Day 89-- Cinnamon Peach Cobbler recipe

Prologue:

Talk about being a newbie--I didn't even know if you were supposed to skin the peaches before baking them (most people do). Summer is the perfect time for cobbler when the farmers markets are in full ripe and days are long, hazy, and sweet.

Fun fact (well, according to wikipedia): Cobblers are thought to have originated in the early British Americas when the settlers, who were too low on supplies to make pies, baked a top layer of biscuit on top of stews.  The resulted had the look of a "cobbled" street. 

I have to admit I'm kinda surprised at how difficult it was finding a simple Bisquick peach cobbler recipe online, but it's ridiculously easy to make and so good. Served best with vanilla ice cream and True Blood.

Cinnamon Peach Cobbler

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 30 minutes

Total time: 35 minutes

Servings: 4

Ingredients:

3 large peaches*

1 cup of Bisquick

1/2 cup of sugar

1/2 cup of milk (I used 2%)

1 teaspoon of cinnamon

*Nearly every recipe I looked at called for 3 cups of peaches.  I only had 3 peaches in the house so that's what I used.  Personally I liked the 55-45 ratio of pastry-to-peach and so did the neighbors.  If you want more peaches then use the 3 cups by all means.

Directions:

1.) Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees

2.) Remove the skin from your peaches.  This is the easiest way here, but if you don't have time to boil them, I just cut mine into quarters and peeled them by hand.  Discard the pit.  [Side note: when it comes to pies and such, I prefer my fruit more in pieces than slices]. Break up the peaches into pieces and place inside of a small baking pan.

3.) Mix the milk, sugar, and Bisquick together.  Pour on top of the peach pieces.  Sprinkle the cinnamon over the mixture.  Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown and you can stick a toothpick into the middle and its come out clean.  Done!

Review:

A half cup of sugar makes everything better, haha.  It was absolutely delicious.  I made it at the neighbors' house as we watched True Blood and prepared for the witch fight.  I would definitely make it again, only next time I might add a few more peaches to enhance the fruit taste. Happy cooking!

Day 88-- Application-to-awesomeness stats

I'm coming home tonight from sushi with friends and a dark chocolate bar close to my keyboard.  Day two at the hotel job and I was thinking today of my success rate of application-to-job kickass-ness.  

Here are my stats:

Summer 2011	Total # of job applications	Got an interview	2nd interview/job offer	Job offer	Total success rate beginning to end
-The Coffee Bean -Sunbelt -Hotel Downtown -Hard Rock -Mission Hotel -Another dwntn hotel -Hospital data -Editorship -Archstone -Starbucks -Starbucks -Local coffee shop	12	5 (42% success)	4 (80% success)	3 (75% success)	3/12 (25% success)

So...this summer I've had about a 42% chance of getting an interview from a job application, and had an excellent chance (80%) of getting a 2nd interview or a job offer after my first interview.  Clearly my resume and cover letter works across the board and I'm pretty decent at getting far after meeting them in person.  Hey, a 1 in 4 chance in getting job any job I've applied to?  Not too shabby.

Best interview: 2nd interview with Archstone, the first one in person.  The people were really loud and bubbly and we meshed so well.  I drove home ready to buy more suits because I was so positive I had the job.  

Worst interview: It's a tie between my 3rd interview with Archstone in which I was way too casual and young and took for granted that I had the job (I wasn't offered it), and my current hotel job in which I was confused and unsure of myself because I thought the job position and pay was fixed and I had never been asked how much I wanted an hour and did I prefer fucking early mornings or very late nights.

Job I really wanted (and got): My internship at the largest book publisher in San Diego.

Job I really wanted (and didn't get): Tie: The editorship where I would help proof-read grants or Archstone where I had to wear a suit and heels everyday and make $$ an hour.

Job I'm glad I didn't get: The Coffee Bean Tea Leaf.  I wanted to work there because it was close to Borders Books and food, but Borders is now closed and so is the Mexican place next to it.

Best job this summer: My internship at the publishing house

Worst job this summer: That local coffee shop I worked at for 3 days and it was way too much work, not enough pay, not sanitary enough, and not safe enough.

How I feel about my current job: It's definitely not a career and I don't want to turn into those people, but it's fairly easy work once I'm finally trained properly, and I work in beautiful downtown San Diego.

Day 87-- First day working at a hotel front desk

It's past 10 and I'm exhausted.  Standing in 2-inch heels for eight hours can do that to a person.  But alas, I made $80 today and ate lunch in downtown San Diego.

My first day working at a hotel front desk went a lot differently than expected, starting with the end of the paperwork.  I didn't go home like I thought I would: I started training.  The GM (who's now on a week vacation) told me a few days back to simply show up today at 10am wearing what I would to an interview.  So I wore a white Oxford shirt, stylish gray skirt, ruby red watch, and black heels.  Everyone else was wearing black sneakers.  Thanks, GM.

