Enjablog

I’ve been having these cravings for deviled eggs since last week when I had a craving for corn dogs, but didn’t have access to any and ended up going to the deli in my office building and buying an egg salad sandwich instead. So, I made some yesterday to bring over to my family lunch. But then I found out that the paprika is what makes them “deviled.” And since I didn’t have any paprika, we decided they were angeled. Well, that and the whole miracle thing.

Angeled Eggs
6 hard-cooked eggs, peeled and cut lengthwise
1/4 cup Miracle Whip
1/4 teaspoon dijon mustard

Remove egg yolks and mix with Miracle Whip and mustard. Fill egg whites with mixture.

Yeah, tough recipe, right? This seems easier than egg salad. Especially since I’m not fancy about filling the egg whites. I just use a spoon.

Tried out a new cookie recipe today for Ian’s company outing thing. Modified from Brownie Mix Cookies:

Mint Brownie Cookies

1 package Ghirardelli triple chocolate brownie mix
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3 Tbsp water
2 eggs
1/2 tsp peppermint extract

Mix the brownie mix (dry), flour, oil, water, eggs, and peppermint extract. Drop by spoonfuls onto cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees just until set, 10 to 12 minutes. Let stand 2 to 3 minutes before removing from cookie sheet and then cool completely. Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

Note: I would recommend a leavening agent, such as 1 tsp baking soda. You’ll get the same brownie flavor, with a cookier consistency. You might also be able to accomplish this by cutting back on the oil by a tablespoon or two to lower the density of the mixture, but that will make them a little cakier.

The batter was kinda liquidy, but was able to hold its shape long enough to get into the oven. They were pretty fragile after taking them out of the oven and letting them cool closer to 5 minutes on the cookie sheet, but did set after some time on the cooling rack.

In any case, the recipe as-is got rave reviews from Ian’s coworkers. So it’s definitely a keeper for me. And with a base that’s a mix I typically have around anyway, that’ll be a convenient backup.

Baked up some strawberry cupcakes yesterday to celebrate my mother’s birthday early (next week). They were a bit sweet, so I didn’t put any frosting on them, but they probably would’ve been good with some unsweetened whipped cream.

I typically use 3-oz boxes of jello when mixing into a recipe, but the only strawberry jello I had was in a 6-oz box. And for some reason, I really wanted these to be strawberry cupcakes. I guess I was baking too early in the morning or something because I was most of the way through the mixing process when I realized that I should’ve just made a double batch and had more cupcakes. Oops…

Strawberry Cupcakes (modified from here)

INGREDIENTS
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
1 3-oz box, strawberry gelatin
3/4 cup milk

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9×9 inch pan or line a muffin pan with paper liners (makes 18 cupcakes).

In a medium bowl, cream together the sugar and butter. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Combine flour and baking powder, add to the creamed mixture and mix well. Finally stir in the milk until batter is smooth. Pour or spoon batter into the prepared pan.

Bake for 30 to 40 minutes in the preheated oven. For cupcakes, bake 20 to 25 minutes. Cake is done when it springs back to the touch.

Ian and I received our Google Wave invites from Mindless this morning. *So* exciting!!

This morning was a little overwhelming though. And I don’t think it helped that everything was super slow, probably thanks to all the new people signing up today.

I can see great uses for this:

- Academic: Extrapolating from the new site that my online class is being hosted on this year, I think Wave will offer similar benefits in a less formal setting. So, instead of having a site created specifically for a study group within a course, discussion boards that people don’t really use, and 6 weeks of chat dialog piling up… You could create a wave for a lecture or homework assignment and invite your classmates to participate.

For something like a lecture, you could all write notes at the same time, creating a live wiki of sorts. Or you could make it a public wave where people can search for the course number and see what’s out there. It also allows you to play back the creation of that wave, so with a live recording of the lecture (which you could also embed), you could play back the lecture with the concurrent notes.

- Work: It’s much more interactive than having netmeetings where one person hosts on their computer and other people can only watch or tell them what to do over the phone. I think this, if used effectively, could be better than having a bunch of people together in a conference room. Because, still, that’s one person controlling the computer. This would allow simultaneous editing of/collaboration on documents, help keep a running log of discussion/rationale behind decisions, and could serve as its own form of meeting minutes.

- Event Planning: I could see this being integrated with the calendar; people within a wave might decide that they want to meet in person — or, my family might want to plan what time to have lunch on Saturday. After the parties involved decide, they create a calendar event from wave and the event would be linked to the discussion leading up to the decision.

