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Living at Peace With the Unexpected

October has been full of surprises around our house. And I’m discovering that while I might roll with the punches pretty well these days, I haven’t yet learned to live peacefully with the unexpected. As in, accepting that when life goes a little ape, certain things just don’t get done.

The laundry and dishes pile up, I order take-out more than usual, which means my budget takes a hit, which creates more problems I can’t really deal with at the moment. Then there is the underlying strain of the regular routine being interrupted, and if there happen to be any big unknowns lingering, well, I’m heading to bed right after finishing my phad thai.

About two weeks ago I had two surprise job interviews on the same day, and when I say “surprise”, I mean that I didn’t know I was showing up for an interview. I have a degree in Human Resource management and Organizational Behavior; being in an interview unprepared is an extremely stressful experience.

I’m still waiting to hear back about the job I’m holding out for, and there have been glitches with my writing flow and posting around here. I had wanted to write about finances this month, but as I got brainstorming and thinking and reading, I couldn’t actually get started. The truth is, finance makes sense to me. So understanding the confusion and hangups takes a bit of work. And the more I read and thought and false-started, the more I felt like I couldn’t stick my toe in the water without full-on jumping in the pool. The other day I finally had to accept that I just can’t post about finance this month. It needs a lot more thought, a lot more structure, and a lot more posts than I had in mind to tackle.

Thankfully, my dude is always reminding me that I am the only one who cares about such things. But when I don’t follow through on something I’ve said I’m going to do, I still feel like a bit of a failure. And as this has happened innumerable times in my life, I really hate revving up the old failure monster.

But some months (or weeks, or seasons) require letting go of expectations, be they real or perceived or imagined. Sometimes just doing my best to not drown in the rapids until the river reaches a calmer stretch where I can find the bottom and pull myself to shore is about the best I can manage. And once I do find my footing again, it takes me a while to reorient myself, to dry off, and to catch my breath. And, oh yeah, to eat something. Like potstickers.

I’m still learning this. I’ve been through enough seasons of the unexpected to know that it’s a part of life. It’s happening now and it will happen again. It might happen again next month. But even though I know all of this in my head, I haven’t peacefully accepted it in that deep internal way. In that way that lets me be okay with being a little dizzy and needing to sit and rest for a bit.

The good news for Project Grownup is that I’m in the middle of learning a lot about adult-world things I’m facing for the first time. No doubt I’ll be asking for your expertise and the Facebook Page in the days to come. (Please help a sister out as you’re able.)

Until then, can someone please pass the spring rolls?

My Top 5 Resources for Recipes and Food Ideas

Our gas cylinder (the source of gas for our stove/oven) was stolen a few nights ago, which means I’m suddenly switching gears from the food post I had planned this week. Add that to an October full of surprises, guests, and big life moments (like possibly getting a new job and/or buying a house), and you get…

Well, I don’t know what you get. Whatever it is, I think it falls under the rhyme my friends use with their kiddos: “You get what you get and you don’t throw a fit.”

Well, it rhymes in the southern states, at least. Don’t be a hater.

I’m reminding myself not to throw fits about the curve-balls that come my way and just ride it out. Today that means I’m accepting the freedom to share a post I posted a while back on a personal blog. It fits our theme, and relieves me of the pressure of figuring out what to do in the (surprise!) absence of my stove and oven. (It also relieves you of reading something unfortunately crappy.) See? We all win.

You may have guessed by now that I love chasing the home-chef dream. I love to learn the best way to do something and why it’s the best way and when it’s the best way and when it’s not. I love discovering ingredients and learning how to improve something I’ve been doing “wrong” for a long time and enjoy all colors of kitchen geekery. I do like to cook, but it’s more about the aesthetic, the process, and ultimately, putting something really delicious on the table. Which means, ironically, I don’t cook as often as you might think.

As a way to discover food and flavors, I often use recipes as a first foray into uncharted territory. But in the years since I began learning about food, I’ve discovered that not all recipe sources are created equal. There are a few gems out there, but I’ve sworn off far more sources than I’ve returned to.

Several years ago I pinned down what it is I want out of a recipe (and a recipe source). Settling this in my mind has helped me find better recipes in less time. If you haven’t already, I highly suggest collecting your own (limited) set of resources that fits your food personality and personal taste. Today I’m sharing my list with you. I think more than 80% of my recipes come from the following sources. Here are my loves with a short explanation of why they make the Top 5.