The people were more or less what I expected them to be.  There are two main front desk supervisors, one morning, one night.  The one in the morning is more shy but detailed and the designated trainer.  The one in the evening has more of a temper, is less PC, and has a sweet mother/scary bitch complex towards liking us girls and hating arrogant men.  There are two more people: a women who does the 'wine in the room' type things and has an attitude but funny flare, and a 20-year old surfer girl who's been through some shit and has that toughnest that comes from not going to college and making it on your own since you had to.  It's a mix of thick skin and silly sarcasm.  Two new people are starting next week.

The actual work is moderately easy.  Checking people in doesn't seem that complicated but all of the little extra stuff like moving families so they're on the same floor, and when people leave but don't check out they have to ask the maid service if it's indeed clean and open, and can you add this person to accompany me, and can you make sure my divorced mother and father here for the wedding are in different wings, ect.

Weddings are popular this time of year so it was really busy with large groups checking some people in and not others and paying for the room but not wanting to pay for their parking.  Overall though the customers are friendly and have a story to tell.  Many of them are tourists from around the world.

So yeah, it was busy all morning and early afternoon with all these groups and requests and things.  It died by the late afternoon to the point that both of my co-workers were on People.com and Facebook chat.  You can pay me $10+ to do nothing for hours.  There are several little things to increase pay too, like tips and if the hotel fills up for the night and signing people up for the free perks card.  I'll probably make about $11 an hour before taxes which is what I wanted.  (I was making $9.10 in AZ, and it's $8 an hour to be a barista in SD).

In the end I see this as a 6-8 month job for me.  It's long enough to get a chance to explore downtown, sustain myself solo for a few months, get a vacation with discounted hotel rooms, and either (1) possibility get a transfer out of state if I move in Spring or Summer, or (2) be more mature and older for a different job with better pay.  The biggest flaw of the job are the hours.  It's either 7am-3:30pm, or 3pm-11pm, and 5 days a week with my days off being my internship days.  I won't be getting a real day off until November. =(

But I'll end this entry with lunch.  I was sitting eating my pesto-mayo turkey sandwich in my black heels and white Oxford, looking out to downtown San Diego and the sea beyond it, working part-time at a book publisher, coming home to a beach house where my boyfriend would be boiling water for our pasta, and I thought, "This is starting to look like the life I always wanted..."

Day 85 -- Easy Pasta Primavera recipe

Prologue:

What I like about cooking is what I like socks and books-- universality.  Being my tiny size it's frustrating to shop for clothes and shoes or even drive certain cars.  Having an English degree isn't helpful to find jobs and make money in a career.  Being a girl it's scary to walk alone to your car in the middle of the night, ect.  But socks fit everybody of every background, and books don't require a size or skill set or gender either.  When I pick out a green bell pepper an older women who drives a Bentley might have bought one before me, and a young bum druggie might be buying the next one.  

Yes yes, tools and spices are necessary, but cooking can be done by literally everyone.  I rather think that it's the comfort of food and cooking-- despite your flaws or bullshit around you, food makes sense and makes you happy. 

Enough rambling!  Pasta Primavera is a fancy way of saying pasta with vegetables.  It's a really easy way to mix up your boring pasta and make a quick and yummy spin on lunch.

Easy Pasta Primavera

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 10 minutes

Total time: 15 minutes

Servings: 2-3

Ingredients:

1/3 a box of corkscrew pasta

1/2 of a green bell pepper

1/2 of a tomato

1/2 a can of sliced black olives

1 tsp of butter

1 tbsp olive oil

a healthy shake of grated Parmesan cheese

pinch of salt

*note: you may use more veggies if you want.  Also, don't feel bashful about using only half of things.  You can ziplock the rest and use it in a salad or on a pizza or on its own for another meal.

Directions:

1.) Boil a medium size pot of water.  In the meantime chop up your tomato and green pepper and drain the can of sliced black olives.

.2.) Once the water is boiling, turn down the heat a bit and throw in your corkscrew pasta.  Take out a frying pan and drizzle some olive oil to prevent stickiness.  Add your tomato and green bell pepper pieces to the pan and cook until tender.

3.) Once the pasta's done, drain the pasta water.  Add the cooked veggies, black olives, butter, salt, and a healthy shake of Parmesan cheese.  Stir together.  All done!

Review:

This is what cooking is about.  I had some pasta, some left over veggies, and a newly-found can of olives and presto, lunch was decided.  It's nothing exceedingly special and probably not the healthiest after the cheese and butter, but you know what, I snuck in some healthy veggies into my otherwise boring pasta and it not only looked fancy but tasted like a satisfying $7 meal I could get at shop and made for only about $1.50 a serving.

Day 84-- I got a job today?

