First day of school

First of all, I haven't cooked anything other than muffins all weekend. Saturday I had a pool party and Sunday we spent the day driving then got snow crab legs for dinner to celebrate the end of summer/beginning of a new semester. Tomorrow's post will include a new recipe but for now I'm going to talk about me.

Today I will have three classes: history of modern France, history of American Theater up to 1890 and Intermediate Latin. Can I just say that I have not properly prepared for Latin and I'm quite scared at what's going to happen at 2pm. Like, I don't remember anything. I had 4 weeks off and it's like my brain said "so long conjugation of verbs! forget you pluperfect!" Seriously, I feel like the only things I remember are "sum es est, summus estis sunt." It's bad.

Modern France looks like it's going to be a pain (no pun intended?). The professor is a little dry and it's a 9am class. Rule is if you are late, don't come in. However, my American Theater class is going to be awesome. And I mean, awesome. I realized in sitting in this class that this is my element- American history. I don't really care for European/Asian history. It's interesting and all but American is where it's at. I was really bummed about this semester and how boring it was going to be (modern France, Latin, Imperial Russia, Introduction to Chinese Studies), but when I saw I was able to add this class today, I jumped on the opportunity. I think now, despite how scary Latin 201 is going to be, it's going to be a good semester.

I think the scariest thing about Latin 201 are the readings. The last two semesters I read about a family, Cornelius and his wife. I read about their daughter's marriage and how their sons misbehaved. This semester's book starts off with a speech. Everything text in the book is a real, historical, Latin text. Gah. So not looking forward to this.

I do have an assignment to look forward to in Theater though. Our final paper (which is only 5-7 pages because it's a lower level course, holla) can be written in a different way. I create a fictitious person, place them in a real setting and write about how their life's experiencing would influence them to appreciate a play in this way. So like, I could write about a Sarah Goldsmith, a Jewish immigrant from Eastern Europe, 19 yrs old, in New York at 1830, saw a play on oppression and she could relate to it because of her experiences in this country at that time. I think it'll be neat-o.

Anyway, heading to Latin now. Ego vobis valedico.

BUS RANT

Okay, I'm a bus commuter. I take the bus from the burtonsville park and ride to my stop on 19th and M. On the way home it's the same way but reversed. Now, Dillon's Bus is a little different than a metro bus. First of all, it's more expensive ($4.25 one way into the city). Second, the seats are nice. Third, there is no standing and you can't stop when you want, there are set stops. Finally, it's air conditioned and overall comfortable.

What irritates me are the people, particularly those that sit in the first 7 or 8 rows. This for some reason are reserved for those bitchy older ladies that feel like they are entitled to both seats in the row. There is overhead space for bags but apparently their bag is much to nice to go in the overhead, it must have the seat next to them. They let you, the new passenger, know this because they sit on the outside next to the aisle and reserve the inside seat for their bag. 9 out of 10 times, if you ask "may I sit there?" they scoot over, so they have no real desire to even sit in the aisle seat, they want their own two seat row.

Well, I came across such a woman yesterday. I was last to get in line which means you can't really walk to the end of the bus because the bus is moving and I'm clumsy. So I walk 6 or 7 rows in, see such a woman who LOOKED AT ME, TURNED HER HEAD and PRETENDED to sleep right as I was about to ask her. Fine. So I sat directly behind her, on the aisle seat.

She then, as if having two seats wasn't enough, reclined her chair back. I actually have no problem with this if I had short legs or if there were two people sitting in that row. I do have a problem with it when you are greedy and mean. So, I waited a second, then I sharply sunk down into my seat which caused my knees to lock behind her seat, which then quickly propelled her into the most upright position. She turned around to glare and I, for a half second, met her eyes with mine, then slowly turned my head and closed my eyes. She tried for a few minutes to re-recline her seat but my knees and long legs were not having it.

Luckily, a passenger at the stop 10 min from when I got on asked to sit on the inside seat. She moved over proving she was just as greedy as I suspected. I let the woman who sat down recline.