1) Everyday Food

Everyday Food is my go-to resource for solid, standard recipes. The vast majority of their recipes use standard ingredients and simple techniques to yield great results. I get lots of simple ideas for, well, everyday food.

I used to primarily use the magazine (may she rest in peace), because the page-flip browsing was great for getting ideas-a-plenty in any season. But now I use the website to search for recipes for particular ingredients; for a not-too-much-fuss tart perhaps, or simple ways to prepare fish.

2) Fine Cooking

As I’ve said, I am wary of recipes. I use them, of course, but I generally don’t trust them. Fine Cooking is an exception to this. Nearly everything I’ve made from them has been tasty by my own estimation (I tend to be my toughest critic) and enjoyed by everyone else. I also learn a lot of techniques from Fine Cooking as they aim to educate as well as provide recipes.

I use the magazine and magazine archive versions of Fine Cooking. I don’t go to their website much as they charge a subscription fee to access a good portion of their site, and I feel like I have what I want from print and digital sources.

3) Cook’s Illustrated

When I first published this post, the Cook’s Illustrated homepage read, “You don’t need 100 recipes for Roast Chicken (or anything else), you just need one that works.” This is pretty much Cook’s Illustrated in a nutshell.

I love Cook’s Illustrated because I learn a lot from their descriptions of the trial and error process they went through to get to that “one recipe”. They certainly take the descriptions too far sometimes, but I don’t really mind because by the end of a two-page article I’ve gained a great recipe as well as the understanding of what makes it great. For instance, in the Cook’s Illustrated recipe for Phad Thai they describe a no-fail way to prepare rice noodles. (If you’ve worked with rice noodles you know how temperamental they can be.) I have since used this technique on many sorts of rice noodles for a variety of dishes with 100% success. It’s back-pocket tricks like this that earn Cook’s Illustrated it’s spot on the list.

Like Fine Cooking, Cook’s Illustrated charges a subscription fee for accessing most of their online content. Bump that, I’ll take print. I most frequently use The New Best Recipe as a sort of encyclopedia for recipes, but also grab recipes from the magazine on occasion. Though I did just discover they recently released an iPad edition of the magazine, so this may all be changing for me in the near future.

4) Food Network

I go to Food Network for interesting and odd finds, twists on a classic, or creative combinations. I don’t go to Food Network for standard recipes. There are better sources for that. If I’m looking for a sampling of decent recipes for a specific dish, that’s when I use Food Network. Recently I perused them for Pulled Pork recipes and in a very short time I had a handful of promising options.

One reason Food Network is a great option for this sort of thing is because their recipes are comprised from those of individual chefs rather than from recipes conceived in a test kitchen. I feel like each recipe of a certain dish reflects its creator and is distinctive from the other offerings of the same item. With a test kitchen the recipes tend to be more middle-of-the-road and less interesting.

(An additional tip: When FN recipes were first presented on TV, they were often grouped with sides as part of an overall meal. If you follow the link to the original episode, you can get ideas for what else to serve alongside the recipe. Even if you don’t use that exact recipe you can still get good ideas for sides.)

I use the website 99% of the time, as I prefer other food magazines to Food Network’s offering.

5) TasteSpotting and Foodgawker

I have a hate/love relationship with food blogs. I hate them because the recipes are even less reliable than usual, and because after peaking my interest with a beautiful photo of the finished dish, the recipes never seem to deliver. I’ve had more disappointments with tries from food blogs than from any other source. And I hate, hate, HATE the long string of dish-preparation pictures. I’m sorry, but I’ve seen onions and peppers and garlic mellow in olive oil before. Many times. Please have mercy on my poor scrolling fingers.

Anyway.

What I love about food blogs is the new ideas for food combinations and plating, and how looking at them inspires me to get in the kitchen. It just so happens that Tastespotting and Foodgawker incorporate the best of these two things while bypassing what I dislike. Score.

Here’s how I use them: I’ll go to the site, type something in the search box, and then peruse related titles and photos. Recently I was looking for some ideas for empanada fillings. I typed “empanada” in the search box and soon I was browsing pictures of everything from Guava & Manchego Empanadas to Butternut Squash & Mushroom Empanadas. Yum.

A Notable Absence

You may have noticed that user-submitted recipe sites are absent from the list. This is not because I never use them, but because they require heaps of extra time and effort. I have to sort through a lot of obviously misinformed recipes (like the one for jambalaya that instructed me to let the shrimp cook in there for 25 minutes), and then sort through just as many comments in order to find out how to actually prepare the recipe. I’m just not so in to that.

