Saturday, September 29, 2007

Basically, bragging about kitchen-related endeavors and the fact that I have a job.

Matt and I have been trying our hand(s) at cooking, with mixed results. I think he is a little more excited about it than I am, except when it comes to the slow cooker--I am sort of obsessed with that thing. I got one about a month ago and also ordered a cookbook called "The 125 Best Vegetarian Slow Cooker Recipes." This cookbook is SO FREAKIN AWESOME. First of all, it's ridiculously simple. I think the hardest thing I've had to do thus far is cut sweet potatoes into 3/8" cubes (and yes, that's kind of hard--but then again, I am a terror with sharp objects and our red Kitchen Aid knives, while adorable, are basically murder weapons). Second of all, it thrills me to come home to a finished meal. I really prefer to do the food preparation the night or morning before; it's so exciting to come home from work to a house that smells like sweet potato and barley risotto and then to be able to just sit down and eat it whenever you want.

Anyway, we've made a couple things we really liked. Chili was one--clearly a good choice for the slow cooker. Then I made this sweet potato and carrot dish with a chick pea topping, and it was amazing--probably my favorite so far. We've done a couple of the barley recipes but Matt didn't think they were flavorful enough. I liked them because they taste so healthy and hearty but they are, admittedly, vaguely reminiscent of baby food. This week I think we're going to try one of the curries, which will hopefully be a little more interesting. If anyone has any good vegetarian slow cooker recipes (or just easy veggie recipes, in general), please pass them on! To be honest, I like trying to do new things as long as they don't require bizarre and/or specific techniques (I can beat things, I can chop things, don't ask me for much more than that) or require a ton of ingredients that I've never heard of before.

I'll switch gears and talk a little about employment. When we got here I really wasn't all that worried about finding a job. Honestly, my standards were low; I wanted benefits, halfway decent pay, and a job that would be good for just one year since I'm planning on going back to school full time, assuming I get accepted, next summer. I was sort of shocked at the lack of response as I started filling out applications and sending out resumes like a crazy person, and eventually I was feeling desperate and took a job at a coffee shop in the Milwaukee Art Museum. This was not, as it turns out, a terrible idea. The Milwaukee Art Museum is pretty spectacular for a small scale museum; the coolest part of the building, where I happen to work, was added in 2001 and designed by an apparently very famous architect, Santiago Calatrava. Here's a picture from the MAM website.

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I actually met a man from California the other day who had come to Milwaukee only to see this building because he's an architect himself and loves Calatrava. I thought that was pretty cool. Anyway, the coffee cart where I work is in a very beautiful stretch of hall lined with big windows that look out at Lake Michigan. Here are a couple pictures I took.

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Not bad, huh? It's really a pretty chill job. My boss is a young entrepreneur who knows EVERY restaurant worth going to in Milwaukee. This has already come in handy for us; he recommended the Pfister hotel for brunch and we went with my sister two weekends ago--it's fantastic. Also, I can make a MEAN capuccino and get more than my fair share of free coffee.

Inevitably, as soon as I took the coffee shop job I got an interview for a job with the Wauwatosa School District as a Special Education Aide. I had no idea what this would entail, but as it turned out the particular school I'll be working at is located at Milwaukee Mental Health and serves children and young adults who are inpatients at the Milwaukee Child and Adolescent Treatment Center. Basically, kids with psychiatric disorders. Once I realized this, I became terribly excited. Having a Dad who's a shrink, I love this kind of stuff and I know I will find it interesting, at the very least. We get to participate in rounds each morning with doctors and nurses to get the low down on our students; most of the kids are only short-term, so each week, or even each day, we'll have a different group. I'll be working with ages 3-21 (seriously). In short, I won't be bored. I start on Monday and I'm really excited to see what it's all about. Also, they're giving me health insurance--YAY. But I'm still going to work at the coffee shop once a weekend, for some extra money, and because I have some ongoing bets with museum employees involving NFL football (DOWN with the Packer backers).

In conclusion, I now have two (meager) sources of income and I'm very glad to put friends and family (mostly family) at ease--no, I'm not going to starve out here, I swear. I might freeze, though. That's a whole different story.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

You write very well.