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October 9th, 2009
01:19 am - Something not Europe related...
I was just thinking of stuff I'm coming home to so I'm not too sad that this is over. Of course it will be wonderful to see everyone again (I've missed you guys!!) and Smeegs, obviously. He has gotten horrifically fat since I've been gone (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) narfy put him up to the webcam so I could see him the other day).
And then I remembered that my miso will be ready, yay!!!!! I started this a little over a year ago when I randomly stumbled across some koji culture in Uwajimaya. Of course I had to try it.... and the last time I checked it (about 4 months ago) it smelled like miso, so I'm hopeful that it will be edible. This will be the longest ferment I've ever done, so I'm really excited for it to turn out.
I will do the usual taste test myself to make sure it's okay, but if it is there's about 4 pounds of it, so there's some up for grabs if anyone wants to try any.
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August 4th, 2009
05:38 pm - Breathing now...
Faerie Worlds was fun! Yay fun! I did not take any pictures because narfy probably took enough for all of us plus some :) So once those are posted, there will be pictures of the pretties :) My mushroom fairy costume went over better than I expected. I didn't have enough body paint to make myself look dirty all over, so I used real dirt instead (mixed with water to make mud then sprayed with makeup sealent). This proved to be very effective; both in cost, availability, and UV protection. My mushrooms smelled a bit mushroom-y, but lisatheriveter assured me that they just smelled "savory" and not stinky. She managed to get her Laundry Fairy outfit together wonderfully, complete with bubbles which were awesome :)
In other news, I finally scheduled my registration exam for August 21st, which gives me a little over 2 weeks to prepare. This is also right smack in the middle of Burning Man prep, but dammit I really want to be done with it before we leave!! So the crazy will be worth it, and hopefully I pass and will be able to celebrate after.
So now that I'm back for around a month, I will probably be gone for most of the month of September too. Burning Man in the beginning and then off to Eastern Europe (mostly Czech Republic, Romania, and all the places in between) with my sister until our money runs out. I'm guessing this will probably be close to the beginning of October or thereabouts. Any recommendations on where to go or what to see are welcome. Also, if anyone knows people who would be willing to let us crash for a few days, let me know too. We have a few places lined up already, and there are always hostels, but we are trying to keep this trip as cost-effective as possible so there will probably be quite a bit of camping involved as well.
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April 22nd, 2009
10:19 pm - Things I hate...
There are very few of them... hate is a pretty strong term, but damn I hate having to pay for journal articles. Grumble grumble. I had to have this one though and WSU didn't have access, and the MAMC Medical Library didn't either, so not many options...
But now I have all of my refences in order and read, hooray!! I just have to write the actual paper...
I have one sentence. I predict that tomorrow is going to be a long night....
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February 9th, 2009
05:59 pm - Cat update and personal affirmations
Smeegle is all clean again-- Hooray!!
This is what he looks like sans paint! Thanks for the input everyone!
On a completely different note, I saw 23 patients today, woot!!! Personal record! Wow, I really like ! don't I?
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February 7th, 2009
01:04 pm - A question for painters and pet owners...
My father decided to paint the house this weekend and Smeegle decided he would "help" by loving up against the paint cans a bit too enthusiastically. Now he is covered in splotches of rust-brown paint. I got most of the wet spots off with the kitty wipes, but he has some dried spots that they won't get off. I don't want him to get sick by licking them off himself, so does anyone know how to get satin acrylic latex-based paint off a cat? Much thanks!!
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/classic/angry.gif) annoyed
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January 11th, 2009
02:12 pm
I hate migraines. I especially hate the evil aspartame containing Equal in the seemingly innocuous iced tea my mother made that caused the migraine. Yesterday was mostly spent laying in a darkened bedroom attempting to sleep it off. Not a pleasant Saturday.
But here is something I really, REALLY love; cooking with kefir! I made some chicken stock earlier this week and had a bunch of leftover cooked chicken meat. I thought chicken salad sounded delightful, so I made some. I absolutely detest mayonnaise, so I decided to try and create a different dressing sans mayonnaise. I mixed some sour cream with some kefir (enough to make it liquidy) threw some pecans, dried cherries, and celery in, then thoroughly enjoyed the results. Here is the recipe. If you don't have kefir (I realize that most people don't) you could just substitute buttermilk instead. Or just use plain old mayonnaise if you like it. And be forewarned-- I did not use measurements when I made this, I just threw stuff in a bowl. So if it doesn't work out, just mess with it until it does.
Chicken Salad
Dressing:
3/4 cup sour cream
1/2 cup kefir (or buttermilk)
1 tsp basil (fresh or dried, I used dried)
1/2 tsp ground marjoram
salt and pepper to tasete
Mix together in a bowl and set aside. It should be a little thicker in consistency than salad dressing.
