1001 Days Later

1001 days ago (approximately 2.75 years), I set out on a 101 in 1001 journey – 101 goals I wanted to accomplish in the next 1001 days.  I started on January 1, 2009, which brought me all the way to September 29, 2011 – a date that seemed quite far away.  Even though I didn’t purposely set it up in this fashion, I loved the symmetry – starting on the new year according to the Gregorian calendar, and ending on  Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year.  There were tasks I was positive I’d accomplish, some which I hoped to, and others which I thought might be a long shot, but I was confident I’d tackle my way through most of the list.

Fail.

Big, fat, monstrous, depressing, huge fail.

Every single one of the goals I was most interested in accomplishing related to my professional career and life with Husband, and I didn’t meet a single one.  Zero.  Zip.  Zilch.  Nada.  1001 days ago, I could not possibly wrap my head around the idea that I would still be in graduate school.  There was no way I would still be one of those terrifying seventh year  graduate students.  I figured I’d certainly have killed myself before getting to this point.

My program requires the acceptance of a first author paper prior to obtaining permission to write.  Because I have not yet accomplished this,  I haven’t even been able to attempt the following off my 101 in 1001 list:

1.    Learn to love science again.
6.    Submit a paper as first author and have paper accepted.
8.    Successfully defend thesis – become Disgruntled Julie, Ph.D.
9.    Regardless of when I defend, return to D.C. for graduation ceremonies.
10. Figure out what I want to do post graduate school.
12. Find a job in desired field in Philadelphia area.
20. Move to Philadelphia to live with Husband.
21. Buy a house or condo.
22. Buy/lease/inherit (from Husband) a car if we are not living in a public transportation friendly neighborhood.
23. Find a synagogue we like and become members.
24. Actually drag Husband to services at said synagogue.
25. Establish long-term primary care physician in Philadelphia.
26. Make new friends in Philadelphia.
27. Host major holiday dinner at our new abode in Philadelphia.
101. Be happy with whom I am and the direction my life is taken.

Sure, there are many other things on the list that I did accomplish… but they were the cherry on top of the goals that really mattered.  These aforementioned list of un-accomplishable tasks – that’s the entire rest of the sundae.  The cherry may be lovely, but it’s merely an accoutrement.  A sundae without a cherry is still delicious.  A sundae without the ice cream, caramel sauce, hot fudge, whipped cream, and sprinkles is… well… just plain depressing.  If I order a sundae and get only a cherry, you better believe I’m going to ask for a refund.  That pretty much sums up how I’ve felt about the past 2.75 years of my life – this isn’t what I ordered, so I’d like a refund, please.

Cookies & Cream Mini-Cheesecakes

Earlier tonight, Always a Northerner asked for suggestions for a bake sale to raise money for the flood victims of Binghamton.   I feel like typical cupcakes and cookies are a dime a dozen at bake sales, so I suggested these mini-cheesecakes as a fun alternative.   My favorite part is the oreo cookie as a crust, which makes them relatively neat and tidy to hold in your hand without requiring a fork.  They’re so quick to make, super tasty (if you like cheesecake), hold up well throughout the day even without refrigeration (I’ve brought them to many an outdoor summer potluck), and you can make them days ahead of time and pop them in the refrigerator until you need them.

Cookies and Cream Cheesecakes 
adapted from Martha Stewart’s Cupcakes
Ingredients:

• 1 package Oreo cookies; 30 left whole, 12 coarsely chopped
• 2 pound cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 cup sour cream
• pinch salt

Ingredients:

1. Preheat oven to 275F.  Line muffin tins with paper liners.  Place one cookie in the bottom of each muffin liner.
2. Beat cream cheese until smooth.  Gradually add in sugar and beat until combined.  Beat in vanilla.
3. Slowly add in eggs, sour cream, and salt, beating until combined.  Stir in chopped cookies by hand.
4. Divide batter among the 30 muffin liners with cookies, filling each to almost the top.  Bake until filling is set, about 22 minutes.  Transfer to wire racks to cool completely, then refrigerate for at least 4 hours.  Remove from liners just before serving.

Pretty enough in muffin liners to serve at a bake sale…

… and super tasty when popped out of the liners!

New England

Last weekend, Husband and I attended the wedding of two of his medical school classmates in Kennebunkport.  Since we were driving all the way to Maine, we decided to stop in Newport, RI for a day on the way up.  The trip was so lovely and relaxing, and it is getting harder and harder to come back to D.C. and the lab each week (especially when it was over 100F back in D.C., and a beautiful, breezy 74F in Maine).  I have lost so much motivation, I almost don’t even care if I ever finish or not…

Touro Synagogue – oldest American synagogue

The Breakers – Vanderbilt’s summer “cottage”

View from our hotel in Kennebunkport

beautiful day for a wedding!

