Flaming in the Kitchen

[blinker]

It's just one baking disaster after another around here. I was trying to make some cheddar dill bread to take to a friend's housewarming party today. I've made this bread recipe at least 3 times already and it's always come out well. Today, I somehow managed to put it into the oven to bake before I realized that I had forgotten the baking powder and salt. [To be fair, the recipe calls for self-rising flour and the bit about baking powder and salt is buried at the bottom, so it was an easy mistake to make.]

The result is like dense bread with the texture of melted cheese, which is actually sort of interesting (and much more edible than the results of last weekend's cheesecake incident). If it didn't taste overwhelmingly like something that needs salt, I might even bring it to the party. But I think we're going to stop by the bakery and get a box of cookies instead.

In other news, I actually managed to get some writing done towards my grad school essay. I think going out to dinner last night with someone who's got even more application work to do was a motivating factor.

Comments

[bitty.livejournal.com]

you cursed us - the foccaccia is slightly overcooked.

i think it'll be fine. esp. with the roasted garlic we made to go with it.

[pinkfish.livejournal.com]

Luckily, the moussaka turned out fine. I'll be bringing it. As soon as we get dressed and get out of the house.

[jss]

Yes, the moussaka turned out fine. Yummy moose. Or mouse. Whatever the ground meat was with the eggy plants.

[jss]

Maybe slightly so, but it was tres yummilicious anyhow. :)

[xlerb.livejournal.com]

This past Monday I tried to repeat my experiment of this past summer wherein I baked a pizza from scratch. Except this time I was baking for about a half-dozen other people as well, the context being a group of people pooling money for collective cooking since the dining halls are effectively unusable over Winter Term.

Unlike last summer, when I put far too much oregano in the sauce, this time we had a jar of pre-spiced sauce (bah!) sitting around, so I used that. Also: much running around when it was realized that we didn't have anything to bake on (one borrowed baking sheet was physically of fitting into the oven), my tearing a packet of yeast in such a way that it sort of exploded and only part of the contents went into the desired container, my attempting to mix by hand since appropriate utensils were not to be found and forgetting to flour my hands first, and finally: the crust (recipe courtesy of nmc) had a few structural integrity issues; probably I needed to bake everything for longer. And one instance stuck to its pan (which I did oil, TYVM) enough that what was extracted weren't so much "slices" as "balls". All in all, it was mostly a success.

The next night featured a pan of brownies that was left on the stove top to cool... except that one of the burners below it was still turned on. Bonus comedy points for one person's smelling smoke, looking over at the brownies, and at first mistaking the rising white mists for steam. As it happens, I wasn't involved in this one at all, except for taking up the challenge of cleaning the pan afterwards.

If it helps...

[geminigirl]

I still have to decide where I'm applying to school, forget writing applications.

[danger-chick.livejournal.com]

In other news, I actually managed to get some writing done towards my grad school essay. I think going out to dinner last night with someone who's got even more application work to do was a motivating factor.
Don't you have a wife or something to write your essays for you?

I should take you to my Cambridge AA meetings. They say the 14th step of Cambridge AA is that you go finish any degree that you couldn't finish while drinking, so everyone is trying to "get their act together" and apply to schools, or get through a class they are taking at the extension school, or trying to figure what they want to do, etc.

I feel great sympathy for you as you apply to schools. I found it terribly difficult and took the least path of resistance. I applied to one school (that I was already attending as a pt undergrad) that didn't require GREs (I would have needed to retest because mine were so old), that didn't require essays. I don't know if they knew anything about me when they accepted me; I'm just glad I did get accepted. I used to wish that I applied to different schools (i.e., better schools), but I found that I made the right decision for me. Anyway, the NASA things negates any problems I would have with not going to a better school probably.

[slinkr.livejournal.com]

My wife has only a vague understanding of what I do for a living (although she understands the social dynamics of my office life perfectly). But it's very helpful to be able to take a break from writing and walk into the other room and whine about how much I hate writing these essays because the whole time I feel like I'm talking about myself too much (which is of course the whole point of a personal statement, but you know how much I like to talk about myself).

I'm sort of taking the path of least resistance on the application front too. I'm applying to one program that I have a very good chance of getting into and that I can afford to attend without taking on significant debt. But this is a degree that I'm pursuing because I want to, not because I have to (in any sense of the word), I mostly feel okay about that.

I'm only stressing over it because the process is a pain in the neck and because subconsciously I know that after I get through this I'm going to be working very hard over the next couple of years. Fortunately, I'm a bit of a workaholic so it should be okay.

[danger-chick.livejournal.com]

You answered your own worry...working really hard over the next few years is moderately more worth it if you enjoy what you are doing. Plus, I always think grad students should be assigned their own dedicated cheerleader, which we already know that you have. :)

[srl.livejournal.com]

I started contemplating grad school this weekend. My sympathies. :)