So the chicken poached in milk was a success. I do not have any pictures, unfortunately. I doubled the recipe and it worked out great. The only thing I didn't do, which I should have, is use the sauce. I was a little worried about serving the curdled milk to guests, but it wasn't even that curdled and it smelled great.
On the side we had broccoli and mashed red potatoes, with some of the skins left on. We served a Sancerre wine, I had two glasses so I'm feeling a little sleepy but going to push through and try to get some more of this lit review done!
BTW go health care, it's certainly far from perfect but we need to VOTE YES. I have some funny stories about the tea party protesters we saw as we took our Saturday evening stroll around the hill. We were at Good Stuff Eatery and a guy, some sort of press type with a badge, blue blazer, and khakis was sitting near us. Some protesters walked by, with totally reasonable signs like, "Don't Tread on Me" or "You're not American if you believe in health care" (ok, it didn't say that, but it was to that effect) walked by, and one said to him "Vote no!!" The guy's reaction, which was to shrug with his hands out like a question, was great. I told him it was the blue blazer. Because everyone on the Hill in a blue blazer is a Congressman.
The protesters in general were a) white; b) over 40; and c) either well-to-do baby boomers or people that hang out in motorcycle bars. Strange bedfellows. Their numbers on the hill were dwarfed the next day (today) by the immigrant reform marchers; I saw more of them at RFK Metro Stop than all the tea partiers on the hill. Because at the end of the day, the young, multicultural and multiracial people of this nation are the future, not the old haters. So much of the tea party rhetoric is tinged with racism, it really upsets me. I just keep telling myself that the rhetoric of hope and optimism will win out. I have to believe that my children will grow up in a more tolerant world than the one I did, where anyone can be president and we don't hate people because their first language isn't English. I look at my students and that's who they are, and they're smarter than I'll ever be, so I just have to believe in them.
So Si, Se Puede!!!
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Disserting
I haven't been posting as much because I've done quite a bit of (gasp) actual work on my dissertation. I had this hare-brained plan of finishing a draft of my proposal by the end of this Spring Break week, and although I'm not there, I'm definitely closer. For one, I know the proposal outline and how it will play into the final dissertation. I've done a skeleton intro, a huge chunk of literature review (bleh, like pulling teeth. Every sentence has like 5 sources), and had some nice thoughts towards a methodology section. That will also be painful.
BUT, once I've done the literature review, the dissertation itself will be a careful weaving in of the "findings" with the literature review to create more chronological chapters. The end result will probably be something like 6 chapters: an intro, a stand-alone methodology chapter, and three chapters of results/lit review that follow the contours of Alatis's life: beginning as a child up through education, with history of Greek immigrants and foreign/second language education history of the time, his time at the Dept of State/Ed with the Sputnik, post-WWII years of policy, and his life as dean, with info on being a dean as well as the FL policy of the time. But all that lit review stuff will be WRITTEN, making it painful now but hopefully less so for the final product.
In any case, I'm having "Sunday dinner" with friends tonight and making Jamie Oliver's chicken poached in milk along with some mashed potatoes and salad. Friends are bringing some broccoli and dessert.
Here's a glimpse of my table layout for this evening (done my DH was taking apart the chicken to make it a little easier to cook, so I'm not doing the whole chicken poaching thing as prescribed by the recipe.)
And the whole dining room, with the chandelier rescued from my parents-in-law's:
I'll update you on the meal later! I also have a few more recipes to post that I've made over the past few weeks.
BUT, once I've done the literature review, the dissertation itself will be a careful weaving in of the "findings" with the literature review to create more chronological chapters. The end result will probably be something like 6 chapters: an intro, a stand-alone methodology chapter, and three chapters of results/lit review that follow the contours of Alatis's life: beginning as a child up through education, with history of Greek immigrants and foreign/second language education history of the time, his time at the Dept of State/Ed with the Sputnik, post-WWII years of policy, and his life as dean, with info on being a dean as well as the FL policy of the time. But all that lit review stuff will be WRITTEN, making it painful now but hopefully less so for the final product.
In any case, I'm having "Sunday dinner" with friends tonight and making Jamie Oliver's chicken poached in milk along with some mashed potatoes and salad. Friends are bringing some broccoli and dessert.
