Peanut Brittle

On Friday night I hung out with figment80 and flipped through a South Indian cookbook, looking for a recipe or two to try for our upcoming Indian Food Extravaganza. In the desserts section, I came across a recipe for peanut brittle, and I instantly got overwhelmingly homesick: my mom or annikusrex's family always makes peanut brittle around Christmastime, so it's a flavor I associate with Seattle.

I cleaned out my freezer yesterday, admitting with an internal sigh that I will never finish the tub of avocado ice cream or the frozen grapes (friends of mine tell me how much they love frozen grapes, but I suppose they're the ones who also like to chew on ice cubes, which I can't stand). In the cleaning process, I encountered the half-empty container of mountain huckleberries that I collected last summer on Mt. Rainier (I'm still working to get pictures from that trip from sytharin). They're presently giving me a small taste of home as condiments in my oatmeal.

Things are starting to warm up here. Yesterday was one of the local regattas on Tempe Town Lake, and it was sunny and beautiful. I spent more than a few moments just staring into the water, watching ripples and reflections and undulations. I rowed in three races and was tired by the end; sweep rowing 3 mornings a week has not helped my sculling abilities at all, and I feel as though I've lost some endurance as well. I don't think I'll be volunteering to fill an empty seat in a sweep boat again any time soon--at least, not for two straight months. It's not as enjoyable as it used to be--sculling has been more challenging (and thus rewarding).

I slept in this morning until 7:00, and now I'm watching the sunlight filter down through leafy green trees. It feels like an eon since I last enjoyed the morning sunlight in the springtime. The changing seasons are reminding me of Australia again. I'm not sure if I'll be ready for a second summer this year, but it's going to happen, one way or another.

More random Sunday ramblings

A and I just went on a trip to the Indian Grocery Store, where I finally broke down and bought a pressure cooker (along with 53,981 spices you've never heard of before). A pressure cooker has been on my List of Things to Acquire for quite a while now, because it will make it so much easier for me to cook beans quickly instead of always resorting to buying canned goods that are high in salt (and are more expensive!). I tried shopping around for a pressure cooker, but they appear to always cost around the same amount and to be of relatively the same quality. So that's that. I'll get to try it out on Tuesday when we cook some channa dal (split chickpeas) for a curry dish.

A and I also got into a conversation about work ethics because she's been observing how fast her lab has emptied of people this break (her lab appears to be an extreme in this regard). She commented that when she was up at Cornell, most advisors had work agreements/contracts with their grad students that stipulated that students could take 2 weeks of vacation a year. I have to admit, I kind of think such contracts are a good idea. Around here, it's really easy to end up on the slippery slope of non-productivity because there isn't a whole lot of accountability, especially when the work one does only directly affects one's own personal progress. I've been trying to establish my own guidelines so that I can work as much as I need to and then not feel guilty when I'm not working, but of course it's a hard balance to achieve (when one works for one month straight in Australia with no weekends/anything, does the remaining time spent in Australia use up that two-week vacation? How much should I expect myself to work on weekends?).

And with that, it's time to get non-Indian groceries.