Archive: July 2008

This morning, I was filling out paperwork for tuition reimbursement for a class I would like to take in the fall. Professional Writing in the Sciences is the first course in an online master’s program in biomedical writing, and my modest workplace reimbursement would cover it. JG and I figured that I should just take the class, get it reimbursed with my 2008 funds, and then decide if I wanted to pursue the program. Feeling very competent with all of my ducks in a row, I downloaded the forms from the intranet and began the process.

Then I realized that I was not on top of things. Much to my chagrin, the tuition cost per credit had increased since I did my initial calculations, so this first trial class would not be fully covered. I had wrongly assumed that I only needed to complete twelve classes for this program instead of the sixteen that were required, which meant that I would be taking courses for an additional year. Furthermore, my boss informed me that, though not explicitly stated in the policy, the reimbursement amount was subject to taxes, so I would not receive the full amount.

When I plugged these new factors into my spreadsheet of costs, the effect was dizzying. I would have to pay that much to get a graduate degree for that long? Even with the tuition benefit from work, we would have to go much deeper into debt than I had originally thought, and I suddenly wondered if taking out a loan for sheer self-improvement was really wise. An advanced degree might render monetary returns, but there was no guarantee. Plus, we’ve been saving for various other things (a big vacation, a kitchen renovation), and the size of the necessary loan dwarfed these other expenses. Did I really want to commit myself to five years of part-time classes and a huge loan only to be back on the job market and uncertain? Call it sticker shock or reality, but it was hardly a fair trade. I e-mailed JG with my new information and misgivings about the plan, saying that I felt very defeated.

I had reached a level of panic of record intensity, at least in recent memory. Outwardly, one may not have observed much stress, but my breath quickened, and my hands were trembling. Anxious statements circled inside my brain, each egging the other on, and as much as I knew that I should get off that line of thinking, I could not dislodge myself. It was too important, too heavy, too immediate.

I was chatting with OPH at the time, and I instinctively started to spew my stress into the chat box. She talked me down from the ledge, and we commiserated over our respective struggles. Despite the cathartic venting, I still felt like there was a gray cloud of my head, and I typed resolutely, “This is a count your blessings day for me.”

And so, I did.

• I had a great lunch of leftover chicken cacciatore.
• Last night, I finished a really hard climb that has been taunting me for three months.
• I have a low-stress workload right now.
• Our evenings are empty for the rest of the week.
• I am taking Friday off.
• I visit my sister just ten days!
• So far, I’m enjoying the book I’m reading.
• Ted and I had a peaceful, uneventful walk this morning.
• At my request, JG agreed to make ribs for dinner, and we’re having them tomorrow night! My contribution is corn bread.

This type of exercise is very unnatural to me; one of my greatest character flaws is that I automatically seek out the negative in order to fix it. It’s also one of the things that makes me good at my job, but what do you know? Cheesy platitudes about positive thinking aside, I felt better in spite of myself.

Later, JG and I talked about my e-mail, and his suggestions were simple: try out the first class to see if I like it; wait until halfway through to decide about the program as a whole; and investigate financial aid. If nothing else, I still had reimbursement money for the 2008 calendar year, so it would be better to use it rather than postponing the course indefinitely. Maybe talking to a financial advisor would help to quell my anxiety. Yes, that all made sense. Forming a plan of action made the situation seem much less desperate. Deep breath. Carry on.

One of my objectives during this Whip It Up period has been to try out recipes that I could potentially use once the school year starts, and our schedules are more taxed because of the volleyball season. Last year, I was caught unaware by the sudden increase in activity, but I intend to be prepared this year, and that’s why my dinner selections for the challenge have been a little heavier than typical summer fare. I’m looking for meals to produce leftovers that are fast and easy, in addition to candidates for making ahead and freezing or using my slow cooker. If there are any suggestions out there, I would love to see them.

Over the weekend, I tested two recipes in this vein The America’s Test Kitchen Family Cookbook because, apparently, all I am about is pitching this cookbook. Detailed descriptions are below, but the moral of the story is: Make the skillet chili mac tonight! And if you have six spare hours, make the chicken cacciatore!

