One Month!!!

At this time, in one month, I will be dancing my booty off, celebrating being married to my BFF John Robinson! I. Can. Not. Wait!!! No really, I can't wait. Those of you who have been around me in the past 3 or 4 months know that I'm semi over the whole "engaged" thing, and that I'm mildly annoyed that we're not married. BUT, we just have one more month....I think I can wait...I think I can...

One of our favorite things to do together is cook. We have always cooked together; in the tiny kitchen in my apartment and in the slightly bigger but way more salmonella infested kitchen in the Project House. This year has been a struggle, since we don't really have a kitchen of our own. We've really enjoyed mooching off of his parents and my aunt for a kitchen and supplies, but it's not the same. And, we've just had less time to cook together in general! Here is a terrible example of what happens when I cook by myself:

Thai Chicken Noodle Soup....not so delicious

 Tonight, bless his heart, John came up with the most awesome dinner menu! He picked out an heirloom tomato salad from the Food Network magazine that was supposed to imitate grilled cheese and tomato soup. We also made some panko oven-fried chicken tenders with a habanero mustard dipping sauce. YUM! Here's the recipe:

Heirloom Tomato Salad:

4 slices Italian bread, cubed
4 tbsp. olive oil
Sea Salt
LOTS Fresh Cracked Pepper
1 tbsp. Dijon mustard
1 tbsp. lemon juice
2 tbsp. white balsamic vinegar
2 lbs. mixed heirloom tomatoes, cut into chunks
1 bunch scallions, chopped
2 tbsp. fresh dill, chopped
3/4 c. shredded Gruyere
1 tbsp. flour

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 400 F.
2) Toss bread with 2 tbsp. olive oil, salt, and pepper on a baking sheet. Bake until golden brown. Set aside.
3) Combine mustard, lemon juice, vinegar, remaining olive oil in a large bowl. Toss with tomatoes, scallions, and dill. Salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
4) Toss cheese and flour. Form into 4 mounds on a baking sheet. Bake until golden brown.
5) Top salad with croutons ad serve with the cheese crisp!

Panko-Crusted Chicken Tenders:

1 package chicken tenders
2 eggs
1 c. (+) panko tossed with salt and pepper

Directions:

1) Coat chicken with egg, then with panko breading.
2) Bake at 400 F for appx. 20 minutes.

Habanero-Mustard

3 tbsp. dijon mustard
1 tbsp. honey
1 tbsp. white basalmic vinegar
1 tsp. habanero mustard
Salt
Pepper

Directions: Combine all ingredients!

And THIS is what it looks like when John and I cook together!

Love wins again!

OH! And that wine was AMAZING! It's from Chateau Grand Rosseau in Bordeaux, and it's their Entre-Deux Mers (ok....I might be totally wrong about ALL of that...the bottle is in French, and I have no idea what's going on. It's a white Bordeaux. Good luck.)

Tax Season vs. Tech Week

So, here I am on the other side of tax season. It seriously felt like it was never going to end. The past two months have been exhausting, and I feel like I would feel if it were the end of tech week of the end of a run of a show. So, here is a list of ways that tax season and tech week are both similar and different.

Similarities:

Late nights
Early mornings
No breaks
High stress
That "we're all in this together" feeling (not to be confused with the song....there's none of that)
Everyone complains 
No social life
Homework is not getting done

Differences:

Free Lunches


Theatre: 0
For-profits: 1

Female Empowerment FTW

I have been so blessed to have amazing relationships in my life. My family, fiance, and friends are all so loving and supportive and I don't know what I did to deserve such wonderful people. Recently, I've had the opportunity to develop friendships, some new and some not so new, that I didn't have (or, at least, didn't have enough of) while in undergrad. I guess you could say that I've had a couple of experiences allowed me to use the phrase "girl power".

...not quite what comes to mind when I think of girl power.

I admit that my favorite hobbies are those that you would associate with "traditional female roles". For example, the title of this blog isn't just clever, it's an actual practice of mine from undergrad. I would take study "bakes", meaning that I would take a break from studying, bake, and then get back to studying....hypothetically. If you asked my roommates, what would actually happen is that I would say "I should study...but first I should make cookies", and then 4 hours (and a bakers dozen) later it would be time for bed. Also...stay out of my way when I'm cleaning.


Still, despite single-handedly setting the feminist movement back 100 years, I never really considered myself all that girly. I wasn't interested in rushing during undergrad. I LOVE my Greek friends...but you need to know that I prayed pretty hard to get into a co-ed a cappella group.

Overtones Ladies!

 I love my girlfriends so much, but our friendship isn't one that I would say is based off of being a girl and our bonds aren't one of female solidarity. Do people even have friendships like this? Maybe I'm making them up. Maybe I've been watching too much Greek.  My friends are awesome, and our friendships are built on much more than man-bashing...more on them later...