Passive aggressive, I know, but it made me feel so much better =)

Steak salad

So the other night (Friday I think), I had two steaks defrosting and was tired of the same old same old with steak. I did an internet search and a Giada recipe for a steak salad came up. I did some altercations and oh man, it was amazing. It was so good that I ate the salad part (sans steak) again that night as a snack. I'm not posting Giada's recipe because hers had stuff in it that I really don't like. This is also really good for leftover steak or to make the vinaigrette the night before and refrigerate.

Believe me when I say you'll go back for more.

Steak Salad:
(modified from Giada De Laurentiis)
1 bag romaine mix
1 bag arugula
4 oz package crumbled goat cheese (my fave) or feta or Gorgonzola (i hate this cheese)
2 whole tomatoes (half then give them a squeeze to remove extra water, then cut up to desired size) or 12 cherry tomatoes (halved)
1/2-1 diced diced onion (i used a whole one though)
1 diced cucumber
1 lb steak
Red Wine Vinaigrette (recipe follows)

Pan cook your steak (or grill it) with just salt and pepper. Once that is medium or desired doneness, remove to cool. LET STAND FOR 15 MINUTES! Next, mix the bag greens, tomato, cucumber, onion and cheese. Salt and pepper the top and use about 1/3 the mixture of the vinaigrette, then toss. Add a little more if you like. Plate each plate with the salad then arrange a few thin slices of the cooled steak on top, drizzle a touch more vinaigrette over steak. You'll probably have left over dressing. Because I love croutons, I added those as well.


Red Wine Vinaigrette
1/2 c red wine
salt and pepper
3 tbs lemon juice
2tsp honey
2/3 to 1 cup olive oil
(because I had it and love it) handful rough chop of cilantro

Put the ingredients sans olive oil in a blender. Turn on and when that has a good consistency, slowly add the oil while the blender is running, checking it for desired consistency. Add more salt/pepper to taste. Note that it will be a touch too tangy when you try it. I know I did but on the salad it's wonderful and the flavors mesh so well together. Makes approx 1 2/3 cup.

Pumpkin pie

So I've decided to be super trendy and start a cooking blog. I make different things and often need/want to remember the recipe and never write it down, so this will help me. I wanted to share something I just made...

PUMPKIN PIE!!





It's Andrew's favorite dessert but we've had a hard time making it because it includes evaporated milk, something Andrew is allergic to (carrageenan in it). So, I've had to find substitutes, most of which have been bad (sweetened condensed milk, gross. skim milk, runny, etc.)

So, it started when I was cleaning yesterday and wanted to make something nice. I had some flour, so I thought of cookies but lacked peanut butter and chocolate chips. I began looking more and realized I had pumpkin, eggs and the seasoning, so I'll make that. I'll even make a crust.

I only had 1 stick of butter and most good pie crusts require 2.

So I searched and came across a good flaky pie crust and made that. I had to use a hand mixer (which took 15 min to find!) but it was good. I only refriderated it for 20 minutes and I was still able to roll it out okay.

Now, for pumpkin pie, I usually stick to Libby's recipe on the back, but I add just a smidge more seasoning (not cloves, gross gross).

I read online how to make your own evaporated milk but all we keep is skim milk so I knew that wouldn't work. I then thought, I have 4 oz of sour cream, I'll mix that for thickness. Gag, that didn't work. I searched and dug and found an old can of coconut milk (Andrew LOVES this stuff) and used roughly 11oz of that vs the 12 oz of evap milk. Then added just a touch more pumpkin pie spice.

I baked it at 450 for 15 min then 350 for 55 min (when it came out, it had set but was still a smidge wet on the toothpick) and you know, it has to be the best pumpkin pie I've made. You couldn't even tell it was coconut milk. And the crust was great! The only pie that came close was an applebutter pumpkin pie that I made last year and this topped it. I highly recommend for the holiday season.

The downside? It's too big for my fancy cake stand with the top on that my sister gave me as a house warming present a month ago. I had been keeping stale old cookies in there because I'm obsessed with this thing.