(Oh, and Moral #2 is that meat is not exactly photogenic. Ahem.)

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When it comes to looks and sophistication, this chili mac will not score any points. It’s not a meal for impressing mothers-in-law or appeasing a discerning palette; however, what it lacks in refinement it makes up for in ease, taste, and quality of leftovers.

Method: Remember the penne with chicken and broccoli that I cooked to death because I missed the memo that the pasta was supposed to soften in the sauce? This chili mac is in the same family of recipes, and I did not make the same mistake twice. Hurrah! Instead, I made a mess of my preparations and neglected to read the procedure properly, and the result was a messy kitchen, an encrusted pan, and a flustered cook, none of which was the fault of the recipe. In helpful notes, however, I substituted ground turkey for the beef, as the recipe suggests, and we did not notice one bit.

Taste: How can you go wrong with pasta, chili, and cheese? You can’t! The dish tasted great, thanks to the chili powder and cumin, and the cheese oozed through the pasta. We ate steaming bowls of chili mac hot off the stove, which meant the sauce was roughly the temperature of molten lava. I don’t mind scorching the roof of my mouth, but JG opted to start with his salad. It was one of those meals that I wanted to just eat and never stop, but we restrained ourselves, and I packed up three lunches’ worth of leftovers. So far, they have warmed up very nicely, and I can’t wait to eat the last portion this afternoon.

Repeat appearance: I will definitely, absolutely, certainly, redundantly make this dish again. It gives me my chili fix without six hours of simmering in the crock pot, and the preparation is fairly simple, if one does not make silly mistakes like I did. Using turkey instead of beef made us feel a bit more virtuous in the nutrition department without giving up on taste. Next time, I will throw together a batch of corn bread to go with it because, you know, what it really needed was more carbs. Heh.

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For this week’s theme, old favorites, I chose a recipe for chicken cacciatore because that was one of my most-loved meals when I grew up. My mom, the Make It From Scratch Queen, made a really delicious version, and I have never tried it for myself. The ATK rendition here uses a slow cooker, which made me think it would not be labor-intensive, but — hoo boy! — that was not the case at all.

Method: I trust the ATK implicitly, and I don’t think that any of the steps here were superfluous, despite the mountain of dishes they created and the hours spent on my feet. The straight-forward, though involved, process had what felt like twelve hundred steps, not to mention the strong reminder that I am still a huge wimp when it comes to a hot pan of oil and placing meat into it. JG said that I used too much oil in the pan, which made for a lot of spattering, and that is a straight shot to panic for me. I intend to face my fear eventually, but I will wait until the weather is cool enough for me to cook in clothing that is more substantial than bare feet, shorts, and a tank top, thank you very much. Two hours elapsed while I prepared the ingredients for their four-hour simmer, and then I spent another half an hour after that finishing the sauce. By the time I had turned on the crock pot to low and collapsed on the couch, I was already doubtful that the final dish would be worth it.

Taste: I laid out the chicken on a platter and draped it with sauce, served myself a portion alongside a scoop of pasta, and took a bite. Oh, my. The chicken was flavorful and tender. The sauce had a mellow roundness of red wine with the hearty vegetables throughout. It was nothing like my mom’s marinara-based cacciatore, which was slightly disappointing, but this was fantastic and comforting.

Repeat appearance: Sigh. Maybe. I might do it again if JG and I worked together on the chopping and the chicken-browning, because it was really good. I just can’t get past what I consider to be a huge amount of prep time. If I’m going to be in the kitchen for two hours, I figure that I should have something to show for it, other than four hours of waiting. Even then, I used up so many pots and pans before I served anything! I also like my slow-cooker meals to be the type that I can assemble the night before, keep in the fridge, and turn on before I go to work, and four hours of simmering will not fit the bill. I’m torn because the end result was delicious, but I can’t bring myself to be excited to make it again. On the bright side, this recipe produced about a gallon of sauce, so I froze a container of it for the future. I figure that I can grill some chicken, make some pasta, and throw together a quick, fake chicken cacciatore.

