...Summer: The End...

And, summer is officially over (well, in about 2.5hrs, give or take). This is deeeeeepressing, to say the least. I am seriously dreading this semester, and it isn't even laid out to be all that of a difficult one - I'm just totally and completely over my life as a student is all. Well, enough of that on to updates!

The creme brulee...oh the creme brulee... Well, it didn't really work. *sad and depressed face* I don't really know what went wrong, the recipe is really only two things: heavy cream and egg yolks. You boil the cream for 30sec (without scalding it, of course), mix it into the beaten yolks, pour that mixture back into the pot on the stove and heat the mixture until it becomes thick and coats the spoon. I did ALL of that! Then you pour it into shallow baking dishes/pans and chill it in the fridge over-night. The next day you sprinkle a light coating of sugar over the top of the cream mixture and throw it in the broiler to caramelize the sugar. Sounds simple enough, right?!?! Well, apparently not. My cream did not set-up over-night, no idea why, and then my sugar would not caramelize! Ugh, I was not happy. Taste was fine, it just wasn't right. But, don't you worry, I'll be tackling that creme brulee yet again and I will keep tackling it until I boil/chill/broil it into submission! I'm determined. {the Pavlova will have to wait until I invest in an electric mixer of sorts...} But, anyways, that's the summation of my most recent adventure in the kitchen.

Now on to life news. My goal and dream for the last 2yrs or so has been to be a Teach For America corps member and teach the kiddos about science and get them excited about learning and chasing after knowledge. So, I filled out my application and submitted it with confidence on Friday the 21st. Well, this Thursday rolls around and I get an email telling me that I haven't been selected to advance to the next level of the application process. I was dumbfounded. I thought that surely, with two science degrees and the research I have been doing that I would be qualified enough to enter the program as an elementary science teacher. But, alas, I was apparently mistaken. I was definitely (and kind of still am) heartbroken. I'm really just kind of at a loss, I suppose, as to what I am supposed to pursue now. TFA would have given me direction for 2yrs allowing me to get grad school in order for after my time teaching for TFA. I still want to teach, I just don't know what I'm supposed to do right now. Do I enroll in an alternative certification program to become a science teacher now? Do I go to grad school next fall first, finish that and then try teaching? If I decide to go the grad school route, do I pursue U of M, Minneapolis or U of I Champaign-Urbana, or look for some place totally different? If I do teaching where do I pursue that route: Illinois, Minnesota, California, Colorado, north east?? Then there's the whole option of going to Dominica with Brendan next summer-fall and doing science outreach with the kids there teaching them about bugs. Or I could get a job working with the US Forest Service... I dunno...growing up is hard :( But, as disappointed as I am about TFA, I'm trying to keep my chin up and my heart and mind open to the next bit of direction the Lord will throw at me (if He could do it sooner rather than later that would be awesome....).

Well, as mentioned earlier, school starts tomorrow...yay school.

Mmmk...I'm outty.
~MW

Summer, fleeting summer

As I sit here in my nook at the lab after a day of busy runnings around in the Wharton Lab I realized something: My summer has been full and eventful, and yes, even exciting, but I got nothing done that I wanted to get done!! Yes I got some of the things I needed to get done finished up, but none of the things that summers are reserved for, like catching up on that ever growing book list, putting your artistic expression (as debatable as it might be) on paper/canvas/pottery/etc., knitting that thing you've been meaning to knit for months now and are quickly running out of time to finish in time, taking those strolls in the park/great outdoors (ok, I don't feel so bad about this one because it's been like a million degrees outside and I, outdoorsy as I might be, do NOT handle heat well - it's sad, but true), the list goes on. How depressing!!! (and, just in case you were wondering the word "how" is now typed "hope"...???)

How is it that in nearly three months of no real commitments to anything but work and moving, really, I have failed to accomplish anything I wanted to accomplish for myself?! I feel like a failure. This was possibly my last summer of "nothing" and I just wasted it. Dang. I don't even know what I did. I have experimented a lot in the kitchen, and that has been rewarding and educating, like my adventure Sunday night:

I decided circa 10pm, Sunday, that I was going to attempt to make some Pavlova, a dessert from Australia/New Zealand. Recipe is simple enough - basically eggs, some sugar, corn starch, and cream of tartar - no biggie. So I'm whipping up my egg whites into beautiful "soft peaks" (picture to be uploaded later) and I'm thinking: "Holla! I can totally do this thing!" Ah, key point: I was attempting this recipe without any sort of mixer aid - just me and my whisk. So, I carry on with the recipe with a little spring in my step from my success with the "soft peaks." Things were going great until I added the sugar and.....corn starch....dun, dun, dun, dun. Insta-impossible, right there! I'm beating and beating and beating this mixture trying to get some semblance of a meringue out of it, to no real avail. After beating my heart out for a little over 15min I give up and decided it's good enough for me - so I don't quite have the "stiff peaks" the recipe calls for, but I do have droopy peaks!!! That's gotta count for something, right?? Apparently not. I divvied everything up and threw it in the oven. So, the taste wasn't bad, though a little over-done, the consistency was just all wrong. Blast you stiff peaks any my weak arms!! While it wasn't a complete failure, it was definitely nowhere near a success. I'm going to need to invest in some sort of hand mixer, at least, if I am going to attempt anymore "whipping" desserts. Now I know why the moms of old were so buff!!! To try to redeem myself I made a little raspberry reduction sauce to go with my sad Pavlova and I think it worked. It was de-lish!

Since the Pavlova only called for egg whites, I was left with 6...SIX!!...egg yolks. I couldn't bear to let them go to wast so I decided that I would save them 'til Monday and make some creme brulee with them. **and here enter the yummms, and mmmms, from the readers** Well, I did not realize that creme brulee was so high maintenance and has decided that it needs to sit over-night before it can be fired...LAME! Well, so we shall see how the broiling goes for it later tonight. I'm excited!! I really hope it works! I've never used a broiler before, but I'm hoping that having a gas stove will make it near the awesomeness of having a torch - if only I were that amazing of a cook to warrant having my own torch. *sigh* ....Maybe someday.

Either way this is turning out to be a good week. Angela came in town yesterday and will be here 'til Thursday. And, Miss Mika arrived today and will leave tomorrow afternoon/evening: I love having house guests! Angela and I are going to see a movie tonight; 500 Days of Summer, I believe! So that will be fun times, for sure. I just love that girl.

Oh, my hummer greeted me this morning before I left for work, it made my heart happy - I'll snap a picture of that little bugger if it's the last thing I do!!!

Signing off. 'Til next time!

~MW