience of onlookers), a jar of habañero pickles, and one small squeeze-bottle of peanut butter spread (made in Holmes County, Ohio, and which we had previously enjoyed on our 2005 vacation to Amish Country).

Three cheers for a diet which allows apple butter! We've never purchased apple butter in Grand Rapids before, since sugary goodness was taboo. Now, though, three or four tablespoons of apple butter is only one WW Point. Spread that on a toasty whole-grain English muffin, and you've got one tasty breakfast. Nom nom nom.

Found: Recipe for Monkey Bread

From a scrap of paper brought home from my previous job: a basic recipe for monkey bread:

Monkey bread -
    cut biscuit dough into pieces
    cover w/ sugar & cinnamon
    place in bundt pan
    melt butter (1 stick) & brown sugar
    pour over biscuits & bake

Can't say this sounds too healthy... but I can say that it was quite delicious at the time.

Time For A New Favorite Indian Restaurant.

Aaron and I tried Indian food for the first time at a little buffet in (or near) Pittsfield, Massachusetts, during our honeymoon. It took us a few years to discover that there are, in fact, Indian restaurants in Toledo, and we've been frequenting one in particular for probably a year now.

The Indian Jewel has a daily lunch buffet, featuring both meat and vegetarian dishes which are prominently labeled with their Indian names (and, sometimes, the English translations). The buffet comes with delicious naan (bread), and the service is perfectly acceptable for a buffet. The dinner portions are generous and reasonably priced, and are served in stylish copper serving vessels.

My Aikido dojo tends to frequent the other Indian restaurant in town, the Tandoor. I was honestly underwhelmed with their buffet selection, and only ate there once or twice with the dojo. As for our regular Indian fix, the Indian Jewel had given us no reason to go elsewhere — until recently, that is.

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Go Green: Buy Local

When I was a younger lass — say, in high school and college — I was a bit more environmentally conscious than I am now. I was really into recycling and buying recycled products, and my mother placated me by buying Green Forest recycled bathroom tissue and paper towels.

I also walked a lot in high school and college, but that was mainly from necessity, not so much from a sense of reducing my carbon footprint. Not that anyone knew what a "carbon footprint" was back in the '90s.

These days, I find I'm much less environmentally conscious than I once was. Recycling is more of a hassle than a given (except for donating to Goodwill, which is ongoing, mainly because I'm a packrat). Walking everywhere (especially to work) is just not feasible. I use more disposable products than I need to. Now, getting myself back to the environmentally-conscious side of things is more of a "what am I willing to do" gambit, kind of like dieting. What am I willing to give up? To change? Am I willing to adopt a slightly different routine?

This weekend, Aaron and I took a trip to a couple of local produce establishments to try the whole Buy Local concept. Thompson Farms, just a few miles from our house, was selling fresh strawberries — you can't get much more local than that! Granted, the hand-sorted high-quality quarts were $5 each, which is a little pricey, but they looked great. (They also had jam-and-jelly grade quarts for nearly half that price.)

We then visited Monnette's Market on Reynolds, also just down the road apiece. There we found produce that wasn't *quite* as local, but still more local than the friendly neighborhood megamart has, I'd bet. There were Canadian tomatoes, complete with a sign deeming them safe per the FDA. There were homegrown strawberries (not as ripe as the farm berries, but cheaper), and I can only assume that most of the produce was locally grown. We got some bell peppers, tomatoes, green onions, pineapple (yes, I know it wasn't locally grown), vidalia onion (also not quite local), and an impulse buy of some fat-free chocolate muffins.

So, our first foray into buying locally grown produce was relatively successful. We'll see if this is something we continue, or if it was merely an interesting excursion. Monnette's actually has some competitively priced deli items, too, so we might end up going back next week for more of our normal shopping.

Not sure what the next step in "reducing our carbon footprint" will be. I'd like to keep taking baby steps toward joining the revolution.

Attempt at Light Coconut Pie, Take 1

After picking up a recipe for Key Lime Pie at my Weight Watchers meeting last week, I decided to think of variations to the basic recipe to make it a coconut pie for my upcoming luau. After a little searching online, though, I found a recipe for Light Coconut Pie that promised to be just what I was looking for.

