Visions of Sugarplums....

It's almost Halloween.

You know what that means.

Christmas is coming!

I've been starting to get the Christmas itch and it was amped up big time yesterday after spending some time with my cousin who might be the biggest fan of Christmas ever.

It started with Glade commercials advertising holiday scents.

Two months.... that seems like an awfully long time but it's going to fly by.

October literally disappeared in the blink of an eye.

But back to Christmas stuff in a moment.

I have an exam in a few hours (yes, I should be cramming) so this won't be a long post.

I was invited to join Sigma Theta Tau, an honours nursing society!

I joined, paid my dues. Literally. $100 worth.

But well worth it as it'll look good on my resume when I start applying for jobs and it's a good place to start networking.

Before I get dressed and leave to write the final exam for this history course (side note: I got a 90 on the paper I spent 3 weeks slaving away on so now I'm not super worried about the exam, though I probably should be), I want to share with you something I am quite excited about.

It's a new challenge I've set for myself.

After this exam, I have 2 assignments and 1 exam left for this semester.

The entire month of December I will have 1 exam (and work, obviously).

With that amount of free time I am going to turn this apartment into Santa's workshop but I also want to get back into baking in a big way.

I am challenging myself to bake 25 different cookies (or baked goods in general) as a countdown to Christmas challenge.

It'll be a busy December.

Exam time!

Banana Bread with an Oreo Twist

I think I bake banana bread more than anything else.

It's so easy, so good, and so necessary when there is a bunch of bananas slowly turning black in your fruit bowl.

Usually I go heavy on the chocolate chips or do chocolate chip variations (Easter themed banana bread with mini eggs is really good) but on Sunday night, as I mixed up my batter, I realized I had no chocolate at all.

I could have made a basic loaf but I like a challenge (and like chocolate even more) so I scoured the cupboards until I found a box of oreo cookie crumbs.

I debated between mixing the crumbs into the batter but thought a simple crust might be a nice compromise.

Even better? You don't need to add butter to the crumbs to make a crust. Simply cover the bottom of the loaf pan with the crumbs then spoon the batter on top!

*This is a Betty Crocker recipe that I adapted.

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a loaf pan and cover the bottom with oreo cookie crumbs.
• In a bowl, cream 1/2 cup of butter with 1 cup of powdered sugar and 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• Stir in 2 eggs until well blended. Add in 4 medium bananas, 1/2 cup sour cream, and 1 tsp vanilla.
• Stir in 2 1/2 cups flour, 1 tsp baking soda, and 1 tsp salt. Mix until combined then pour batter over the oreo crumbs.
• Bake for an hour and 15 minutes or until a tester inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Voila!

A different spin on banana bread.

I just finished 4 hours of editing a group paper that's due today by midnight so I am ready to take a little break from work before I hae to start studying for my exam on Saturday.

I'd like to do a little bit of wedding prep but I'm not sure how much I could feasibly do.

A few weeks ago I printed out 50 save-the-date cards so I'll likely need to figure out exactly how many cards I'll need, print out the remainder, then start putting the finishing touches on them.

That'll be my arts and crafts project to look forward to once this blitz of school work is done on Saturday!

Oh hi, remember me?

It's been awhile.

But you'll have to believe me when I say it's me, not you.

School has taken over my life in recent weeks but the light at the end of  the tunnel is getting brighter.

I just handed in a history essay that has taken up every free moment of my time for the past two weeks.

Tuesday I hand in a group paper and then on Saturday I have the final exam for my history elective.

Then things will get a bit easier, at least temporarily.

Here's what you've missed:

My sister had a birthday and my best friend made her an incredible cake! After asking what her favourite kind of cake was my sister replied, "I'm not a huge fan of cake. Honestly I'd prefer a big plate of nachos."

So she got the best of both worlds. 

So cool.

And the carrot cake underneath was delicious.

 I also made pulled pork and cheddar biscuits to go with it. I think that may have been the last thing I posted about. I didn't have jalapenos for the biscuits so I added a dash of cayenne pepper to spice them up.