Salad:
3 cups shredded chicken
1/2 cup toasted pecans (or walnuts, or any nuts)
3 stalks celery, finely minced
1/4 cup dried cherries
2 Tbsp sherry wine vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
Combine the chicken, vinegar, salt, and pepper together in a large bowl. Add the nuts, celery, and cherries and the reserved dressing. Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary.
Then devour it like a ravenous beast :)
Current Location: Home
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/classic/tired.gif) groggy
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December 25th, 2008
06:24 pm - Acres of wrapping paper
My house looks like a post-Christmas apocolypse. Probably because it is.
Merry Christmas everyone!
My milk-to-water-back to milk kefir still smells like moldy grossness :( I will now try pouring watered down yogurt over it in hopes that it will pick up some shiny new cultures.
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/classic/thinking.gif) contemplative
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December 24th, 2008
04:30 pm - Winding down...
So after several frantic phone calls and emails, I am under the impression that my improperly faxed bit of paper (thank you, Kinko's) was not that big of a deal and I should be able to start my clinical rotation at Madigan on the 12th as planned. Unfortunately, this does not negate the fact that my instructor now thinks I'm a complete moron. This will have to be rectified with hours of studying and memorizing of lab values so as to become a walking encyclopedia of nutritional knowledge! That and a decent amount of ass-kissing thrown in for good measure should hopefully do the trick.
After a wonderful weekend up north with lisatheriveter and narfy</lj> I am now back home in Puyallup with the fam (much thanks to narfy</lj> for braving the roads to come rescue me).
I woke this morning to the smell of scorched chocolate, stumbled downstairs, and found my father elbow-deep in runny egg whites. He was apparently attempting to make chocolate mousse to impress my mother, who unfortunately has to work today and tomorrow. After explaining to him that yes, you really do need to use a double boiler to melt chocolate and that an electric mixer is much more effective at whipping egg whites than a hand-held whisk, my sister returned from the store with a replacement batch of chocolate and the three of us attempted Round Two of Chocolate Cream Cheese Mousse. It is now setting up nicely in the fridge and I believe it will be absolutely delicious.
I love my family, but sometimes I suspect that common sense just isn't one of their most abundent characteristics.
Meanwhile, on the fermentation frontline...
I discovered my kefir grains languishing in their respective mediums of water and milk at the back of the fridge. God knows how long they had been there, but I suspect it's been over a month (not good). I opened the milk kefir and much to my suprise, it did not smell rancid! It was a little chunky, but I took a tiny taste of it and it tasted like regular old kefir, so I think they will be fine for future use. I rinsed them off and discarded the old milk. They look nice and healthy, so I poured some fresh milk over them and plan on rejuvenating them with daily changes for about a week or so. Then I think they will be back up to maximum health and ready to ferment to their little heart's content.
The milk-to-water kefir grains, however, are another story. I opened them up the smell was similar to when you leave water in your water bottle in a hot car for a really long time. Musty, damp, and slightly rank. This does not bode well. After about an hour trying to research what to do to rejuvenate them, I gave up and just poured some fresh milk on them in an attempt to revive them in a similar fashion as the other milk kefir grains. I don't know if this will work, as I seperated them from the original batch for the sole purpose of using them only for kefiring juice, tea, and other non-milk mediums. All the resources I consulted stated emphatically that you are not supposed to transfer them back over to a milk medium once you've done this. But none of them say anything about rejuvenating them or how to store them if you're not using them for the time being. So I figure that since they've been in water for so long, they're probably starving. Giving them a good week or so in milk to let them feed on the lactose seems like a good idea to me. Hopefully once they are healthy again, I can switch them back over to juice or tea and get a regular rhythm going.
If anyone has any bright ideas on this subject, feel free to share! In return, here is the chocolate mousse recipe.
Chocolate Cream Cheese Mousse
3 oz semisweet chocolate
3 oz unsweetened chocolate
8 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
3 large eggs, seperated
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream, chilled
1. Melt both chocolates in the top of a double boiler over simmering water
2. Process the cream cheese and 1/2 cup of the sugar in a food processor until smooth, about 10 seconds. Scrape the bowl with a rubber spatula
3. Add egg yolks and vanilla and process until smooth. Add hot chocolate and process about 10 seconds more. Transfer to a large mixing bowl.
4. Using an electric mixer, whip the cream in a medium sized mixing bowl just until peaks are firm.
5. Whip the egg whites (also with an electric mixer) on high speed until frothy, about 15 seconds. Add the remaining 1/4 cup sugar and continue mixing until soft peaks form.
6. Whisk about 1/3 of the whites into the chocolate mixture to lighten it, then fold in the rest.
7. Fold in the whipped cream
8. Four the mousse into a bowl and refrigerate at least 8 hours or overnight *
9. Serve as is, or with whipped cream if you prefer.
* If you don't have 8 hours to chill it, you can speed the process up by letting it set up in the freezer for a bit, and then transfering it to the fridge. Make sure it doesn't actually freeze though, or else you will have seperated chocolate mousse on yours hands, which is definitely not very attractive looking.
