I am reaching the point--or possibly have already reached the point--such that I don't need to do very much grocery shopping for the next six months. This morning I got up and made a vat of chicken stock, plus cooked up the odds and ends of greens in the fridge (onion, garlic, two turnips, radish greens, broccoli greens, and a little broccoli), washed the lettuce for tomorrow's salad, and grated the carrots for the week's salads. I even managed to work out today, for the first time in what feels like a year.
In the freezers I have 20 pounds of blueberries as well as roasted beets, beet greens, wheat rolls, a few things of squash soup, pesto, and . . . some other stuff, too; I'd have to go look to figure it out. I don't know that I can fit anything else in there. The farm share runs through the first day of winter, so there's more food coming. And I'll need the occasional bag of pasta or grains or something, and dairy products of various sorts, but otherwise, good to go. I still have not hung a single picture, and i still have crappy furniture, but I have a freezer full of food.
What I have not done today is speak a word to another human being. That used to happen more frequently, but not so much lately, so it was kind of interesting. I've had some social engagements this weekend--dinner with Chuck and CK on Friday; breakfast with a pastry school chum yesterday; beer school with other friends last night--but I didn't have anything planned for today, and it ended up being a great opportunity to get some things done and just hang out.
The stock, especially, because that takes some time to cook and to cool--and may I say how wonderful it was to put the stock pot on a burner that actually was big enough for it? I am loving having a full-size stove and oven more than I can possibly say.
At work, some things do seem to be improving. The new Middlelord (i.e., the person to whom we all now report, and the Middlelord reports to the Overlord) has been putting in tremendous effort to learn about what we do, and where, and how, and all the details, and MidLord has been reining in Overlord, trying to keep OL from mucking about, so it could be going much worse. I've also been quite busy personally, because I'm the one who knows a lot of the details (and, actually, right now, I'm the ONLY one who knows a lot of the details). The next two months are going to be somewhat hellish--several major deadlines, for millions of dollars worth of funding.
The one thing that is making me roll my eyes is that OL keeps going on about wanting me to be "happy" at work, and "excited," and that kind of shit. I have said, multiple times, that I do not look for happiness with my job--after all, they have to pay me to show up. Of course I would like to have, and do have, a job that feels like it's on the side of good rather than evil, and of course I want to make a decent wage, and of course it's nice if I can enjoy at least some of what I do, but, when push comes to shove, it's still work.. So, it goes, and all of us appear to be pulling in approximately the same directions, so it's not intolerable. And? Still no sacks of flour.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Monday, October 25, 2010
Evil Asshole and the New Overlords
It's difficult to determine just how many posts I have started and abandoned--some of them quite lengthy. But I get half way through a story, or some more-or-less-connected thoughts on something, and I just don't finish it. Tonight, though, I am determined to finish, and the yeast in the kitchen will make sure I have the time. I tested a recipe for Cooks Illustrated, for wheat bread, and I really rather liked it. I only made a couple of changes--all butter, instead of some butter and some oil; wheat bran instead of wheat germ; and I made rolls instead of a loaf of bread, because rolls are easier to freeze and grab from the freezer for lunch--and I rather liked it, so I'm making it again. One of the good things about it is that you start part of it 8 to 24 hours before the rest of it: a biga and a soaker. It says 24 hours, but I left this one for more like 30, and I'm sure it'll be fine. The down side is that it raises three times after you mix everything together, but you don't have to do much, so it's not too bad.
Anyway, it's on its final rising, and obviously hasn't baked yet, so maybe I'll actually finish this.
Work continues its stressful march. I think what was happening was that several people, including the finance person (not the one w/ whom I continue to work, and my opinion of that person has improved some), but the higher-up person, who is an evil asshole rat bastard. I didn't trust that person to begin with, but I have since discovered that Evil Asshole was one of the major promulgators of the various canards that contributed to my boss's departure. Luckily, I don't have to work much with EA; s/he has been kicked upstairs, is going on to Even Greater Things Within The Organization, blahblahfuckingblah.
In any case, EA (and others) basically told the New Overlord that we were all a bunch of incompetent boobs, with my ex-boss being the least competent of the bunch. So NewO and others had the idea, I think, that they'd get rid of my boss, and maybe a few other people, and so on and so forth. Except, oh wait, we're actually NOT incompetent! So maybe it might not be a good idea to shuffle us around like a pack of playing cards. The other crimp in the plans is that they keep adding administrative salaries to our budget. Well, fine, but where the fuck does everything think those dollars are coming from?
So I just try to do my job, and quietly point out that yes, the emperor is still without any fucking clothes. It's very tiring, though.
Luckily, I've been reading some really great books. In particular, I have finally discovered Eliot Pattison and Michael Gruber, and they are both completly riveting me.
