(no subject)
This week's Boardwalk Empire recap is up! Things are really heating up for the final three episodes. I can't wait to see what happens. I find that my love for this show is different than many of my fannish obsessions, but it definitely has its claws in me.
I got my Yuletide assignment last night and I'm excited. I also won my fantasy football matchup this week thanks the Patriots' performance last night. (I love you, Rob Gronkowski!) On Sunday night I watched that mornings FOX NFL Sunday show, which was even funnier than usual and realized I should have nominated and requested that for Yuletide. Terry, Howie, Michael, Jimmy, and Curt -- the jokes and barbs mixed with love and respect. I just love those boys. But I know that I will get something awesome because I requested awesome stuff.
I've got to do some serious baking tomorrow evening and Thursday morning. We're going to our friends Katie & Luke's for Turkey dinner. Our neighbors that we've dined with in the past moved down to Denver this summer. So when I last went to get my hair cut by Katie, I asked what she and her hubby were doing. I was going to invite them to our place, but she already had plans for some of her family and stuff to come now that they have a house. But she invited us to join them. Being a moron I offered to do all the baking (because her hubby is an awesome cook but does NOT bake and neither does she) instead of them ordering bread and pie and stuff. Of course, I made the offer completely forgetting that she has Celiac Disease. So I'm preparing to do some hardcore gluten-free baking. I've done a chocolate torte before, but I've never ventured into bread and pie crust. I'm excited and terrified at once. So here's what I'm making:
Parker House Rolls (regular) -- I'm very excited for these Revised guest count of 7 means I don't need this many rolls
faux-Parker House Rolls (gluten-free) -- I'm terrified for these
Pumpkin cheesecake (gluten-free) -- I love making cheesecake
Applie Pie (possibly gluten-free, haven't decided yet) -- the old standby
If time allows (I may not be able to leave work early tomorrow): Weekend baking
Pumpkin pie (regular for Chris -- this I might not make until Saturday, it's at the bottom of my list, but he wants a regular pumpkin pie)
Carrot Cake (gluten-free, if for Thursday; regular if I make over the weekend just for us)
For people interested in gluten-free desserts -- a cheesecake is easy to modify because the only thing to really change is the crust. I found this recipe today that uses crushed Cinnamon Chex for the crust. What a great idea! You can certainly by gluten-free cookies to crush, but I think using (corn) Chex is pretty brilliant. And then I can just eat the rest of the cereal. Win win! As I looked online for pie recipes I found some interesting info that a gluten-free crust is supposed to be easier to make and still have turn out flaky because of the way the gluten and fat interact in a regular crust isn't an issue. I have always struggled with a traditional crust (although I make a mean whole wheat crust that is perfect for pumpkin pie), so if I do go with gluten-free for my applie pie, I will let you know if this "it's easier" claim is really true.
At work I am trying to get our annual fund letter ready to go out. This year we have joined forces with a local medical foundation to raise money. We're combining our mailing lists so that we can both reach more people. As a reward for our collaborative efforts, another local foundation (that gives grants to county orgs) has given us their list as well. The problem here? That extra list has 14,000 names on it. (Our list is 189 businesses and individuals and the med foundation is <50 businesses.) Now while there will certainly be some overlap, there's not 14,000 names overlapping. Yeesh. The postage for that alone (with our nonprofit bulk rate) would be almost two months of my salary. Plus the printing and stuffing? Good grief.
I called my boss (maternity leave be damned) because when I opened the spreadsheet of names/addresses I kind of freaked out. She said no way are we mailing out 14k letters. Apparently the foundation was supposed to edit the list down to donors interested in healthcare. So I've got to go back to the med foundation contact and have her talk to the other foundation (because that part was her job when we divided duties). She's supposed to come to my office this morning to chat because she doesn't recall how to do mail merges. Anyway... We'll see how that all goes. (I think my volunteer would cry if I asked her to stuff 3,000 letters, much less 14,000.)
I got my Yuletide assignment last night and I'm excited. I also won my fantasy football matchup this week thanks the Patriots' performance last night. (I love you, Rob Gronkowski!) On Sunday night I watched that mornings FOX NFL Sunday show, which was even funnier than usual and realized I should have nominated and requested that for Yuletide. Terry, Howie, Michael, Jimmy, and Curt -- the jokes and barbs mixed with love and respect. I just love those boys. But I know that I will get something awesome because I requested awesome stuff.
I've got to do some serious baking tomorrow evening and Thursday morning. We're going to our friends Katie & Luke's for Turkey dinner. Our neighbors that we've dined with in the past moved down to Denver this summer. So when I last went to get my hair cut by Katie, I asked what she and her hubby were doing. I was going to invite them to our place, but she already had plans for some of her family and stuff to come now that they have a house. But she invited us to join them. Being a moron I offered to do all the baking (because her hubby is an awesome cook but does NOT bake and neither does she) instead of them ordering bread and pie and stuff. Of course, I made the offer completely forgetting that she has Celiac Disease. So I'm preparing to do some hardcore gluten-free baking. I've done a chocolate torte before, but I've never ventured into bread and pie crust. I'm excited and terrified at once. So here's what I'm making:
Parker House Rolls (regular) -- I'm very excited for these Revised guest count of 7 means I don't need this many rolls
faux-Parker House Rolls (gluten-free) -- I'm terrified for these
Pumpkin cheesecake (gluten-free) -- I love making cheesecake
Applie Pie (possibly gluten-free, haven't decided yet) -- the old standby
If time allows (I may not be able to leave work early tomorrow): Weekend baking
Pumpkin pie (regular for Chris -- this I might not make until Saturday, it's at the bottom of my list, but he wants a regular pumpkin pie)
Carrot Cake (gluten-free, if for Thursday; regular if I make over the weekend just for us)
For people interested in gluten-free desserts -- a cheesecake is easy to modify because the only thing to really change is the crust. I found this recipe today that uses crushed Cinnamon Chex for the crust. What a great idea! You can certainly by gluten-free cookies to crush, but I think using (corn) Chex is pretty brilliant. And then I can just eat the rest of the cereal. Win win! As I looked online for pie recipes I found some interesting info that a gluten-free crust is supposed to be easier to make and still have turn out flaky because of the way the gluten and fat interact in a regular crust isn't an issue. I have always struggled with a traditional crust (although I make a mean whole wheat crust that is perfect for pumpkin pie), so if I do go with gluten-free for my applie pie, I will let you know if this "it's easier" claim is really true.
At work I am trying to get our annual fund letter ready to go out. This year we have joined forces with a local medical foundation to raise money. We're combining our mailing lists so that we can both reach more people. As a reward for our collaborative efforts, another local foundation (that gives grants to county orgs) has given us their list as well. The problem here? That extra list has 14,000 names on it. (Our list is 189 businesses and individuals and the med foundation is <50 businesses.) Now while there will certainly be some overlap, there's not 14,000 names overlapping. Yeesh. The postage for that alone (with our nonprofit bulk rate) would be almost two months of my salary. Plus the printing and stuffing? Good grief.
I called my boss (maternity leave be damned) because when I opened the spreadsheet of names/addresses I kind of freaked out. She said no way are we mailing out 14k letters. Apparently the foundation was supposed to edit the list down to donors interested in healthcare. So I've got to go back to the med foundation contact and have her talk to the other foundation (because that part was her job when we divided duties). She's supposed to come to my office this morning to chat because she doesn't recall how to do mail merges. Anyway... We'll see how that all goes. (I think my volunteer would cry if I asked her to stuff 3,000 letters, much less 14,000.)