I love those Button Babies (and Corey!)

So, back to female bonding. One of my great friends recently threw a "No Boys Allowed" brunch for all of her fabulous friends. It was the day before Valentine's Day...naturally, my first thought was that of a bunch of sad, single girls sitting around an Indian restaurant beating down a piñata laced with centuries of female oppression. 

Valentine's Day, anyone?

Of course, being the party planning master that she is, it was quite the opposite! She threw one of the most fun brunches I have ever been to! It was awesome to hang out with her, her sister, friends from college, and her sorority sisters...not to mention a mutual friend whom we both adore! There was no false sense of persevering womanhood. There were no sob-story, day before Valentine's Day woes. I left early, but I'm pretty sure there wasn't a piñata. I made Paula Deen's French Toast Casserole, we drank mimosas...but that's all I can tell you, because, well, no boys allowed. What I can say, though, is that the fabulous-ness was abundant because each of those girls was so different and interesting in their own way.   


My point is, I am so grateful for my female friends. Not because they're girls and they share in my eternal struggle against "the man", but because they excel in the friendship department. They have been there for me through it all. Sure, they've held my hand when I needed a hand to hold, but just as importantly, they've snuck into Theatre II (RIP) with me, laughed through rehearsal with me, and watched every single episode of Oprah while drinking a bottle of wine with me. And perhaps even more importantly...they've told me to man up when the African orphan episode comes on...


...it gets me every time.  

Welcome to Study Bake!

Well, for those 26 of you who follow my blog, you may notice that things have changed. I've taken a huge step in my technology awareness pursuit by actually purchasing my own URL from the mysterious Internet gods (AKA Danica Patrick).

I've also changed the purpose and, therefore, the name of this blog. I've been inspired lately by my friends, and sometimes by strangers, blogs.

1) Having your own URL looks so tight.

2) Having a blog of just recipes, while helpful when trying to remember what I made last year, is not quite cutting it for me anymore.

3) Having been graduated from undergrad for 7 months now has afforded me ample time to acquire ample experiences about which to blog.

Of course, I can't forget my blogging past. So, this blog will now be a hybrid of "listen to this hilarious thing that happened to me yesterday" and "I made this yesterday".

So, welcome to Study Bake! A collection of graduate school experiences interspersed with culinary adventures, with some inevitable sidetracks into the world of wedding planning, arts administration, and who knows...maybe I'll even throw in some advice for you aspiring receptionists out there (I'm looking at you Greg Belts Daily).

Green Smoothie #1

This is my first attempt at a green smoothie. I'm obsessed with Naked's Green Machine, and was wondering if I could just make it at home? I based my shopping list on the ingredients on the back of the bottle, and this is what I ended up with!

Ingredients:

5 fugi apples
1 kiwi
1 mango
5 pineapple slices (plus juice)
2 bananas
1 clove garlic
1 piece ginger
1 bunch kale
2 broccoli crowns
1 bunch parsley


So, I got everything cleaned and prepared last night, and this morning I blended parts of the ingredients together with and equal amount of water, plus a little almond milk and agave nectar). Problem is, I'm not sure exactly how much of each ingredient are actually in the smoothie I'm drinking right now? AND, I didn't include all of the "boosters" like cholrella, spirulina, and blue-green algae.

The result? It tastes pretty good...I'm just not exactly nuts about the grassy texture. We're getting a Vitamix soon, so I'll have to try it again then!

Sheep's Milk Yogurt Marinated Chicken

This recipe is, once again, inspired by my all-time hero, The Pioneer Woman.

Ingredients:

1/2 c. sheep's milk yogurt (I used Trader Joe's)
1 c. almond milk
1 tbsp each of the following: black pepper, coriander, cumin, cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, mustard seed
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Marinate for 48 hours double bagged in the fridge.

Pat dry. Butterfly, and saute in 1 tbsp. olive oil over medium heat for appx. 8-10 minutes.

Pantry Pasta Salad

So, I had about 3/4 a box of farfalle left and I needed to make lunch for tomorrow. This is what happened next.

Ingredients:

3/4 box of farfalle (or, you know, a whole box like a normal person)
2 tbsp. minced onion
8 chopped green olives w/ pimento
4 chopped pepperocini
1/4 c. capers
8 chopped sun-dried tomatos (reserving the preserving oil for dressing)
2 c. shredded cabbage

Dressing:
1/4 c. white balsamic vinegar
1/4 c. olive oil
reserved sun-dried tomato oil
1 tsp. basil
sea salt
freshly cracked pepper

Directions really aren't necessary. Just cook the pasta and mix everything together. I sprinkled mine with some shaved pecorino romano cheese. You now know what I'm having for lunch tomorrow.

Calories: 230/serving (makes 8 servings)