I need my personal bubble!

I'm finding out how essential it is to create or set aside space to use for studying. It needs to be a place relatively free of distractions, and it should have enough open flat space for me to have room for my laptop, my binder, and my textbook. It would also need decent lighting or enough place for a small desk lamp. Ideally, it would also have room enough for my basic supplies as well (pens, pencils, highlighters, stapler, post-its, three-hole punch). Bonus points if there's wall space for me to tape/pin up reminders or important things to remember.

In all the excitement of starting school, this was the essential part of the planning that I missed. I didn't think to find a place for me to use for all the reading and paper writing I will be doing these next few years. And so, the first few days of the semester, I was playing guessing games, trying to figure out where I can go have lunch at work that I would be able to also use for studying and where I can work when I'm at home and want to study. I borrowed an empty office on Friday afternoon to have lunch and get some reading done. It was not a productive afternoon. The office shares a wall with a classroom that was being used at the time (I didn't find this out until I had been in there about 5 minutes); the person who works in that office also keeps his phone ringer at the maximum volume (I found that out after I had been in there about 10 minutes). Neither circumstance allowed me to keep my concentration for very long. I'm still trying to find out where I can go at work to study. I work in a library, but using it isn't an option; I don't have an office and as long as I am in here, I will be asked for assistance or to give information about the various services/activities that take place here. So the one place that students are able to retreat to I must shy away from. Fair? No, but I must find another option. What that is, I'm still not sure.

At least at home I have my workspace finally figured out. I spent Saturday night at my best friend's place and mentioned my study space quandry. "K" suggested that I try and use what I already have. She said that I should maybe try to use my kitchen table. Until yesterday, it had been a breeding ground for loose newspaper, bills, and old receipts. It is rarely used for its intended purpose. I hadn't considered that option until K mentioned it. After coming back home early yesterday afternoon, I immediately started cleaning off the table, pushed the table against the wall, and brought over some of my office supplies that had been boxed away until they were needed. Now I have something that resembles a desk/work space that I can use for serious study.

And of course I took the opportunity this weekend to cook and enjoy some good food. Sunday dinner (and this week's recipe) was green beans and sausage with some sourdough bread on the side. This recipe is one I created on my own. It's loosely based off of an Italian-style dish that my mother makes every Thanksgiving (and sometimes other days when my sister and I can convince her to make it again). This is a large batch, good for 4-6 people (I made extra for lunch today for me and Scooter).

What you'll need:
1 lb. sausage meat (loose, not in links)
2 lbs. green beans cut into inch-long pieces
5 8-oz. cans of tomato sauce
1/2 small onion, diced
5-6 large cloves of garlic
3 springs of fresh rosemary
3 sprigs of fresh oregano
3 sprigs of fresh thyme
3 sage leaves
1 1/2 Tbs. olive oil

What you'll need to do:
1. Put the garlic, rosemary, oregano, thyme, and sage into a wooden chopping bowl and chop them all up until everything is in small, fine pieces. You can also use a food processor for this step. Set the garlic-herb mixture aside.
2. In a large deep frying pan, cook the sausage meat over medium high heat until almost completely browned. Remove the sausage from the pan and set aside.
3. Add the olive oil to the bottom of the frying pan. Add the garlic-herb mixture and saute for 2-3 minutes. Add the onion and saute 2-3 minutes more, until the garlic is just barely starting to brown. Add the tomato sauce and stir to mix everything together. Let it cook 1-2 minutes, then add the sausage. Let the sauce simmer for another 5 minutes.
4. Add the green beans and stir to coat them with the sauce. Cover the pan and let it simmer for 10-15 minutes, or until the beans are semi-soft (they should be slightly crunchy--not crisp--if you eat one). Serve hot with your favorite french bread on the side.

As you've heard me say about some of the other recipes I posted, this one is very adaptable. I love a lot of sauce, which is why I use 5 cans of it. You can cut back by 1 or 2 cans if you don't like your food to be quite so saucy. Also, you can omit the onions if you don't like them. I really recommend the fresh herbs like I used for this recipe; I sincerely believe that the flavor of fresh herbs is always superior to dried.

