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innie_darlingHi, everybody!
I meant to post something earlier, to cover the last few weeks, but of course I got sick just as everything was winding down, so posting was the last thing on my mind.
So here's the scoop on my life. I had my performance review last week, and it went extremely well. Having the boss that I do makes me thankful that I work for someone who believes in open communication and on-the-spot feedback, so that I'm not blindsided when review time rolls around. Also, I enjoy my work and my colleagues, and I'm happy. (As a bonus, a friend just found out that she got a job she's excited about, and I was able to act as a reference for her!)
I drove up to Boston the weekend before Thanksgiving with my mom and brother to visit my cousin, her husband, and their two little boys (upon whom I used to base a lot of my Dean and Sam as wee ones stories). The visit was fine, but frankly not worth the effort it took to coordinate and get up there.
I hosted Thanksgiving for my family - my parents and brother - and cooked, with my mom (who refused to get out of the kitchen) doing all of the chopping and critiquing. Though she doesn't believe in recipes, she still ended up being extremely helpful in helping prepare the squash and potatoes especially. This was our menu:
Veggies & Hummus [I did not make the hummus]
Smoky Butternut Squash Soup
Green Bean and Tomato Marinated Salad
Cracked Wheat with Caramelized Onions and Kale
Spicy Corn Relish
Spiced Sweet Potatoes
Cardamom Fudge
Banana-Cinnamon Cake [I bought a caramel sauce for this]
Key Lime Pie [store-bought]
It all came out really well, and everyone enjoyed it. Plus, my parents insisted on doing the dishes, which is my least favorite chore ever, so I ended up with a nice clean kitchen after all of that work. That was Thursday. Friday I went to work and then met the family for a movie (Captain Phillips) and dinner. Saturday was my mom's birthday, so I took her to a matinee (The Curious Case of the Watson Intelligence) and then we met my brother and dad at a bar where they'd been watching college football, so I saw the end of the Auburn/Alabama game that made history. We went out to dinner with a very exuberant friend of my brother's and his new wife, and they kept us in stitches and got the waiters to sing "Happy Birthday" to my mom, who was squirming and blushing in the corner. Sunday morning my mom left and I woke up feeling terrible, so I spent the day reading fic, watching movies, and eating pomegranates. And then my dad came back and we watched the hundredth episode of The Good Wife, which blew me away.
I'm writing a lot: I wrote a story for![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
holmestice, and I'm working on my main Yuletide story and three treats. Plus a fic for Reign (clearly, I have no shame at all - is anyone else watching this?). Also, I need a favor: I wrote about half of a long post-season/series 2 story for Sherlock that is BBC-canon-compliant. I can't finish it before the third series airs (January 1!) but would still like to get the first half up before then. Is anyone in the mood to beta some Sherlock fic? You wouldn't need to know anything other than the six episodes aired (there are no series 3 spoilers in it).
How are you all doing?
I meant to post something earlier, to cover the last few weeks, but of course I got sick just as everything was winding down, so posting was the last thing on my mind.
So here's the scoop on my life. I had my performance review last week, and it went extremely well. Having the boss that I do makes me thankful that I work for someone who believes in open communication and on-the-spot feedback, so that I'm not blindsided when review time rolls around. Also, I enjoy my work and my colleagues, and I'm happy. (As a bonus, a friend just found out that she got a job she's excited about, and I was able to act as a reference for her!)
I drove up to Boston the weekend before Thanksgiving with my mom and brother to visit my cousin, her husband, and their two little boys (upon whom I used to base a lot of my Dean and Sam as wee ones stories). The visit was fine, but frankly not worth the effort it took to coordinate and get up there.
I hosted Thanksgiving for my family - my parents and brother - and cooked, with my mom (who refused to get out of the kitchen) doing all of the chopping and critiquing. Though she doesn't believe in recipes, she still ended up being extremely helpful in helping prepare the squash and potatoes especially. This was our menu:
Veggies & Hummus [I did not make the hummus]
Smoky Butternut Squash Soup
Green Bean and Tomato Marinated Salad
Cracked Wheat with Caramelized Onions and Kale
Spicy Corn Relish
Spiced Sweet Potatoes
Cardamom Fudge
Banana-Cinnamon Cake [I bought a caramel sauce for this]
Key Lime Pie [store-bought]
It all came out really well, and everyone enjoyed it. Plus, my parents insisted on doing the dishes, which is my least favorite chore ever, so I ended up with a nice clean kitchen after all of that work. That was Thursday. Friday I went to work and then met the family for a movie (Captain Phillips) and dinner. Saturday was my mom's birthday, so I took her to a matinee (The Curious Case of the Watson Intelligence) and then we met my brother and dad at a bar where they'd been watching college football, so I saw the end of the Auburn/Alabama game that made history. We went out to dinner with a very exuberant friend of my brother's and his new wife, and they kept us in stitches and got the waiters to sing "Happy Birthday" to my mom, who was squirming and blushing in the corner. Sunday morning my mom left and I woke up feeling terrible, so I spent the day reading fic, watching movies, and eating pomegranates. And then my dad came back and we watched the hundredth episode of The Good Wife, which blew me away.
