Today was clearly a Monday.
I forgot until last night that I had an eye doctor appointment scheduled for 9:30 this morning. After leaving my job in news, I didn't have vision insurance for awhile. Thankfully the hubby's company offers amazing benefits, so I have it once again. Given my horrible eyesight and need for glasses since I was four, I was anxious to get my eyes check for the first time in a few years.
However, going to the eye doctor always makes me somewhat nervous. And am I the only one who feels like they are disappointing the technician because I can't read the lines?
Tech: What's the smallest line you can read?
Me: I can't read any of them. The font is so thin I can barely make out that anything is there.
Tech: Well don't squint, but blink a few times.
Me: Still...nothing.
*Awkward pause*
Tech: Okay fine, how about now?
Then there's what I like to call the "One or Two?" test. This large eye-piece type thing (that's a technical term) is put in front of your face and you look through one eye at a time. The technician flips different lenses asking you if option one or two is better. I always worry I'll select the wrong choice and end up with a completely wrong glasses prescription. The tech will write down the results, I'll select frames and the lenses will be made. I'll arrive a few weeks later to pick them up and feel drunk when wearing them, convinced that I must have been given the wrong person's prescription. The doctor will shake her head, confused. "Mrs. Arco, this is the prescription you selected through the "one or two" machine!"*
Perhaps this is unreasonable given that in my 25 years of glasses wearing, this has not happened...but I still fear it every time.
*It should be noted that all the technicians and doctors at my eye doctors office are actually very nice and are great at what they do!
Although, this could not actually happen this time because I decided to do something I said I'd never try again - get contacts! I tried a few years ago and the type they fitted me with just didn't work. The contacts constantly felt like little suction cups on my eyeballs. But they fitted me with a different kind, which felt much better and I'm optimistic they'll work out. If not, at least I can rock a pair of Tina Fey style glasses!
On a completely different note, I was just reading yesterday about how you should always be sure to heat up stainless steel pots and pans before cooking with them. The pots and pans we received as wedding gifts are all Calphalon stainless steel, but we kept our small non-stick frying pan from our single days since it's perfect for a few things, like scrambled eggs and grilled cheese sandwiches. Until today when I got confused about the whole preheating thing and burned off a lot of the Teflon coating while making a grilled cheese for lunch. Martha would be ashamed!
After lunch, I enjoyed a Toberlone bar my sweet husband got me. Only problem was I accidentally* ate the whole thing. Liz Lemon would be proud!
*By accidentally, I mean eating the first 2/3 too quickly, then deciding there was not enough to save and eating the rest.
Monday, January 9, 2012
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Liz Lemon Goodness
Have to share this awesome-ness...a collection of Liz Lemon flashbacks! I can't wait for the new season to premiere on Thursday.
The birthday dinner
It should be pointed out that unlike Martha Stewart or Liz Lemon, I am blessed with a wonderful husband. I'm lucky to be George's wife!
That wonderful husband celebrated a milestone birthday on Dec. 30. He didn't want a party....and definitely not a surprise party. Nevertheless, I wanted to make it a special day for him.
We often go out to dinner for our birthdays, but he requested that for this birthday I make him dinner and cupcakes for a celebration at home. Occasions like this are when my "must be like Martha Stewart" instinct kicks in. It's a special event, so every element needs to be as perfect as a party that Martha would throw.
I, however, like Liz Lemon, am blessed with some spazzy tendencies. These characteristics plus the added pressure I put on myself in the wake of a special event usually only result in more "incidents" and this was no exception!
The first task I set out to complete was baking the birthday cupcakes. George loves dark chocolate and chocolate mousse, so when I found a recipe for dark chocolate cupcakes filled with chocolate mousse, I thought it would be perfect. I quickly looked up a chocolate mousse recipe to go along with it.
I started off with making the chocolate mousse. But before I could even get started, I sustained my first cooking-related injury. I dropped an entire bottle of canola oil on my foot. Now that might not sound like it would be painful. Unfortunately it is in reality...I yelped and hobbled around for a few minutes saying ahhhh! (a la Peter Griffin). The next day a nice bruise appeared on top of my foot.
But I forged ahead on my mousse mission. In typical Cindy fashion, I followed the recipe obsessively. I read through it a few times before beginning, then re-read each step at least twice before completing it. Despite this diligence, rather than the mousse turning out dark chocolate, fluffy and delicious like it did in the picture. Rather, the ratio of chocolate to cream was off. There was way too much cream in relation to chocolate. In addition, because the chocolate was set aside, it started to dry and didn't fold well into the cream and egg whites.
The panic started to set in. Upon showing the creation to my husband, it was confirmed that what was in the bowl was not chocolate mousse. A few tears later, it went into the trash...and my sweet husband suggested I take a break from baking and we went to lunch.
After we got home, it was back to the drawing board in the kitchen. Since the mousse was a no-go, I had to make some changes to the cupcake plan. George had a suggestion for the type of icing he would like, so I decided to use that icing to top the original cupcake recipe I had found, minus the mousse filing.
The cupcakes themselves turned out okay...but the icing my husband selected turned into an undertaking. It required mixing the ingredients over heat until they reach a certain temperature. After bringing in an extension cord so the hand mixer could reach the stove, my hubby himself decided it was best for him to mix the icing. Try as we might, we could not get the confection to reach the temperature it was supposed to but it looked right so we removed it from the stove and I proceeded with the recipe. In the end...it was pretty much like melted marshmallows. That's not bad except George isn't a huge fan of marshmallows. But I was pleased with how the finished product turned out and looked on my cake stand.
