A Post Not about the Dogs

Well hello, Internet! Long time no see!

Y’all. Things have been crazy busy, but in a really good way. My new job is still kicking ass. I’m actually sitting in a hotel in Tempe, AZ, right now because they flew me and the other new editor at my office (who is awesome) down here to train with the senior editors of the company (who are also awesome). Not only did the company fly us down here and put us up in a decent hotel room, they are also letting me drive around in a snazzy-sexy-cute rental car (a Mazda 6, if you know what that is, which I didn’t, but now I know it’s snazzy, sexy, and cute). And as an added bonus I have really cool family down here who I’ll get to see while I’m in town. Win-win-win . . . Win. (Except add one Lose in there because I miss Tim and the dogs.)

One of my goals for this week in Tempe, besides obviously becoming an expert at editing for my new company, is to get caught up with the Internet and get into the habit of blogging in the evenings. And then hopefully when I go home at the end of the week I’ll be able to keep up the blog-at-night habit rather than just zoning out on the couch while my brain tries not to implode from everything I’ve learned at work, emerging from my stupor only long enough to throw a picture of one or both of the dogs up every Wednesday and Sunday. I promise to do my best to get back to regular posting if you promise to bear with me through this adjustment period. Deal?

Okay, the other point of this post was to tell you about the meal I made last week for Whip It Up. I know I’m late posting about it, but I didn’t cook it until Saturday night, which was my last night at home, and Tim and I made a date night out of it, and the better part of 2 bottles of wine later . . . well. Suffice to say it would not have been a very coherent blog post. And besides, it was a night for quality time with Tim, not for quality time with the blog.

We followed RA’s example and made spinach and artichoke stuffed portobello mushrooms. I followed some of RA’s ideas on how the recipe might be improved (roasted the mushrooms a little longer, added bread crumbs to the cheese mixture) and also copied RA’s side dish by making oven-roasted asparagus (except I added parmesean cheese to mine).

 

Was it easy to make? Yes, it really was. I put Tim in charge of roasting the mushrooms on the grill while I threw together the filling, and everything came together smoothly.

Then we popped it all in the oven. And we waited. And waited. And waited. Between this and the other cook-time issues we’ve been having lately, we’re beginning to suspect our oven is not getting as hot as it is supposed to be getting. Maybe this is our kitchen’s way of welcoming us to the world of people who make decent money: “Looking for a way to spend your newly expanded paycheck? Look no further! You — yes, you! — could soon be the proud owners of a brand new oven!!!”

Luckily we weren’t super hungry, so we didn’t mind waiting an extra long time for everything to finish cooking.

Did it taste good? Eh. Kind of. The asparagus was delicious, as I knew it would be, but the mushrooms were nothing special. They were fine, but they lacked a certain oomph factor. Tim thought the filling needed to be creamier, or at least needed some sort of gravy poured over it to balance out the grittiness of all that ricotta cheese. We ended up pouring a balsalmic vinegar/brown sugar/garlic mixture over it, which helped add a little oomph, but overall the dish was just not a favorite.

Will I make it again? Probably not, no. We have too many other good recipes in our book to re-make something that neither or us was too thrilled with.

So, there you have it. One new recipe and hopefully one step in the direction of returning to the land of regular blogging. (Of course, if this hotel’s “high-speed” Internet continues to be so painfully low-speed, I may get super frustrated and thus have a harder time getting back into the blogging grove than I hoped to this week. But I will do my best, I promise!)

August 18, 2008 | Filed Under Family, Have Red Pen, Will Edit, Kitchen Adventures, Photos & Videos, blog 

comments

8 Responses to “A Post Not about the Dogs”

  1. Jessie on August 19th, 2008

    I tried to make a spinach artichoke pasta dish a couple of weeks ago, and it too was just kind of…bleh. I didn’t use ricotta, though, because we are an anti-ricotta family. It’s a texture thing that neither Aaron or I can stand. Roasted asparagus though is my favorite. I’ll have to try adding parmesan to it sometime. Thanks for the good idea!

    Hope you’re having fun in Tempe. I love it there (I have family there too), but haven’t been since I was a teenager.

  2. RA on August 19th, 2008

    Oh, man, I’m sad that the mushrooms did not deliver! But I’m glad you are using the word “awesome” so many times in reference to your new job!

  3. The Real Jessie but Secretly Kat on August 19th, 2008

    That sounds really good, it’s too bad they suck.

    I’m so happy you’re enjoying the new job! The internet will still be here when you’ve calmed a bit, try not to crazy pressure yourself into a tizzy!

  4. Suzanne on August 19th, 2008

    That sure looks yummy. Sometimes, those big mushrooms don’t have as much flavor as the little ones. That’s okay, you had asparagus to make up for it. Yummy asparagus, I could eat just that, roasted with olive oil, balsamic, salt and cracked pepper.

    Uh oh, I think I know what dinner will be tonight!

    Woohoo on traveling for work, and getting a sporty, sexy rental to boot!

  5. Erin on August 19th, 2008

    Glad to hear your new job is so awesome. Right now, I am wishing for an awesome new job, or at least for someone not awesome to leave the building and restore previous awesomeness to my job. Yeah.

    Asparagus is yummy. Mushrooms are not.

  6. heather on August 19th, 2008

    So happy that the new job is really working out for you! So, are you an editor too? Do you have that title? don’t fret about blogging, we’ll still be here when you come back! : ) (not that you are leaving, but you know what I mean!)

    I’m not a huge fan of the big mushrooms, stuffed mushrooms, etc. I really like mushrooms, but it seems that the bigger they get, the grosser they taste. At least for me..

  7. janet on August 19th, 2008

    2 things: I so feel you on the job. I think I turned the corner around 4-6 weeks. It will happen!

    thing #2: Mazda6 — nice! We got a mazda3 and lurrrrrrrrve it! Zoom Zoom!

  8. Laurel on August 23rd, 2008

    I hear you on overwhelmedness… I can only imagine what will happen when actual CLASS starts. Balance will come, right?

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