Here's a glimpse of my table layout for this evening (done my DH was taking apart the chicken to make it a little easier to cook, so I'm not doing the whole chicken poaching thing as prescribed by the recipe.)
 |
| From 2010-03-21 |
And the whole dining room, with the chandelier rescued from my parents-in-law's:
 |
| From 2010-03-21 |
I'll update you on the meal later! I also have a few more recipes to post that I've made over the past few weeks.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Putting 'em on notice
So we had a neighborhood incident today where a group of high schoolers (probably about 8 of them) were gambling in the back of one of the houses on my street. They said hello to me as I walked the dog by, and being that I can't count, I thought that it was at a house on our street where there are lots of comings and goings and conceivably, one of them could temporarily be living there.
Well, as it turns out, it was at Mrs. N's house, as I discovered when she came home and pulled into her driveway to find them. Apparently they cruise houses and try to find a place to gamble. It's likely it was the same crew I saw a few days ago in the alley. Apparently they try to find houses where no one is home and play their games.
As Mrs. N, who is a high school teacher, said, "This is the future. I'm going to an island someplace."
I guess this wouldn't happen if I lived in some fancy place elsewhere in the city like many of my friends do, but at the same time, I couldn't afford my mortgage and I wouldn't work so hard to make friends with our neighbors.
Bev on the street did call the cops, and they cruised by about 10 minutes too late. Next time I'm not going to be so chicken and just call.
Well, as it turns out, it was at Mrs. N's house, as I discovered when she came home and pulled into her driveway to find them. Apparently they cruise houses and try to find a place to gamble. It's likely it was the same crew I saw a few days ago in the alley. Apparently they try to find houses where no one is home and play their games.
As Mrs. N, who is a high school teacher, said, "This is the future. I'm going to an island someplace."
I guess this wouldn't happen if I lived in some fancy place elsewhere in the city like many of my friends do, but at the same time, I couldn't afford my mortgage and I wouldn't work so hard to make friends with our neighbors.
Bev on the street did call the cops, and they cruised by about 10 minutes too late. Next time I'm not going to be so chicken and just call.
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Spring Break
One of the benefits of working at a University is things like spring break. Oh, and summer break. This year because of furloughs we have almost the whole week off, and since there are some things that we need to work on anyway on my team, the one day we'll be working we really need. (Summer break is a different story - we're actually at work, but it's a nice time to work on longer term, strategic projects without as many distractions.
My goal for this spring break is to have a first draft done of my dissertation proposal. A colleague and I were discussing my proposal, and I said that because I wasn't doing it the traditional "5 chapter format" (that is, Introduction, Literature Review, Methodology, Findings, Analysis), I had no idea how to write my proposal. He asked why I wasn't doing that format, and I replied that I didn't know. He suggested that if it was going to help me to get it done, I should just go ahead and use that format. It was like a revelation.
So now I've gotten back into thinking about making my proposal the first three chapters. I won't act like it's a piece of cake, but I definitely have a handle on most of my lit review and methodology. The introduction will get re-written anyway, so putting something together that works for the proposal isn't a big deal because I can always edit later. The truth of the matter is I could always write it in the 5 chapters and then go back later to edit it into a chronological format (which was my original plan but I kept getting stuck by the need to weave in literature and methodology).
So that's my plan. I'll try to take breaks and report the progress.
Oh, and I still have some photos of food and house stuff to upload. I feel like instead of symbol and substance, this blog should be called research and renovation, or dissertation and fine dining. ;)
My goal for this spring break is to have a first draft done of my dissertation proposal. A colleague and I were discussing my proposal, and I said that because I wasn't doing it the traditional "5 chapter format" (that is, Introduction, Literature Review, Methodology, Findings, Analysis), I had no idea how to write my proposal. He asked why I wasn't doing that format, and I replied that I didn't know. He suggested that if it was going to help me to get it done, I should just go ahead and use that format. It was like a revelation.
So now I've gotten back into thinking about making my proposal the first three chapters. I won't act like it's a piece of cake, but I definitely have a handle on most of my lit review and methodology. The introduction will get re-written anyway, so putting something together that works for the proposal isn't a big deal because I can always edit later. The truth of the matter is I could always write it in the 5 chapters and then go back later to edit it into a chronological format (which was my original plan but I kept getting stuck by the need to weave in literature and methodology).