I can definitely think of ways this would’ve been helpful with wedding planning — keeping track of contact info for vendors, lists of things that needed to get done and who would do them/when they were done, designing invitations. And here we were using IM, email, and shared documents like people from 2008. Sigh…

- Group activities: This could be useful for other things, like Fantasy Football leagues, pretty much anything I would use Google Groups (society mailing lists, volunteer groups, etc.) or shared documents for (family shopping lists! which can be conveniently accessed and updated from a phone!), and will pretty handily replace discussion boards.

Depending on how people use this, I could see it overlapping with/replacing twitter. I don’t see it replacing facebook, though there are plenty of articles out there speculating otherwise.

Risotto: fancy Rice-a-Roni. :)

I made this zucchini risotto a while back and decided that I really like risotto. So I made more tonight, with some added protein and dicing the squash for some added texture.

Turned out pretty well and was quite filling (plus leftovers for tomorrow!).

4 cups water
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup finely diced shallot (or leek, or spring onion, or whatever onion you have on hand)
1 medium zucchini, diced
1 1/3 cup risotto rice (such as Arborio, Carnaroli, or Violone Nano)
1/2 cup dry white wine
1-2 Tbsp butter (optional)
A squirt of fresh lemon juice
A handful of feta (optional)
2 cans tuna, 9 oz each
Salt

Pour the water into a kettle and bring to a boil.

Set a medium-sized, heavy sauce pan over med-low heat. Add the oil and shallots. Add zucchini and saute until tender.

Cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent and tender.

Turn up the heat to medium, add the rice, and cook, stirring constantly, for 2-4 minutes or until the grains are mostly translucent and only white in the center.

Pour in the wine and cook, stirring constantly, until the wine is absorbed. Add tuna.

Add enough water to cover the rice by 1/2 inch (about 2 cups), 1 tsp kosher salt (or 1/2 tsp table salt), and cook, stirring occasionally, until most of the water is absorbed.

Keep adding water 1/2 cup at a time and stirring as necessary. The less water you have in the pot, the more you have to stir.

After 15 minutes of cooking the rice with water, start tasting it. Continue cooking stirring constantly and adding water 1/2 cup at a time as necessary so that the rice doesn’t stick. Taste the rice every few minutes and as soon as it’s almost tender, but still toothsome, turn off the heat.

Add a bit more water if risotto looks stiff. Stir in the butter and a little cheese (if using). Reserve the rest of the cheese to sprinkle on top during serving. Give it a good squirt of lemon, taste and correct seasoning (you might need more lemon juice and/or salt). Cover and let rest 5 minutes. Serve sprinkled with cheese and drizzled with good olive oil. ??????????? ???????????? ??? ??????? ????? ??????? 12 ??? ??????? ?????????? ????? ?????? ??? ????????

Just about a month ago, I bought a bag from Timbuk2. I had been referred to their site and products by a couple people, but didn’t find anything that was just right, even though they have plenty of options to build your own bag.

I am coming to terms with the fact that I’m too busy to design and implement a bag that’s durable enough for my needs… So, I went back to check out the site again and found that they have a mini messenger bag option (Eula, x-small — being discontinued). I don’t know if they had it before and I didn’t notice, or if it was a new thing. In any case, I went for it and I am so pleased with it!

I took a picture of all the stuff I try to carry around with me, but never seemed to have enough space for in my bag… until now:
- hands-free set for phone, including headphones to listen to music
- keys
- flashlight
- current bus book (Anathem by Neal Stephenson)
- plastic bag, just in case
- badges for work
- wallet
- business cards
- umbrella
- pen, pencil, sharpie
- pile of quarters Ian handed me yesterday
- phone
- bandaids, just in case
- eraser
- thumb drive
- going out chapstick (sparkly)
- regular chapstick (not sparkly)
- fish oil pills/meds
- hair tie
- ziplock baggie… just in case
- mirror
- pirate buff
- Dash bus schedule, which I probably use ~once/month. But when I do, this comes in handy. Hm. Now that I’m thinking about it, I should probably just take a picture of the pages I need and store them on my phone. That’d be much smarter…
- composition book that I use to run my life when google’s busy… or when I just feel like writing stuff on paper instead of typing
- small microfiber towel (for wiping off wet seats on the bus/metro)
- earrings
- necklace
- calculator

I don’t know why I am compelled to carry all these things with me, but I do. And now I can. The bag is incredibly light, so even with all this stuff, it comes out just a smidge heavier than the large book I’ve been carrying around lately.

My umbrella pouch easily clips to the strap on the bag, so I can leave it out when it’s wet. My phone is always with me, so I can trust my alarm on there to remind me when to take my meds… which are conveniently in an adjacent pocket in my bag. My life is so incredibly organized these days!

