My boss got me a box of chocolates for Christmas. Hershey's Pot of Gold, to be exact. That night I drove to Lowell to celebrate Christmas with my family. I opened the chocolates when I got home and counted 12 of them. Two of each kind. I let my parents and brothers have one each, and I had the rest. I wanted at least one of each... Then I put the box back with my stuff, I don't know why. I should have just thrown it away. Good thing I didn't throw it away because I was cleaning up some stuff this weekend and I found that box. It seemed a little on the heavy side, so I peeked under the piece of cardboard only to find another 12 delicious chocolates! I was so delighted to find them.
I was going to title this post with that famous Tom Hanks quote from Forrest Gump. You know the one...Then I realized life is not a box of Hershey's Pot of Gold chocolates. In the Pot of Gold life, you always know what you're going to get. Hershey has taken the guesswork out of life. What an idea!
Monday, January 26, 2009
Thursday, January 22, 2009
New Experiences
I know I'm lame, but yesterday I had a new experience. Valvoline Instant Oil Change. Yesterday was my first time going to one of those quickie places. Last time I got it done at the shop because I had to get some other work done on it, and before that my brother did it. It was an interesting experience. I stayed in the car and they did their job and then let me know I may need a new battery soon, which I kinda knew from the way my car has been starting. Then I drove away. The best part of it was the Speedy Rewards I got. 1000 points for an oil change, sweet deal! I just recently became a participant in the Speedy Rewards program. The two most convenient (and only) stations between my house and work are Speedways, so I figured I better get all I can from them... anyways, my car seems happier now, aside from the extensive rear end and muffler damage... now I just need to go to Discount Tire soon and get two new tires put on. Then I will be all set.
I like it when I make food and upon being tasted by other people I am asked if I had a recipe. HaHa what's a recipe? Basicly I made lasagna without the lasagna noodles. I used whole wheat penne because that, and elbow macaroni, is all I have on hand at the moment since I refuse to go shopping. I made a basic pasta sauce. A very simple one. I had about a half pound of ground beef leftover in the freezer that I browned up. Add some water and a couple long squirts of tomato paste and a can of tomato sauce. Then some spices. Pretty much all I had in the cupboard except pumpkin pie spice. Well, not really... And you gotta have the ricotta. I figured a half a tub would be good, so I added an egg and some parmesan. Not the grated stuff, the shredded. Some salt and more cheese. Never can have too much cheese if you ask me. And then the simple layering process begins. Mix the pasta in with the sauce. I probably cooked up 1/3 of the box of penne. Put half in pan. I used a glass pan maybe 6X8 or something close to it. Cover with all of ricotta and some more shredded mozarella cheese. then pour on the rest of the pasta and sauce. Cover with an unhealthy dose of cheese and bake. 350 F is always safe, but don't ask me how long I cooked if for...I changed tv channels in the middle, so I forget how long it was in there, but basicly you want the eggs to cook in the ricotta and the cheese on top to be deliciously melted. If it doesn't taste good, spice it up a little...or add more cheese. Recipe works well with sausage or no meat at all. It lacks flavor and heartiness without meat, but sometimes you just don't have it on hand... as for the tomato sauce, everyone should always have this in their pantry. It's a very versatile ingredient. It goes with everything. You could make enchiladas, lasagne, chili, goulash and basicly anything with pasta, meat or veggies... just add things you think would taste good then add some spice. Add some molasses and liquid smoke for a barbeque type sauce. Anything goes. I just don't recomment fruit.
Tomorrow is Friday, and for that I am grateful. The week went by faster than I thought. And I have some amazing leftovers for lunch tomorrow!
I like it when I make food and upon being tasted by other people I am asked if I had a recipe. HaHa what's a recipe? Basicly I made lasagna without the lasagna noodles. I used whole wheat penne because that, and elbow macaroni, is all I have on hand at the moment since I refuse to go shopping. I made a basic pasta sauce. A very simple one. I had about a half pound of ground beef leftover in the freezer that I browned up. Add some water and a couple long squirts of tomato paste and a can of tomato sauce. Then some spices. Pretty much all I had in the cupboard except pumpkin pie spice. Well, not really... And you gotta have the ricotta. I figured a half a tub would be good, so I added an egg and some parmesan. Not the grated stuff, the shredded. Some salt and more cheese. Never can have too much cheese if you ask me. And then the simple layering process begins. Mix the pasta in with the sauce. I probably cooked up 1/3 of the box of penne. Put half in pan. I used a glass pan maybe 6X8 or something close to it. Cover with all of ricotta and some more shredded mozarella cheese. then pour on the rest of the pasta and sauce. Cover with an unhealthy dose of cheese and bake. 350 F is always safe, but don't ask me how long I cooked if for...I changed tv channels in the middle, so I forget how long it was in there, but basicly you want the eggs to cook in the ricotta and the cheese on top to be deliciously melted. If it doesn't taste good, spice it up a little...or add more cheese. Recipe works well with sausage or no meat at all. It lacks flavor and heartiness without meat, but sometimes you just don't have it on hand... as for the tomato sauce, everyone should always have this in their pantry. It's a very versatile ingredient. It goes with everything. You could make enchiladas, lasagne, chili, goulash and basicly anything with pasta, meat or veggies... just add things you think would taste good then add some spice. Add some molasses and liquid smoke for a barbeque type sauce. Anything goes. I just don't recomment fruit.
Tomorrow is Friday, and for that I am grateful. The week went by faster than I thought. And I have some amazing leftovers for lunch tomorrow!
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
Policies
Neogen has a safety glasses policy. The policy is that when you are in the lab you need to wear safety glasses. Now, these could be those lab goggles required for chem labs, safety glasses you would wear in a manufacturing environment, or plain old prescription eyeglasses. Some people have it lucky and can just wear their glasses as they normally do, so the policy doesn't really apply to them. I would go get some, but I don't have vision insurance... It's the one thing Neogen doesn't provide ironicly. So, I'm stuck wearing safety glasses 8 hours a day. Now, there are penalties for not wearing the glasses including forced time off work (sounds good to me) and something in your permanent record.
Today, I put my eyes at jeopardy. My eyes were vulnerable to all conditions in that lab for eight hours. I decided not to wear my safety glasses. It was a fun day. I didn't get those red marks on my nose, and I didn't have to forget to take them off and look stupid while I'm eating lunch.
No one said anything about me not wearing glasses at all that day, and I gained a sense of pride. It was a good day.
Today, I put my eyes at jeopardy. My eyes were vulnerable to all conditions in that lab for eight hours. I decided not to wear my safety glasses. It was a fun day. I didn't get those red marks on my nose, and I didn't have to forget to take them off and look stupid while I'm eating lunch.
No one said anything about me not wearing glasses at all that day, and I gained a sense of pride. It was a good day.
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