So that's my plan. I'll try to take breaks and report the progress.
Oh, and I still have some photos of food and house stuff to upload. I feel like instead of symbol and substance, this blog should be called research and renovation, or dissertation and fine dining. ;)
Saturday, March 6, 2010
$100 Bathroom Update
I updated my bathroom two weekends ago as a surprise for my dh. Being that we're in debt due to our kitchen remodel (worth it) I decided to try to do a remodel inexpensively.
This is the only before picture I have of the bathroom:
It had dingy grey/white walls and a cracked and gross basketweave floor. I'm sure those floors look great new, and I do love the vintage black/white bathroom tile, but it felt like I was showering in a a bathroom that hadn't been cleaned since the 1940s. Plus at some point someone re-caulked the bathroom, but they didn't use their finger to smooth out the caulk, so it was clumpy and way too much caulk than was actually needed, making the bathroom look as if it had a serious water problem. When I recaulked it there was to be expected mold, but nothing that makes me think that we couldn't just simply replace the tile around the shower eventually.
Here's the update:
And now the lowdown on what I did:
Freebees:
I am really lucky to have a husband who scours Craigslist for deals (like 29 lampshades - a tale for another post) and parent-in-law who never throw anything away. My father-in-law owns a storefront that used to be a Waterworks. It went out of business and we benefited.
Right now the items in the bathroom that are freebies are the linen shower curtain and nice beaded curtain hooks and all the "extras" - trash can, tissue holder, soap dish, soap dispenser, tray, and clock. I should clarify that since my father-in-law hasn't found a tenant for the store I guess they're not really free for them. But I digress. If I were able to do plumbing, I would have hooked up the $560 pedestal sink we also have that is just waiting in the basement to join the upstairs bathroom.
Cheapies:
I used Benjamin Moore's Aura Bath & Spa. It's a matte paint that is mold and mildew resistant. Because our walls are wonky, the matte paint goes a long way to hide imperfections. This color is Palladian Blue.
The extra special part is that I needed 2 quarts of the paint, but Frager's didn't have quarts in the Bath & Spa. So instead of selling me inferior paint, they sold me a gallon for the price of 2 quarts. $36 bucks as opposed to $60+.
For the floor I used peel and stick tile from Home Depot. I'm not thrilled with it, it's sort of a parquet look, but unless I wanted to spend $80 on a case of the black and white from the internet, this was my option. It was about $35 although I cut it pretty close by buying only one box.
Clearance items from Target: $6 toilet seat to replace the weird "cushy" one we had, a $4 mold-resistant shower curtain liner, an $8 small towel ring, and a $10 towel bar so my hubby can hang out his towel to "dry" (magically, mine still seems to dry even though it is folded neatly, but whatever).
I also tried to update the light fixture, but that failed when the globe I bought for the naked light bulb didn't fit and then fell on the floor and broke. Oh well.
Personally, the biggest difference was re-caulking the tub. It made the shower look cleaner and feel more pleasant. Adding a white shower curtain also made the shower feel bigger.
Little tricks, small cost, but it has made getting ready in the morning so much more pleasant!
This is the only before picture I have of the bathroom:
 |
| From 2010-02-06 |
It had dingy grey/white walls and a cracked and gross basketweave floor. I'm sure those floors look great new, and I do love the vintage black/white bathroom tile, but it felt like I was showering in a a bathroom that hadn't been cleaned since the 1940s. Plus at some point someone re-caulked the bathroom, but they didn't use their finger to smooth out the caulk, so it was clumpy and way too much caulk than was actually needed, making the bathroom look as if it had a serious water problem. When I recaulked it there was to be expected mold, but nothing that makes me think that we couldn't just simply replace the tile around the shower eventually.
Here's the update:
 |
| From 2010-03-04 |
 |
| From 2010-03-04 |
 |
| From 2010-03-04 |
And now the lowdown on what I did:
Freebees:
I am really lucky to have a husband who scours Craigslist for deals (like 29 lampshades - a tale for another post) and parent-in-law who never throw anything away. My father-in-law owns a storefront that used to be a Waterworks. It went out of business and we benefited.