Carrot Cake with Lemon-Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

Somewhere over the past six years, I became the official “birthday baker” of the lab. With 20+ coworkers, it means there’s always an excuse to bake a cake! Peanut butter and chocolate are definitely the favored flavors in the lab, but once in a while, someone picks something new and different and it’s the perfect opportunity to create a new recipe. I was quite pleased when someone requested a carrot cake, as I have (shockingly) never made one before. I looked through a few different recipes and then just decided to make one on a whim as I went. The benefit to creating your own recipe is tailoring it to your exact tastes: in this case, lots and lots of cinnamon, very heavy on the carrots, light on the nuts, and absolutely no pineapple whatsoever. Baking for my coworkers also means I have a built in recipe-testing panel, and it seems like they all approved of this original creation!

    

Carrot Cake
(a Sugar Scientist original recipe)
Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 box (4 ounces) instant vanilla pudding mix
• 4 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons cinnamon
• 1 1/4 cup milk
• 3 cups packed shredded carrots
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line the bottoms of two 8-inch round cake pans with parchment paper, then butter and flour the pans.
2. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, pudding mix, salt, and cinnamon. Whisk together to blend.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter and sugar. Beat until light and fluffy. Mix in the eggs one at a time and blend in the vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, add half the dry ingredients, all the milk, and the rest of the dry ingredients. Beat each addition until just incorporated. Mix in carrots and pecans by hand.
4. Divide the batter between the two pans. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Transfer the pans to a wire rack and cool for 20 minutes. Invert cakes onto the rack, peel off the parchment, and cool completely before frosting.

Lemon-Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 10 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 2 cups powdered sugar

Directions:

1. Beat together butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add in lemon juice and cinnamon.
2. Slowly incorporate powdered sugar. If frosting is too stiff, add in one tablespoon of milk.

Hot, Hot, Hot!

Unless you live under a rock, in an air conditioned bubble, in Seattle, or in the southern hemisphere, you are well aware that it is blisteringly hot out there.  And living in a city that was essentially built on top of a swamp does nothing to help this situation (oh, the humidity!).

I’ve noticed a distinct polarization in heat-complaints on Twitter and Facebook, divided up by where one resides.  The city-dwelling folk, reliant on feet and sweltering un-air conditioned city busses, are dying.  We arrive to work drenched in sweat, light-headed, and longing for the cold temperatures of winter.  On the other hand, we have the suburbanites, who choose to complain about the city people complaining about the heat.  “It’s summer… it’s SUPPOSED to be hot!” or “I don’t understand what’s so bad, just stay inside” continue to pop up across my social media streams.

Ah, the luxury.  I have a legitimate phobia of having to move to the suburbs some day, but right now, it almost sounds appealing… leaving my central-air conditioned house, walking 10 steps to my air conditioned car, driving to work in climate controlled luxury, walking 200 steps across the parking lot, and heading straight into my air conditioned office (stopping, of course, to chat about how that dash across the parking lot was a little toasty).

But instead, the reality of a city girl is walking 1.5 miles each way with a heat index of 115.  It’s so humid, my hair hasn’t fully dried since last weekend.  And central air conditioning?  Who can afford such a luxury on a graduate student stipend?  I have a window unit in my bedroom which normally does okay, but it just can’t keep up with this kind of heat – running full blast when I’m home, it’s still stuck at 86 in here, but at least that’s livable.

The living room and kitchen, however?  Last night when I returned home, the thermostat registered at 102 degrees.  Inside.  In my living room.  So, I’ve decided to do what any poor graduate student does in an unfortunate situation – come up with a way to profit from it.

I’m going to open a sweat lodge.  I hear they’re all the rage among the new-age crowd.  What’s the going rate for a weekend of spiritual cleansing at a sweat lodge?  I’ll offer a 50% discount to come hang out on my couch this weekend.  Surely a couch is more comfortable than sitting on the dirt floor?  If 102 isn’t toasty enough, I can turn on the oven, which typically gets the kitchen up to around 115, and I can feed you baked goods while you sweat all the calories right back out! 

Need a cleansing cultural experience?  Stressed about an upcoming grant submission?  Need to pray to the manuscript gods while you wait to hear back from Reviewer #3?  Book an appointment today at Sugar Scientist’s Sweat Lodge!