Overemployment, Tastiness, Strawberry Tarts, and a New Year

I went from being jobless to having six part time jobs. Aaaack! I'm teaching AND tutoring at TWO institutions and doing other stuff as well. I'm already tired and I'm not even into my new schedule yet. Anyway, one of my New Year's good ideas (heh) is to post here once a week since I can't seem to even post once a month

In other news, I am back in the kitchen. Granted, I'm practically sleepwalking when I get there, but as a bonus, recipes are easier.

On New Year's eve, Mr. B. decided he wanted to make cabbage rolls with beef and sausage. I talked him out of the STICK OF BUTTER the recipe called for. I wanted to be able to eat dessert after said cabbage rolls without feeling like dying. Yeah, it is a holiday, but I was feeling all healthy and virtuous from going to the gym. Yeah, that was it.

For dessert, I planned to make chocolate and strawberry crepes according to a recipe by Emeril. I started making the crepes while the cabbage rolls were in the oven -- after a four-hour prep time. The most essential part of cabbage roll preparation seems to be four trips to the grocery store. The crepes were bloody awful. They tasted like crep, that's for sure. I tasted one because they were sticking and falling apart, and the taste was horrid. I mean, ick! So, I decided to improvise, like I do.

A few months ago, in a fit of grocery ninja thrill, I bought some sweet pastry shells on clearance. They taste a bit like sugar cookies, but thicker and flakier. I pulled them out of my freezer and went ahead with the crepe filling that I came up with on my own, because I had at this point abandoned Emeril's suggestions. Here it is.
Soften one 8 oz. package of cream cheese.
Chop some strawberries and beat them with the cream cheese
Add 1/8 c. confectioner's sugar -- taste and decide if you want to add more.
Add vanilla flavoring and a little milk.
Put in tart shells
Tell yourself you are nothing like Sandra Lee and lie about how you made it when you serve it. To be extra fancy, drizzle then with melted chocolate.

The cabbage rolls were out of this world delicious (even without the butter) and I hope to one day get him to write here what he did. Granted, we didn't get to eat them until 1 a.m., well after we welcomed 2008 with glasses of cheap champagne, but they were worth the wait and even better the next day. And while they weren't strawberry chocolate crepes, Mr. B. dug the tarts. From a ridiculously obnoxious dessert to a five minute prep dessert. Amazing.

Oh, one other thing. I know I shouldn't be buying strawberries right now because they're not in season, etc., etc. I don't care. I wanted them, they were at Costco, and sweet goodness they were good.

So happy New Year!

Happy Late Boxing Day

I hope all of you are recovering well from your holiday festivities. I've got one more gathering tomorrow night and then I'm all done.

I got a new job, and my super at the job I lost said I may still have hours, which is fabulous. Granted, I'm up to seven or eight part-time jobs at this point, but that's so much better than, say, none.

In addition to getting a job for Christmas, I also got a ton of... stuff. My parents continue to spoil me exponentially with each passing year. I got the cutest cookie jar ever, a handbag that's waaaay too nice, an assortment of bath and body products, other lovelies, and the lamp I've wanted my whole life. I haven't brought it in yet because I'm having to prepare Mr. B for it. It's tacky. It's terrible. And I love it! Mr. B got me the pasta attachment for the Kitchenaid and a bunch of other kitchen lovelies. I'm very excited to try making pasta, and I'll let you know how it works out. :)

Father Christmas also handed me a bit of cash to hit the sales with, so I'm off to replenish the professional wardrobe and schedule a haircut. Happy Christmahanukwanzakah, and leave your trees up till at least the sixth!

Love,
KB

Holidays on the Cheap

Wow. It's December. I pretty much missed Halloween, which totally threw off my holiday barometer. Then Thanksgiving came late, and here I am still with pumpkins strung about my apartment, no tree, and no shopping done. Oh, and like EVERYONE ELSE in the country except for the tools that wrote that article in the Times about throwing a "budget" party (to the tune of $30 a head), I am freaking worried about my finances. With academia, I get what I like to call mandatory unpaid vacation for almost a month, and employment is shaky for summer. While I could toss some cash around this holiday, I need to sit on it for hard(er) times and keep paying down the unholy amount of debt I've amassed over the five years. Hey, I'm working on it quite well. Just sayin'.

So how to handle this situation? Well, most of my nearest and dearest are getting various combinations of delicious Cinnamon Bread (I can make two loaves for about a dollar -- recipe to follow), other assorted baked goods, and bargain-basement knickknacks I've picked up over the last few months at ridiculous discounts. The parents and Mr. B. get a little more.

So how do I make bread for a dollar? Easily. Granted, I'm blessed with two things many people are not -- a Costco membership and a Kitchenaid stand mixer. (Both results of Mr. B.) 25 pounds of flour at costco is about seven dollars. Two pounds of yeast is between three and four dollars. A giant container of Saigon cinnamon? Three dollars. I don't even know what I paid for the ten pound bag of sugar. I do know that I fell over laughing when I saw it contained over 1500 servings. Anyway, the bread recipe I use, which I will post soon, calls for about five cups of flour, a little butter, 2 packs of yeast (I need to refresh myself on the conversion -- five spoonfuls or something), a little water, and a little sugar. The dough hook does the work, I let it rise, divide it, roll it, melt more butter, brush it, and sprinkle cinnamon sugar over it. Then, roll, rise, and bake, and you have two loaves of ridiculously delicious bread at less than a dollar. One of the bakeries in town sells it for $6 a pop. I really need to open a shop.

Anyway, more on holiday frugality to come.