Right now the items in the bathroom that are freebies are the linen shower curtain and nice beaded curtain hooks and all the "extras" - trash can, tissue holder, soap dish, soap dispenser, tray, and clock. I should clarify that since my father-in-law hasn't found a tenant for the store I guess they're not really free for them. But I digress. If I were able to do plumbing, I would have hooked up the $560 pedestal sink we also have that is just waiting in the basement to join the upstairs bathroom.
Cheapies:
I used Benjamin Moore's Aura Bath & Spa. It's a matte paint that is mold and mildew resistant. Because our walls are wonky, the matte paint goes a long way to hide imperfections. This color is Palladian Blue.
The extra special part is that I needed 2 quarts of the paint, but Frager's didn't have quarts in the Bath & Spa. So instead of selling me inferior paint, they sold me a gallon for the price of 2 quarts. $36 bucks as opposed to $60+.
For the floor I used peel and stick tile from Home Depot. I'm not thrilled with it, it's sort of a parquet look, but unless I wanted to spend $80 on a case of the black and white from the internet, this was my option. It was about $35 although I cut it pretty close by buying only one box.
Clearance items from Target: $6 toilet seat to replace the weird "cushy" one we had, a $4 mold-resistant shower curtain liner, an $8 small towel ring, and a $10 towel bar so my hubby can hang out his towel to "dry" (magically, mine still seems to dry even though it is folded neatly, but whatever).
I also tried to update the light fixture, but that failed when the globe I bought for the naked light bulb didn't fit and then fell on the floor and broke. Oh well.
Personally, the biggest difference was re-caulking the tub. It made the shower look cleaner and feel more pleasant. Adding a white shower curtain also made the shower feel bigger.
Little tricks, small cost, but it has made getting ready in the morning so much more pleasant!
Thursday, March 4, 2010
An Old Friend
This weekend was a busy one! We had a party for B's birthday, which turned out great. It was actually a surprise! I don't have any pics, unfortunately, but I need to upload several from the past couple of weeks.
One of the nice surprises from this past weekend was an old friend who was in town for a PAC she's involved in. She's actually my oldest friend, someone I've known since 6th grade. She's now a doctor, married and from the short time I could tell, both happy and her same old self. She was always an intense person, full of life and vigor and strong opinions. It was so nice to see her, but we only got to hang out for a very short time so I felt kind of sad afterward. Distance definitely separates us from the people we love, and so much time can go by without seeing them.
She's considering a fellowship here in DC at Washington Hospital Center, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that she ends up here in DC. Although maybe if she doesn't I'll just see her in another 10 years... ;)
One of the nice surprises from this past weekend was an old friend who was in town for a PAC she's involved in. She's actually my oldest friend, someone I've known since 6th grade. She's now a doctor, married and from the short time I could tell, both happy and her same old self. She was always an intense person, full of life and vigor and strong opinions. It was so nice to see her, but we only got to hang out for a very short time so I felt kind of sad afterward. Distance definitely separates us from the people we love, and so much time can go by without seeing them.
She's considering a fellowship here in DC at Washington Hospital Center, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that she ends up here in DC. Although maybe if she doesn't I'll just see her in another 10 years... ;)
Friday, February 26, 2010
Andes, NY
Hipster paradise! Yet another New York Times article about the town where B and I got married. This time it's about vintage clothing store Clementine which also has an online store.
In some ways this couple is totally living my (maybe even our) dream of renovating a $150,000 farmhouse outside of Andes and raising two kids in "good, clean dirt." Only I guess my dream involves me being on faculty at nearby SUNY Delhi, not owning a clothing store.
Other great Andes places:
Tay Tea
The Andes Hotel
In some ways this couple is totally living my (maybe even our) dream of renovating a $150,000 farmhouse outside of Andes and raising two kids in "good, clean dirt." Only I guess my dream involves me being on faculty at nearby SUNY Delhi, not owning a clothing store.
