Things Not To Do In The Wee Hours Of The Night

OK, anyone who knows me knows that I've always been a night owl. Last night was no exception.

I worked at my part-time job 'til about 12:30 AM, then went home and putzed on my computer for a while. About 3:30 AM or so, I'm still awake, and decide that it's a good time to make a few batches of my "semi-famous" nuts. BIG MISTAKE.

Mistake #1 - This is the first time that I've tried to make the recipe with a "premium mix" of nuts. (I normally only make almonds or pecans.) First of all, I didn't care for the blend (almonds, pecans, cashews, macadamias, and walnuts). Now, normally that sounds like the makings of a good nut mix (well, except for the walnuts, which are probably my least favorite nut). However, in perfect 20-20 hindsight, I came to the realization that the nuts might have different oil contents, which would mean that some of the nuts might need different baking times or TEMPERATURES.

Mistake #2 - I always try to use fresh spices, and had actually just purchased some from The Spice House, just to use in my recipes. However, trying not to be wasteful, I noticed that I had just enough Ceylon "True" Cinnamon for this batch (which I'd kept sealed in plastic in the refrigerator), so I used it up. Since it smelled very cinnamon-y in my kitchen, I didn't worry about it.

Mistake #3 - Cinnamon Brooms are awesome, and they're pretty strong -- which makes them a wonderful air freshener. (Or tricks people into thinking that you've actually *baked* something.) When I walked into Trader Joe's, the lovely waft of cinnamon called out to me, so I ended up buying two -- one for my car, and another for my house. (It's pretty strong -- I can smell it upstairs, even though it's in the kitchen.)

Mistake #4 - Ah, the joys of digital oven temperature readouts. Turn oven to "bake", set temperature, and wait for the lovely beep to let you know that the oven is ready. In the meantime, you get to put your recipe together. (So far, so good -- right?) Well, that only works if you set the oven to the CORRECT temperature. The default "starting" temperature of my oven is 350 degrees, so I pushed the "up" arrow five times to bring it to 275. After 15 minutes, I pulled the nuts out, stirred them, and then switched racks. 15 minutes later, I pulled them out again and repeated the process. It was at this point that I noticed that the nuts were getting a little dark, and wondered why I was starting to smell an off/burnt smell. Only then did I realize that I had turned the oven UP to 375, rather than DOWN to 275. The coating didn't look quite done, so I lowered the temperature and put the pans back in for 10 minutes. I then took them out, stirred them, and left them to air dry.

The end result? Some nuts are edible, but others are overdone. I can't even taste the cinnamon in the recipe -- it was either too weak or too delicate to stand up to the nuts in the "premium nut mix". Or maybe the heat killed it. Ah well, kitchen disasters happen for a reason! Lesson (hopefully) learned.

This kind of mishap has happened to the cheftestants on Top Chef. If Carla or Michael V. can mess up on temperature, I don't feel so bad.

Getting Caught Up From My "Leave Of Absence"

Sorry I haven't posted anything for a while.

To get you caught up with my oh-so-exciting life (*snort*) ...

October: My birthday came and went -- a year older (UGH). I celebrated with friends. A few days later, I was laid up with the flu for a week (which then turned into bronchitis, so I was laid up for another week). I don't know if I had H1N1 (swine flu), but that was the absolute worst flu I've ever had. (I may have to rethink my "no flu shots" policy. )

November: Spent part of the month recovering from being sick, working, and then took a quick trip over Thanksgiving to Detroit and Rochester, NY to visit family. I also got to visit briefly with some old friends (The Bradshaws) who moved to the Rochester area during the summer. Nice people -- I was glad to see them.

December (so far): Still working on the research project, as well as my part-time gig doing payroll and billing for a nursing temp agency.

I'm sure I'm forgetting something, but will post if/when I remember it. (I'm deliberately leaving out any major family or friend announcements, as they aren't mine to make! So I didn't forget about *those*.)