This is a true taste of Italian American cooking. Enjoy!

Ready...set...read!

Two days into the official start of the Fall Semester and I already feel like I'm behind. I've downloaded and organized the reading list and assignment list, and I poked around the class web page to get up to speed with finding everything. I bought a few supplies, put everything neatly into a binder, and filled in a day planner with important class stuff (when readings/assignments are due, class events, etc.). I even printed out two of the first week's reading assignments so that I can highlight and make notes like I usually do. Now that I see the lay of the land, my response to it is: what did I get myself into?

I was well aware in the theoretical sense that graduate classes are much harder and more work-intensive than undergraduate courses. I also knew in the small recesses of my mind that it would mean I would need to take more time per class that I had previously been used to. But somehow there seems to have been some difficulty in translating that into practical terms. Not now.

I'm almost overwhelmed by the amount of reading that will need to be done on a weekly basis. On top of that are the other assignments that I must complete to show my instructor that I know what I'm talking about (for lack of a better turn of phrase). I had originally planned to make Monday, Wednesday, and Friday nights my school nights during the week (with weekends as additional schoolwork days). I think I may need to spend some time every week night doing a little bit more to get what I need done on time. Otherwise, I fear that I'll fall behind. Now I understand why organization and time management skills are so crucial to being successful in an online course.

I have to say that I'm a bit relieved that my instructor has decided to schedule Elluminate sessions on a weekly basis. For those not familiar with it, Elluminate is a program that allows for discussion and collaboration between people over the Internet, and it's rather like the webinar program I use here at work. I'm not sure what the "agenda" for these weekly Elluminate sessions will be. I doubt it will be a straight lecture. However, I look forward to being able to connect verbally with both my instructor and my classmates, and I intend to take full advantage by attending them.

I'm sure that once I get set in a routine and find my stride, things will even out a bit more and I'll be more comfortable with the work load. For now I'll do the best I can and try to keep up with my reading. Highlighters at the ready! On my mark, get set...READ!

A day at the lake

I start my second class in two days. I'm looking forward to it; I'll finally get to see what kind of work load to expect from the rest of my classes. I'm already planning to make Monday, Wednesday, and Friday nights my school study nights. Of course I'll be working on school during the weekends too, but spreading out the work over several days a week will be infinitely better than two harried six or eight hour days during which I try to do everything that has to be done. Spreading it out will make me feel less overwhelmed and give me less of a reason to procrastinate, as I was wont to do sometimes during my undergraduate college days.

And so, with the rest of my semester close at hand, I took Sunday as my day off, my day to relax and enjoy. It didn't start out very well. My new laptop wouldn't turn on, so I spent an hour on the phone with Dell Technical Support only to find out that my hard drive is fried. The machine is brand new and I haven't done much except school work on it, so there's no real explanation as to why it died so quickly. Luckily most of my files are still on my old laptop that Scooter (my boyfriend by his pseudonym) now uses. The only exception to this is a school assignment that I had turned in. I learned an important lesson yesterday--always back up school files in another place. After the diagnosis was made for my poor laptop, they informed me that they would send another hard drive to me and I would have it Tuesday. Well, that's a piece a good news!

The rest of the morning was passed playing video games and watching DVDs with Scooter. The weather started warming up outside, promising a beautiful day that shouldn't be spent indoors. Scooter and I decided to make an early dinner, pack it up, and take it to a park with a lake that's near where we live. And what was the menu? Chicken enchiladas (a recipe I love given to me by my best friend), strawberries, root beer, and apple crisp. The food was made, packed into plastic containers, and we headed out to the lake. By this time it was hot outside, and I was ruing the fact that swimming was not allowed in the lake (it's a reservoir).