So then it was time to begin making dinner. I was a little tired and perhaps a little distracted. I got the new vegetable peeler we recently bought to replace our old one that broke to peel potatoes for mashed potatoes. I didn't even get one full peel in on a potato when I got my finger instead and started screaming. My husband came to my aid and dealt with the aftermath. I'll spare you the details but it was not pretty.
More tears later and after being bandaged up, I made the epiphany that lead to the creation of this blog when I quipped to my husband "I try really hard to be like Martha Stewart but end up being more like Liz Lemon."
After my run-in with the veggie peeler, I made extra sure to be very careful throughout the preparation of the rest of the meal and all turned out well!
Photo by the amazing Tonya Beaver Photography
That wonderful husband celebrated a milestone birthday on Dec. 30. He didn't want a party....and definitely not a surprise party. Nevertheless, I wanted to make it a special day for him.
We often go out to dinner for our birthdays, but he requested that for this birthday I make him dinner and cupcakes for a celebration at home. Occasions like this are when my "must be like Martha Stewart" instinct kicks in. It's a special event, so every element needs to be as perfect as a party that Martha would throw.
I, however, like Liz Lemon, am blessed with some spazzy tendencies. These characteristics plus the added pressure I put on myself in the wake of a special event usually only result in more "incidents" and this was no exception!
The first task I set out to complete was baking the birthday cupcakes. George loves dark chocolate and chocolate mousse, so when I found a recipe for dark chocolate cupcakes filled with chocolate mousse, I thought it would be perfect. I quickly looked up a chocolate mousse recipe to go along with it.
I started off with making the chocolate mousse. But before I could even get started, I sustained my first cooking-related injury. I dropped an entire bottle of canola oil on my foot. Now that might not sound like it would be painful. Unfortunately it is in reality...I yelped and hobbled around for a few minutes saying ahhhh! (a la Peter Griffin). The next day a nice bruise appeared on top of my foot.
But I forged ahead on my mousse mission. In typical Cindy fashion, I followed the recipe obsessively. I read through it a few times before beginning, then re-read each step at least twice before completing it. Despite this diligence, rather than the mousse turning out dark chocolate, fluffy and delicious like it did in the picture. Rather, the ratio of chocolate to cream was off. There was way too much cream in relation to chocolate. In addition, because the chocolate was set aside, it started to dry and didn't fold well into the cream and egg whites.
The panic started to set in. Upon showing the creation to my husband, it was confirmed that what was in the bowl was not chocolate mousse. A few tears later, it went into the trash...and my sweet husband suggested I take a break from baking and we went to lunch.
After we got home, it was back to the drawing board in the kitchen. Since the mousse was a no-go, I had to make some changes to the cupcake plan. George had a suggestion for the type of icing he would like, so I decided to use that icing to top the original cupcake recipe I had found, minus the mousse filing.
The cupcakes themselves turned out okay...but the icing my husband selected turned into an undertaking. It required mixing the ingredients over heat until they reach a certain temperature. After bringing in an extension cord so the hand mixer could reach the stove, my hubby himself decided it was best for him to mix the icing. Try as we might, we could not get the confection to reach the temperature it was supposed to but it looked right so we removed it from the stove and I proceeded with the recipe. In the end...it was pretty much like melted marshmallows. That's not bad except George isn't a huge fan of marshmallows. But I was pleased with how the finished product turned out and looked on my cake stand.
So then it was time to begin making dinner. I was a little tired and perhaps a little distracted. I got the new vegetable peeler we recently bought to replace our old one that broke to peel potatoes for mashed potatoes. I didn't even get one full peel in on a potato when I got my finger instead and started screaming. My husband came to my aid and dealt with the aftermath. I'll spare you the details but it was not pretty.
More tears later and after being bandaged up, I made the epiphany that lead to the creation of this blog when I quipped to my husband "I try really hard to be like Martha Stewart but end up being more like Liz Lemon."
After my run-in with the veggie peeler, I made extra sure to be very careful throughout the preparation of the rest of the meal and all turned out well!
Main Dish - Pork Tenderloin
The spread
The birthday boy!
Friday, December 30, 2011
And so it begins....
This blog concept was inspired by a conversation with my husband in the midst of the preparation of his birthday dinner. Like many women of my generation, I want to do and have it all. I already have a lot - the awesome husband, adorable dog, wonderful family and friends and fulfilling career. But I want more, including, but not limited to - having a picture perfect house, being an awesome chef/hostess and the ability to make "cool crafty things." In short, I want to be Martha Stewart (minus that whole insider trading/going to prison thing, of course).
If only doing all that was as easy as Martha's magazines and Pinterest make it all look.
I realized this evening that in my best efforts to emulate Martha, I often end up like a favorite fictional character of mine - Liz Lemon, as portrayed by the amazing Tina Fey on 30 Rock. Liz always has the best intentions, but usually ends up with lettuce from a Subway sandwich in her hair. If you're not a 30 Rock fan, this montage of Liz dancing and or this one of her "high fiving a million angels" will get you up to speed.
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