Somewhere in there

Can you see me in there?

Can you imagine me balancing my glass in one hand and my camera in another to get this shot?

When I come up for air I will share my pictures and stories from a hilarious weekend filled with amazing friends.

Making Tortellini

Brad and I celebrated our anniversary with a dinner at home. We made our favorite bolognese sauce (a recipe from a friend's family) and served it over homemade tortellini.

We tried making ravioli several years ago. He got me a pasta attachment for my Kitchenaid (similar to this but including the attachment for rolling sheets of dough). We made the dough with the Kitchenaid, rolled out the dough, filled it with a chicken filling, and served it with a Bechamel sauce. It was a huge mess (flour everywhere!), and the final product had very little flavor.

Angie and I took a stuffed pasta class over the summer at Cooks of Crocus Hill in St. Paul. I learned a ton about selecting ingredients for the dough, the importance of making the dough by hand (instead of in the mixer), and shaping filled pastas. The chef was great! The recipe for the pasta dough and the tortellini filling both came from the class.

Here we are making the tortellini. Brad is cutting circles from the sheets of dough. I am filling and shaping the tortellinis.

Here we are still making the tortellinis. It took awhile. We had to sit down. It was hard work.

Aren't they adorable?!? We made two large jelly roll pans full of these little honeys. That is about 90 minutes worth of tortellini, if you're wondering.

Here they are naked.

Here they are sauced.

A few lessons. . .

• Kneeding the dough by hand is a necessity. And, you need two people. Seriously. You have to switch off to avoid arm cramping.
• Do not over-fill. You will regret it when the tortellinis turn into bombs, explode, and shoot precious filling all over the boiling water.
• Boil the tortellinis pretty close to right after making. Otherwise, be sure to put them on a floured surface. Do not think that you can put them on a sheet of wax paper and not have them stick. They will stick and when you peel them off they will get little holes in them. Then, the filling will ooze out when you boil them. Then, you will get frustrated.

Big Mouth, Big Bowl: Pasta Edition

Remember the Big Mouth, Big Bowl: Soup Edition?
the soup competition in which someone else's shrimp bisque performed better than my minestrone?
the soup competition where I discovered that I do, in fact, love split pea and ham soup?
the soup competition where I realized that rutabaga was an excellent edition to chicken noodle soup?

The success of the first Big Mouth, Big Bowl challenge made it easy to decide that this would be an annual event. Each year our cook off will feature a different food that can be served in a bowl. This year's competition (scheduled for January 2012) is all about pasta.

I have only three short months to decide which pasta recipe I want to enter. I am definitely going to go with a red sauce. I'm all tossed up, though, about which is the best contender.


I did love a bolognese from Cook's Illustrated.
(And, there is another bolognese in their latest issue that I want to try.)

And, I dream about this super simple tomato sauce with butter and onions.

But, then I also love spaghetti puttanesca.

I really liked this short rib pasta sauce. Brad wasn't a fan.

If I was going for a sauce-less pasta I would - without a doubt - make Cacio e Pepe.

Dilemmas, dilemmas. I guess I will just have to eat lots and lots of pasta between now and January.

Overheard

At the book fair. A group of middle school (eighth grade, I think) boys. One says, completely out of the blue, to another:

You know, they say you are what you eat. Funny. I didn't eat any sexy beast today.

The kid got no reaction from his friends, so he kept repeating the "joke."

In a social studies class. Kids are reading an article about plagiarism. The teacher is trying to help them understand that plagiarism is now easier than ever before because of "an invention that has all the answers. An invention that starts with an 'i'." 

A hand shoots up. A particularly enthused kid shouts, "The iPhone!!"

 

In the midst of the madness that is my life - I am trying to laugh.