I highly recommend this bag if you’re looking for something casual and small-ish, but still find yourself needing the flexibility to carry around a notepad or manilla folder every now and then. Or if you enjoy having a book with you at all times.

Only downside: velcro is super loud. It’s very functional because I overstuff the bag and I never have a problem keeping the bag shut. It’s just loud when I’m trying to sneak in and get something out of my bag on the bus or in a meeting.

Dimensions: 12″ x 8.5″ x 3.5″
My pattern: Argyle Socks Spice

And a belated cookie post…

I used some of TLD’s home-made strawberry jam for the heart cookies. And Ian had the idea for the fancy spiral cookies. I might try different flavors with those next time. We just used food coloring this time to test it out.

Ian and I went out last weekend and took the next step in our relationship… and got matching phones. G1s, of course. I’m not sure why none of my friends with G1s told me how much my quality of life would improve once I got this phone. But everything is *so* much better now.

Granted, google effectively owns my life now, but at least they’re taking good care of it. I don’t need to write my lists down on paper and transfer it later. I always have a running to do list and grocery lists. I can keep track of larger purchases still in the research stage. And I always have my calendar on me too.

Ian has even started sending out same-day responses to emails. And we have both taken to twittering like… well, like we didn’t spend months making fun of it when it first started getting popular.

And in case you hadn’t already guessed, I’m blogging from my magical, life-altering phone right now.

Got together for Saturday brunch this weekend to pre-celebrate TLD’s birthday. There was an abundance of waffles, bacon, and marble cake. Sarah and I didn’t coordinate, but that just meant there was more marble cake to be consumed!

Marble Cake (Derived from Betty Crocker Chocolate Mocha Cake)

INGREDIENTS:
2 1/4 cups flour
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt

1 2/3 cups sugar
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs

1/2 cup water
1 tsp vanilla

1/3 cup baking cocoa
1/2 tbs instant espresso coffee (dry)
3/4 cups water

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease well and flour three 8″ round cake pans.
2. In medium bowl, mix flour, baking soda, and salt.
3. In medium bowl, cream sugar, butter, vanilla, and eggs. Stir in dry mixture.
4. Split dough between 2 bowls.
5. In first bowl, add 1/2 cup water and extra vanilla. Beat on high until blended, scraping bowl occasionally.
6. In measuring cup or small bowl, mix 3/4 cup water with cocoa and coffee.
7. Pour liquid mixture in second bowl. Beat on high until blended, scraping bowl occasionally.
8. Alternate pouring batter into pans and drag knife through to create marble pattern.
9. Bake 25 minutes.

Frosting
1 cup butter
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
4 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup water
1/2 tsp instant coffee (dry)
3 tbs cocoa
4 oz melted unsweetened chocolate

1. Cream the butter until smooth and well blended.
2. Add vanilla extract.
3. With the mixer on low, gradually beat in the sugar. Scraping bowl often.
4. Mix water, coffee, and cocoa before adding to mixture.
5. Beat on high speed until frosting is light and fluffy (about 3-4 minutes).
6. Beat chocolate (melted) into finished icing.

Notes: I only used the coffee/cocoa in the frosting because I forgot to halve the coffee/cocoa when I was mixing that part for the cake and had a bunch leftover. Worked out well in the frosting though. I would recommend trying a little more coffee and a little less cocoa next time to bring out the flavor more. I cheated on the chocolate and used 2/3 cup semi-sweet morsels. Definitely should try unsweetened or bittersweet next time. The coloring and flavor in the frosting was a little light and a little too sweet compared to the cake.

And for the adventurous, try a different flavor in the vanilla/plain part of the cake. The chocolate mocha part kind of over-powered the rest, but would probably work well with a white chocolate, caramel, or hazelnut.

Wow, how glad am I that I’m me today? I finished up my workout and grabbed my towel from my locker. Already camped out at the mirror stations opposite my locker were 2 girls doing their hair. (They brought their own hair dryers, btw.)

I took a shower, got dressed/ready, did my hair, bundled up and left… and they were still on hair. Also discussing that awful bridezilla movie that’s out: “There were parts that were predictable, but there were a few surprises.” Yeah, that you paid money to watch that. Hm, no. On second thought, not surprised.

I’m mostly cranky because I got spritzed with peripheral hair stuff pre- and post-shower by the same girl. Blech.

Thursday started out with breakfast with Ian’s parents. I got my first stocking and have plenty of Christmas candy to last me until the new year. :)

Thursday afternoon was with Ian’s extended family. The big differences from previous years was the musical extravaganza and birthday cake for dessert. We sang happy birthday to Jesus. It was a fun day.