I assembled the no-bake pie this afternoon, ramping up the "light" part even more than the recipe said: lowfat graham cracker crust, Splenda instead of sugar, and Cool Whip Free (which just tastes like Cool Whip to me). After the pie was assembled and cooling/setting in the fridge, I did the math to see how many points one piece of pie would be.

Damn you, sweetened coconut flakes. Damn you to hell.

We were even at Claudia's Natural Food Market this weekend, and saw unsweetened organic coconut, and didn't buy it, thinking that it was a little over-the-top... and not realizing that Meijer only sold sweetened coconut. Turns out that the sweetened coconut flakes added the most calories to the pie overall.

One piece of "light" coconut pie? EIGHT points. That's one-eighth of a normal-sized pie. Not exactly "light" in my book, but certainly lighter than a normal dessert, I suppose.

Guess I'll have to do a little more experimenting, and try the unsweetened coconut next time. I'm sure I'll have a passably light coconut pie by luau time.

Quick Update

On my to-do list for this evening was posting more about the Japan Trip of 2007, since I'm running out of time to finish up with that before the next vacation. However, the other things on the to-do list took precedence.

I've rediscovered the joy of cooking, and spent a good part of this evening preparing food for the upcoming week. I cooked two cups of rice and portioned it out into six servings of one-third cup each. I made the Pureed Broccoli Soup recipe I read in this month's Women's Health magazine. Add to that the two single-cup servings of Three Amigos Chili I have stashed in the fridge from this weekend, and I'm loaded for bear.

Also on the agenda: a cardio workout with PUSH (quickly aborted ten minutes in, when the yoga-cardio chick started doing a V-step and some sort of jazz hands) and processing / uploading audio files from my Zen teacher's most recent retreat with his Zen teacher.

In the foreseeable future: Tomorrow is my second-ever Weight Watchers weigh-in and meeting. I have four more days of work before I get two weeks off. And I have only nine days to wait until I can see the sunny shores of Oahu!

I'll try to post some more substantive entries within the coming week. We'll see...

Old-Fashioned Dutch Apple Cobbler

I made this recipe on Sunday, and both Aaron and I declare it a success. Granted, I forgot one ingredient in the crumb topping — 2 Tbsp. cold water — but it still turned out pretty good.

It's not exactly low carb — OK, it's not low-carb at all — but it is lower in sugar than normal desserts, thanks to the inclusion of Splenda products. Plus, I feel better about my food in general when I know what's in it. No high fructose corn syrup for me, thanks, and make mine wheat flour.

Food Experiments: Mayonnaise

I don't remember where I got it in my head that I wanted to try to make my own mayonnaise. Might have been Alton Brown. Might have been my Cooking Club magazine. At any rate, it seemed pretty simple.

Tonight was the night I decided to go for it.

Attempt #1 began with two egg yolks, a cup and a half of olive oil, hot water, lemon juice, and seasonings. These items were poorly combined in my food processor, with oil poured in entirely too quickly, and the mayo never set up for a myriad variety of reasons. I even tried pouring it into the blender instead, to no avail. Batch #1 was a miserable failure, and went straight down the kitchen sink.

Attempt #2 began with a different recipe, from the book my Memaw bought me about a year before she died. Every time I have a stupid, basic cooking question, I crack open my copy of How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman, and I say aloud, "OK, Memaw, how do you make _____?" as I flip through the index. This time, Memaw and Mr. Bittman taught me how to make a basic mayonnaise — including the proper technique.

One whole egg, ¼ cup of peanut oil (as a basic neutral oil), 2 Tbsp of lemon juice, and identical seasonings went into the blender. Then I slowly, s - l - o - w - l - y added another 3/4 cup of oil as the blender blended.

And, holy shit, I had mayonnaise.

It's a little excessively lemony, and a little runny, so I think I know which ingredient to back off next time. That's OK, because I'd intended this batch mainly as a base for tartar sauce; but I do want to perfect the method and the recipe before I move on to something a little different. After I get the basic thick mayo downpat, my next version will use diluted vinegar instead of lemon juice, and will include some Splenda, for a more Miracle-Whippy type of mayo.

My homemade mayo will never be like Hellmann's, but it's fun to make — and maybe I can stretch out our "real" mayo just a little and spice things up by having something a little different in the fridge.

