tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80053572024-09-01T21:58:20.179-04:00Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12061306198366270179noreply@blogger.comBlogger345125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005357.post-81992690623624266162010-04-30T11:26:00.003-04:002010-04-30T11:28:47.555-04:00

After toying with the site for a long long while, I've decided to transfer my blog to Wordpress at symbolandsubstance.wordpress.com. It's basically the same blog but there's a better format for pictures and I think the potential for more traffic. Although right now I have a new post and the stupid thing isn't loading. Whatever.I've also made a small title change, "Symbol and Sustenance" based on

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12061306198366270179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005357.post-21995159083513798122010-04-25T14:02:00.001-04:002010-04-25T14:02:59.118-04:00

I downloaded an app onto my new phone that will supposedly help me blog more frequently. so just testing it out!

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12061306198366270179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005357.post-28385196656160048442010-04-01T12:53:00.002-04:002010-04-01T13:53:40.176-04:00

That could be a Batman-esque exclamation. Holy WEEK, Robin!It's not, however, in this case. It's actually Holy Week. Tomorrow I'm having a fish-fry lunch with my coworker and doing stations of the cross, hopefully.Today I'm going to write not about Holy Week, but about distractions and my dissertation.DistractionsI've re-discovered Google Reader as a way to keep up with good blogs and other

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12061306198366270179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005357.post-44131158783865037812010-03-21T20:53:00.002-04:002010-03-21T21:05:26.757-04:00

So the chicken poached in milk was a success. I do not have any pictures, unfortunately. I doubled the recipe and it worked out great. The only thing I didn't do, which I should have, is use the sauce. I was a little worried about serving the curdled milk to guests, but it wasn't even that curdled and it smelled great.On the side we had broccoli and mashed red potatoes, with some of the skins

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12061306198366270179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005357.post-63395502732580490682010-03-21T14:30:00.003-04:002010-03-21T14:46:32.557-04:00

I haven't been posting as much because I've done quite a bit of (gasp) actual work on my dissertation. I had this hare-brained plan of finishing a draft of my proposal by the end of this Spring Break week, and although I'm not there, I'm definitely closer. For one, I know the proposal outline and how it will play into the final dissertation. I've done a skeleton intro, a huge chunk of literature

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12061306198366270179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005357.post-5607927038381926972010-03-17T17:34:00.002-04:002010-03-17T17:39:09.866-04:00

So we had a neighborhood incident today where a group of high schoolers (probably about 8 of them) were gambling in the back of one of the houses on my street. They said hello to me as I walked the dog by, and being that I can't count, I thought that it was at a house on our street where there are lots of comings and goings and conceivably, one of them could temporarily be living there.Well, as

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12061306198366270179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005357.post-70595315662260404322010-03-13T09:12:00.002-05:002010-03-13T09:20:27.470-05:00

One of the benefits of working at a University is things like spring break. Oh, and summer break. This year because of furloughs we have almost the whole week off, and since there are some things that we need to work on anyway on my team, the one day we'll be working we really need. (Summer break is a different story - we're actually at work, but it's a nice time to work on longer term,

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12061306198366270179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005357.post-16897137696622275402010-03-06T10:18:00.003-05:002010-03-06T10:43:04.188-05:00

I updated my bathroom two weekends ago as a surprise for my dh. Being that we're in debt due to our kitchen remodel (worth it) I decided to try to do a remodel inexpensively.This is the only before picture I have of the bathroom:From 2010-02-06It had dingy grey/white walls and a cracked and gross basketweave floor. I'm sure those floors look great new, and I do love the vintage black/white

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12061306198366270179noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005357.post-5842868534517493912010-03-04T09:02:00.002-05:002010-03-04T09:06:09.580-05:00

This weekend was a busy one! We had a party for B's birthday, which turned out great. It was actually a surprise! I don't have any pics, unfortunately, but I need to upload several from the past couple of weeks.One of the nice surprises from this past weekend was an old friend who was in town for a PAC she's involved in. She's actually my oldest friend, someone I've known since 6th grade. She's