Current Location: home
Current Mood: nerdy
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December 17th, 2008
02:08 am - My potential future
All I want to do is help people. Really.
The part I don't understand is why it has to be so goddamn difficult.
Stupid paperwork. For future reference, procrastinating = potentially fucking up your future career for good.
Be forewarned.
Current Location: Hell
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/classic/sad.gif) crappy
Current Music: Cornershop, Brimful of Asha
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December 16th, 2008
08:53 pm - Halfway there!!
Hooray!! Finished up my last community rotation at LLAA, turned in my last assignment/evaluation, and now I am on winter break. I suspect that I may have failed my final exam, but I was assured by my instructor that she was not going to give anyone less than a B- in the class (the minimum you need to pass). It's more of a formality, really-- they need some sort of tangible thing to grade I think.
There were good points and bad points about this semester. I really enjoyed my time at Lifelong AIDS Alliance and am essentially in awe of all the employees/volunteers that have dedicated their time to make it work. The patients were all so different, and while I didn't necessarily like all of them, I most definitely respect them for fighting such a hard battle. All my other rotations were pretty unremarkable, but this one made the whole thing worth it.
On the downside, it was difficult to take classtime on Fridays seriously after it became inherently obvious that my instructor was, for the most part, unable to answer any questions whose answers couldn't be found in Hess and Hunt (big book o' nutrition). This was pretty frustrating, especially after coming from an environment like Bastyr, where ingenuity and originality are basically required just to walk the hallways unscathed. Returning to conventional education was a rude wakeup call, but one cannot live in the Bastyr Bubble forever.... unless you are on the ND/AOM dual track, that is :)
So now I am back in Puyallup and trying to calm down and decompress. Today I finished up the mountains of paperwork required before I start my clinical rotation at Madigan Army Medical Center in January and got a giant bottle of vodka, some instant coffee, and six lemons so I can start on my Christmas presents. Tomorrow I will get new tires on my car and hopefully spend some time up north with narfy and lisatheriveter while her mom is in town.
I love having spare time.
Current Location: P-town
Current Mood: accomplished
Current Music: !!! Chk Chik Chick
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December 3rd, 2008
08:19 pm
So I'm three days into my rotation at Lifelong AIDS Alliance, and I am thoroughly impressed with the organization in general and very happy to finally be doing something I care about. I definitely feel like this is something I could potentially create into a career. And it sure as hell beats digging through trayline garbage in a hospital dishpit. For those not familiar with dietetic linguistics, this is known as a "plate waste study". It is only delegated to slaves (er, interns) because no self-respecting RD would ever be caught dead doing it.
Much thanks also to lisatheriveter and Stormy for letting me crash on their futon for the next two weeks. I will make you both pies (or I guess vanilla cake for Stormy since he doesn't like pie).
Speaking of pie, here is my recipe for Raise-Your-Cholesterol-by-50-Points French Silk Pie. Or if you don't wish to ruin your triglycerides, cut really small pieces :)
One pre-cooked pie shell
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate
4 large eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup cold unsalted butter cut into chunks
2 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 1/2 teaspoons Kahlua
Directions- Melt chocolate in a double boiler set over simmering water.
- Set aside to cool to thick but still liquid.
- Combine eggs and sugar in a double broiler until hot but not scrambled.
- Remove from heat.
- With a mixer beat the chocolate into the egg mixture, then beat in the cold butter.
- Beat for 15 minutes. Yes, 15 minutes. Don't cheat or it won't be as good.
- Beat in vanilla and Kahlua.
- Scrape the filling into the shell and chill in fridge for at least 3 hours
Current Mood: thoughtful
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November 26th, 2008
07:38 pm - Thanksgiving shenanigans
Yes, yes-- I am finally on LJ. Now I can hang with the cool kids!
The holidays are an interesting time of year. This is the first time I've ever not been working retail, so I have been trying to get into a more festive mood. All I can recall from previous years is a desire to smash my head repetitively against the nearest wall in time to the Christmas carols playing on repeat while strangling the nearest customer with tinsel strands.
But this year there will be none of that. This year, there will be pies. Multitudes of pies.
I made a coconut cream pie, a French silk pie, and a sour cream apple pie. The sour cream apple turned out best, but I suspect that was because I ended up making a blood sacrifice to the Gods of Pie. Which leads me into...
Things I've Learned Today:
1. Do not use a mandoline without the guard when slicing apples. You will cut your thumb and it will bleed
2. Coconut oil does not make a good pie crust
3. Playing with fire can be fun
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving everyone! And please eat in moderation-- or at least attempt to!
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