Booze As Part Of A Balanced Diet

A couple weeks ago, I discovered this great site that has nutritional information for all kinds of alcoholic (and nonalcoholic) beverages. The website is drinksmixer.com, and it's not just a good "nutritional" resource, but it also has the ever-helpful Cabinet feature. Tell it what you've got, both booze and "normal" beverages, and it tells you what you can make, either with only what you have or with one or two more ingredients.

I have come to an unfortunate conclusion, though. I dislike Applejack. It wasn't very expensive, but I do wish I'd managed to sample it somewhere before procuring an entire bottle. After this, I'm not sure I'd be a fan of any kind of brandy, if apple brandy isn't floating my boat. It's just too damn strong; the first sip always takes my breath away. Yeah, maybe I'm a lightweight. I'm OK with that.

On the same night I bought my bottle of Applejack, though, I tried the Classic Irish Whiskey Flight at Claddagh Irish Pub. My original plan had been to sample some scotch, but the Irish whiskeys had more detailed descriptions in the drink menu, being that Claddagh is an Irish-style pub and all. So, I got three small shots of Irish whiskey, and I must say that the Jameson was my favorite of the three. The waiter made comment that a woman who likes Irish whiskey is a good catch, which amused both Aaron and myself.

I'm really not much of a drinker, and whenever I get to thinking about alcohol too much, it makes me feel like I'm some kind of lush. Which I know I'm not. Still, it's weird to be thinking about what kind of alcohol I'd like to try, in the same way I'd think about different ethnic foods I'd like to try; especially knowing that I only really drink once every six months or so, and very rarely with the goal of "getting drunk."

Yes, I have half a shot of the Applejack sitting here on my desk. And, yes, I'm going to finish it. Will I have anything else tonight? Probably not.

Homemade Thai Rules.

Made some Thai Red Curry with Shrimp and Pineapple for dinner tonight. Actually, it was green curry. The Cooking Club recipe called for red curry, but Aaron couldn't find red curry at Meijer yesterday.

Once we find some red curry, I'm totally making this again, because it was SO good with the green that I'm curious how much better it would be with the red.

Now that I have green curry paste and fish oil in my cupboard, I'll be on the lookout for more Thai recipes that I can make and serve over brown rice. I can't believe how yummy that turned out. And, since I didn't try to halve the recipe, Aaron gets to have it for dinner tonight when he gets home, and I get to have it for lunch tomorrow, and then someone gets to eat the last Gladware containerfull of homemade Thai.

*swoon*

Ohayocon7 Retrospective, Part I: Fried Bologna Sandwiches

[Posted on Flickr by dianaschnuth].

I haven't blogged about the last few cons Aaron and I have attended, mainly because I prefer to save my opinions and narratives for Aaron's podcast. This time, though, there are enough other random, un-anime things that deserve mention that I think I'll go ahead and blog about the weekend. And I will begin at the beginning, with fried bologna sandwiches in Waldo, Ohio...

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Tonight's Main Course

Homemade shrimp and cucumber sushi. I haven't rolled sushi in years, but this turned out relatively well.

I took the less-pretty pieces (shown) for myself, and put the better-looking ones in the fridge for Aaron when he gets home from work. He'll be surprised; we haven't made sushi at home in probably almost three years.

For future reference: I cooked one cup of brown rice in the rice cooker, then added two tablespoons of rice vinegar and two tablespoons of Splenda after the rice cooled. That yielded two rolls. Two strips of cucumber and six shrimpies per roll. It actually turned out a little sweeter than I'm used to, so I might have to revise the recipe next time I try this.

Peanut Butter Chicken

This is a very interesting recipe. Especially with my substitutions.

The recipe called for:
* 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
* 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into 1 inch cubes
* 1 medium onion, sliced
* 7 fresh mushrooms, sliced
* 1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
* 1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes with juice
* 3/4 cup chicken stock
* 3/4 cup smooth peanut butter
* salt and pepper to taste

I had no onion, so I just did without. I substituted canned mushrooms for fresh. I substituted chunky salsa (medium) for diced tomatoes. I substituted chunky PB for smooth.

I could tell that the salsa added some heat to the dish that was probably never intended, and the person who created this would probably smack me or something if they saw how I massacred their original recipe. Still, it was pretty good. I'll have to get the real ingredients and try it again sometime to share with Aaron. (I don't like to inflict my cooking attempts on him the first time I ever make a given dish.)

