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Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Kitchen wins and fails

I've been going through an "everything new" phase in the kitchen over the last month or so.  By this I mean I have avoided making anything that I have previously tried and doing all new recipes.  For the most part it has worked out great.  It has resulted in many new and fun dishes that both Corey and I really like.  However, it also hasn't been without hiccups.  I may have thrown too-wet-to-handle dough onto the counter in a moment of frustration.  Luckily the wins have outnumbered the fails.

Here are some recent winners:

Jargaritas - stick them in the freezer and you have a ready-made frozen margarita

Browned butter chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwich

Mallorcan sweet rolls

Braised red cabbage: cabbage + bacon + vinegar + sugar = yum

Short ribs over pasta with roasted asparagus - the best meal I've ever made

The Pioneer Woman's Blackberry Cobbler

Pulled pork sandwiches

Strawberry margaritas using fresh limes & strawberries (no bottled mixers!)

Despite some failures, I'm having more fun in the kitchen than ever.  And my husband's amazing anniversary gift has given me that much more inspiration

7 1/4 qt Round French Oven in Cassis
Happy cooking!

Monday, April 9, 2012

Pulling all-nighters

It's 2:30 am and I'm wide awake.  This is one of the hazard of working crazy hours.  I just finished a run of 4 consecutive overnight shifts about 23 hours ago.  Our shifts run 7pm to 4am (better than the 7pm to 7am like they used to be).  The toughest part of working those overnight shifts?  Getting back on a "normal" schedule.  Usually I try to force myself out of bed after about 6 hours of sleep so I'm tired enough to go to sleep later that night.  It also helps if I do some activities during the day rather than sitting around on the couch.  I thought this time around would be easy because we had plans to spend the evening with my in-laws celebrating Easter.  Unfortunately I fell asleep on our couch not too long after getting home, woke up 2 hours later, tried to go to bed and have been awake ever since.  Now I've been lying on the couch watching junk TV because that's all thats on at 2 am on a Monday morning.  The worst part about all of this is I have a ton of stuff to do this week to prep for a party we're hosting Saturday and today is one of only two days off.  I have a feeling today is going to be rough and end with an early bedtime.  Then its back to day shifts at work on Tuesday.  It's  all part of the craziness of working in the ER!

Time to try this sleeping thing again.  Goodnight y'all...