i can just tell
it's gonna be one of those excruciating long days. i can just tell. i came into work just a little before 9 and had only 7 emails. my primary mode of communication for everything in this job is via email, so when i only get 7 over night (keep in mind, too, i am always working with vendors halfway across the world) it can only mean 1 of 2 things: a) something has gone horribly wrong with one of my projects (no news is bad news) or b) it's going to be a slooooooooooooooow day. seeing as how things have been pretty light with projects recently, i'm gonna go with option B. i hate long thursdays. it's torture. you long for friday and you're so close you can taste the relaxation and freedom, but you're still a day behind. *sigh*
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i decided to work out this morning with the marshall. although i LIKE the idea of working out first thing in the morning, i just don't see if i could keep with it. working out is never refreshing for me. it doesn't wake me up. in fact, it wears me out and puts me to sleep. perhaps it comes from normally working out in the evenings. at that time of day, it's okay to go home, shower, and plop on the couch. but, i found myself at breakfast feeling heavy and tired. so far, that feeling hasn't gone away. i think i'll stick with evening workouts.
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normally i work out when i get home, but tonight i'm making a quiche and, since i wasn't going by any kind of written recipe, i didn't want to risk it taking forever and not eating until 9. that's happened before and i rather not eat a big dinner 2 hours before i plan on going to bed. i've never made a quiche before and when i thought of what to put in it, i didn't really follow any kind of recipe. i simply bought eggs, milk, cheese, bacon and spinach. i also bought a frozen pie crust. from the recipes i've looked up, i've learned i should par-bake my crust. however, i don't have pie stones to weight it down. i think my mom has used the "cover with foil and pour rice into the shell" method before, so i'll use that for this. emeril's recipe says to do this and then bake without the weights for a couple of minutes so that the bottom of the crust crisps. i bought a half-pound of thick-cut platter bacon, but don't think i need the entire amount i have. i'm iffy on the amount of eggs i need and how much milk i use. there is no clear ratio of eggs to milk. i've seen recipes call for 2 full eggs and 2 yolks, or only 3 full eggs, or 8 full eggs (it was for a "deep-dish" quiche). i'm thinking either 5 or 6 and then about a cup or cup and a third of milk/half-and-half. cheese will be about a cup or so. then there's the spinach... i got the standard block of frozen spinach (which i now remembered is still in the freezer *sigh*) and i'm unsure if i need ALL that spinach (i think it's a pound?). i'll see what it looks like, since i need to make sure to squeeze all the liquid out of it. i don't want SPINACH with eggs and bacon. maybe i'll only need half? this is why i have doubts of me ever being a "chef" - i can't even come up with a simple recipe for quiche! i have the ideas and the ingredients just not the know-how of putting it all together so that it tastes good. well, hopefully, the marshall and i will be eating quiche tonight...
+_+_+
last night the marshall and i met up with celtcub, norcalpaco, and damneddonkey for dinner. they mentioned the new smokehouse bacon burgers at chili's during breakfast last saturday. i said that i hadn't been to chili's in ages, so we agreed to meet up in the week for dinner. i went with the jalapeño smokehouse bacon burger. these are my thoughts:
1. there were NOT enough jalapeños on that burger to warrant calling it a "jalapeño" burger. i found two - TWO - tiny slices of jalapeño on my entire burger. that's like a mistake. it's as if i ordered a plain burger and someone ACCIDENTALLY dropped some on my burger. two jalapeños does not a jalapeño burger make.
2. my bacon tasted like bacon. i was expecting a spicy and sweet experience. i got just really thick-cut bacon. mind you, it was good bacon, but it didn't really blow me away.
so, sadly, i didn't not see god in my burger, as liam did. i enjoyed my burger and perhaps next time, if they still have them on the menu, i'll try the BBQ one, or whatever one was in the middle on the menu page. otherwise, if i'm at chili's and want a burger? i'll stick with my big mouth peppercorn burger instead. i was slightly intrigued by their new buffalo chicken fajitas. hmm...
after dinner we all went over to liam and paco's to hang out. much to liam's dismay, we ended up watching the first game of the stanley cup finals to see the sharks lose horribly. it wasn't the sharks loss that liam disliked, but the watching of hockey/spots all together. but, it's not like we weren't chatting about stuff. after the game, we chatted and played with the ratties. i even got to pet their elusive kitty, who is scared of her own wind. i understand cats like that. she likes who she knows and since we don't come over ALL that often, she still tiptoes around us. she made a few appearances, though, and i even got to pet her. i think we bonded slightly. :)
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saturday is the housewarming party. i spoke to my party consultant yesterday (one of my coworkers who's a seasoned party-thrower) about drinks. i wanted to have a "house drink". something that everyone will enjoy and something that'd be easy to make. originally i found a recipe for a blue hawaiian. it had too many ingredients. my coworker suggested i go with something simple and something i could make pitchers of. she suggested pitchers of long island ice tea. that actually sounded really good. she also suggested something lighter, for those who aren't really into getting totally blitzed after one drink. we decided on salty dogs. but not just ordinary salty dogs, but a variety. i was thinking 3 different colored/flavored rim salts and 3 different juices: grapefruit (for traditionalists), orange (for those who don't like grapefruit) and limeade (for those who want a gin-ricky, but with vodka). i think that'll be really fun for people to make. just rim your glass with the salt of your choice, pour the vodka and add the juice. simple and easy and tasty. :) we're also going to have snacks. here's what we're thinking:
- 7-layer dip (one with meat and one without)
- tortilla chips and salsa (chips will be for the above dip, as well)
- our own "munchies" mix (doritos, cheetos, pretzels, and something else other than sun chips)
- veggies and dip
- feta and artichoke won-tons (the marshall's pick)
- oatmeal, pecan, and chocolate chip cookies
i think that'll be plenty. we always end up with more than enough food. we just want people to have something to munch on while they chat and drink. we're looking at 15-ish people coming, which will make a very fun party. i'm not sure i should try and get games started or anything. i guess we'll see how the evening unfolds. :D
+_+_+
i decided to work out this morning with the marshall. although i LIKE the idea of working out first thing in the morning, i just don't see if i could keep with it. working out is never refreshing for me. it doesn't wake me up. in fact, it wears me out and puts me to sleep. perhaps it comes from normally working out in the evenings. at that time of day, it's okay to go home, shower, and plop on the couch. but, i found myself at breakfast feeling heavy and tired. so far, that feeling hasn't gone away. i think i'll stick with evening workouts.
