Cooking & Review Preparation; Fajitas; Volcano & Woodrow's; Cars & Woodrow's; Wedding
6/5
I needed to work on my presentation (er, "casual chat") for my fellowship's annual progress review, so, naturally, the only thing for me to do was cook.
Richard's makes some a very nice pork sausage that Dad occasionally brings back from Louisiana. If you grill it up in a pan with some veggies—for this round I chose, zuchini, asparagus, cherry tomatoes, spinach, garlic, and poblano peppers) and then add some cream (or half & half), you can make a nice, flavorful pan sauce, with little additional seasoning required. Toss with a pasta with a nice, high service area-to-volume ratio (I used cresta di gallo), preferrably colorful, and you've got a very tasty pasta dish.
Then I got to work.
6/6
The funding review was mostly uneventful. The boss got annoyed with me over my inability to put things succinctly, but otherwise everything was fine.
Cindy had a new grill pan she had been itching to try out and wanted to cook some fajitas. Her apartment's AC was out, though, so she packed everything up and came over for dinner.
I tend to make a dish and then eat it as a meal. Cindy, on the other hand, makes a meal. She went all out with corn, beans, rice, guacamole, chicken and beef. Good stuff (although I prefer to cook with a little more salt).
6/8
Neuroscience Dave, who was a friend that I saw only very sporadically, was moving to Birmingham with his lab (there but for the grace of God go I), and was having a farewell party at the Volcano. I came for a round of drinks, and then dropped in on Will over at Woodrow's.
6/9
Pixar's films have become a big event for me, so I was glad for the chance to see Cars on its opening night. Cindy picked up Will from school and made our way to the Edwards theater.
The film was certainly beautiful, and it was enjoyable, but in the end, merely good, not great.
We stopped by Woodrow's for a round on the way home.
6/10
I stopped by Char's to borrow a few ties that morning and then set about putting something together. The number of situations requiring formal, semi-formal, or even business casual attire has fallen off drastically since coming to grad school, and at the moment I have exactly one sport coat and one pair of dressy slacks that fit. Determined to not wear the exact same thing that I wore for Easter and Becca's graduation, I tried a bunch of things before settling on a dark brown shirt with lighter brown tie and jacket, and, if I may humbly say, it looked pretty hot.
The church where Graham and Angela/Kennedy's wedding was held was pretty, but a bit too... glossy feeling. Too new. It seemed fake. The ceremony was... unremarkable?
The reception was at the River Oaks Garden Club, and the space (particularly the indoor space, which is important in June) was a bit small. There were some interesting appetizers being brought around by waiters (barbecue bacon-wrapped sweet potatoes, macaroni and cheese in little pastry shells, little ceviche portions that I was brave enough to try), but the stuff out on the buffet was a fairly pedestrian selection of chips, crackers, dips, veggies, and fruit.
But there was both Shiner and Bitburger. Which was good.
Most of the program's "old guard" was there: Mike & Rebecca, Chris & Ezgi, Matt & Amber, (now former) program admin Wanda, Char, Jesse (briefly) and I. It was a nice enough time.
Afterwards we went to the hotel where all the out of town guests were staying to share a drink with the bride and groom, but things were expensive and the old guard was wanting food, so we made an IHOP run, leaving just as G&A were coming down to join us.
I needed to work on my presentation (er, "casual chat") for my fellowship's annual progress review, so, naturally, the only thing for me to do was cook.
Richard's makes some a very nice pork sausage that Dad occasionally brings back from Louisiana. If you grill it up in a pan with some veggies—for this round I chose, zuchini, asparagus, cherry tomatoes, spinach, garlic, and poblano peppers) and then add some cream (or half & half), you can make a nice, flavorful pan sauce, with little additional seasoning required. Toss with a pasta with a nice, high service area-to-volume ratio (I used cresta di gallo), preferrably colorful, and you've got a very tasty pasta dish.
Then I got to work.
6/6
The funding review was mostly uneventful. The boss got annoyed with me over my inability to put things succinctly, but otherwise everything was fine.
Cindy had a new grill pan she had been itching to try out and wanted to cook some fajitas. Her apartment's AC was out, though, so she packed everything up and came over for dinner.
I tend to make a dish and then eat it as a meal. Cindy, on the other hand, makes a meal. She went all out with corn, beans, rice, guacamole, chicken and beef. Good stuff (although I prefer to cook with a little more salt).
6/8
Neuroscience Dave, who was a friend that I saw only very sporadically, was moving to Birmingham with his lab (there but for the grace of God go I), and was having a farewell party at the Volcano. I came for a round of drinks, and then dropped in on Will over at Woodrow's.
6/9
Pixar's films have become a big event for me, so I was glad for the chance to see Cars on its opening night. Cindy picked up Will from school and made our way to the Edwards theater.
The film was certainly beautiful, and it was enjoyable, but in the end, merely good, not great.
We stopped by Woodrow's for a round on the way home.
6/10
I stopped by Char's to borrow a few ties that morning and then set about putting something together. The number of situations requiring formal, semi-formal, or even business casual attire has fallen off drastically since coming to grad school, and at the moment I have exactly one sport coat and one pair of dressy slacks that fit. Determined to not wear the exact same thing that I wore for Easter and Becca's graduation, I tried a bunch of things before settling on a dark brown shirt with lighter brown tie and jacket, and, if I may humbly say, it looked pretty hot.
The church where Graham and Angela/Kennedy's wedding was held was pretty, but a bit too... glossy feeling. Too new. It seemed fake. The ceremony was... unremarkable?
The reception was at the River Oaks Garden Club, and the space (particularly the indoor space, which is important in June) was a bit small. There were some interesting appetizers being brought around by waiters (barbecue bacon-wrapped sweet potatoes, macaroni and cheese in little pastry shells, little ceviche portions that I was brave enough to try), but the stuff out on the buffet was a fairly pedestrian selection of chips, crackers, dips, veggies, and fruit.
But there was both Shiner and Bitburger. Which was good.
Most of the program's "old guard" was there: Mike & Rebecca, Chris & Ezgi, Matt & Amber, (now former) program admin Wanda, Char, Jesse (briefly) and I. It was a nice enough time.
Afterwards we went to the hotel where all the out of town guests were staying to share a drink with the bride and groom, but things were expensive and the old guard was wanting food, so we made an IHOP run, leaving just as G&A were coming down to join us.
posted by L. Maxwell Ward at 3:48 PM