Other great Andes places:
Tay Tea
The Andes Hotel
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Dinner FAIL
I forgot to write about my utter dinner failure on Monday night. I wanted to make a fish and kale dish with curry. Rather than get tilapia, I splurged and bought cod, thinking it was a more high-quality fish. I don't know if it's how I cooked it or the fish itself, but it totally turned to mush in my frying pan. I oversalted the dish as well, and managed to undercook the brown rice as well as oversalt it. I picked out all the kale and fed the rest to the cat and the garbage disposal. My DH ate it, but definitely not one of my better dishes.
Not only did dinner (literally, at least the fish) fall apart in salty mush, but I attempted to make the Vanilla Pudding I made for my Coconut Layer Cake and also failed. I don't know what went wrong, but instead of using all half-and-half I attempted to use some of the 2% milk that we need to use up in the mix (so 1 cup half&half and one cup milk). Trying to do too many things at once - clean up, cook dinner, let out the dog, etc and the milk mixture first boiled over. Then I took it off to let it steep with some green tea, thinking I would make green tea pudding. When I put it back on with the cornstarch mixture and let it simmer, it never came together like pudding and was gross and lumpy. I don't know if it was the fact that the milk boiled over, or that I used 2% milk, or what.
Well, so that was Monday. I ended up eating the kale (which, despite all else, was really good) and a bowl of cereal. I woke up this morning super hungry.
Tonight I made chicken and dumplings, which turned out remarkably better, although this time I didn't salt it enough. Generally on weeknights I just don't take the time to taste, taste, taste because I'm trying to do too many other things while cooking. Focusing on cooking is relaxing, and I suppose it wouldn't be the end of the world to have more dishes to clean up afterward.
Not only did dinner (literally, at least the fish) fall apart in salty mush, but I attempted to make the Vanilla Pudding I made for my Coconut Layer Cake and also failed. I don't know what went wrong, but instead of using all half-and-half I attempted to use some of the 2% milk that we need to use up in the mix (so 1 cup half&half and one cup milk). Trying to do too many things at once - clean up, cook dinner, let out the dog, etc and the milk mixture first boiled over. Then I took it off to let it steep with some green tea, thinking I would make green tea pudding. When I put it back on with the cornstarch mixture and let it simmer, it never came together like pudding and was gross and lumpy. I don't know if it was the fact that the milk boiled over, or that I used 2% milk, or what.
Well, so that was Monday. I ended up eating the kale (which, despite all else, was really good) and a bowl of cereal. I woke up this morning super hungry.
Tonight I made chicken and dumplings, which turned out remarkably better, although this time I didn't salt it enough. Generally on weeknights I just don't take the time to taste, taste, taste because I'm trying to do too many other things while cooking. Focusing on cooking is relaxing, and I suppose it wouldn't be the end of the world to have more dishes to clean up afterward.
Elation and Frustration
I never finished explaining How I Became Nicole X. Although I suppose I was trying to show rather than tell as I learned I should do in my college fiction writing class, I should probably just finish the story by saying that I became my married name when I was in the ICU at Sibley Hospital back in November. The nurses and lab techs would come in at 4am to begin everything, the chest X-rays, the blood work, and they called me Mrs. X, my married name. After that I haven't slipped up once in calling myself by my new name. My maiden name has slipped into the past with a lot of other things that I used to be.
I wrestle between frustration and elation these days. Elation because I feel so much better than I did back in November and December. There were so many inconclusive tests back then, and they were painful. I still have the marks on the right side of my upper thigh where they cut in to put catheters into my heart, the first time to see if there were electrical problems and the second time for the myocardial biopsy that left me writhing in pain. Back then when I had no answers, I was really convinced that my Christmas present might be getting on a heart transplant list. Now, even though I have no more answers than I did before, we know that's not the case. My heart is healing, slowly slowly, but healing.
On Sunday I went to the grocery store and coming back up the steps with a couple of bags into our new kitchen, my husband said, "It's so nice to hear you do that and not be out of breath." I agreed, "Yeah!" It was exciting, realizing that I feel better. But with the same hand it's still hard because I used to be someone different. I took things for granted, but I used to run three miles without thinking about it, run around my office building all day without breaking a sweat, or drink too many glasses of wine, the only consequence being a headache the next morning.