+_+_+
normally i work out when i get home, but tonight i'm making a quiche and, since i wasn't going by any kind of written recipe, i didn't want to risk it taking forever and not eating until 9. that's happened before and i rather not eat a big dinner 2 hours before i plan on going to bed. i've never made a quiche before and when i thought of what to put in it, i didn't really follow any kind of recipe. i simply bought eggs, milk, cheese, bacon and spinach. i also bought a frozen pie crust. from the recipes i've looked up, i've learned i should par-bake my crust. however, i don't have pie stones to weight it down. i think my mom has used the "cover with foil and pour rice into the shell" method before, so i'll use that for this. emeril's recipe says to do this and then bake without the weights for a couple of minutes so that the bottom of the crust crisps. i bought a half-pound of thick-cut platter bacon, but don't think i need the entire amount i have. i'm iffy on the amount of eggs i need and how much milk i use. there is no clear ratio of eggs to milk. i've seen recipes call for 2 full eggs and 2 yolks, or only 3 full eggs, or 8 full eggs (it was for a "deep-dish" quiche). i'm thinking either 5 or 6 and then about a cup or cup and a third of milk/half-and-half. cheese will be about a cup or so. then there's the spinach... i got the standard block of frozen spinach (which i now remembered is still in the freezer *sigh*) and i'm unsure if i need ALL that spinach (i think it's a pound?). i'll see what it looks like, since i need to make sure to squeeze all the liquid out of it. i don't want SPINACH with eggs and bacon. maybe i'll only need half? this is why i have doubts of me ever being a "chef" - i can't even come up with a simple recipe for quiche! i have the ideas and the ingredients just not the know-how of putting it all together so that it tastes good. well, hopefully, the marshall and i will be eating quiche tonight...
+_+_+
last night the marshall and i met up with celtcub, norcalpaco, and damneddonkey for dinner. they mentioned the new smokehouse bacon burgers at chili's during breakfast last saturday. i said that i hadn't been to chili's in ages, so we agreed to meet up in the week for dinner. i went with the jalapeño smokehouse bacon burger. these are my thoughts:
1. there were NOT enough jalapeños on that burger to warrant calling it a "jalapeño" burger. i found two - TWO - tiny slices of jalapeño on my entire burger. that's like a mistake. it's as if i ordered a plain burger and someone ACCIDENTALLY dropped some on my burger. two jalapeños does not a jalapeño burger make.
2. my bacon tasted like bacon. i was expecting a spicy and sweet experience. i got just really thick-cut bacon. mind you, it was good bacon, but it didn't really blow me away.
so, sadly, i didn't not see god in my burger, as liam did. i enjoyed my burger and perhaps next time, if they still have them on the menu, i'll try the BBQ one, or whatever one was in the middle on the menu page. otherwise, if i'm at chili's and want a burger? i'll stick with my big mouth peppercorn burger instead. i was slightly intrigued by their new buffalo chicken fajitas. hmm...
after dinner we all went over to liam and paco's to hang out. much to liam's dismay, we ended up watching the first game of the stanley cup finals to see the sharks lose horribly. it wasn't the sharks loss that liam disliked, but the watching of hockey/spots all together. but, it's not like we weren't chatting about stuff. after the game, we chatted and played with the ratties. i even got to pet their elusive kitty, who is scared of her own wind. i understand cats like that. she likes who she knows and since we don't come over ALL that often, she still tiptoes around us. she made a few appearances, though, and i even got to pet her. i think we bonded slightly. :)
+_+_+
saturday is the housewarming party. i spoke to my party consultant yesterday (one of my coworkers who's a seasoned party-thrower) about drinks. i wanted to have a "house drink". something that everyone will enjoy and something that'd be easy to make. originally i found a recipe for a blue hawaiian. it had too many ingredients. my coworker suggested i go with something simple and something i could make pitchers of. she suggested pitchers of long island ice tea. that actually sounded really good. she also suggested something lighter, for those who aren't really into getting totally blitzed after one drink. we decided on salty dogs. but not just ordinary salty dogs, but a variety. i was thinking 3 different colored/flavored rim salts and 3 different juices: grapefruit (for traditionalists), orange (for those who don't like grapefruit) and limeade (for those who want a gin-ricky, but with vodka). i think that'll be really fun for people to make. just rim your glass with the salt of your choice, pour the vodka and add the juice. simple and easy and tasty. :) we're also going to have snacks. here's what we're thinking:
- 7-layer dip (one with meat and one without)
- tortilla chips and salsa (chips will be for the above dip, as well)
- our own "munchies" mix (doritos, cheetos, pretzels, and something else other than sun chips)
- veggies and dip
- feta and artichoke won-tons (the marshall's pick)
- oatmeal, pecan, and chocolate chip cookies
i think that'll be plenty. we always end up with more than enough food. we just want people to have something to munch on while they chat and drink. we're looking at 15-ish people coming, which will make a very fun party. i'm not sure i should try and get games started or anything. i guess we'll see how the evening unfolds. :D