The lake was still busy, even though it was after 5pm. Families were having barbecues, people were walking their dogs, and there were even some fishermen and women out on the lake in boats enjoying the good weather with their favorite past time. Scooter and I found a spot down on the shore of the lake that was cool and shaded and had a wonderful view of the lake and the surrounding hills. The breeze coming off the water was heavenly and cooled us down after being in the hot sun; I stopped thinking about needing a swim. Even the ducks were friendly, paddling back and forth in the water in front of us, and even coming up on the shore to say hello and see if we had any apple crisp to share with them. Sadly, I am very possessive of any dessert, so there was no apple crisp to share; I doubt it would be very good for them anyway. It was very calming and soothing there on the edge of the water. The sounds of the tiny waves lapping against the shore was a music that I have missed lately. I don't think we'll wait as long to go back to the lake again.

And now for this week's recipe: apple crisp. I melded a couple of recipes together; I took the filling from the spoon cake recipe I posted not long ago, and the topping from the fruit crisp recipe in my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook (and ad libbed as I sometimes do).

What you'll need:
4-5 medium apples
1 Tsp. cornstarch
1/4 c. + 2 Tsp. sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 c. oats
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. flour
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
3 Tbs. butter

What you'll need to do:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Peel and slice the apples. Put them in a large mixing bowl. Add the cornstarch, sugar, and cinnamon. Mix everything together until the dry ingredients are moistened and let the bowl sit for 10 minutes.
2. In another bowl, mix together the oats, brown sugar, flour, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Add the butter and mix everything together until the topping resembles crumbs.
3. Put the apple mixture into a pie tin. Cover with the topping. Put in the oven and bake for 30-40 minutes until it's bubbling.

It's a (relatively) simple and easy dessert to make. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream (or even a little unwhipped cream drizzled over it). It's a positively sweet way to start the week.

For the social networker in us all

The assignment: read two articles (one required the other chosen by me), and write a summary/reflection/comparison for the two articles, being sure to cite all sources correctly in APA format.

The result:

In the article titled "Connecting government to improve it: As the U.S. government steadily loosens restrictions on social media, some agencies are already benefitting from the next era of community and collaboration," Dean Smith (2007) challenged my idea of the relationship between government and social media.  Most of us will think about vacation photos posted on Flicker or "liking" someone's Facebook comment when the term social media is mentioned.  Even though more professional companies are turning to social media to connect with the public at large, I find it difficult to consider Facebook and its kin to have something of a "professional atmosphere."  Perhaps that comes with reading too many stories about people who found their partner cheating on a dating site or reconnecting with long-lost relatives after decades apart--such images of social media sites would certainly make users more biased to see the casual aspect, rather than the professional.

However, we cannot ignore the possibilities that social networking and social media provides.  It caters to millions of users.  Michael Stephens (2007) even states that millions of Americans are creating and sharing content online via social networking sites, especially the younger generation.  With so many users in a central global-wide "location" (meaning the internet), it would be foolish for professionals to not find ways to harness this technology for themselves.  In his article, Smith explores some of the ways that the government has harnessed social media for their own uses.  He explains that the government is able to utilize social networking tools for sharing knowledge, driving informal learning, and "establishing communities of practice" (Smith, 2010).  Facebook, the most-used social networking platform with 500 million users and counting, is included in the tools the government uses.  In fact, both the CIA and the EPA have found that Facebook can help them out in very specific ways--the CIA uses it for recruiting new employees, and the EPA has found it useful for employee collaboration, among other things (Smith, 2010).  In this way, the government is establishing new connections with the citizens of this country, as well as reaching out to the rest of the global community.

Stephens (2007) characterizes the World Wide Web as a tool for global connection.  How conceivable was this idea prior to the establishment of the internet?  Now we think nothing of having a conference with business associates in Japan, or playing online games with people in France, or even enrolling in an online program for a school you will never physically see. These things would not have been realistic 30 years ago. Our role as librarians is to recognize the potential the internet and social networking platforms has for our libraries as a means of connection and collaboration with staff and users (Stephens, 2007). Just as the social media has become more proliferate in the government's tools, so must it do with library tools. All of us--government, libraries, professionals--are moving toward the trend of a global place where everyone will be sharing knowledge and content. Stephens and Smith agree that there is a place for professionals in social platforms like Facebook; we just have to find out how we can fit in (Smith, 2010; Stevens, 2007).

