Had my last bout of PT this morning, so won't be doing that anymore. Body Wisdom has been very good in helping me work out the aches and pains of returning to a normal gait post-op. Of course, it helped that they loved the goodies I brought them.
I had my mom and sister over for dinner this evening. I baked a Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bundt Cake (I need to take a picture, lol) this afternoon. For dinner, I made Plum Curry Glazed Cornish Game Hens, Wild Rice Pilaf, and Roasted Broccoli. Everyone thought it was good. Jordan asked my mom what she thought of my leaving nursing to make a new career out of cooking. My mom told him as long as I could make a living, she's ok with it (and she thinks I'm a good cook!). It's been nice seeing my mom again. Hope she has a good time while she's here!
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Monday, November 21, 2011
Monday, November 21, 2011
I made some cookies this morning to give my mom and sister. Dried Cranberry, Macadamia Nut and White Chocolate cookies in a cinnamon dough. Not bad, lots of flavor. I had some computer work to do (Jordan has given me the same assignment to do as he gave his students to see how long it would take me and if a lay person could do the assignment), which took up an hour or two this morning.
Janell picked me up at 12:15pm and we went to the airport and picked up my mom. It was so good to see her again. It's been almost a year since we've seen her! She's staying with Janell but I'll still get to see lots of her. We went to lunch as India Kabob-Indian being one of my mom's favorite foods, but not so much for Janell, lol. I like Indian food but don't get to go often so it was a treat for me.
We did just a little shopping then took my mom to Janell's apartment to rest. She came with two suitcases, an overnight bag and a rather large walker with four of the biggest wheels I've ever seen on a walker. My mom says it works well, plus has a seat she can either sit down in or rest her purse and coat on. She came all this way and brought her own chair, lol!
Janell picked me up at 12:15pm and we went to the airport and picked up my mom. It was so good to see her again. It's been almost a year since we've seen her! She's staying with Janell but I'll still get to see lots of her. We went to lunch as India Kabob-Indian being one of my mom's favorite foods, but not so much for Janell, lol. I like Indian food but don't get to go often so it was a treat for me.
We did just a little shopping then took my mom to Janell's apartment to rest. She came with two suitcases, an overnight bag and a rather large walker with four of the biggest wheels I've ever seen on a walker. My mom says it works well, plus has a seat she can either sit down in or rest her purse and coat on. She came all this way and brought her own chair, lol!
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Friday the wind was so strong that I ran a few errands then came home. Not to mention the fires around southwest Reno. My oh my!
I did manage to get some baking in. I was going to make Pumpkin Pie Pops but the filling was a little too runny for that I thought, so a compromise. I made mini Spiced Pumpkin pies (besides the usual spices, I added a few more including Cayenne pepper to add a little bite). They turned out ok, but I won't be buying pumpkin pie mix anytime soon (and I'll read the label first, lol)! It was snowing by the end of the day, so I was really glad I decided to stay home!
Saturday, Jordan and I had breakfast with friends at Krumblz, a deli and bakery started by two pastry chefs who had been working at the Sienna when it closed. They decided to go into business for themselves. Breakfast out is almost always good. Nice people at Krumblz. The rest of the day was spent working on the LAHI project. When I couldn't do any more, I looked at cookie recipes! Love baking cookies, just don't have enough outlets so don't bake as much as I used to.
After dinner we watched "Men Who Stare at Goats". The movie has George Clooney, Ewan McGregor, Jeff Bridges and Kevin Spacey. Strange but funny.
I did manage to get some baking in. I was going to make Pumpkin Pie Pops but the filling was a little too runny for that I thought, so a compromise. I made mini Spiced Pumpkin pies (besides the usual spices, I added a few more including Cayenne pepper to add a little bite). They turned out ok, but I won't be buying pumpkin pie mix anytime soon (and I'll read the label first, lol)! It was snowing by the end of the day, so I was really glad I decided to stay home!
Saturday, Jordan and I had breakfast with friends at Krumblz, a deli and bakery started by two pastry chefs who had been working at the Sienna when it closed. They decided to go into business for themselves. Breakfast out is almost always good. Nice people at Krumblz. The rest of the day was spent working on the LAHI project. When I couldn't do any more, I looked at cookie recipes! Love baking cookies, just don't have enough outlets so don't bake as much as I used to.
After dinner we watched "Men Who Stare at Goats". The movie has George Clooney, Ewan McGregor, Jeff Bridges and Kevin Spacey. Strange but funny.
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Thursday, November 17 2011
I was up early because I needed to make cookies for Karen (of Hill Billy Hot Dogs). She forgot to call me over the weekend to ask for a dozen bags of chocolate chip cookies. Only I had to go out and buy eggs before I could make cookies! I'd forgotten I used all my eggs for the 40 loaves of Spiced Pumpkin Bread. I finished baking and packaging the chocolate chip cookies pretty quickly, got them delivered, then went and saw Janell for a little bit. She had two bags of "stuff" for me.