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12061306198366270179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005357.post-79177860433678594332010-02-26T10:24:00.002-05:002010-02-26T10:36:30.613-05:00

Hipster paradise! Yet another New York Times article about the town where B and I got married. This time it's about vintage clothing store Clementine which also has an online store.In some ways this couple is totally living my (maybe even our) dream of renovating a $150,000 farmhouse outside of Andes and raising two kids in "good, clean dirt." Only I guess my dream involves me being on faculty at

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12061306198366270179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005357.post-46174262812315717812010-02-23T21:46:00.003-05:002010-02-23T22:13:01.440-05:00

I forgot to write about my utter dinner failure on Monday night. I wanted to make a fish and kale dish with curry. Rather than get tilapia, I splurged and bought cod, thinking it was a more high-quality fish. I don't know if it's how I cooked it or the fish itself, but it totally turned to mush in my frying pan. I oversalted the dish as well, and managed to undercook the brown rice as well as

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12061306198366270179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005357.post-50223741241027115122010-02-23T21:16:00.002-05:002010-02-23T21:44:22.716-05:00

I never finished explaining How I Became Nicole X. Although I suppose I was trying to show rather than tell as I learned I should do in my college fiction writing class, I should probably just finish the story by saying that I became my married name when I was in the ICU at Sibley Hospital back in November. The nurses and lab techs would come in at 4am to begin everything, the chest X-rays, the

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12061306198366270179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005357.post-40473258644941646932010-02-18T16:51:00.002-05:002010-02-18T16:57:35.342-05:00

Some things make you stop and realize where you are and where you've been in life. Today I found out that my colleague from my teaching days in the French department passed away this week. I went back and looked at old emails between us and found another one between me and one of my old students as well. It's sad, it's almost as if I was a whole different person when I was teaching, so close to

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12061306198366270179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005357.post-26843823294694978932010-02-17T17:50:00.003-05:002010-02-17T17:53:14.576-05:00

I have 10 minutes before I have a work event, so I'll quick preview some things that will be coming up.1) I have a yummy recipe for roasted chicken thighs with mushrooms and asparagus that is in the camera, ready to load!2) I have some tips on making homemade pasta.3) I have a surprise remodel coming up. I don't want to ruin the surprise, but I'm taking some before pictures and will soon (

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12061306198366270179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005357.post-45268570712352051182010-02-15T16:31:00.002-05:002010-02-15T16:42:36.447-05:00

In an article on deans (written 1968), the author wrote that his wife came into his study WITHOUT ASKING PERMISSION TO INTERRUPT HIM. The horror! Now, the author is an academic and as many of us know, it does require solid blocks of uninterrupted time. I think she was forgiven because she was coming in to tell him that the dean had died, which seemed to be followed by an celebratory bout drinking

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12061306198366270179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005357.post-47148435886624403742010-02-13T10:50:00.002-05:002010-02-13T10:57:28.785-05:00

I used to think stock was an all-day affair. You can get a lot of flavor in a short amount of time, however. I made some sweet potato fries earlier in the week and saved the skins and unsightly parts in the freezer, along with onion ends, mushroom ends, and garlic skins. I knew I wanted to make some Sweet Potato Risotto later in the week. I roasted the vegetables for about 20 minutes in a 450

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12061306198366270179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005357.post-27859022419278620472010-02-13T10:26:00.002-05:002010-02-13T10:47:46.607-05:00

My original plan was to make fish tacos, but when we went to the grocery the first day after the snopocalypse, there were no avocados or green cabbage and the fish looked less than fresh. So I improvised. I had a couple sweet potatoes, risotto, and a pack of 5 pepper and onion sausages that I didn't need all of for my baked pasta dish later in the week. The final dish had great flavor, sweet and

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12061306198366270179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005357.post-8809942387328018342010-02-13T10:14:00.002-05:002010-02-13T10:26:21.921-05:00