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We’ve almost reached the end of the second week of Whip It Up, and the suggested theme inspired participants to grace us with delicious, cheesy recipes. All told, there were 31 recipes tested during this week, which brings us to a grand total of 90 dishes tried by 52 participants!

But before the recipe-palooza, we have a couple of housekeeping items:

• The theme for the week of July 20 is old favorites. Which comfort food have you always wanted to make? Does Mom still have that macaroni and cheese recipe? What about Grandma’s chocolate chip cookies? (For you plan-ahead-ers, the theme for the following week is vegetarian.)
• Next Friday, Nic will host the wrap-up, but you have until Saturday for your recipe to count for the week.

In addition to those recipes from Week 1 posted after the wrap-up, here are the tested dishes from this week, organized by category and then alphabetized by recipe:

Bread and Breakfast

• Meghan hit a home run with Red Lobster Cheese Biscuits.
• Emily is still looking for a good cornbread recipe after disappointment with Rosemary Corn Bread.
• Nancy Pearl Wannabe fixed up the Pioneer Woman’s Yogurt Cream and Berries with no guilt whatsoever.

Sandwiches

• Proactive Bridesmaid took advantage of a new cookbook by making a Big Tomato Sandwich with Cheese.

Beef

• Constantly Arriving “beheld the power of cheese” with Better-than-Ever Beef Enchiladas.

Pork

• Kim’s experimental Yowza Pork Chops turned out pretty well, if she says so herself.

Poultry

• Alane loved her Brown and Wild Rice Chicken Salad, even if her choosy family members begged to differ.
• Janelle’s family loved her Easy Chicken Piccata.
• Erin was pleasantly surprised that Low-Fat Fried Chicken Strips were tasty and easy.

Seafood

• Erin took her first foray into grilling with Bacon-Wrapped Shrimp and Jalapeño.
• Julie has approved Creamy Crab Stuffed Mushrooms for future family get-togethers!
• Jess tweaked Garlic Cream Shrimp to the point where “only copious amounts of shredded Parmesan and ground pepper salvaged this meal.”
• Heather added the figure-friendly Kung Pao Shrimp to her regular rotation.

Pasta

• Jemima enlisted her husband to man the pasta machine for their Artichoke Ravioli with Tomatoes.
• Ross put together Arugula-Basil-Walnut Pesto to go over a first attempt at homemade pasta.
• Erin made a successful venture into “real food” territory with Bowties with Pesto, Feta, and Cherry Tomatoes.
• Nic noted that Capellini with Fresh Ricotta, Roasted Garlic, Corn, and Herbs was “not complicated, but it’s a lot of prep work for a fairly simple dish.”
• Jaime poached a chicken for the first time for Chicken Spaghetti.
• Daisy Yellow tossed together a tangy East-West Pasta Primavera.
• Merrick dusted off a cookbook from her husband and made Fusilli with Sausage.
• I brought my husband closer to the pro-lemon side with Lemon Fusilli.
• Stephanie was pleased that the Linguine with Asparagus, Parmesan, and Bacon was relatively light.
• Anna’s pantry-staple-fueled Marinara Sauce was a hit at her house.
• Kelly added Not-sagna Pasta Toss to her dinner repertoire.
• Jesse and Heather had good luck with Pasta with Broccoli, Edamame, and Walnuts.
• Megan channeled Giada de Laurentiis with her Penne with Spinach Sauce.
• Janet whipped up spicy Roasted Poblano and Chicken Penne.
• Jaime was won over by the tofu noodles in Shrimptastic Fettuccine Hungry Girlfredo.
• Audrey enjoyed the very cheesy Southwest Macaroni and Cheese with Adobo Meatballs.

Vegetarian

• Zandria declared the taste of Barley and White Bean Salad muy bueno!
• Which Box called Creamy Gorgonzola Polenta with Summer Squash Sauté a “swing and a miss.”
• Sherry loved her first try with Red Lentil Curry.
• Emily made an easy Zucchini Pie, but she’d jazz it up next time with a few additional ingredients.

