holiday party

People in my department are so busy that we just don't have time to do much other than work. When I first got here last June, there was a potluck--mostly for our student assistants--to mark the end of the school year and graduation. Since then, there hasn't been anything.

When December came and I was beginning to get into holiday mode, I was hearing other departments plan holiday parties, but not a peep from my department. Just when I thought we weren't going to have a celebration, a co-worker mentioned that our other co-worker was leaving soon for her year-long leave of absence and there was no plan for a send-off. So, I volunteered to organize the potluck and turned it into a combination holiday and going-away party.

Here are some pictures of the spread. We had some great food. By special request, I made pumpkin swirl cake again. It turned out so much prettier baked on the cookie sheet.

Unfortunately, people didn't really linger for long--everyone's just too busy--but at least, we got to gather and celebrate and be festive, even if only for a little while.

it's beginning to look a lot like christmas

For the longest time, my sister used these red wooden beads to decorate her tree. We had gotten these years ago from our sister-in-law whose office was getting rid of them. This year, my sister decided that she was sick of them. So, I took them to work and decided to make my workspace festive.

I hung them around my cubicle entry, and lent some to my friends so they can decorate, too. While they looked cute by themselves, they actually didn't look that festive. I figured they needed stuff to hang onto them, and I thought I'd make paper ornaments and/or snowflakes.

Well, that same afternoon, my friend, Susan, and I took a little break and walked around campus. On the way back, we saw these liquidambar trees (I thought they were maple) with these dried spiky fruits hanging on them. And I thought these would be light enough to hang on to the beads (which in turn were only being supported by pushpins). Susan actually spied some fruits that were not dried up, and they had green and red hues. Perfect! Though these ones were heavier than the dried ones, they looked so much more festive and went much better with the beads. So up they went.

wednesdays are for cooking

Since my sister is now back in the work force, we no longer have the luxury of planned out, home-cooked meals; instead, we have divvied up the work week. My sister is in charge of dinner on Mondays and Thursdays, while my brother-in-law has Tuesdays and Fridays. I have Wednesdays.

I haven't really been cooking much the last couple of years, so my cooking is definitely rusty. But I figured I should take this as an opportunity to brush up on my cooking skills and cook new stuff. I can't say that I've really succeeded.

On December 3rd, I made teriyaki chicken. Both my niece and nephew like teriyaki chicken, so I figured this would be a good dish to try and make. I had actually planned on making this much earlier, but it took me a while to get the mirin and the sake needed for the recipe. So, here's how my dish came out.

It was okay (my sister said it was good), but it tasted nothing like teriyaki chicken in restaurants. As you can see, it looks a bit dry. I think I was waiting for the sauce to look like the restaurant sauce, so I may have overcooked the chicken. Oh well. I may just have to leave this dish to the restaurants, unless I find another recipe to try.

On December 10th, I stuck with the more familiar. I made Filipino bistek and my version of shrimp tempura. I'm actually not that good at making bistek, but this turned out quite good.

As for my tempura, I've made this a lot of times, though not lately (maybe years?). I was going to try to actually make it the Japanese way, but I was too lazy to butterfly the shrimp and everything. So, I just did it my way. This was good, though I think there wasn't enough shrimp. My sister can be such a glutton when it comes to seafood--she could have eaten the whole thing. But i guess it's just as well there wasn't more. All that flour and oil isn't good for us, especially since the bistek also had oil. And, of course, we ate all that rice to go with them.

This has been about it for my non-dessert cooking. Can't say that I've really been too successful. Oh well...

good deal

I get to work by vanpool, and we meet up at a Kmart parking lot. On Friday, the week after Thanksgiving, I got to the parking lot and smelled barbeque. Well, when we got back in the afternoon, it turns out that this company sells smoked meats there on weekends. (They begin smoking the meat at dawn so that they could begin serving at lunch.) I love bbq, so I just had to try some.

I wanted baby back ribs, but they were out of it. So, I got two orders of spareribs instead. However, because it was already 6pm, their closing time, I got a good deal. One order (half-rack) is supposed to be $8 (I think), but I got 2 whole racks plus half a chicken for for $12. The meat (though not the chicken) was definitely fall-of-the-bone soft, and the sauce was yummy. I totally scored!