Meal Plan

Monday: 
Working Late
Brad has frozen pizza

Tuesday:
Barb had conferences
Brad is on his own

Wednesday:
Stuffed Green Pepper Casserole
Green Salad with Parmesan Peppercorn Salad Dressing

Thursday:
Crockpot Chicken and Dumplings
(add peas and carrots)

Friday:
Pumpkin Risotto with Sage Roasted Chicken 
(except I'm going to use squash instead of pumpkin)


Saturday:
Barb has dinner with Stephanie
Brad is on his own

Breakfast:
Morning Glory Muffins
Toaster Waffles
Fruit

Lunch:
Vegetarian Chili
Ham and Cheese Sandwiches
Fresh Veggies

Snacks:
String Cheese
Yogurt with granola
Pretzels and Beer Dip

Leaping.

Taken from LookyLoo on Etsy

I recently took a professional leap. I leaped for a lot of different reasons, some of them superficial (like a slightly shorter commute and a larger paycheck) and some of them more serious (like needing to be in an environment where people believe in me). 

Today I finished my first week in my new job, and I just need to say that the leap has turned out to be a lot more difficult than I anticipated.

Taken from Anthony Burrill

I am in the business of change. I have two master's degrees that are - at least in part - about coaching and guiding people and organizations through the change process. I understand that change takes time and that we grow most when we are uncomfortable. I expected (and was looking forward to) my leap being incredibly challenging.

 

Yet, somehow there have been many aspects of this leap that I didn't anticipate.

I had no idea how difficult it would be to leave my old job. I spent most of my last day crying. I see many things that remind me of my colleagues and am still thinking of random tasks to add to my to-do list that I should have finished for / with them. I feel an incredible sense of guilt; I worry that I abandoned them. I question the relationships I developed with them. Did I enable too much and coach too little? Did I create a relationship where they relied on me instead of themselves? Did I not let them be independent?

 

I forgot what it's like to not know the routine. This one really surprised me. My job is rarely the same two days in a row; there is really nothing routine about it. I prided myself on being flexible, allocating my time where it was needed on any given day.

 

In retrospect, I realize that I developed a lot of rituals and habits to build consistency and organization into my day. Now that I am in a new place - a place where I work in three different classrooms without a real "home" - it is incredibly difficult to re-establish those rituals and habits. I am floundering without them, actually. Today I found myself longing for my red stapler, my desk-top incline file, and my basket of jumbo paperclips.

Taken from Pinterest (an illustration by Heads of State)

I am super-conscious of things that I didn't do well with during my first months at my last job. I am making an effort to not jump to conclusions or make judgments about people or issues. I am trying to take the time to form personal relationships and build trust. I am avoiding gossip and drama. I am getting to know kids. I am trying not to sit behind my desk when having conversations with people. I am trying to make friends; I actually asked someone when they ate lunch to not have to eat alone. I am being professional but still being myself. I am making careful wardrobe choices.

Taken from The Notebook Doodles

I am so glad, though, that I took this leap. After only five years, I was so comfortable in my last job that I didn't even realize how comfortable I was. I slipped deeply and quickly into habits and complacency and confidence. I forgot what it was like to feel unsure and to take big risks and to be different. Yet, these are very things that I ask my colleagues to do each and every day in our work together.

This was a healthy leap for me.

 

But, I am exhausted. And filled with doubt. And not feeling productive. And lonely. And frustrated. And trying hard to remember that I did the right thing.

Meal Plan

Photo from a dinner flop - Mongolian Beef that tasted like sugar-coated meat.

Saturday:
Hamburger Helper Stroganoff
Steamed Broccoli


Sunday: (Tailgating for Brewer's game)
Brats
Fritos w/ Beer Dip
Potato Salad 
Grilled Corn Avocado Salad w/ Smoky Paprika Vinaigrette
Pumpkin Caramel Bars with Bacon
Bloody Mary's & Beer


Monday:
Chicken Provencal Stoup
Fresh bread


Tuesday: (Barb at a meeting = Brad cooks)
Grilled Chicken
Baked Sweet Potatoes


Wednesday:
Dinner in Madison

Thursday:
Barb at a meeting until late = Brad on his own

Friday:
Lesley's Green Chili (from October 2011 Everyday Food)
Vegetable Quesadillas

Breakfast:
Waffles with berries and yogurt

Lunch:
BLT Wraps
Minestrone Soup
Pretzels
Yogurt & Bananas
Chocolate Chunk Oatmeal Cookies