A few nights ago I asked John what he wanted for dinner and he asked if we had any Kraft dinner.

We didn't.

So having an excuse to not write my essay any more drop right into my lap, I decided to make mac and cheese myself.

We only had spaghetti (John cleaned out the cupboards cause we had a moth infestation and he ended up throwing out a lot of our stuff) but it worked well enough.

I melted cheddar and mozarella cheese into milk then added the cooked pasta.

It was pretty good!

One night this week I decided to make a nicer dinner (again, needed a good reason to not have to sit in front of my laptop for hours). I went with a fall-themed chicken and stuffed chicken breasts with brie, bacon, and apple slices.

The flavours worked really well together, not to mention the fact that bacon makes everything taste better.

In other news -

I found (and subsequently purchased) my wedding dress!

Well to be clear my mom purchased my wedding dress (thanks mom!) but wow!

I made an appointment last Saturday to go and try on some dresses to get an idea of what style would look best.

The second dress I tried on was the one.

It happened so fast!

I wasn't expecting to walk out of the store with a dress but it's been purchased.

I want to put up pictures but I also want to wait and do the big reveal in August.

And I also don't want John to see it.

I did cave and show him a not-so-great picture from a phone but that's all.

Ohhhhhhhhh man, so very very exciting!

It's beautiful.

I'm going to go look at the pictures of it again.

And take my banana bread out of the oven!

And then finish my group paper section :(

Cheddar Jalapeno Biscuits

Nothing compliments pulled pork quite like a good biscuit to soak up all that sauce.

I usually stick to a basic buttermilk biscuit but this time around I want to spice it up a bit.

I'm going to follow this recipe (from www.food.com) for jalapeno cheddar biscuits to fill with delicious, delicious pulled pork.

1. Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 400°F.

2. Whisk 2 cups flour, 1 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda, and 1/2 tsp salt in a medium bowl to combine. Add 1/2 cup shredded cheese and incorporate.

3. Cut in 8 tbsp butter with a food processor until the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal.

4. Make a well in the center. Whisk 3/4 cup yogurt and 1/3 cup milk in a small bowl to combine. Add 3 jalapeños, seeded and diced.

5. Pour into the well and mix with a fork, adding a tablespoon or so of additional milk if needed to form a moist sticky dough.

6. Drop 12 heaping tablespoons of the dough onto a ungreased baking sheet spacing the biscuits about 2 inches apart.

7. Bake until the tops are tipped with golden brown about 20 minutes.



Thanksgiving/Birthday Long Weekend

Happy belated Thanksgiving!

It's a day late but it's also Thanksgiving Monday (aka stay in your PJs all day Monday) so I'm not that late.

This week there haven't been any posts because I have barely had time to sit still let alone make anything worth blogging about.

Monday I worked, Tuesday I went from the hospital straight to work, Wednesday I worked 2 shifts, Thursday I worked then went to the hospital for an overnight shift, then Friday I had a midterm then Thanksgiv'r.

Saturday John and I went for an adventure picnic to the Terracotta Badlands and to the Forks of the Credit River. I had been feeling somewhat nauseous on the drive up so I didn't get to appreciate the badlands to their full extent. I did start to feel a lot better once we found a nice shaded spot under a tree overlooking Kettle Lake at the Forks of the Credit.

Plus serrano ham and havarti on foccacia with a can of Dr. Pepper never hurt anyone.



Saturday night we went out to The Hoxton for my little sister's birthday.

Hard to believe she's 24!

Yesterday was her birthday so we celebrated with turkey and stuffing and cake and pie.

You can't see it too well in this photo but her cake (courtesy of my best friend over at Blondie's Bakery)  incredible - a carrot cake plate of nachos!

Better pictures to follow.

This week: I'm making pulled pork (right now), have a few nights off (which mean essay writing but also blog post - hurray!) and then my first wedding dress adventure on Saturday! Ah!

I also want to make jalapeno cheddar biscuits but seeing as it's a holiday I'm not optimistic that the grocery stores are open and I'm even less optomistic that Shoppers Drug Mart has jalapeno peppers....