References

Smith, D. (2010). Connecting government to improve it: As the U.S. government steadily loosens restrictions on social media, some agencies are already benefiting from the next era of community and collaboration. T+D, 64(4), 24.

Stephens, M. (2007). The ongoing web revolution. Library Technology Reports, 43(5), 10-14.

A taste of the garden

I'm currently pleased with the progress I've made in my first class. I've been able to maintain a steady pace with my studies, and have found a (tentative) balance with school and work. However, I realize that this is a one-unit class, so it's not a real test of my skills. That will come in exactly nine days when my regular three-unit class starts. My hope is that I will be comfortable enough with this upcoming class and be able to balance well so that I will be confident enough to take on a slightly heavier load during the spring semester. I'll know soon enough.

I did have a bit of a cooking adventure this last weekend. I found not one, but two recipes that I wanted to try (one sweet, one savory) for dinner. I ended up cooking over at my parents' house where I was able to take advantage of the fresh zucchini in my mom's garden for my savory dish. In fact, the bounty of her garden was able to grace virtually every dish of the very delicious dinner. Aside from the two recipes I used for the meal, my mom also decided to make stuffed zucchini flowers. Only recently has some of the more elite restaurants in California wine country started serving this particular dish. What does my mom have to say about that? "They think that's so new and interesting. I've been eating these since I was a little girl."

I have to say that there is something so incredible, almost magical, about being able to go out to the garden, pick fresh vegetables that you planted with your own hands, and use them in your cooking. It really underscores the "homemade" in good home cooking. Currently, my mom's garden is rife with tomato, cucumber, zucchini, lettuce, artichoke, beans, onion, and garlic (all of which I planted for her). We hope to get the beets in soon too. Our peppers and squash didn't do so well this year, but everything else has taken off--especially the beans (we picked 3-5 lbs of string beans yesterday afternoon!).

Okay, so now to this week's recipe: sweet and smoky salmon kabobs. These were really good and had a nice little kick to them from the spices. They were also very easy to make, and they are healthy too!

Here is what you'll need:
12 metal or bamboo skewers
2 1/4 lbs. salmon fillets (skinned and cut into 1 1/2 in chunks)
2-3 medium zucchini cut into 1/4-in. slices
2 Tbs. brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
Salt and pepper (optional)

Here's what to do:
1. Combine sugar, paprika, chili powder, red pepper, and the salt and pepper (if desired) into a large zip lock bag. Zip closed and shake the bag to mix up all the spices, and use your fingers to break up any chunks of the brown sugar. Open the bag and add the salmon and zucchini. Zip the bag closed (don't deflate the bag before closing). Shake the bag to coat the salmon and zucchini with the spices, using your hands to move things around through the bag as necessary until everything is evenly coated. You can do this well ahead of time (a few hours or so) and leave the bag in the fridge until you're ready to skewer and cook.
2. If you're using bamboo skewers, soak them in hot water for at least 30 minutes before you put on the salmon and zucchini. When they have been soaked, thread on the salmon and zucchini in any pattern you desire until you have no more of either. Try to assimilate any leftover pieces onto the skewers you've already made.
3. Grill on a barbecue for 9 to 11 minutes, turning the skewers occasionally, until salmon turns light pink in the center. Enjoy with something tasty on the side!

The original recipe can be found here. I also made fried peach pies (as well as helping with the zucchini blossoms). I have to say that the pies are a little more involved than the other recipes I've posted, and I don't want to scare away any new cooks. Please leave a message if you would like these other recipes posted.

If anyone has any recipes they would like me to try, please let me know! In the words of Julia Child, "Bon appétit!"

Work, school, AND a life? C’est impossible!