Of course, my favorite brownie recipe came from Tasty Kitchen, so I don’t always follow my own advice on that one.

…what about you?…

What are your go-to places for recipes (or food ideas) and why?

The Which-Candidate Tool: ISideWith.com

Last week I shared how to find out if you’re registered to vote, and where to get information on getting signed up if you’re not. (Today is the last day to register to vote, btw.) Today I’m turning to the voting side of things in what I promise is my last post related to the upcoming presidential election.

I think voicing your preference about what direction(ish) you prefer for your country to be going in (i.e. voting) is important. And this tool is a super easy way to get all of that candidate-personal-junk-related-distraction out of the way and see which vote you might cast if you were to base it solely on issues that are important to you. Enter: ISideWith.com

ISideWith.com

ISideWith.com is a website that helps you see which candidate’s positions most similarly reflect your own. The primary tool for this is their quiz that prompts you to respond to a series of policy-related questions in several categories (healthcare, the environment, the economy, etc.).

The quiz is more dynamic and capable than some, however, because it lets you indicate how important each issue is for you, and gives you more involved answer options for topics that aren’t merely yes/no for you. For example, for the question, “Should U.S. National Parks and Forests continue to be preserved and protected by the federal government?”, the primary answers are yes and no. But if you select “choose another stance,” the following pop-up box appears:

alternate responses for national forests questions

Nice.

When you submit your quiz, ISideWith lets you know how precisely your views mirror those of each candidate.

Another fantastic feature of ISideWith is that you can compare two candidates side by side and see their specific answers to each question. (A great way to compare their distinctions on various issues.)

I generally try to avoid the political bits streaming from mainstream media, and these days I can’t help but avoid them. So ISideWith was a great way to get a feel for each of the candidates and how their positions relate to my views about what’s best for America’s future. The information on the site isn’t exhaustive, but it gave me a great jumping-off point for exploring matters further.

Overall, I highly recommend it.

…what about you?…

Have you tried ISideWith.com? Do you have any other favorite simple sites for exploring the issues and the candidates positions on them? Please share!

(Note: Please keep all comments either positive or neutral both politically and in tone. Snarky comments about the candidates or the voting populous will be deleted. Cheers!)

Pumpkin Bread

Pumpkin BreadIt’s Foodist Friday. And while I will definitely keep recipes to a minimum around here (in favor of sharing about techniques and ingredients), today I’m honoring the season by sharing one of my favorite Fall recipes with you.

I’ve been using this recipe for nearly ten years. I’ve made this recipe as bread, muffins, and miniature muffins. It tastes great, and even when things don’t go as I’d like, it still turns out. Like yesterday when I fudged the technique and ended up with lumpy batter. And then my oven temperature went cuckoo. My bread came out with crunchy edges, but it turns out my friend prefers those pieces. And no one but me knew about that business with the batter.  Sweet.

Because of its continual kindness toward my belly and me, I recently tried to find the recipe somewhere online so I could share it on a Pinterest board (I only share recipes I’ve used and love). I couldn’t find this recipe anywhere. I found similar ones, even ones by the same creator (why does Paula make five different pumpkin breads??), but not this one.

As it deserves an online presence, I’m gifting you this easy and delicious pumpkin bread. This recipe makes enough to enjoy some now and freeze some for later.

Enough talky talky. Let’s eat.

Pumpkin Bread

Paula Deen, from Lady & Sons Savannah Country Cookbook

Makes 2 loaves. Or oodles of mini-muffins.

3 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
2 cups canned pumpkin
â…” cup water
3 ½ cups all purpose flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 ½ tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground nutmeg
½-¾ cup pecans, chopped (or walnuts)

  1. Preheat oven to 350°. Grease and flour two loaf pans (or whatever pans you’re using).
  2. Combine flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and pecans; whisk together and set aside.
  3. Mix sugar and oil with mixer. Add eggs and blend. Add pumpkin and blend. Add water and blend. C
  4. Add dry mixture to wet mixture a little bit at a time until combined. I add about a fourth of the dry mixture at a time. Fold gently until it just comes together. (Don’t overmix.)
  5. Fill pans equally and bake for until golden brown and set in the middle (about an hour).

The All-In-One Voter Tool: CanIVote.org (This Short Post Could Save You Big Time)

Have you ever showed up to the poll on election day and discovered you’re at the wrong place? Or found out, on election day, that you were actually registered to vote in a different county and need to high-tail it over there if you want to cast your ballot?

Me either, of course. I would never be that unprepared.

