Let me say this about the last week: If you're a student, stay in school. I don't just mean don't drop out, I mean stay in as long as possible. Pick up a second major. Get a masters degree. Stay for a doctorate. Maybe by the time you're done the economy will have recovered a tisch and you'll be able to find a job with your English/Theatre/Film Studies/Liberal Arts degrees. In the meantime, I'll be out here crossing my fingers and toes and eyes and whatever else you can cross in hopes that an opportunity will arise soon in the Non-Rhode-Island-Licensed educational theatre world that will allow me to live at least without concern for where rent and utilities payments are coming from, and will save me from asking the dreaded "Do you want fries with that?"
A few contacts have popped up. A friend of mine sent me a list of several theatres in the area and two of them resulted in interviews, one of which may be a way into several other contacts as well. Sometimes providence smiles. Heh.
In the meantime, we've been getting our home settled in. I finally finished the bedroom and we finished the living room and kitchen together. We only have one box left in the kitchen, and it's books, which we unfortunately don't have space for at the moment. We need at least two more bookshelves, if not three in order to comfortably fit all of our favorite friends and leave room for the growth that is sure to come. The Red Room, however, has become a source of great frustration as we literally cannot unpack it at the moment. It is dependent on the aforementioned bookshelves, as well as the shift from library/cat room/music room to office space, and so for the moment, it is the magical boxland in which all of our stuff seems to disappear. We're still missing a few things vital to the settling in process and while I know they're in there, I'm loath to spend any real time due to the daunting nature of that space.
It'll happen eventually.
I also had somehow missed the boat on craftgawker, which is where I've spent the last few days, bookmarking links into a few folder for crafts, gathering ideas on how to spruce up some bare walls, turn the multitude of extra mason jars we have lying around into something beautiful and useable, and how to spend my unemployed hours utilizing items already in the house, since I clearly can't spend any money. Current plans for book-based shelves, mason jar soap dispensers, and repurposed wine bottles will be posed as they come, and I would welcome any craft ideas you all might have!
For the moment, however, I've been baking. Still on the trend of "let's use what we already have in the house" but with some great results. Roasted chickpeas you can eat like potato chips, gooey delicious chocolate chip cookies, pasta with pecorino romano cheese and freshly ground black pepper, and unfortunately, a flop of peach scones.
Roasted chickpeas are a great, quick snack, perfect for putting out in a bowl at a party, or hunkering down for a weekend of hurricane Irene. Also, they're ridiculously easy to make.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Drain and rinse a can (or two) of chickpeas. Pour onto a baking sheet lined with paper towel and dry with another paper towel, taking care to remove skins as they come off. Which they will, as you wipe them dry.
Toss it in the oven for 30-40 minutes. And when I say toss, I mean place. Don't want chickpeas lining the underside of your oven. Mine took on the higher end of the time frame to get super crunchy, which I determined by skewering one with a sharp knife, waiting for it to cool, and then eating to check for texture. And by waiting for it to cool I mean sticking it in the freezer for I am impatient and despise waiting. I was met with chewy on my first one, so they went in for another 10 minutes.
When the little suckers are crispy, crunchy, and delicious, pour them into a bowl and toss with whatever spices you like. I used salt, cumin, a little granulated garlic, and curry powder, the last of which surprises no one who knows me as I have been known to put curry powder in my mac and cheese and am currently searching for a way to mix it into chocolate, I love it that much.
Unfortunately, in the midst of all of this delectable snacking, a flop sneaked in.
It should be mentioned that I love scones. I think they're the perfect breakfast, hearty without being heavy, perfect when savory and equally perfect when sweet, easy to make for any occasion, made to the taste of the creator, and just all around delightful. And so when my Mom and I talked about creating peach scones I was excited. I imagined a perfect balance of cinnamon, whole wheat, ricotta, peaches, and brown sugar. I imagined moist but still chewy and with a little heft. I imagined little pockets of peachy goodness and delicious flavor.
I did not, however, imagine whatever it was I made. Because scones they were not. I used the wrong peaches (white flesh peaches, while delicious, do not give enough flavor, as it turns out, regardless of the fact that they were local, organic, and a perfect stand-alone snack) and didn't balance my fruit to grain ratio in such a way that they were at all substantial.
Even if the peaches were delicious.
In other words, that recipe to come. As I re-do it. Completely. If you're hungry for the homey-goodness that is the perfect scone, however, head on over to Smitten Kitchen and check out her raspberry ricotta scone recipe, for it is divine. And easy. Seriously, what more could you want?
Keep us in your thoughts this weekend as we hunker down. We have our hurricane preparedness kit -- J. owns about two dozen flashlights, so we're good on batteries and light, we have candles, we have books, we have gallons of water, we have snacks that require neither refrigeration nor cooking, we have chocolate, we have granola bars, we have bananagrams, we have fruit and veggies, and we have hard cider and wine.
Yep. I said it. Our hurricane preparedness kit includes hard cider and a nice red wine.
See you on the other end of this folks. My computer turns off when the 45 mph winds start...
So you've done craftgawker, but have you done foodgawker or pinterest?
ReplyDeleteI love the chickpeas!!!!!!!!!!! So glad you're blogging :)
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