The Thoughts of a Frumpy Professor

............................................ ............................................ A blog devoted to the ramblings of a small town, middle aged college professor as he experiences life and all its strange variances.

Wednesday, February 23, 2022

Ice... Twice


 

So, we have been having more of the freezing rain/ice/snow mix since yesterday.  Today the U decided to delay opening until 11:00am.  So, one of my laboratory classes was cancelled.  I have one big voice lecture, one normal voice lecture, and one laboratory class that have or will occur still today, however.  

I only ran 9 miles (~14.5 km)this morning because I was feeling a bit edgy and out of sorts about getting an exam up-to-snuff for my secretary this morning.  

The exam is for next Tuesday, but she likes to have ~a one-week turn-around time.... and I was technically a day late, so I was feeling a bit of pressure.  This particular exam has 80 multiple choice questions, and about 2/3rds of it I had to write from scratch (about 1/3 I could cobble together from various questions I have written before of this nature).  The other hard part about this exam is that roughly 1/4th of the exam features neuroanatomy and in order to use textbook images that the students are familiar with, I had to take photos (to have .jpg files) of these images.  I had taken these images about two weeks ago.  But, that is only the start point....  I had to next edit them in PhotoShop so that I could erase all the labels from the images.  I then had to also use PhotoShop to add in text boxes with the questions and to add in the variables I use as the identifiers on the  images for the questions posed.  I am not particularly adept or fluid in working in PhotoShop... so it took me a fair amount of time.  

I was famished this morning and ate all of my breakfast and lunch before I went to the first lecture I had.  I ate a big bowl of high fiber cereal with blueberries, a bowl of fruit, a banana,  half of a high-fiber English muffin, a yogurt, 10 almonds, three of my high-fiber, no-fat, oatmeal-bananna "cookies", and a small bowl of scrambled eggs.  But, I still feel very hungry.

When my wife and I made our weekly menu for dinner (to facilitate grocery shopping), my wife and I decided that tonight would be one of our sporadic "freezer meal" days.  Before I left for the U, I pulled out a frozen bag of leftovers of the delicious crockpot dish my wife made perhaps three weeks ago that we call "Thai Curry".  It is a wonderful dish that has a lot of vegetables, a plethora of delicious chickpeas, grilled tofu cubes, and the sauce is a very vibrant curry yellow that has been slightly muted with a bit of coconut milk.  I also pulled out of the freezer a bag of a leftover rice side I had made.  It featured traditional rice, wild rice, and wheat berries, and I seasoned it lightly with cardamon, tumeric, pepper, salt, a touch of rosemary and lemon.    It should be pretty damn tasty along with a giant bag of frozen veggies, a salad as big as my head, and a side of my chickpea/chard side dish I make.  

A small aside.  My wife loves the various foods we eat, when they are newly made.  But.... truth-be-told, I am not sure what my WIFE will extract from the freezer for herself.... if anything.  She likes the IDEA of saving and freezing leftovers.... but when push comes to shove.... she seldom tends to embrace the idea of EATING leftovers.  I would not be surprised if when I return home, she will have either a) made herself something, or b) will have purchased something from some place to eat.  

Because my wife's theoretical appreciation of frozen food does not often match her real-world consumption, I learned long ago to package leftovers in single serving sized units.  So, if she does want to join me, we pull out two of an item, but if not, my single copy does not lead to waste. 

I am also feeling a new set of mental rumblings about my pipes as well.  Still no beautiful dreams, but I have to say that when I was running this morning, I spent quite a bit of time reminiscing about the flavors, the textures, and the joyous mental stimulation I miss from a wonderful bowlful of a rum-tinctured burley blend I am especially fond of.  I have to admit, that I wasn't paying as strong attention as I should have during the Capuchin Mass I was watching while running.  They were experiencing some sort of microphone issue and it was difficult to hear and follow.  

Side Note:  The image above is not of the Thai Curry recipe my wife made, but it looks similar.  

PipeTobacco

6 Comments:

Blogger Margaret said...

There are many people who aren't into left overs or frozen meals. (I am!) Your food sounds delicious. I love anything with chick peas and veggies. Hope your weather improves. We had an 18 degree low last night but have beautiful blue sky today.

Wednesday, 23 February, 2022  
Blogger Pat M. said...

I have been meaning to ask you, Professor -- do you use canned chickpeas, or do you take the trouble to soak dry chickpeas overnight before cooking (or otherwise serving) them? For too many years I settled for canned chickpeas, but once I got comfortable with soaking dry chickpeas I have rarely gone back to the canned variety.

Wednesday, 23 February, 2022  
Blogger PipeTobacco said...

I use chickpeas in both forms. Canned is easier for me in some dishes, dried for others. I also like that there are a few different varieties of dried chickpeas at the Indian Grocery Store I am able to frequent.

PipeTobacco

Wednesday, 23 February, 2022  
Blogger yellowdoggranny said...

I love leftover meals.

Wednesday, 23 February, 2022  
Blogger Liz Hinds said...

Well done on using up leftovers. I am getting much better at it these days - though we do sometimes end up with peculiar mixtures.

Photoshop is an amazing piece of software - if you know how to use it. I don't and use it so infrequently that I forget anything I do know in between.

Finally what is a big voice lecture?

Thursday, 24 February, 2022  
Blogger peppylady (Dora) said...

I would be a bundle of nerves if I had speak in front of people.
Coffee is on and stay safe

Thursday, 24 February, 2022  

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