July 30, 2005

So....

What have I been up to these last two weeks?

Not much. Work. Sleep. Eat. That's Mostly it. However, there were a few things in there that were more interesting. We've watched a few movies. DO NOT, I REPEAT DO NOT, EVER Watch a movie called "Mulholland Drive" *shudders*

Sadly, it was one of the few movies I managed to stay awake for....I would rather have not. and I'd rather have stayed awake for other movies such as Hotel Rwanda and Cool Hand Luke. *sigh*

Oh, I've also tried my hand at a few other dishes. Such as Chicken Fried Steak, REAL mashed potatoes, and roast little chickens with dirty rice. Pictures below. Josh and I also went to Tyler with the intention of using some gift cards at the mall, but we were hungry and I also wanted to see the roses at the Tyler Rose Garden before it got too dark. The mall closed by the time these two things were taken care of. Oh well. I'm posting a few of my favorite pictures from the rose garden (we were there a bit past peak) and a picture of example lighting at Armadillo Willy's, where we ate. It's a shame there wasn't a way of capturing the wonderful smells of the rose garden for you.

and I thought it wise not to put a picture up of the current state of my big toe which had an accidental meeting with a concrete slab the other night....I forgot about that particular step.... any rate. it cut the top corner of my toe. I went and got a tetanus shot after realizing it has been ten years since my last one (almost to the month).




Posted by Anna at 03:10 PM | TrackBack

July 16, 2005

more food pix

because my life is just that boring right now. and I can't rant about work yet.

on the menu for this week: chicken fried steak with REAL mashed potatoes and roast chicken with rice. tonight we are trying pork chops with veggies. *sniffs air* and I even managed to do better on the grocery bill!!!

Three summers of the pizza restaurant job (you know all that Poker Alice stuff I have...(old lady with cigar)) taught me how to make calzones. This was the second time this summer and these weren't AS good as the last set, but you cook, you eat, you learn:



Posted by Anna at 07:34 PM | TrackBack

July 12, 2005

My life

I sleep.
I work.
I come home and think about cooking.
I shower.
I cook
if so desired.
I relax in The Chair with a book.

Posted by Anna at 07:27 PM | TrackBack

July 06, 2005

23 more days

of Facility Services left to go. The apartment cleaning madness has begun. I spend all day cleaning apartments---scrubbing carpets, bathtubs, ovens, ya di ya di ya da......at least I have a good crew to work with and things can be somewhat entertaining....threats if anything is stolen...various items left up on refridgerators in bad taste...and the like. It isn't so bad....there is at least a little variety in what I do in any given hour....albeit some of these jobs are NASTY!!!! like, the ovens. But thank the Lord for EZ Off oven cleaner left overnight....it is your best friend....and the bathtubs.....it's sickening....and the toilets.....even more disgusting. I arm my hands in gloves and wage war on the dirt and grime and make myself forget that it'll all be dirty again when they move back in...and probably left to scum up again all before August....but it won't be our problem then...

So, we truck on. I'm going to go wash the nastiness away from my face and hair (the chemicals sometimes stay in the air and on then get on my face....) and put lots of moisturizing, healing hand cream on the hands (I discovered that the large disposable gloves are not long enough and stuff creeps inside making the gloves pointless)(I now have long happy yellow gloves to protect my poor hands.)

Sorry this isn't as interesting as the cheesecake photos :-)

Posted by Anna at 04:36 PM | TrackBack

July 04, 2005

Taste of Scholl's

Last night, a crew of gentlemen or ("my 5 dates") were treated to a homemade lasange dinner (I even made the sauce) and after Macbeth a homemade New York Cheesecake.

I slaved in our kitchen all yesterday afternoon, using my great Kitchen Aid mixer to create a cheesecake filling and getting my hands messy creating a shortbread crust. While that was cooking, I cooked up some tomato sauce for the lasagne and prepared the meat and noodles for layering. I discovered that our oven burns hotter than it is supposed to---when I got an extra toasty crust on my cheesecake on the minimum recommended time :-( and the cheescake got a nice dark brown layer on top (thankfully a very thin layer) instead of a lightly golden top. *sigh* It was still good though as I am sure the others shall testify. Everything was ready by 5. except our company, who had yet to arrive, but that's okay because it never hurts to let a lasange sit a little while.

We enjoyed dinner and than prepared to be off to Kilgore to see the play. and that was good too. But critique is not my area of expertise.

We came back the Scholl abode and I pulled out the cheesecake and blackberry filling (sadly, from a can...) and served up six slices of the cheesecake. The inside looked perfect. In fact, it was perfect...and very very rich. The crust even tasted good, and as I was eating, I noticed that only the very outer layer of the crust was dark brown....the inside crust was a happy golden color.

Finishing my cheesecake and remembering our recent purchase of a Fugi Finepix S3100, I grabbed the camera and took pictures of friends and food to show off....and maybe make a few people drool :-) (I'm still working on sizing...)



















Posted by Anna at 11:09 AM | TrackBack

July 01, 2005

Casey--Rehab & Prayer Pager

From LU Site:

Prayer Pager for Casey Reneau
Many of you have been praying for Casey Reneau, one of our students who was seriously injured in a fall that has left her partially paralyzed. Casey has undergone back surgery and reconstructive surgery on her face. She is now at Baylor Rehab Center in Dallas. During the weeks she is in rehabilitation, we are asking for you to pray for her and in the process, let her and her family know that someone somewhere is praying for them.

LeTourneau University has been provided a “Prayer Pager” that the Reneau family has in their possession right now. When you call the toll free number listed below, the pager will ask you for the number you wish displayed and then vibrates for the family to see the phone number of someone who is praying. Hopefully, by forwarding this email to your prayer partners, the Reneau family will receive calls from all across our country. Can you imagine how blessed they will be each time the pager vibrates!

Please pray for Casey now and in the next few months and then give the pager a call to let them know we just visited with God about them.

So pray for her and call the pager # below.

1-800-489-5707

It costs you nothing…but will mean everything to them right now.

Posted by Anna at 05:16 PM | TrackBack