I had a 2pm conference call with Jordan and David, which went well. David acknowledged the information we need on LA hospitals is "out there", it will just take someone doing research to pull it all together. We'll see if this turns into some type of employment for me (like Jordan thinks will happen-at least something to supplement my income).
I spent part of the day sitting on the couch, working on the computer, which Ah Choo loves. He likes the attention! And the belly rubs, lol. Jordan says he's not sure which one of us is more trained to do the bidding of the other.
I am reading about pies and small or miniature desserts, which have taken center stage right along with cupcakes. People don't feel so guilty buying and eating one cupcake, but don't always want to buy an entire cake. Same with pies and candies and other little pastries. I am making mini pies for one of my meetings in December. And they really are cute!
I managed to finally make "Holiday Jam" and get it canned. Holiday Jam has fresh cranberries, strawberries and sugar cooked together and reduced to a wonderfully thick consistency. Nice combination, cranberries and strawberries.
Jordan and I had dinner out at the Steakhouse at Hobey's in Lemmon Valley. The food was quite good and the restaurant itself reminded me of Harrah's Steakhouse. Kind of old school, old world decor and service (although nothing "table side"). We'll definitely go again. I had lobster bisque that had big chunks of lobster in it (usually lobster bisque is more "essence" of lobster, so the chunks were a surprise) and we split a steak. For dessert we had chocolate cheesecake. The restaurant makes everything in-house! That's not as common as it used to be-at any restaurant. Marco, the maitre'd has worked at several high end restaurants in Reno as well as the Bay area. He's been at Hobey's for 9 years. Nice guy, Marco.
I had a 2pm conference call with Jordan and David, which went well. David acknowledged the information we need on LA hospitals is "out there", it will just take someone doing research to pull it all together. We'll see if this turns into some type of employment for me (like Jordan thinks will happen-at least something to supplement my income).
I spent part of the day sitting on the couch, working on the computer, which Ah Choo loves. He likes the attention! And the belly rubs, lol. Jordan says he's not sure which one of us is more trained to do the bidding of the other.
I am reading about pies and small or miniature desserts, which have taken center stage right along with cupcakes. People don't feel so guilty buying and eating one cupcake, but don't always want to buy an entire cake. Same with pies and candies and other little pastries. I am making mini pies for one of my meetings in December. And they really are cute!
I managed to finally make "Holiday Jam" and get it canned. Holiday Jam has fresh cranberries, strawberries and sugar cooked together and reduced to a wonderfully thick consistency. Nice combination, cranberries and strawberries.
Jordan and I had dinner out at the Steakhouse at Hobey's in Lemmon Valley. The food was quite good and the restaurant itself reminded me of Harrah's Steakhouse. Kind of old school, old world decor and service (although nothing "table side"). We'll definitely go again. I had lobster bisque that had big chunks of lobster in it (usually lobster bisque is more "essence" of lobster, so the chunks were a surprise) and we split a steak. For dessert we had chocolate cheesecake. The restaurant makes everything in-house! That's not as common as it used to be-at any restaurant. Marco, the maitre'd has worked at several high end restaurants in Reno as well as the Bay area. He's been at Hobey's for 9 years. Nice guy, Marco.
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
I delivered my (biblical sounding) 40 loaves of Spiced Pumpkin Bread this morning. I figured since I was done with them, I might as well just deliver them (and bill for them, lol). They turned out well and Anne seemed to like them, so that makes me happy!
I did a little more work on the LAHI project. David sent Jordan and I an example of what he is looking for. I'm not sure that info is out there, at least not in one place. Not to mention the fact that most of the hospital websites do not offer a picture or diagram of their facility, which is what is needed to give David the info he wants. We'll see what happens tomorrow when we conference call. My Internet stopped working this afternoon, so I couldn't finish the work.
I had lunch with Ric at Arlington Gardens. They changed their lunch menu-"dummied" it down some. Probably economics. They do offer interesting specials. We both had Pasta with Bolognese Sauce. Pretty good actually!
Home for a couple of hours, then I went to Campo's grand opening. The early session of 4-6pm was for the media (still hard to think of myself as "the media"). We got a small tour, got to look behind the scenes at the kitchen, etc, had some wine and food (pizza, charcuterie (made right there by Mark Estée), olives, dips, chocolate truffles, chocolate orange mini biscotti and Limoncello mini cupcakes) before the general public came. By 7pm, the place was packed! They also had a live jazz band playing. I met a few new people and saw some old acquaintances. Michael, who used to be matre'd at Harrah's Steakhouse, was there and he even remembered me! He says hello to the doctor by the way. I left about 7:30pm-too many people. I'll go back another time with Jordan and try out the menu. I liked their pizza (made in a wood burning Italian pizza oven) and the charcuterie was fabulous!
Jordan had to teach from UNR tonight because of no Internet so he didn't get home until late. Guess we'll figure out the whole Internet thing tomorrow. I'll also try to add some Campo pictures tomorrow once we have Internet service again.