Does anybody know if peanut oil (particularly Chinese peanut oil) is expensive? I'd like to try cooking the chicken in peanut oil next time, to get the peanut flavor going on even more.

Yep... I think I like it.

New Traditions

It appears that, in addition to keeping alive the Christmas tradition of sausage cake, I have inadvertently begun a new tradition.

Both this year and last year, I had to run out and purchase an ingredient last-minute. Both years, it was a vital ingredient for the brown-sugar glaze (although it hasn't been the same ingredient I was missing). Both years, I attempted to buy the ingredient at the Quik Mart just down the street, but was foiled and had to drive seven minutes to Kroger instead — for one singular ingredient.

Hopefully, I can maintain the tradition of the sausage cake not sucking.

Oh, and in case you aren't privy to the joys of baking with meat, it's apparently a Welsh recipe handed down through the Cook family. As far as our family recipe goes, I'm sworn to secrecy, but this one will give you an idea of what it's all about. It tastes kind of like a heavy spice cake. With a thick glaze / candy coating of brown sugar, reminiscent of maple candies. Except made with brown sugar instead of maple syrup.

OMG, so good. Sausage cake IS Christmas to me.

Homemade Adult Beverage

Take this recipe, substitute Splenda for white sugar and Splenda Brown Sugar Blend for brown sugar, and you've got a seriously kickass homemade amaretto with a fraction of the sugar.

Note to self: Next time I make this, I must remember to use less Splenda Brown Sugar Blend. It really is twice as sweet as regular brown sugar; they're not kidding around. Also, reading the ingredients correctly and adding 2 TEASPOONS of vanilla would make things better, as well. *facepalm*

Still, though, I *heart* my new Homemade Amaretto And Caffeine-Free Diet Coke. :-)

Butternut Squash Pie, Mark II

Some of you may recall that, last Thanksgiving, I attempted to make a butternut squash pie. It was pretty yummy, although it didn't set up very well due to my forgetting to add the eggs.

This year, I remembered the eggs. Not only that, but I made the edges of the pie crust all pretty, and sprinkled the top with allspice.

But I'm taking the pie to Thanksgiving in Westlake, so I can't eat it for a day and a half. o.O

Mind you, I should have been podcasting tonight instead of baking, since my next podcast has already been promised to the listenership as "The Thanksgiving Survival Guide," and it's going to be pretty much useless if it comes out on Wednesday night before Thanksgiving...

Massive Update on Stuff In General

I took my final half-day off of work today so I could go to lunch with two women I used to work with. We caught up on each other's lives (mainly work-related), reminisced about the Bad Old Days...

24 September 2002: Just Another Day...

Hey, for once I worked an 8-hour day! Yeah, we were doing so well that we actually took a one-hour lunch and everything. Just for reference, yesterday I worked a 14-hour day. Seriously. My co-worker and almost-supervisor, Loni, worked an hour and a half more than me, since she came in at 6am. Damn, that sucked. Makes the normal 8-hour day seem like a luxury instead of a burden.

...and ate some yummy Mexican food. And despite my lack of a lunchtime walk, I still got my podcast-listening time in, since a.) our lunch meeting was a half hour south of where I work, and b.) I bought a Kensington FM transmitter for the iPod(s).

When I got home, I had intended to work on the LSM site, as it needs some stuff added and updated (like audition info). Instead, I ended up finishing off the cosplay skirt. Yes, indeed, the skirt is complete! Well, except for possibly adding some velcro for good measure, and the final ironing before we leave for Youmacon in two weeks.

Don't worry, I'll definitely post pictures of me and Aaron in costume. :-)

What else...? Oh, yeah, tonight's dinner. I know, blogging about what I made for dinner is certifiably lame, but this was really good. Ten-Minute Szechuan Chicken. It's really easy (even I can do it), and really good... but, now that I think about it, I think I'm going to put the recipe on my next Low Carb Lifestyle podcast, so I'm not going to publish it here yet. If you download this old-school DOS recipe filing program, though, I could be convinced to e-mail you the database file that this fantastic recipe came from. (Thanks, Uncle Pete!)

Yesterday, I told the Acting Executive Director of LSM that I've decided not to march next year. He was understandably disappointed, but he completely understood, which is cool.

I'm sure there's other stuff I should write about, but that's the overall rundown of everything I wanted to mention. Now I'm going to go work on the LSM page. Yay for contact info and audition info and pictures? w00t.