Did Christmas with my family on Boxing Day. There was dancing, more snorking, and bingo! Plus, Anna had a chance to enjoy the activity book I received the day before.

Mac & Cheese (I made this for Thanksgiving too, but forgot to link the recipe. Thanks to Anna for sending this to me!)

INGREDIENTS
For topping
1/2 stick unsalted butter
2 cups panko (coarse Japanese bread crumbs) or 3 cups coarse fresh bread crumbs (from 6 slices firm white sandwich bread)
1/4 pound coarsely grated extra-sharp Cheddar (1 1/2 cups)
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

For macaroni and sauce
1 stick unsalted butter
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
5 cups whole milk
1 pound coarsely grated extra-sharp Cheddar (6 cups)
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
1 pound elbow macaroni

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 400°F with rack in middle.

Make topping:
Melt butter, then stir together with panko and topping cheeses in a bowl until combined well.

Make sauce:
Melt butter in a heavy medium saucepan over medium-low heat and stir in flour. Cook roux, stirring, 3 minutes, then whisk in milk. Bring sauce to a boil, whisking constantly, then simmer, whisking occasionally, 3 minutes. Stir in cheeses, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper until smooth. Remove from heat and cover surface of sauce with wax paper.

Make Macaroni:
Cook macaroni in a pasta pot of boiling salted water (2 tablespoons salt for 4 quarts water) until al dente. Reserve 1 cup cooking water and drain macaroni in a colander. Stir together macaroni, reserved cooking water, and sauce in a large bowl. Transfer to 2 buttered 2-quart shallow baking dishes.

Sprinkle topping evenly over macaroni and bake until golden and bubbling, 20 to 25 minutes.

NOTES: Add a tablespoon of mustard to the roux. I’ve been using progressively more pasta each time and I think for my taste, about a pound and a half of pasta with some ham mixed in was a good cheese ratio (can reduce final baking time to ~15 mins). I mixed whole wheat with regular rotinis and started that when I started the sauce and let it sit in the water to overcook the noodles until the sauce was ready.

Ian and I tried Pizza Hut’s Panormous pizza tonight… only to discover that our pizza was made out of breadsticks!

Thanks to the internets, we discovered there are a bunch of people who feel strongly about Pizza Hut pizzas. The pizza is supposed to be made out of the breadstick dough, but they weren’t supposed to pre-cut it like breadsticks for us…

I really liked President-elect Obama’s victory speech. And Senator McCain did a stand up job with his speech too (and hearing similar reactions as with Senator Clinton at the Democratic Convention — if he had given speeches like this during the campaign, this probably would’ve been a much tighter race).

But am I the only one who listened to that speech and thought of this scene from the Goonies?

America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves – if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?

This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment.

This is our time, to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth, that, out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope. And where we are met with cynicism and doubts and those who tell us that we can’t, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes, we can.

And after re-watching that, I can even see corollaries with our current political scene. The parental Republicans see us as childish, naive Democrats. They are faced with a financial crisis. There is one who stands among us ready to lead, to instill hope and confidence to reach for dreams we never thought possible. And if all goes as the Goonies went, by turning our backs on Troy’s bucket, Mikey will save us from financial ruin. Or something.

So, I thought Election Day 2008 ending would leave me with more free time. It probably will… but until everything gets tallied, it looks like I’m just going to keep obsessing. Still watching as results continue to come in for Washington, Oregon, North Carolina, Missouri, and Georgia. Keeping a closer eye on the Senate races that still haven’t been called yet (Alaska — you continue to surprise me. And not so much in the good way.). Finding all kind of exit poll stats to pore over. And, of course, keeping up with the ballot measures for each state.

***********

Dear California,

What’s up with you? I thought you were supposed to be the future of this country. I thought you set the example that the rest of us eventually caught up to.

But, really? You’re going to join Arizona and Florida and write discrimination into your constitution? I can understand them doing that. I wasn’t even surprised when they passed overwhelmingly.

I really thought you’d make it ok. And, in a way, you have. Well, you will.

Good job to all my friends out in California and the many, many volunteers who tried to reject Prop. 8. Thanks to the 61% of the youth vote who voted No on picking a new scapegoat.

CNN’s holographic technology brought us ever closer to the future. And as I’ve been saying more and more often recently: The future is awesome. So, just wait. It’ll be the future soon.

Still Disappointed,
Enjanerd

***********

Dear Colorado and South Dakota,

Thank you.

Hugs and sparkles,
Enjanerd

***********

Dear Michigan,

You are such a goofball. I hope marijuana gets legalized soon so we can tax the bejeezus out of it. But until then, just be responsible. The medical profession has enough issues without more people trying to scam drugs out of it.

Best of luck,
Enjanerd