Snowed in…

… the “what’s in the cupboard” challenge.

As the EFG’s minion, I’ve been training at the feet of the master of yummy.  Sadly, the EFG lives across the metro area, and we’re having snopocalpse,

getting to his side of the world wasn’t gonna happen today… kinda sad, because Max and I were going to hang out -

Anywhoodle, I felt the need to eat something good, warm and savory.

and.. outside it looked like this:

If you look carefully, you can see our green Jeep in the top left of the photo… so going to the store wasn’t my first choice.  So, I declared the “what’s in the kitchen yummy food challenge to be on…

Won — I made this:

It was pretty easy — and all my idea… since EFG was working…

• About half a box of fettuccine, broken in thirds and boiled.
• About 3 stalks of celery, sliced and barely sauteed
• About 1 box of fresh, sliced, white button mushrooms, barely sauteed
• 1 can of cream of chicken and mushroom soup –plus about 1/2 cup milk
• 2 cans of tuna
• Lots of pepper, some coriander, salt and a sprinkle of red pepper flakes.
• Top with Italian panko bread crumbs (thanks to Andy, we have them in the kitchen).

Throw it all in a 2qt casserole dish, top with the bread crumbs and bake at 350 for 30 minutes, then 400 for 10… or, until it’s brown, bubbly and hot in the middle..

Yummo — tomorrow, Andy and I are making Christmas cookies for a contest in my apartment complex… even if it’s

Really, really, really cold –

What to do?

For those of you who’ve done grad school, this will sound familiar — I’m having a little anxiety about not having something I MUST DO!

I finished my BA in 1996 (yea, a long time ago…) –  The nice thing about being an undergrad is that incomplete grades weren’t a normal part of life.  That means you get a Christmas break — a real break.  Of course, I worked for my whole BA, so I’d normally work over break — so I had something TO DO.

During grad school the unwritten expectation was that a good paper required extended time — and a grade extension was automatic until the beginning of the next semester… presto, no winter break.  Instead, I worked on finishing papers — and working.  In short, I had something TO DO.

After I finished coursework, I had to work on papers to qualify as a Ph.D. candidate — since I was teaching a lot, the natural time to do that work was over break… again, no break… and something TO DO.

Over this past summer, I defended my dissertation (Dr. Patty still sounds sweet to my ears… not sick of it yet!), and submitted it a couple of weeks before BNCC’s fall meetings.  I had syllabi to write etc.. so, I had something TO DO.

Enter, anxiety monster — da da daaaaaaaaa — When I finish my grading and write the syllabi for the next semester, I won’t have ANYTHING TO DO.

The thought gives me heart palpitations, my palms get clammy, I’m really not sure how I’m going to handle this… I suppose I can look at it as learning a new life skill, how to relax and enjoy non-structured time….

or, I can totally rearrange the house, learn to knit so I can knit a whole wardrobe, learn to speak Chinese and get a holiday job…