I took advantage of one of the Elluminate (a webinar-like program used by my school) information sessions listed that was going to address and discuss the topic of trying to balance a full-time job, a full-time graduate course load, and a life. This has been one of my biggest concerns since deciding to pursue my Master’s and one that I have blogged about before. Now, once again this topic is at the forefront of my mind, but I find myself a little more comfortable with the issue.

It helped to hear from a few veteran students during the session. Both were far advanced in their programs and are planning to graduate by the end of this academic year. One of them, a full-time mom (which is a huge job in and of itself) was able to take care of her family and still take on a full load of three graduate courses during a semester. The other, another girl with a full-time job, also was able to balance two courses a semester with her work. Both offered some important insight to playing this balancing game that I’m just now starting.

There were a few points they made and a few pieces of advice they gave that stayed with me. One big point for me deals with the support system a student needs while going through this program. A student needs both support from family and friends. Family and friends can help with other tasks so that the student can continue to concentrate on school. For me in this regard, the challenge will be to ask for help. I’m really bad in that I try to do everything on my own like some super hero. Another piece of advice that one of the student veterans suggested was to concentrate on what you really enjoy in your spare time. A student’s time is limited, so it wouldn’t make sense to spend any time on things you don’t really care about; prioritize so that you can include those activities that you really want to do even while you’re in school.

I took away from this session that organization, coordination, and planning ahead will be key to being successful in this program. I will not be able to rely on myself alone to complete my MLIS; I will be doing my class work and projects, but I will need the support of family, friends, and classmates to get me through. I will also need to plan some time away from work or school, something that I can do to refocus and re-center myself. With the perspective and advice of some of the students who have gone through this program as examples, I feel a little more confident in my own abilities. If they can do it, then maybe I can too. Work, school, and a life? It’s possible.

The Good and the Bad

Admittedly, being a librarian is fun for a vast majority of the time. I get to live in a world full of books and media, where knowledge is the currency and I am seen as the One With the Answers. However, there are those moments where I'm sometimes made to feel like the bad guy: informing patrons of money (late fees) they owe, reminding patrons about overdue materials, and enforcing library policies. Today's incident involved the latter.

We have a policy of no cellphones in the library, meaning no conversations on the cellphone. It's annoying to other students who are using the library to study, and the space is also used for students who have to make up a test. Needless to say, it's imperative that while in the library, all students 1) use low voices if they want to talk to each other; 2) keep loud noises to a minimum; and 3) stay off the cell phone. There are signs posted in various locations reminding patrons of the cell phone policy. If a student needs to take a call, they are asked to take it outside and have their conversation away from this "sacred space." A student here this morning took exception to this policy and let me know it loud and clear.

The student (we will call him "Bob") was belligerent and rude in response to my (repeated) polite request that he follow the policy and take it outside. Bob didn't think he should follow the policy if no one else was around, regardless that the policy is enforced with no discrimination during all hours of operation. I will not go into detail about the conversation/confrontation that took place (it wouldn't be flattering to Bob), but it left a bad taste in my mouth and really put a damper on the rest of my morning.

I didn't ask Bob to leave simply because I didn't want to make an even bigger deal than he was already making it (he ended up leaving on his own shortly afterward anyway). But how else can you deal with a patron who, in effect, decides to have a fit because things aren't going the way he or she would like? I need some ideas on other ways to (politely) deal with patrons who, like Bob, decide that they are right, regardless of the policies in place or library staff who say otherwise. Customer service is such an important aspect of library service. I'm well prepared for the many positive encounters I have with patrons (and continue to have on a daily basis), yet I feel so under-prepared for those problems that do arise and lead to confrontations. Any ideas or similar stories that you want to share?