I'm writing a lot: I wrote a story for
holmestice, and I'm working on my main Yuletide story and three treats. Plus a fic for Reign (clearly, I have no shame at all - is anyone else watching this?). Also, I need a favor: I wrote about half of a long post-season/series 2 story for Sherlock that is BBC-canon-compliant. I can't finish it before the third series airs (January 1!) but would still like to get the first half up before then. Is anyone in the mood to beta some Sherlock fic? You wouldn't need to know anything other than the six episodes aired (there are no series 3 spoilers in it).How are you all doing?
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no subject
Date: 2013-12-04 11:40 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-12-04 11:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-12-05 08:30 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-12-05 01:28 am (UTC)Sounds like a good Thanksgiving!
If you happen to need a second beta, let me know.
no subject
Date: 2013-12-05 01:46 am (UTC)I could always use a second pair of eyes, so I'll send you what I've got. Thanks!
no subject
Date: 2013-12-05 01:47 am (UTC)Ah! I'm glad it has a simple answer.
Sure, send it along! My email address should be visible to you in my user info.
no subject
Date: 2013-12-07 08:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-12-07 08:21 pm (UTC)Thank you for admitting to watching Reign! It's so terrible in many ways, and yet it's been so long since I (cable-free for several years now) had a period-costume drama on my TV with no fuss. I agree that Catherine is more boring than she should be, and yet she's one of the characters they're actually doing the best with! Have you seen La Reine Margot? Now THAT was a Catherine who got shit done.
no subject
Date: 2013-12-07 09:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-12-07 10:43 pm (UTC)1.5 c fresh or frozen corn kernels
1 c finely chopped celery
1 c finely chopped bell peppers (any color)
1 c finely chopped red onions
1/3 c brown sugar
1 c white or cider vinegar
2 T Dijon mustard
2 garlic cloves, pressed (or 1 t minced garlic)
1 fresh chile, seeded and minced
Combine everything in an uncovered saucepan and bring to a boil on high heat. Reduce the heat and simmer for at least 15 minutes. Serve at room temperature.
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The cracked wheat recipe is one I made up, and it seems like it would be infinitely forgiving, so go wild! (It just happens that I loved the way I first made it and have been making it the same way ever since.)
Large yellow or white onions
Kale/baby kale
Cracked wheat
Salt
Crushed red pepper
Vegetable oil
[So here's what I do. I use as many large onions as I do cups of raw cracked wheat (usually 3) and then I throw in as many boxes of baby kale as I can fit in the pot (usually 2). When my mom came for Thanksgiving, she insisted on buying all of the produce for the dinner, and she bought bunches of fresh (adult) kale, which had a much more bitter (but still very pleasing) taste than the baby kale I was used to; I used one and a half bunches of that.]
Finely slice your onions (lop off the ends of an onion, cut vertically through the chopped ends to halve it, then do your fine slices). In a large pot (a soup/stew pot or a Dutch oven), pour enough oil to just cover the bottom. Throw in all of your onion slices. Add salt and crushed red pepper to taste. Stir occasionally, but you're going to let the onions caramelize, which should take at least twenty minutes, probably more like thirty, so bring a book. When the onions are a nice deep gold/light brown and are fragrant, add in the kale (baby kale can go in straight from the box, while adult kale will need to be chopped into bite-sized pieces) and let that cook until the kale has released its water and has cooked down. (This usually takes me less than ten minutes.) Add in your dry, raw cracked wheat and add enough water to comfortably cover. Stir occasionally, but it's a pretty hands-off recipe. When all of the water has been absorbed by the cracked wheat, taste a bit to make sure the cracked wheat tastes cooked. (Usually about seven minutes.) Add more salt and crushed red pepper if necessary.