Casserole Night

Yesterday a sweet ol' pup made her way to that big backyard in the sky.

John's family said goodbye to their dog, Molly, after 14 years.

Pets become part of our families so to lose them is to lose a family member.

She was a beautiful dog with those sad eyes and a loving personality.

She will be missed but remembered always.

I've been crazy busy so I think I might start pre-posting in an effort to keep my ramblings from occuring only once a week.

I started my new job yesterday and it's wonderful.

I teach swimming lessons at a kid's rehab hospital and, apart from getting to work with kids, one of the perks is that the water in the pool is like a bath tub. It's beautiful.

I love that they operate on a reverse-integration policy so they register kids with different abilities first (Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Down's Syndrome to name a few of the more common) and then open up any remaining spots to the general public in the area.

As a result there is a nice mix of abilities and the learning opportunities for the kids and for the instructors are immense.

My mom (who I like to think of as the Equity Ambassador to the world) would be so proud.

What else?

I told you about my night shift at the hospital, about picking up any and every shift at (other) work this past week.... I slept for 12 hours last night. John and I went out for dinner then came home to watch a movie (Jim Gaffigen stand-up on Netflix). I fell asleep on the couch at 9:30 pm.

Woke up and moved into bed at 10.

Woke up this morning at 10 am.

Not only is 10 am like a solid 4 hour sleep in for me, but I rarely sleep for more than maybe 10 hours.

My body is quite happy this morning.

 Besides falling asleep before 10 pm, I think now that I am on the closer-to-30 side of my 20s my vision is starting to go.

I am an over-reactor and a slight hypochondriac (see this post for confirmation of both) so I just assume I have some sort of macular degeneration or a brain tumour in my occipital lobe.

I like to prepare for the worst.

Anyway, I need to go get my eyes checked when I get some free time. Not today. Today is my first day with NO obligations in a long time so I'm enjoying it as is.

It could be that being tired is just making me feel wonky-eyed or it could mean always wanting reading glasses has finally sunk deep enough into my subconcious mind that I'm creating symptoms.

I do have this really annoying floater in my right eye though...

Anyway.

I want to make these cupcakes, EXACTLY the way they are made to look in this picture.

Damn you, Betty Crocker and your craftiness.

Then I want to make this.

Maybe tonight.

Note: This picture is actually of a different recipe but I couldn't find a picture of the one I want to make so this visual will have to do.

From Everyday Food:

(picture of Scalloped Potato & Leek recipe on Marthastewart.com)

• Preheat oven to 425. In a large skillet, heat 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil over medium high heat. Add 2 leeks (sliced, white and light green parts only), and 3 celery stalks (sliced). Cook until softened, about 8 minutes.
• Add in 2 pkgs frozen artichokes, 1/2 cup low sodium chicken broth, and 1 bar Neufchatel cheese (just use cream cheese like I plan on doing).
• Remove skillet from heat and add in 2 tbsp lemon juice and salt and pepper.
• Brush a baking dish with 1 tbsp oil. Arrange 1 medium russet potato, very thinly sliced, along the bottom of the baking dish and top with the artichoke mixture. Top the artichoke mixture with another 1 medium russet potatoes, very thinly sliced, and brush with 2 tbsp oil and season with salt and pepper.
• Bake until sauce is bubbling and potatoes are gold and tender, about 35-40 minutes.

Potato, Bacon & Cheddar Tart (For Sarah and the rest of us bacon-philes everywhere)

The lack of posts has been a really good indicator of the amount of free time I've had in the past week or two.

Lots of extra shifts at work, time in the hospital, and trainings at various work locations.

I have the next few hours all to myself, after having slept until 1 pm this afternoon.

I did my first night shift at the hospital last night!

Despite being terrified that I would pass out from exhaustion in a hallway somewhere, I was surprisingly awake for the better part of the 12 hours. I did get about an hour, maybe an hour and a half of shut eye during my breaks but I didn't fall fast asleep at any point in time.

And what really shocked me was that I left the hospital this morning kind of enjoying working nights.

Huh!

The night shift is still busy but it's also much quieter.