Reflections and Risotto

I don't rant very much, but every so often I hear or read something that makes me want to shake some sense into people. On my way to work, I heard the local radio morning show talking about a new poster for an upcoming Yogi Bear movie. Apparently, people are protesting the appearance because it's "inappropriate" and contains sexual innuendo. I looked at the picture in question and all I have to say is COME ON! If I hadn't heard about the picture's apparent double meaning, I never would have thought that on my own. I'm getting sick and tired of people reading meanings into pictures/books/movies/anything than what is there and/or intended. Sometimes I wonder if there are people who sit around, sifting through books and media, just waiting to find something they deem questionable to cry "Inappropriate! We must protest!" Human behavior never ceases to astound me in its insanity. /end rant

Ok, now that that's over with, time to get on to this week's recipe: risotto. This is one of my favorite recipes, and I have used it many a time for something good and comforting. It was actually passed on to me by my best friend, and it's a recipe easy to adapt to your personal taste. You can use it for either a main dish or to compliment something else you want to serve.

Here is what you'll need:
4 c. chicken broth (or vegetable broth to make it vegetarian)
2 Tbs. butter
1 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
1 small to medium onion (chopped into small pieces)
5-6 button mushrooms (chopped into small pieces)
2-3 cloves of garlic (minced)
1 1/2 c. arborio rice
1/2 c. dry white wine
1/2 c. grated cheese (whatever you prefer--parmigiano reggiano or chedder are my go-tos)
salt and fresh ground pepper (optional)

Here's what to do:
1. Put the broth in a saucepan and set it to simmer.
2. In a deep skillet, melt the butter into the olive oil over medium to medium-high heat. Add the garlic, onions, and mushrooms and saute for about 3 minutes. Add the arborio rice and saute for another 2 minutes.
3. Add the wine to the rice and let it cook away, about 2 minutes.
4. Add the broth two ladels at a time. Let it absorb into the rice each time before adding another two ladels.
5. After broth has been completely absorbed, turn off the heat, stir in the cheese, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot.

That's it! Risotto is not that hard to make. The great thing about it is that you can add whatever you want with the rice, like additional veggies or some small pieces of meat. And the garlic, onion, or mushrooms can be omitted if you don't like them. I personally like to serve it on the side with chicken that I've fried up in olive oil and garlic (can you tell I'm Italian?). One thing I would recommend is using a nice drinking wine. One of the "rules" about cooking with wine is to use a wine that you would want to drink for the food. So crack open that bottle of white that you like so much, put some in the risotto, and have the rest with dinner. It will taste yummy, I promise!

If you have something that you love in your risotto, let me know. :)

The Online Student

I have the blessing of not having to go to a physical campus for my program. All of my classes and coursework are completely online. And while to some this may seem like the easier road, all evidence to this point has pointed to the contrary.

There is more work involved on the part of the student. More responsibility lands on the shoulders of the student to stay current with readings, assignments, posting responses, and communicating with fellow classmates. In many ways, an online program is harder because you lose that face-to-face interaction with your instructor and other classmates. Still, I think I can make that up with organization, motivation, and time-management. All three of these qualities are ones that are agreed to be absolutely necessary for a program like the one I am now embarking on.

I have the technology aspect down. I grew up using various computers. My dad had one of the old systems that was basically a black monitor with gold font (yay DOS!). I also had my own computer in the 4th grade that ran on Windows 3.11 (now that's a blast from the past), so I've followed the PC as it has evolved through the past couple of decades. I also created and continue to maintain the library website used by the campus I work at. Learning new interfaces and computer programs for my coursework has been virtually pain-free.

But the teamwork aspect of this program may be the one thing that will upset this grasp on confidence that I've been slowly building. The picture paired with this post has been my idea of teamwork for a good long while: something that will ultimately drag you down, so should therefore be avoided at all costs. Viewing two videos, one a presentation given by Dr. Ken Haycock and the other a presentation by Enid Irwin, has started turning my views more to the positive. However I still see so much that can go wrong.