I've also been doing my usual use-up-the-vegetables cooking: yesterday's side dish involved turnips, onions, garlic, potatos (which were, unbeknownst to me before I cut them, a lovely pinkish-purple inside), kale, and spinach, all of which came from the farm share except the kale, which came from friend's garden, and some gruyere. Didn't suck. And one night last week I used kale, turnip greens, and some other stuff. So, all in all, the farm share has improved somewhat, though I have had more damn lettuce this summer than ever in my life. At least it's not iceberg, and is a mix of various greens, but I am getting very sick of salad, even though I'll be eating it this week and likely next week and possibly the week after. I throw in some carrots and radishes (also from the farm share) and some cheese, and it's pretty tasty, but still. Enough with the salad, please.
Okay, the bread is not just baked but now cool enough to eat, so I'm going to go test some.
Anyway, it's on its final rising, and obviously hasn't baked yet, so maybe I'll actually finish this.
Work continues its stressful march. I think what was happening was that several people, including the finance person (not the one w/ whom I continue to work, and my opinion of that person has improved some), but the higher-up person, who is an evil asshole rat bastard. I didn't trust that person to begin with, but I have since discovered that Evil Asshole was one of the major promulgators of the various canards that contributed to my boss's departure. Luckily, I don't have to work much with EA; s/he has been kicked upstairs, is going on to Even Greater Things Within The Organization, blahblahfuckingblah.
In any case, EA (and others) basically told the New Overlord that we were all a bunch of incompetent boobs, with my ex-boss being the least competent of the bunch. So NewO and others had the idea, I think, that they'd get rid of my boss, and maybe a few other people, and so on and so forth. Except, oh wait, we're actually NOT incompetent! So maybe it might not be a good idea to shuffle us around like a pack of playing cards. The other crimp in the plans is that they keep adding administrative salaries to our budget. Well, fine, but where the fuck does everything think those dollars are coming from?
So I just try to do my job, and quietly point out that yes, the emperor is still without any fucking clothes. It's very tiring, though.
Luckily, I've been reading some really great books. In particular, I have finally discovered Eliot Pattison and Michael Gruber, and they are both completly riveting me.
I've also been doing my usual use-up-the-vegetables cooking: yesterday's side dish involved turnips, onions, garlic, potatos (which were, unbeknownst to me before I cut them, a lovely pinkish-purple inside), kale, and spinach, all of which came from the farm share except the kale, which came from friend's garden, and some gruyere. Didn't suck. And one night last week I used kale, turnip greens, and some other stuff. So, all in all, the farm share has improved somewhat, though I have had more damn lettuce this summer than ever in my life. At least it's not iceberg, and is a mix of various greens, but I am getting very sick of salad, even though I'll be eating it this week and likely next week and possibly the week after. I throw in some carrots and radishes (also from the farm share) and some cheese, and it's pretty tasty, but still. Enough with the salad, please.
Okay, the bread is not just baked but now cool enough to eat, so I'm going to go test some.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Gone, Baby, Gone
My boss, that is. Yesterday they eliminated his position. Hard to say what happens next.
Stress? What stress?
Stress? What stress?
Monday, October 4, 2010
The Bitter Greens of Petra von Kant* Narya
I don't have the energy or motivation to detail all the shit at work; let's say that it continues to be tense and nervous, and leave it at that.
This weekend's cooking, however, deserves some energy! The past few weeks I got a bunch of turnips in the CSA shares, and I hadn't gotten around to doing anything with them. I also had a trombone squash, or part of one, to finish off. (Someone at work who also has a CSA share had this big beautiful trombone squash for me, and last weekend I used about half of it in the Sunday dinner adventure, but there was a bunch sitting in my fridge.) So: one morning last week, I peeled the turnips and cut them up a bit, and then browned them in a little butter and added some parsley (the only herb I've gotten from the CSA), water, salt, pepper, and a little honey. I cooked them until tender. They're in the fridge now, but I've had a little of them and they're fine--for turnips.
Saturday we went to Farm Aid and got back to my place at about 2:10 am. I rarely sleep really late, but Friend needs his sleep, so I got up around 7:30 or so, when I woke up. I shaved the sqaush--or some of it--and put the rest through the food processor (slicing blade, not shredding). I took it out and sliced an onion in there, too, while I was at it. The onions have been REALLY strong, as in tear-inducing, so this was a great way to avoid that. I sauteed the onions for awhile, added some garlic, sauteed some more, then added the squash from the food processor (but not the shaved squash) and a hunk of pesto from the freezer and let it cook awhile. When it was cooked through, I stuck the immersion blender in it to puree it a bit, then added the shaved squash until that was cooked. I put some water in there somewhere; would have used broth if I'd had any. I ended up with three portions of soup for lunch, which, since I was using scraps from other meals, was kinda like free food.
Yesterday I cleaned out leftovers. I chopped up some venison that we had seared on the grill a week ago, and I threw it into Friend's slow cooker (I don't have one, so if I'd been at home I would have used a stew pot of some kind) with a cup or so of red wine that was sitting around, a can of chopped tomatos, and a couple of cloves. The venison already had salt, pepper, and garlic on it, and, IIRC, had been marinated a bit, too. That cooked for about three hours, most of it on high.