Between taking vitals every hour and making sure the patient hadn't pulled his ventilation tube off of his trache (three times, each time I panicked because I thought he was choking to death and the machine's alarm didn't help ease my anxiety), I found time to read through 2 nursing articles and even time to browse through a healthy living/organic style magazine.

I gave my first injection of the year (16th ever and no nervous hand shaking!), gave meds through a PEG tube again, set up feeds, and just about scrubbed my hands raw as the patient had MRSA.

I also narrowly missed my first death on the unit.

When I returned from break I learned from one of the other nurses that a woman had come up from another unit and within an hour had gone into cardiac arrest. They tried CPR but she had died. As she told me, I looked over my shoulder towards the area where the woman had died just in time to see her being covered and wheeled off of the unit.

Sort of a weird feeling at 3 am.

But all in all it was a wonderful first evening shift and I'm almost looking forward to the next one.

One of the nurses lives in the building beside me so she picked me up on my walk to the hospital and drove me home in the morning!

So obviously I'm deciding what gift I'll give her at the end of the semester.

Now.

On to more pressing matters.

The LCBO goLOCAL blog challenge is almost over as voting ends tomorrow and then it'll be a waiting game to see if I got enough votes to put me in the top 5.

My friends and family have been incredibly supportive and I want to thank everyone who has voted for doing so!

There is still today and tomorrow to vote so please click here and click on the vote button 2 last times :)

Lastly, one of my friends (after helping me solicit votes) said that she had recently found this blog and enjoyed the bacon wrapped asparagus post.

So to thank her for helping me with the voting process I give you another amazing bacon recipe - one that I have yet to try but I've been thinking about this one on and off for about 4 years.

The recipe is from Michael Smith (Chef at Home).

You will need:

• 2 pounds room temperature bacon
• lots freshly ground pepper
• 4 cups shredded aged cheddar
• 5 or 6 large baking potatoes (unpeeled)
• a sprinkle or two sea salt and freshly grated pepper
• 1 onion, minced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced

1. Preheat your oven to 350°F (180°C).
2. Carefully arrange the bacon in a radial pattern from the centre of the bottom of a 10- or 12-inch (25 or 30 cm) round non-stick baking pan to the lower edge of the rim and continuing up and over the sides of it. Let the ends hang over. The slices should overlap slightly around the sides of the pan. To reduce the thickness of the bacon in the centre, stagger every other piece, starting it 2 inches (5 cm) from the centre and extending it further than the adjacent slices.
3. With the palm of your hand, flatten the centre area, leaving no gaps in the bacon. Season the bacon with lots of pepper and then sprinkle on several spoonfuls of the shredded cheddar.
4. Slice the potatoes as thinly and uniformly as you can, about 1/4 inch (6 mm) thick.
5. Arrange a circular pattern of overlapping slices around the inside bottom edge of the pan. Continue arranging overlapping layers of the potatoes until the bottom is evenly covered. Season the potatoes with salt and pepper.
6. Mix together the onion and garlic and sprinkle some of the mixture onto the potatoes. Continue with a layer of the shredded cheese. Cover with another layer of the potato, pressing it down firmly before continuing with alternate layers of the potatoes, onion mixture and cheese, insetting each a bit from the edge of the pan until the top is an inch (2.5 cm) or so higher than the pan’s rim. Fold the overhanging bacon neatly up and over the top of the potatoes.
7. Trim a small piece of parchment paper and place it in between an ovenproof lid and the bacon. This will prevent the bacons ends from pulling back and shrinking during cooking.
8. Place the pan on a baking sheet and bake for at least 2 1/2 to 3 hours. You’ll know it’s done when a small, thin bladed knife inserts easily.
9. Pour off as much of the fat around the edges as possible. Let the tart stand for 15 minutes and then invert it onto a cutting surface. Slice into wedges and serve immediately.
10. You may refrigerate any leftovers and reheat them later it in a microwave.

I'm going to finish off this pot of coffee then print out some more nursing articles before I head to work.

It's almost the weekend!

Yaaaayyy!