Dr. Haycock discussed a lot of factors that affect, improve, and detract from teamwork. He talked about the type of teams that form and for what reasons. One of the terms he used, vertical teams, caught my attention. He explained these as being more successful in libraries because it brings very different perspectives to a problem and would involve different levels of an organization working on a common issue. To that effect, I would argue that any teams I form during my MLIS program would be vertical teams by virtue of the fact that I have seen in merely the first week the variety of students and backgrounds that this program attracts. In my current class alone, there is a student who just graduated with her BA, a student who has done work in the Amazon, a student who has been working in network security, and everything in between. My classmates live all over the nation. Some are parents (both of human children and furry ones!). Many have full-time jobs that they will have to balance with school. I'm guessing that my other classes will have students that are just as varied. With so many diverse backgrounds and so many varied experiences that we are all drawing from, our teams could not be anything but the vertical teams that Dr. Haycock describes.

But successful teamwork cannot be defined only by the type of team that has formed. A successful team has followed through in its plan and completed its objective. After listening to Dr. Haycock's and Ms. Irwin's input on teamwork, I put together 10 rules for good teamwork.
1. Issues discussed should stay on topic. This will help the team move forward without a lot of digressions.
2. Whatever you say to one person, you should be prepared to say to the whole group. Sidebars keep information from the group as a whole, and your teammate is not the person to discuss your personal dislike of another classmate in the team.
3. If the assignment is not clear, get clarification from the instructor.
4. Clearly state your performance expectations for the assignment. That way no one is left in the dark about any one thing.
5. Make a plan for the assignment that clearly establishes tasks and the deadlines for them.
6. Agree on some ground rules that everyone will follow. These can address things like tardiness, lack of follow-through, etc and can outline consequences for not following them.
7. Take responsibility for your actions, and respect your teammates.
8. Check in several times during the assignment as a group to review your progress so far and your goals.
9. Follow through with your assigned tasks/role until the assignment/course is complete.
10. Group health is everyone's responsibility. If something is amiss, it's everyone's duty to address it and come up with a solution.

With all of that (and more) to mull over, I will end this post. This week's recipe will be posted on Monday.

**Picture was originally found on the Very Demotivational website.**

Find Your Comfort

Things are going well on the academic front. I'm progressing steadily through my school work, and so far I'm able to balance work and school (and life) fairly well. The true test of my ability will come when I dive into my first three-unit class at the end of the month. Until then, I'm floating in a bubble of confidence because I'm able to get through what I should, when I should, and how I should. And maybe that's done on purpose so that you have that confidence when the rest of your classes do finally start.

I started thinking more about food and why I chose to add this other aspect into my blog. Why post and share recipes? What about sharing recipes appealed to me so much? I realized that food is my comfort. It may not be the healthiest of things (especially since I love making desserts), but there it is. I have so many memories of food, and a lot of my culture on both sides of my family is celebrated with food.

Let me give you some family history. My dad was born and raised in Sweden. He met my mother when he came to the US to visit his cousin who was marrying my mother's sister. The way my mother tells it, my father was no more than a skinny boy the first time she met him. It wasn't until he returned years later that my parents fell in love. My mother comes from a very Italian family. My great-grandparents settled in the area where my family still lives now, and raised my grandmother and her brothers during the eras of prohibition and the Great Depression. My family has a very, shall we say, colorful history from that time.

Because of these strong and much-celebrated cultures on both sides of my family, we would usually celebrate the big holidays twice. We would have Swedish Christmas on Christmas Eve, and Italian Christmas on Christmas Day, allowing both parents and sets of grandparents to celebrate the holiday with their traditions and with our family.

Years went by, and my grandparents passed away one by one, but still we hold to these traditions. I started to become more involved in the cooking for our holidays for both sides of the family. It had become very important to me to help out and learn the various recipes; I didn't want these traditions that I loved so much to go away. I started out small by helping with the Swedish meatballs, and slowly worked up to being able to do them on my own. Now, I can put together the whole Swedish Christmas julbord myself (which I had to do one year when my father was in the hospital). As for the Italian Christmas, my grandmother would make homemade raviolis from scratch every year until the day she died. All the ladies on my mom's side of the family (and me of course) keep this tradition alive by making the raviolis, just like Gramma did, every year in November. It has become a labor of love.