A good marriage is when you build on each others ideas. I had set up Pandora on my netbook while I was making dinner. My dh then said, "Why don't we find the cord and hook this up to the Bose?" We searched in several places and found the cord, and voila, we had music that sounded great and was free, with the exception of a few commercials.From 2010-02-12A while back our computers both busted with

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12061306198366270179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005357.post-84434952578873364432010-02-12T17:02:00.002-05:002010-02-12T17:08:45.381-05:00

This morning Mike McGrath from @wtop was giving tips for the best Valentine's flowers. He suggested red tulips, which in the language of flowers literally mean "I love you." See his explanation here. I braved the messy and congested (with snow and traffic) roads to find some! I tried Fragers, Ginkos, and finally found them at Harris Teeter.Now I have a lovely Valentine's display! With, of course,

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12061306198366270179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005357.post-45829379322778036172010-02-11T15:35:00.007-05:002010-02-11T15:51:37.376-05:00

Get out your cake plate. What? No cake plate? Then buy this one. In the meantime, use a regular plate. Put the bottom layer on the plate, top side down, and frost.Next, spoon on a layer of pudding and spread. It will get a bit messy.Put the next layer of cake on top, flat side (the bottom of the pan) down. Frost the top. Then frost the sides of the whole cake and sprinkle coconut all over.Display

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12061306198366270179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005357.post-78550179332103205412010-02-11T15:20:00.003-05:002010-02-11T15:34:45.412-05:00

There are two ways to make the filling for the cake. One is to use instant vanilla pudding (I love that in a martini class with berries and a dusting of cinnamon, it looks like such a classy dessert). The other is to make it from scratch. Since I'm snowed in with clearly no intention of doing any dissertation research today, I chose the latter.2 1/2 c half-and-half2/3 c sugar (yay odd-size

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12061306198366270179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005357.post-20483681405748098592010-02-11T14:38:00.004-05:002010-02-11T15:20:34.284-05:00

Get ready for pinkness.1 1/2 c sugar2 egg whites (the ones you saved from making the cake)2 T light corn syrup (again, something I randomly had around and was excited to get to use)1/2 t vanilla extract1/3 c waterPinch saltPut all ingredients in a metal bowl that will fit into a pot except for the vanilla and salt. You're going to double boil the mixture as you're making it. Fill the pot with a

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12061306198366270179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005357.post-73123821306385356792010-02-11T14:20:00.002-05:002010-02-11T16:14:48.370-05:00

Stuck inside with a new kitchen = baking a complicated cake! Right now the parts are all made, just not assembled. While I'm waiting, I'll post the recipe.10 T butter, softened2 c cake flour1/2 c shredded coconut (which I had in the house randomly!)1 1/4 c sugar3 eggs, 2 egg yolks (reserve whites for frosting)1 t vanilla extract1/4 almond extract2 1/2 t baking powder1/4 t salt3/4 c half and

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12061306198366270179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005357.post-79882336140862534912010-02-07T19:25:00.002-05:002010-02-07T19:33:22.737-05:00

Well, we both will be home tomorrow as the federal government and my university are closed tomorrow. And we're supposed to get five more inches of snow on Tuesday and Wednesday. Oh well, at least I can cook (if we ever get to a grocery store again). So, in the meantime, some new pics.1. The finished product! Well, except for the shelf that goes between the stove and the hood. Not sure about that!

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12061306198366270179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005357.post-63906607278358504862010-01-29T12:45:00.002-05:002010-01-29T13:15:06.703-05:00

All that's left in the remodel is waiting for the granite countertops to be cut, a few paint touch ups, and the bathroom floor. We bought our tile floor at Amicus Green Building Center (the same place where we got the cork.) Although I really like the products Amicus carries and what they stand for - green building materials - their service is a little uneven. Some people are really knowledgeable

Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12061306198366270179noreply@blogger.com4