(no subject)
Today I cooked dinner. This is significant enough to merit a mention because it is actually the first time I have ever cooked by myself. As in, real cooking and not microwave stuff. It's not the first time I've cooked ever, because I've cooked with my mom, but she was always there to make sure it came out all right. Today it was just me. Heh.
So there are two main things I learned about cooking, things that seem obvious in hindsight:
1. Don't fill a pot practically up to the brim with water if you're going to boil things in it. Get a bigger pot, or cut the recipe in half. XD
2. I think I will remember this time what boiling water actually looks like. I've never boiled things that often, but now I will try to remember that boiling water is actually bubbling and not just steaming.
I just made tortellini, since that's pretty easy--though apparently I can come close to screwing even that up. :p The whole time I was pretty much watching my tortellini with the water spilling over the sides of my pot and steam rising and being afraid something was going to catch fire and we'd have to evactuate the dorm. But that didn't happen! :D
The tortellini was all right. It probably could have boiled a bit more, but well, I was afraid I'd set something on fire with every increasing minute. But it was fine and I ate it and I have leftovers that I'm going to make into pasta salad for lunch tomorrow.
On Wednesday I'm planning to make banana bread, since I like that more than cake. Probably my parents will send me a giant cookie, because they usually do on my birthday, but I like banana break more than cookies. Though one thing I noticed about our oven is that it...doesn't seem to keep track of temperature. I'm sure I'll figure out how to heat the thing to 350 degrees (I'm still pleased with myself for getting the stove to turn on tonight XD), but eh. Not a nice oven.
In other news, I am going to be very busy this semester. Very busy.
I got into two dances for RDG (the school dance group), each of which practices two hours a week, so there's four hours just for dance. This is good, because it will keep me active, but I don't even know when practices are yet. Also I'm a bit miffed. There are three tap numbers this year, at each of the basic levels (advanced, intermediate, beginner), and I ranked my choices in that order. I am an advanced dancer, for all that I'm not in the best shape and I can't do double or triple turns, but the dances I got were the intermediate and beginner ones. There are probably a variety of reasons I didn't make the advanced dance--there are a lot of people in that dance already, and I fumbled some of the audition piece (though the auditon piece was only jazz, lyrical, and hip hop, which are not my styles)--but I danced with the choreographers last year as an advanced dancer and I did just fine. So I'm trying not to be miffed, but I am a bit. *sigh* Well, at least I'm still dancing.
Also two jobs. Both have very limited hours (up to five a week), but still. Also various clubs. And I haven't even mentioned homework yet. XD
But I think I'm happy to be busy now. It feels good to have a lot of stuff to do.
And I'm getting along with my suitemates very well. We've already had several scattered hours where we just sat around and chatted, and tomorrow we're going to Costco to get various supplies and a pizza. This is a huge improvement from my roommates of previous years. :D
We're only two weeks into the semester and I'm already having a good one. I just hope it keeps up.
So there are two main things I learned about cooking, things that seem obvious in hindsight:
1. Don't fill a pot practically up to the brim with water if you're going to boil things in it. Get a bigger pot, or cut the recipe in half. XD
2. I think I will remember this time what boiling water actually looks like. I've never boiled things that often, but now I will try to remember that boiling water is actually bubbling and not just steaming.
I just made tortellini, since that's pretty easy--though apparently I can come close to screwing even that up. :p The whole time I was pretty much watching my tortellini with the water spilling over the sides of my pot and steam rising and being afraid something was going to catch fire and we'd have to evactuate the dorm. But that didn't happen! :D
The tortellini was all right. It probably could have boiled a bit more, but well, I was afraid I'd set something on fire with every increasing minute. But it was fine and I ate it and I have leftovers that I'm going to make into pasta salad for lunch tomorrow.
On Wednesday I'm planning to make banana bread, since I like that more than cake. Probably my parents will send me a giant cookie, because they usually do on my birthday, but I like banana break more than cookies. Though one thing I noticed about our oven is that it...doesn't seem to keep track of temperature. I'm sure I'll figure out how to heat the thing to 350 degrees (I'm still pleased with myself for getting the stove to turn on tonight XD), but eh. Not a nice oven.
In other news, I am going to be very busy this semester. Very busy.
I got into two dances for RDG (the school dance group), each of which practices two hours a week, so there's four hours just for dance. This is good, because it will keep me active, but I don't even know when practices are yet. Also I'm a bit miffed. There are three tap numbers this year, at each of the basic levels (advanced, intermediate, beginner), and I ranked my choices in that order. I am an advanced dancer, for all that I'm not in the best shape and I can't do double or triple turns, but the dances I got were the intermediate and beginner ones. There are probably a variety of reasons I didn't make the advanced dance--there are a lot of people in that dance already, and I fumbled some of the audition piece (though the auditon piece was only jazz, lyrical, and hip hop, which are not my styles)--but I danced with the choreographers last year as an advanced dancer and I did just fine. So I'm trying not to be miffed, but I am a bit. *sigh* Well, at least I'm still dancing.
Also two jobs. Both have very limited hours (up to five a week), but still. Also various clubs. And I haven't even mentioned homework yet. XD
But I think I'm happy to be busy now. It feels good to have a lot of stuff to do.
And I'm getting along with my suitemates very well. We've already had several scattered hours where we just sat around and chatted, and tomorrow we're going to Costco to get various supplies and a pizza. This is a huge improvement from my roommates of previous years. :D
We're only two weeks into the semester and I'm already having a good one. I just hope it keeps up.