Perhaps that is why food is my comfort--because cooking is a comfort. Every time I'm in the kitchen, I always think about Gramma and Farmor (my two grandmothers). Both of these wonderful women were expert cooks, and I feel as though they passed some of that on to me. I miss both of them terribly, but in the kitchen they don't feel so far away. The kitchen is their domain that I am now sharing. Somehow, I know they're watching me putter around with my mixing bowls and my cutting boards and my frying pans, and they approve.

Cooking is my comfort, and I will use that to help center myself in the next few years when things get rough, when deadlines are imminent, and when I need a moment to step back and take a break. Everyone should find their comfort for those times when life gets to be too full, too chaotic, too much. What's yours?

First day, first assignment...what a relief!

Today I completed a module and turned in my very first assignment for my program. My first reaction to actually starting class was "How anticlimactic." I had built this day up so much in my mind that now it's here and I'm able to say "Hmmm...that's not so bad."

It was an interesting morning. The online interface that the program uses is not hard to get through, for which I'm eternally grateful to the designer of said program. I exchanged forum posts with the class's mentor, another grad student who is almost done with her program, and she put the seed of an idea in my head.

A couple weekends ago, I spent a Saturday evening with my mom and my sister watching "Julie and Juila." I didn't make it through the movie (I don't last very late into the night anymore), but I really liked what I was able to stay up for. And with that in the back of my head, my class mentor asked if I deliver sweets (in response to my saying that I like to cook desserts). So now that has me thinking. What if I included recipes in my blog every so often (aka on the weekends)? I have a few favorites that I would be more than willing to share, and I've come across many that I've tried and loved as well. The cooking could be a "reward" for keeping up on my studies, and I know it's a reward my boyfriend and family would be perfectly on board with. After all, they could help reap the benefits!

So today, I will post the recipe I used this last weekend. I found this one online while browsing around. For any size of a group of people (or just for you and a friend) this is a good, easy recipe. I was eating it right out of the baking dish not long after it came out of the oven, it was so good!

Here is what you'll need:
Filling:
2 baskets of strawberries
1 basket of blackberries
4 nectarines
3/4 c. sugar
2 Tbs. cornstarch
Batter:
1 1/2 c. flour
1 c. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
2 eggs
1/2 c. milk
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 sticks butter, melted

Here's what to do:
1. Wash all the fruit. Cut up the strawberries into quarters, and peel and cut the nectarines into chunks. The blackberries can stay whole. Place fruit into a large bowl, add the sugar and cornstarch, and mix until sugar and cornstarch have been thoroughly moistened. Let it sit while you work on the batter.
2. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. In a medium bowl, mix the flour, sugar, and baking powder. In another smaller bowl, mix the milk, eggs, and vanilla together until the mixture is even. Then add the wet ingredients to the bowl of dry ingredients and mix until fully incorporated. Next, add the melted butter and stir until you get an even batter. The batter may be a little thin.
3. Put the fruit into a 13 x 9 in baking dish and spread it around until the fruit forms an even layer on the bottom. Next, spoon the batter (don't pour it!) over the fruit around the dish until all the batter has been used. Put into the oven and bake for 45 minutes. The cake should be golden brown on top when it's finished.

I don't remember the exact website I first found it on, but the original recipe can be found here (credit where credit is due): http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/mixed-berry-spoon-cake. I changed a few things, like eliminating the lemon zest. I don't think the cake really needs it, but that's probably a matter of taste. Also, I used regular butter instead of the unsalted, which is why I didn't add any extra salt into the batter. Another difference was the time it cooked. Mine only needed 45 min, when the recipe called for 1 hour. This could have something to do with the size of my oven (which is very small).

Spoon it up when it's done and enjoy! It's really good warm or cold (which I found out the second day after it had been sitting in the fridge).

With a spoon cake to fortify me, I'm ready for the week ahead.