I did a little more work on the LAHI project. David sent Jordan and I an example of what he is looking for. I'm not sure that info is out there, at least not in one place. Not to mention the fact that most of the hospital websites do not offer a picture or diagram of their facility, which is what is needed to give David the info he wants. We'll see what happens tomorrow when we conference call. My Internet stopped working this afternoon, so I couldn't finish the work.
I had lunch with Ric at Arlington Gardens. They changed their lunch menu-"dummied" it down some. Probably economics. They do offer interesting specials. We both had Pasta with Bolognese Sauce. Pretty good actually!
Home for a couple of hours, then I went to Campo's grand opening. The early session of 4-6pm was for the media (still hard to think of myself as "the media"). We got a small tour, got to look behind the scenes at the kitchen, etc, had some wine and food (pizza, charcuterie (made right there by Mark Estée), olives, dips, chocolate truffles, chocolate orange mini biscotti and Limoncello mini cupcakes) before the general public came. By 7pm, the place was packed! They also had a live jazz band playing. I met a few new people and saw some old acquaintances. Michael, who used to be matre'd at Harrah's Steakhouse, was there and he even remembered me! He says hello to the doctor by the way. I left about 7:30pm-too many people. I'll go back another time with Jordan and try out the menu. I liked their pizza (made in a wood burning Italian pizza oven) and the charcuterie was fabulous!
Jordan had to teach from UNR tonight because of no Internet so he didn't get home until late. Guess we'll figure out the whole Internet thing tomorrow. I'll also try to add some Campo pictures tomorrow once we have Internet service again.
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
PT early this morning. Only one more left after this one, then I am on my own. After PT, I made another trip to the grocery store. More eggs, ground cloves, pumpkin and a couple miscellaneous items. I made a rookie mistake though! I bought pumpkin pie mix in a can instead of the pumpkin puree! Didn't even look at the label! AND, I didn't realize it until I had opened the can to use it and looked at the label then, lol. Oh, well, guess I'll be making pumpkin pies soon!
Believe it or not, I finished baking my 40 loaves of Spiced Pumpkin Bread by 2pm! I let them cool and had them wrapped and boxed before 5pm. Sometimes I amaze even myself (just kidding, lol!). Either I am getting faster or more organized, not sure which it is. And making quick bread (bread made with baking soda and baking powder instead of yeast) , is as the name implies, quick. Now I just need to figure out what to make for dinner. Jordan brought home lamb chops last night but I had already made chicken and rice, so I'll use the lamb tonight.
I have been obsessed with pies since seeing a show on the Cooking Channel called "For the Love of Pies". They all looked so cool! I especially like the small or mini pies made in muffin tins and the pies made in little mason jars. And a couple of the people interviewed, had some unusual ideas. I liked that! Putting chopped chocolate in pie crust or flavoring the pie dough with cinnamon to add a boost of flavor to the entire pie. It inspires me to be more creative myself!
I guess my next job is making some meals for Janell and my mom. They just need to let me know what to make! (Just pick off the menus I gave them-how easy is that?)
Monday, November 14, 2011
Monday, November 14, 2011
I worked on the LAHI project this morning while waiting for my "paper" pans to come (which they did about 2pm). Jordan looked at the list before he left for work and showed me a few places that needed to be "cleaned up". Once that was done I sent the list off to PhuongLan Nguyen to look at to see what she could add. Since it's GIS week (not sure exactly what that means but it made sense to Jordan), she will not get a look at it until Wednesday. I also added a list of services hospitals offer, which at some point in the future will be matched up to the various hospitals.
Once my pans got here, I started baking. I made 14 loaves of the spiced pumpkin bread this afternoon! It went quickly so I think this won't take me long. I was thinking as I mixed a double batch of batter, that I was getting used to "mass production" although still on a smaller scale (not like Sarah Lee, lol). After dinner (baked chicken and rice with a mushroom sauce and brocolini), I wrapped the loaves I had made. I first put them in a cellphone bag, then wrapped a 4 inch wide piece of (gorgeous) decorative paper around the center, then added a matching ribbon to that. I got the idea after looking at the Martha Stewart website at packaging and gift wrapping. Say what you will about her (Jordan asked me if she learned that trick in prison!) she does have some creative ideas. I am pleased with the way the packaging turned out.
Once my pans got here, I started baking. I made 14 loaves of the spiced pumpkin bread this afternoon! It went quickly so I think this won't take me long. I was thinking as I mixed a double batch of batter, that I was getting used to "mass production" although still on a smaller scale (not like Sarah Lee, lol). After dinner (baked chicken and rice with a mushroom sauce and brocolini), I wrapped the loaves I had made. I first put them in a cellphone bag, then wrapped a 4 inch wide piece of (gorgeous) decorative paper around the center, then added a matching ribbon to that. I got the idea after looking at the Martha Stewart website at packaging and gift wrapping. Say what you will about her (Jordan asked me if she learned that trick in prison!) she does have some creative ideas. I am pleased with the way the packaging turned out.
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