Well, said damsel could have saved herself a lot of trouble by taking a few seconds to check the site CanIVote.org. From the site, she could have:

  • Found out if she was registered to vote
  • Found information on registering to vote
  • Looked up the polling location of her precinct (ding! ding!)
  • Found out what ID she needed to take
  • Found information on absentee and early voting
  • Found information on the candidates (a nice alternative to the drivel of television coverage, if slightly oversimplified)

Okay, damsel aside.

CanIVote directs you to the desired information at the state level (since information varies by state), which may not be the most user-friendly. Click around a bit, though, and you’re bound to find what you’re looking for. For Texas, I found the best information upon clicking through to the county site.

The deadline to register to vote in the upcoming election is a week from today: Tuesday, October 9. So take a minute to check on your status and polling location today (and make a note of it on your calendar) so that election day can be spent watching CNN roll out a new hologram instead of driving home from a faraway poll.

And Pass the Word!

Take a second to share this post with your Twitter or Facebook lovebirds… there’s a good chance someone out there will be thankful you did!

3 Quick Things for October 1st (and A Fall Favorites Share Request)

It’s October. Say Whaaaaat?

I can’t say “I can’t believe it’s October already” because I use that line every month. So I’ll stick with Say Whaaaaaaaaaat?. I imagine you know what I mean.

This post is a start-of-the month jumble of stuff: A reminder, a holiday whassup, and a Fall shout-out. (And I’d super love for you to share your own tidbits and faves in the comments.) It’s all about October love around here today. First Up:

The Monthly Reminder

It’s the start of a new month, do you know where your year is?

I like to use the start of the month as a trigger to look back at my aims for the year and see how I’m doing. I think it’s particularly important to do this in October because, for most of us, the chances of being able to make sincere progress on anything gets difficult during the holidays.

Today I’m realizing I must make a decision about my 2012 reading goals. There is simply no way I’m going to meet them unless I sacrifice other major things en route. Which means, sadly, it may be time to abandon the goal. I’ll keep reading, of course, but will let the goal be about finishing certain books before year’s end. It’s sad now, but come December 31st, I’ll feel better knowing that I changed the goal in favor of other goals, rather than feeling like a failure for not finishing.

What do you want/need to do before 2012 comes to a close? Put milestones on your calendar (or in your system) now so that you’ll be on track to finish by the end of the year.

The Approaching Holidays

Now is a great time to start thinking about the holidays. Not because your holiday should be so full that starting in October is necessary, but because if you do certain things early, you’re freed up to enjoy what comes later.

There are several places online that provide structured projects week by week to help folks not leave everything til the last minute. A few I’ve used are Organized Home’s Christmas Countdown and Simple Mom’s A Peaceful Christmas.

These days I just use my regular tasks system to plan. The holidays are a lot simpler on this side of the planet, and the larger lists overcomplicate our meager festivities. (Our Narnia-inspired saying around here is that “it’s always summer and never Christmas.”)

Anyway, things I try to do in October are:

  • Create a Holiday Budget (including an extra 15% for unexpected expenses) and make sure it’s funded
  • Start a gift list and make sure I have at least a couple of ideas for each person. (I’m not a slave to the list, but it sure does help if I end up stuck.)
  • Gather old recipes I’d like to make this season and note any new ones I want to try
  • Brainstorm and plan our Advent activities for the season. Observing Advent is my favorite part of the Christmas season, but as few people celebrate it, planning is imperative. Especially when you live 1,000+ miles from the nearest town that observes Christmas.

What could you do this month to give you less stress in November and December?

And I may have saved the best for last…

It’s Fall!!

Around here we mostly pretend it’s Fall, of course, because it’s still pretty hot and there are absolutely no other indicators of “Fall” as I once knew it. But pretend we do, and the gala grows every year.

Our October 1st tradition is to crank up all the a/c’s in the house, burn fall-smelling candles, and bake something with pumpkin. We also make Russian Tea*, an orange spiced-tea mix that has the quintessential smell of Fall, with a taste to match.

What do you do to celebrate the Fall changing of seasons? I’d love to know your most-loved traditions, hear what you’re listening to that just feels right for cool days, and see your favorite Fall pinterest boards. Don’t worry, I’ll add a few of my own, too.

Please please please, post away!

 

*There are many different recipes for this around the web, but we make ours by mixing 27oz of Tang, 3/4 cup unsweetened instant tea with lemon, 2 tsp of cinnamon, and 1/2 tsp ground cloves. Just add a Tablespoon or two to boiling water.