Spicy Catfish Nuggets

I just created something yummy. Forgive the lack of measurements — I'm my Memaw's grandbaby, and tend not to measure when I can get away with it. :-)

Catfish nuggets, unfrozen
2 Tbsp butter
Cayenne pepper
Lemon pepper
Ground ginger
Salt & pepper

Preheat over to 350°F. Melt butter in a medium-sized bowl. Combine spices in a second bowl or dish. Dip catfish nuggets one by one in melted butter, then in spices, then place each in a glass baking dish. Bake at 350° for about 30 minutes, or until flaky.

For dipping: in lieu of tartar sauce, I combined mayonnaise with lemon juice and the drippings from the nuggets after they were done. They're flavorful enough that they really don't need any sort of sauce, though.

I ended up putting in more cayenne than I really needed, so my nuggets were super-spicy. I also think I may have left them a tad underdone (I was really hungry and growing impatient). Apart from that, though, I think I'm onto something here.

Potential Culinary Disaster

Since my department is having a potluck tomorrow, I went to Meijer over my lunch today to get ingredients for the banana pudding I was planning to bring. Our second car is on the fritz, so I knew I wouldn't be able to hit Kroger after Aaron left for work, like I usually do on Potluck Eve.

I just went upstairs to unload the ingredients from the shopping bag... and realized that I bought not vanilla pudding, like the recipe calls for, but white chocolate.

I'm going to make the banana pudding anyway, with white-chocolate-flavored pudding as a base.

I hope this doesn't suck.

Butternut Squash Pie

I just finished baking a pie. It's my first attempt at pie-baking from scratch (OK, the crust was store-bought), so I'm not exactly sure how it's going to turn out... but it sure smells good. Since I have such faith in my wifely kitchen abilities (note sarcasm), this pie is NOT going to Westlake for Thanksgiving.

However, the three pies Aaron plans on baking later this week will be.

We got volunteered to bring dessert for about 15 people or so. *rolls eyes* Aaron had been hoping we'd get asked to do rolls or green bean casserole or something. No such luck. ;-) And, get this: Uncle Pete (who's hosting Thanksgiving this year) is apparently going to call ME about the pies later.

Riiiiight. Let's wait until we see whether the butternut test pie comes out OK, then we'll talk.

...If this pie ends up being pretty good, would you like me to post the recipe?

Edit, 10:30pm: The pie is quite yummy. More along the lines of sweet potato than pumpkin, and distinctly squashy, but still quite yummy. I'm content.

You Might Think I'm Crazy...

I've just discovered the most wonderfully unexpected treat.

You know the pickled ginger that comes sliced in a jar? The stuff that's been sitting in our fridge for months now because we can no longer eat maki, but we don't want to pitch a full jar of expensive sushi ginger? Yeah, that's the stuff.

Take a slice out of the jar and suck on it.

It's the greatest thing... first, it's all sweet and delicious—that would be from the 3 grams of sugar per ounce of ginger. OK, so I'm a (slightly) bad monkey. Anyway, after you get used to the sweetness, the pickling finishes dissolving or melting away and you're left with the hot spice of the ginger to chew on. It's like two treats in one!

...See, I told you that you'd think I was crazy.

Yum.

My place smells so good right now.

First, I lit one of the amaretto candles when I got home from work — actually, it's the candle with eggnog-scent leftovers in it, and Iadded the amaretto that wouldn't fit in the sundae cups, plus a new wick. So, walking a few feet from it, you can smell amaretto... which, surprizingly, smells pretty good as candles go. Much better than I'd expected. Then, I started baking my low-carb-brownies-from-scratch again, in preparation for tomorrow's monthly Birthday Treat Day at work. (I love my new department.) So, after you walk through the amaretto smell, toward the kitchen, you're instantly barraged with the smell of chocolate. I'm loving it.

It's a little early to make a prediction, since they're still warm out of the oven, but I think the brownies are passable this time. I'm going to leave a couple home for Aaron, and take the rest to work. If everybody thinks they suck, well, that's their prerogative, and I'll get to take them back home after the day's done. But I don't think they suck. No more so than some people's "regular" brownies do.