I try to be positive, look how far I've come and not try to think too much about the Nicole C. that I was before I got sick, the one who ran the day before her wedding in the rain or swam in the ocean on her honeymoon for hours, or who thought that everything was possible the moment she wanted it. Although I know I will get back to being active again, no one can promise me that I'll ever run a 5K again. I used to take that so much for granted, I could run a 5K in my sleep. Now I see people running along Rock Creek in DC or I read blogs where women talk about how their exercise class kicked their butt, I'm envious. I try to remind myself that the reason this has all happened is to make me more thankful, think about what I have, value it more, but it's tough.
I know I have an amazing life, one that might have not still been going on had we not gone to the hospital when we did. I know I'm supposed to learn from this, it's the proverbial blessing in disguise that makes you thankful that you're here at all. When things change suddenly for you, though, there are times when you maybe get a little sad. I wish I could say I'll never take anything for granted again, but I will and I welcome the time when I slip into the sweet ignorance of living without a care. Life is really sweet, and I guess sometimes being sad about what isn't is just part of that.
It's a tough month, February, no? Cold, dreary... in less than a week, though, it will be March, both of our birthdays, and a spring that I think I will enjoy like no other in my life!
I wrestle between frustration and elation these days. Elation because I feel so much better than I did back in November and December. There were so many inconclusive tests back then, and they were painful. I still have the marks on the right side of my upper thigh where they cut in to put catheters into my heart, the first time to see if there were electrical problems and the second time for the myocardial biopsy that left me writhing in pain. Back then when I had no answers, I was really convinced that my Christmas present might be getting on a heart transplant list. Now, even though I have no more answers than I did before, we know that's not the case. My heart is healing, slowly slowly, but healing.
On Sunday I went to the grocery store and coming back up the steps with a couple of bags into our new kitchen, my husband said, "It's so nice to hear you do that and not be out of breath." I agreed, "Yeah!" It was exciting, realizing that I feel better. But with the same hand it's still hard because I used to be someone different. I took things for granted, but I used to run three miles without thinking about it, run around my office building all day without breaking a sweat, or drink too many glasses of wine, the only consequence being a headache the next morning.
I try to be positive, look how far I've come and not try to think too much about the Nicole C. that I was before I got sick, the one who ran the day before her wedding in the rain or swam in the ocean on her honeymoon for hours, or who thought that everything was possible the moment she wanted it. Although I know I will get back to being active again, no one can promise me that I'll ever run a 5K again. I used to take that so much for granted, I could run a 5K in my sleep. Now I see people running along Rock Creek in DC or I read blogs where women talk about how their exercise class kicked their butt, I'm envious. I try to remind myself that the reason this has all happened is to make me more thankful, think about what I have, value it more, but it's tough.
I know I have an amazing life, one that might have not still been going on had we not gone to the hospital when we did. I know I'm supposed to learn from this, it's the proverbial blessing in disguise that makes you thankful that you're here at all. When things change suddenly for you, though, there are times when you maybe get a little sad. I wish I could say I'll never take anything for granted again, but I will and I welcome the time when I slip into the sweet ignorance of living without a care. Life is really sweet, and I guess sometimes being sad about what isn't is just part of that.
It's a tough month, February, no? Cold, dreary... in less than a week, though, it will be March, both of our birthdays, and a spring that I think I will enjoy like no other in my life!
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Death of a Colleague
Some things make you stop and realize where you are and where you've been in life. Today I found out that my colleague from my teaching days in the French department passed away this week. I went back and looked at old emails between us and found another one between me and one of my old students as well. It's sad, it's almost as if I was a whole different person when I was teaching, so close to people I don't stay in touch with now. It's not that I don't care about them, it's just so hard to maintain relationships with people you were friends with for three years or less, and when you have a whole wonderful circle of friends to share your current life with.
Reading the old emails brought me back. I don't think my life is better or worse now that I'm not a teacher, just different. I "know" (as much as anyone can) that I'm on the right path, but still, sometimes you ache for your past self and the life you once lived. And for the people you once shared it with, because of course, you never know when goodbye might be for good.
So goodbye, Monique.
Reading the old emails brought me back. I don't think my life is better or worse now that I'm not a teacher, just different. I "know" (as much as anyone can) that I'm on the right path, but still, sometimes you ache for your past self and the life you once lived. And for the people you once shared it with, because of course, you never know when goodbye might be for good.
So goodbye, Monique.
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