About an hour before dinner time, I put some barley on to cook. Then I pulled out the turnip greens and a few leaves of Russian kale I'd brought over from my house, plus some kale from his garden. We'd had some fabulous glazed brussels sprouts Friday for dinner, so we nibbled the leftovers, but I saved the chunks of bacon or pancetta or whatever. In the frying pan went a little butter, a little olive oil, and said chunks. I added about three big cloves of garlic, a can of drained cannellini beans, and all of the greens (which were still damp, so I knew they'd steam a bit, too), and let it all cook a bit. I rescued some tomatos from the garden, some leftover fresh mozzarella, and some basil from the garden as well--we harvested nearly all the basil a few weeks ago and made a whole bunch of basic pesto, but left some leaves on the plants and they've grown back some. I splashed some balsamic vinegar in with that salad and in with the bitter greens.
The barley went into a pasta bowl, with the stew on top; I kinda wish I'd done it in a pot so it would have reduced some, but it was fine. The greens could have gone in there, too--I had leftovers that way for lunch today--but keeping it separate allowed construction of various bites of food.
All in all, some pretty fabulous food. I basically managed to make five or six meals from those leftovers, plus another three from the squash, and some more from the turnips. I still have beets in the fridge that I'd meant to do up tonight, but I didn't feel like it, so I'll have those to do later in the week; we'll see what's in this week's share and go from there. The share runs through December, so I'll be interested to see what comes in the next two months.
*I have some vague memory that I saw that movie when I was in college, but I guarantee you that I don't remember a single scene from it, if I did, in fact, see it.
This weekend's cooking, however, deserves some energy! The past few weeks I got a bunch of turnips in the CSA shares, and I hadn't gotten around to doing anything with them. I also had a trombone squash, or part of one, to finish off. (Someone at work who also has a CSA share had this big beautiful trombone squash for me, and last weekend I used about half of it in the Sunday dinner adventure, but there was a bunch sitting in my fridge.) So: one morning last week, I peeled the turnips and cut them up a bit, and then browned them in a little butter and added some parsley (the only herb I've gotten from the CSA), water, salt, pepper, and a little honey. I cooked them until tender. They're in the fridge now, but I've had a little of them and they're fine--for turnips.
Saturday we went to Farm Aid and got back to my place at about 2:10 am. I rarely sleep really late, but Friend needs his sleep, so I got up around 7:30 or so, when I woke up. I shaved the sqaush--or some of it--and put the rest through the food processor (slicing blade, not shredding). I took it out and sliced an onion in there, too, while I was at it. The onions have been REALLY strong, as in tear-inducing, so this was a great way to avoid that. I sauteed the onions for awhile, added some garlic, sauteed some more, then added the squash from the food processor (but not the shaved squash) and a hunk of pesto from the freezer and let it cook awhile. When it was cooked through, I stuck the immersion blender in it to puree it a bit, then added the shaved squash until that was cooked. I put some water in there somewhere; would have used broth if I'd had any. I ended up with three portions of soup for lunch, which, since I was using scraps from other meals, was kinda like free food.
Yesterday I cleaned out leftovers. I chopped up some venison that we had seared on the grill a week ago, and I threw it into Friend's slow cooker (I don't have one, so if I'd been at home I would have used a stew pot of some kind) with a cup or so of red wine that was sitting around, a can of chopped tomatos, and a couple of cloves. The venison already had salt, pepper, and garlic on it, and, IIRC, had been marinated a bit, too. That cooked for about three hours, most of it on high.
About an hour before dinner time, I put some barley on to cook. Then I pulled out the turnip greens and a few leaves of Russian kale I'd brought over from my house, plus some kale from his garden. We'd had some fabulous glazed brussels sprouts Friday for dinner, so we nibbled the leftovers, but I saved the chunks of bacon or pancetta or whatever. In the frying pan went a little butter, a little olive oil, and said chunks. I added about three big cloves of garlic, a can of drained cannellini beans, and all of the greens (which were still damp, so I knew they'd steam a bit, too), and let it all cook a bit. I rescued some tomatos from the garden, some leftover fresh mozzarella, and some basil from the garden as well--we harvested nearly all the basil a few weeks ago and made a whole bunch of basic pesto, but left some leaves on the plants and they've grown back some. I splashed some balsamic vinegar in with that salad and in with the bitter greens.
The barley went into a pasta bowl, with the stew on top; I kinda wish I'd done it in a pot so it would have reduced some, but it was fine. The greens could have gone in there, too--I had leftovers that way for lunch today--but keeping it separate allowed construction of various bites of food.
All in all, some pretty fabulous food. I basically managed to make five or six meals from those leftovers, plus another three from the squash, and some more from the turnips. I still have beets in the fridge that I'd meant to do up tonight, but I didn't feel like it, so I'll have those to do later in the week; we'll see what's in this week's share and go from there. The share runs through December, so I'll be interested to see what comes in the next two months.
*I have some vague memory that I saw that movie when I was in college, but I guarantee you that I don't remember a single scene from it, if I did, in fact, see it.
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