Oh, and did I mention that I made hazelnut eggnog this weekend? It's surprizingly simple... as long as you don't overcook it. Then the eggs start to cook, and it gets a little lumpy. Yes, I speak from experience. Over the past few days, it's been sitting in a saucepan in the bottom of the fridge — "getting happy," as Emeril would put it. Tonight, I took it for a spin in the blender to smooth it out and whip it up, and am now drinking my last glass of eggnog with a dash of nutmeg. (Aaron's glass is in the fridge with plastic wrap over it.)

I am somewhat ashamed to admit that I had a moment of weakness today at work. All I brought for lunch was two string cheeses, and I didn'twant to go to Jimmy John's again... so I succumbed to the snack machine and bought a pack of Soft Batch cookies. Again, as with my last cheat a couple months back, I wasn't terribly satisfied, despite thinking long and hard about my choice. The chocolate tasted too sweet, and I got a brief but powerful blood sugar spike at my desk afterward. Not shaky, but lightheaded. I knew exactly what it was as soon as I felt it. Let that be a lesson to me... again. It's just not worth it. Heaven forbid I ever decide to "treat" myself to Olive Garden.

Anyway, they've got me actually doing my real job at work now. At least, when there's enough work to split between two people. I ended up actually reading the online instructions for the web forms I use, surfing the Sky intranet, e-mailing HR about my incorrect W4, anything I could do to stretch out my time at the end of the day. Especially being new to the position, once I figure out how to do something, I can't force myself to do it s-l-o-w-l-y just to "milk the clock," because I feel the need to prove that I can do what they've given me with no problems.

So, today's schedule was:

• 8:00am - 8:30am: Turn on computer. Bullshit.
• 8:30am - 10:00am: Highlight reports. Ask Judy what she does with them.
• 10:00am - 10:30am: Training session in Tom's office. Learn how to do my job.
• 10:30am - 12:00pm: Correct missing birthdates in client information database.
• 12:00pm - 1:00pm: Lunch
• 1:00pm - 2:00pm: Look through reports, filtering out non-personal accounts.
  (A company or non-profit organization can't have a birthdate, silly.)
• 2:00pm - 3:00pm: Research Cash Letters for Angie in Deposit Support.
• 3:00pm - 3:30pm: Look through reports again. Seem busy when boss comes by.
• 3:30pm - 3:45pm: Break.
• 3:45pm - 4:15pm: Staple reports for Angie in Deposit Support.
• 4:15pm - 5:00pm: Read job instructions. Surf intranet. Look at payroll info.

And that was my day. Woo-hoo... exciting.

But, you know what? I'm OK with that. Especially since the Post Office has been fucking over Lockbox all this week, not getting them all their mail in the 9:30 mail run, so they don't get their full work to start until 1:00pm. They stayed until 9:30pm on Monday, I'm not sure when on Tuesday, and 6:30pm last night. Loni comes in to my area every now and then, since I'm on her way to the other end of the building, where the restrooms, break room, kitchen, and all that are. She had an interview yesterday (incidentally, for one of the positions I'm helping cover for, the one where I hunt down Cash Letters), and she said it went well. I'm crossing my fingers for her and hoping for the best. She's been with the company for something like seven years, with Lockbox for five (since its inception), and it's about time she moved on from Lockbox.

Angie (the one in Lockbox) was hired in from temp to permanent, effective Monday. (This past Monday, I think.) I'm kind of glad for her, but then again, I kind of feel bad that she's going to be stuck there with shitty hours. Just like I was when I was hired in, actually. I talked with her in the hallway the other day, and she said in no uncertain terms that she plans to stay in Lockbox only for the required six months, then post out of the department to another position. Seems to be all the rage lately... Mary did that earlier this year. (Remember Mary? The middle-aged woman who fell asleep and ran her car into a ditch after a particularly long night in Lockbox?) I've been trying to find an appropriate job to post into for the past six or seven months, ever since I was eligible to post out. Now Loni's looking to post out, and has been for several months herself.

Remember those Ethnic Studies and Sociology classes we had to take in college? Remember the section about immigration? Push factors vs. pull factors? I think that almost every other department loses people to new jobs via pull factors—the other job has a draw to it, something that makes you want it. For Lockbox, though, people leave due to push factors — kind of an "anywhere but here" mentality. Yeah.

And in closing... as I write this entry, the BGSU/Miami game is 35-17 Miami in the 3rd. Sigh.