Side Dishes

• Jane had success with a batch of Oven Fries!
• Janelle cleaned out a bit of her pantry with Savory Couscous.
• Suburban Lush satisfied her love of spuds with Twice Baked Potatoes.

Desserts

• Laurel celebrated her boyfriend’s birthday with Chocolate Sour Cream Cupcakes!
• I tried out Cream Cheese Marbled Brownies that were delicious, but not particularly cream-cheese-y.
• Meghan found a recipe for Easy Cream Cheese Brownies, but she was not a fan of the brownie mix she used as the base.
• Emily loved her Arnold-Palmer-esque Lemonade Iced Tea Sorbet.
• Janet made a game-time decision to go for peaches in her Peach (Originally Raspberry) Summer Sensation, but she was disappointed in its lackluster appearance, despite a high tastiness factor.
• Jennie made an impressive Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake, but she notes that the directions leave room for interpretation.
• Susan thought her Tiramisu Cookies were delicious, but warns that they take “a hundred hours” to make.

Yesterday, JG and I spent the day together in one of my favorite traditions we’ve built: Theme Park Day! So far, we’ve gone to Hershey Park and Dorney Park — last year, we held off over the summer because we went to Busch Gardens in the spring — and this year, Six Flags Great Adventure was our target. I love taking a day off from work in the middle of the week to go to an amusement park with JG because it is such a departure from my daily grind, and we always have so much fun.

JG scouted out a good deal on tickets with a coupon on a $3 box of Tastykake Butterscotch Krimpets, which saved us the full cost of a day pass. The drive to northern New Jersey took about two hours, and we stayed at the park past rush hour. Overall, I was not impressed. The big thrill rides at Six Flags were very good, especially the Superman ride, where the seats tilted downward, and we “flew” horizontally. I also enjoyed El Toro, which was the longest, most sustained ride on a wooden coaster I can remember in a long time. However, the indoor Batman ride was horrendous, the Great American Scream Machine practically gave me whiplash, and three different coasters broke down before noon. In general, the park operations were clunky and inefficient, especially an odd ticketing system intended to prevent line-jumping. I’m glad we went, and we got our money’s worth, but we will return to our old stomping grounds of Hershey Park next year. It is the sweetest place on Earth, after all.

Our all-day absence meant that Ted had to spend the time in his crate, like a workday. We asked a friend to stop by to take him out in the afternoon, and JG walked him after we got home, but it was probably a rude awakening after the past few weeks of having free rein in the house with JG. Thankfully, the extended crate stay was a little easier because we picked up a new crate for Ted at the beginning of the month. He barely fit in his original one when he was all stretched out, which I didn’t really understand, because it was supposedly Westie-sized, and Ted is a smaller Westie. Regardless, Ted didn’t like spending time in his crate, and the cramped quarters did not help one bit.

We took a cue from Quincy’s owners and opted for a larger, wire-grid crate that collapses for traveling. Ted has a habit of barking at new, sizable additions to our decor (coolers, large shipment boxes, etc.), so JG set up the crate in our living room for an afternoon and let Ted wander around it to get acquainted. He nosed around the new structure, cautiously stepping in and out, lured by the treat JG had tossed inside. By the end of the day, Ted was happily situated in the new digs with his old towel. Even though the new crate looks more jail-like, Ted doesn’t mind going inside. Sometimes, he even beats me to the punch by hopping into his crate and waiting for me to lock the door.

Eventually, we’ll soften up the floor with some sort of padding, but for now, I’m relieved that Ted enjoys being in his crate. Shoving him into the old one made me feel awful, and he sounded so pitiful when he scratched against the door. These days, when I come to get him for the morning walk, Ted is simply lying down on his towel, patient and quiet.

Stay tuned for next week’s special one-year anniversary celebration of Dogarazzi! In the meantime, get your daily dog dose with Smalls, Kaya, Rufus, Ben, Bailey, Gus, Foxy, and Zapp!