dirty projectors might be awesome

I’m sitting at the information desk watching what everyone seems to think is the beginning of a blizzard. Or a Lake Effect Snow Event. Or just winter as those of use who haven’t forgotten what winter IS call it. It’s snow, people. Just snow. Sure it blows around and sometimes the roads get slippery and sometimes you can’t see the road well, but it’s still just snow.

I am still hoping for a snow day tomorrow, I might add.

In other news, I just found out I have officially reached the top of my pay scale here at my job so unless west Michigan starts looking like the next Williamsburg and people start moving IN instead of OUT this is what I will be getting paid until I move and get a new job which is simultaneously exciting and depressing. I’m also working on an epic this-is-what-I-do-in-my-job manifesto. It’s really so if something horrific were to happen to Sue and I someone might be able to figure out what we do and how we do it because there is a fair amount of stuff that no one else here knows how to do which is, again, simultaneously exciting and depressing.

Granderson is being traded to the Yankees.

This is just depressing.

On the way home I’m stopping at the Cove for important snow day supplies: hot chocolate and buttershots. Let’s all hope tomorrow finds Peter and Erin sitting on the futon snuggling with Grace drinking said concoction watching season 5 of Lost.

Seriously. Think blizzardy thoughts for me.

there is no need to panic

So this week is almost over. Woo.hoo.

Plans so far include

Tonight: Friends of the Library Xmas Party in the auditorium after having worked since 8am so I was looking at a whopping 11 hours at the library today until Full Circle Steve informed me Girl Talk was available on vinyl so I spent my lunch break going to get said record and go home to eat and listen to said record only to find out (much like the great Scissor Sisters debacle) our record player is incapable of playing it at the proper speed.

And there is no alcohol at aforementioned party.

Pick up laundry, make pierogi dough, play chess, watch groundhog day or just chillax.

Tomorrow am: Bring Peter to work, go to Meijer at 9am which is only slightly better than the alternative of going at 2:30pm, go to Barnes and Noble for a supertopsecret Christmas present mission, go to a pawn shop with Joel where I will hopefully find the very inexpensive guitar of my dreams, pick Peter of from work, spend the rest of the day just marveling that Peter doesn’t have to work at Barnes and Noble TWO nights in a row. Make pierogies.

Sunday:

KNIT like there is no tomorrow.

so...it's only tuesday....hmpf

Sunday night we made chili. Sunday night we ate chili. Monday at lunch I ate chili. Despite the deliciousness of said chili, I knew that by Monday night I’d want something other than chili. I had spinach, beets, goat cheese, kalamata olives, cream, and pasta in mind. I googled my ingredients. I came up with little direction. I enlisted Kari as my official taster and figured I’d just go for it. I wasn’t planning on anyone else being there, but Joleen got out of work early and as it was her birthday and all she came back to the barn for a meal I made no promises about.

It was good. Pink. But good.

Here’s what I did:

4 medium roasted beets

sauté half a red onion, a handful of chopped shallots and a coupla cloves of garlic in 2 tbsp of canola oil-let it go for a good long time to let it caramelize.

I did not have fresh spinach so while my sauté concoction was going on, I cooked some frozen spinach and drained it.

Cook your pasta. I used rotini, but I would have used fusilli if I’d had it.

Chop up some prosciutto (totally unnecessary, btw. obviously one could make this vegetarian) or next time I’d actually use pancetta. Thicker is better. The flavor was good, but I missed on the crispy-ness I was looking for. I suspect pancetta would have helped. Toss it in with the onions etc and let it go. A good long time. Deglaze the pan with some white wine and toss in your spinach. Chop up some kalamata olives and toss them in.

Here’s where things got pink. I had roasted by beets over my lunch break and I wanted to reheat them so I tossed them into the sauté pan. Then I crumbled in about 5 oz of goat cheese and ½ c or so of cream. I also threw in a handful of grated parmesan.

Throw the cooked pasta into the sauté pan and mix everything up real good like.

Watch everything turn an alarming shade of pink.

Serve in bowls with a little more parmesan and some cracked pepper on top.

This might be the very first time I just made up a recipe. I cook without recipes all the time, but usually it’s because I’ve memorized it. Or I just barely alter a recipe.

I’m disgustingly proud of myself.

The only thing I would do differently would be to roast the beets closer to serving time and just top the pasta with the beets. Joleen (whose signature color is pink) thought it was perfect for her birthday supper.

In other news, music can wake me up at 2 am even if the volume is barely on.

Guess I’m just defective.