I'm sitting here in my exercise pants and Diet Coke gray t-shirt with a bemused and confused smile on my face. My belly's full of homemade pasta primavera with seasoned chicken legs and in the past 29 hours I have lost the chance at a great job, got a job downtown, and was rejected from a job.  

What? 

I sent out 9 resumes/applications at the beginning of the month.  1 to an editorship, 1 to an expensive apartment complex, 2 to Starbucks, 1 to a hospital data place, and 4 to hotels around the area.

I heard back from the Expensive Apartment Complex and one Hotel Downtown and one Hotel Closer to Home.  The Apartment Complex was the furthest away but with the best pay and esteem.  The Hotel Closer to home was the most ideal commute-wise and feel-wise but the worst pay and hours.  And the Hotel Downtown was in the middle of wage and location.

So here's what happened: 

I had a decent phone interview with the Expensive Apartment Complex, a stellar 1st interview in person with the people I would be working with who were bubbly, loud, and super friendly to me, and then I choked in my last interview.  I was told (via phone from yet another person in the company) that it was the final interview and that the other people had great things to say about me.  So I went in relaxed.  Too relaxed.  I thought that the job was mine and it was simply a formality.  No.  My interviewer was the head of the region, asked me tough questions, and while she was pleasant she wasn't overly warm nor responsive.  I talked too damn much out of nervousness and noticed that I had been slouching to one side of the chair.  She said I'd hear back in a week--not a good sign.  

With the Hotel Downtown I thought I had my worst interview.  It was only the 2nd job interview I had had in 4 years and I found myself unbalanced when he asked me preference questions like salary and times because he had said on the phone that it was 1 job with set hours already decided.  He called me Friday and I didn't bother to call him back until today.  Surprise, he was calling to offer me the job!  I was so taken aback that I didn't get all of the information.  4 days a week, about 30 hours, better pay than my last job, bonuses to come.

With the Local-ish Hotel I was 15 minutes late to my interview.  The directions were insane and yes, I was early.  Park in the parking lot, on the left side, an alley/street, up stairs, door on left.  To the left was just some trees and garbage bins so I went right.  Not there.  I asked the lobby guy and he said walk through the parking lot ALL the way and then it's on the left.  I did.  I ended up in an entirely different shopping center.  Turns out I needed to take the left side all along because after some stairs down, behind the trees, there was the tiny pavement/alley that didn't look like road, steps, not more stairs, and there it was, door on the left.  Dear Lobby Guy, you should have told me it was around the corner.

When I finally got there (I have NEVER been late to a job appointment) she was already interviewing (for a restaurant position) a 30-something woman with a kid and talking like they had been chatting for quite some time.  I thought SHE was the one who was late.  Then she made me wait for 5 minutes to print something.  I jokingly asked if  a lot of people get lost on the way to her office and she laughed and said all the time.  The interview went really well and I had her laughing at some points.  She said the people in charge of front desk hold the next interview, implying to me that she's the crazy/not crazy step and the other departments do the actual interview.  A man in a suit was after me (same job?). I'm actually shocked that I was rejected.  Was it me being late?  Were there better candidates?  

So that's my story.  I start Friday but I'm still hopeful about the Apartment Complex job saying 'yes' before then.

Day 83-- Bisquick Strawberry Shortcake recipe

Prologue:

An article came out a few days ago that an hour of watching television takes off 22 minutes of your life.  It can also buy you a box of Bisquick.

I can honestly say that I've never had strawberry shortcake before last night and I'm really surprised that I haven't.  It's ridiculously easy.  Thanks to a Bisquick commercial, some milk, and two spoonfuls of sugar (plus strawberries and cool-whip) we had a delicious post-bar treat. 

Bisquick Strawberry Short Cakes 

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 10-13 minutes

Servings: 4

Ingredients:

1 cup sliced strawberries

1 cup Bisquick

2+1 teaspoons of sugar

1/3 cup milk

Directions:

1.) Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.  Mix together the Bisquick, 2 teaspoons of sugar, and milk together.  On a cookie sheet drop the mix into 4 pastry clusters, like you would making biscuits.  They'll be slightly golden brown when done--try not to burn the bottoms.

2.) While your pastry clusters bake, slice about a cup of strawberries into small pieces and drizzle the remaining 1 teaspoon on sugar on top of  the pieces.

3.) Take out small bowls (I used my dipping bowls) and put a pastry cluster into each bowl.  Break them with a spoon, and add some strawberries. Mix them around a little so that each bite will have a little bit of cluster, a little bit of strawberries. Top all of the bowls with a big scoop of cool whip.  Done!

Review:

Simple and sweet.  It the right portion size of a bit of pastry and strawberries with enough sweet from the sugar and cool whip to make it a non-heavy dessert.  It'd recommend it as a late summer snack to enjoy with friends.