Baked Crab Rangoon

So, i have seen all sorts of things on Pinterest, some of which turn out to be fake. I think I might have been Asian in a past life. Because when I need comfort food, I go for Crab Rangoon. Ideally it would be accompanied by some General's chicken. I don't care much if it is the Tso, Tzo, Gao, or whatever variety. I don't even care that general's chicken is an American invention. Back to why we are here...

So I had been talking about this "baked" crab rangoon post all week. I mean, they are crispy, right? How do you do that without deep frying? I spent the morning looking at a bunch of recipes, but I didn't have all the ingredients for any of them. So, I did what I would have done anyway...I winged it.

The picture to the right is of the over-stuffed ones. I'll update when I make the crispier version!

Crab Rangoon

16 oz cream cheese
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
3-5 green onions, chopped (you can use the green and white parts)
1 can crabmeat, drained (you can use the good stuff, but I didn't bother)
cooking spray
small won tons
water
couple pats of butter melted (or cooking spray)

Preheat the oven to 425.

Mix the cream cheese, crab garlic and onions in a bowl. You can also add chopped water chestnuts for texture, or even finely chopped celery. Make an assembly line of the wrappers, small bowl of water, cooking sheet (sprayed with cooking spray), and the couple pats of melted butter.

Take a wonton wrapper and dip each edge in the water so they are moist. Put a teaspoon of filling in the center. Pinch out the air and seal the edges. You can leave as triangles, but I mad into the more traditional "purse" shape - bring the 2 corners together and seal. Put on the cookie sheet.

Once they are all on there, you can brush them with butter, or spray with cooking spray.

Bake for ~15 minutes

Here's some tips - if you leave air pockets in them or don't get the edges sealed, the filling will leak. Don't over fill - I used about a tablespoon of filling; they won't get crispy where the filling is, so leave some edges that will crisp up.

You can heat up some vegetable or peanut oil in a heavy pot and fry, but you really don't need to. Who knew these would be so easy - and would work!

I bought the Big Bowl brand of sweet and sour sauce because I like a vinegary sauce.

Back to Basics

I have said before that if I only got one thing to eat for the rest of my life, it’s peanut butter.

Never underestimate the power of peanut butter and jelly. I love it in all forms. Plain old sandwich…though my twist is to mash Doritos in there…been doing that since elementary school. Sometimes I grill it in a pan, so it gets all that crispy, buttery love all over it like a grilled cheese. My standby is the English Muffin option in the photo, which is what I had for breakfast today. I am very particular, the thinner side always gets the peanut butter (so it doesn’t leak) and the jelly goes on the other.

PB&J is comfort food at its simplest. It always makes me smile.

Roasted Butternut Squash & Carrot Risotto

I don't know why people say making risotto is hard...it's about as easy as toast. The challenge is that you can't leave the pan unattended, something my mom would have never been able to do. My mom burned or overcooked everything. This fact has given me some weird food favorites - burned hot dogs, for one. Lucky for me, here in Chicago, these are a menu item called char dogs. Okay, enough about burnt food.

Let's make some risotto. And, this happens to be vegan...however, I think butter would take this over the edge.

Start by roasting a butternut squash. Heat the oven to 375-400. I use a deep, heavy cookie sheet. Cut the squash the long way, remove the seeds, spray with cooking spray, and put cut side down on the cookie sheet. I always put some water in there too. Pop in the oven for 30 minutes. Halfway through, I threw in some baby carrots and 3 cloves of garlic to roast as well. I also put the dry risotto on another cookie sheet and toasted it until it got a bit of color. For the last 10 minutes, flip the squash so the cut side gets roasty. Pull it out and set it aside to cool.

Ingredients
3 cups vegetable stock
2-3 Tbs buttery product

1/4 red onion, chopped
1/2 c dry white wine
pinch of saffron
1 cup risotto

1/2 cup chopped roasted carrots & garlic
1/2 Tbs dried sage
1 cup roasted squash
Salt
Pepper

Put about 3 cups of vegetable stock in a pan and keep it warm, on the back burner worked well for me. In a large saucepan, melt some "butter." Once melted, add the onions and saute over medium heat until translucent (I like my onions done a bit more, with some caramelization). Add the risotto and coat well with the butter. Add the saffron & wine, cook until the wine is absorbed.

Now, we get to business! You can't walk away because times are approximate.

Add enough stock to cover the rice, cook medium high for ~10 minutes - the stock should be absorbed. Add a cup of stock and cook until absorbed (~5 mins). Add the carrots and garlic mixture. Repeat the process, cup by cup, until stock is gone, only stir mid-way through. Rice should be cooked al dente - still firm in the middle. Last step is to add the sage and squash, S&P to taste - I love lots of pepper.

Mix well and serve!

Give Me Cover!

You had an epiphany. You need more challenge. You just need to buy groceries. Whatever reason, you are job hunting. You should start any job search with some introspection, ask yourself these questions, and be ready to answer them:

• why am I looking for a new job?
• what am I missing in my current job? 
• what are the qualifications of the job you want?
• what are your skills?
• what kind of company do you want to work for?

I had received approximately 130 resumes, and seven cover letters at the time I wrote the post about getting noticed. Three of which were from the same candidate applying for multiple openings. Let me pause here to give you some basic tips:

• Be conscious of the name of your file. You may upload your resume to a job site, but some of those sites retain the original file names. You should probably utilize your name. If you are going to use a date or year, please make sure it is current. Not 2009. And, please don't just call it "resume."

• If you utilize page headers and footers in Word, make sure they are updated, especially if they utilize a date. Like 2009.

• Please only upload an all-text (.txt) file if it is explicitly requested. Better is a .doc or, even better, an Adobe .pdf. Reading text resumes is mind numbing and doesn't let me see anything about you. I have decided you are boring, uncreative, maybe even lazy.

• We talked about this one before, but you may only get to upload one file. Google "section breaks" and figure out how to include your cover letter in advance of your resume, all in one document. 

But, I digress.

After getting all those cover letter-less resumes, I did what anyone would do...I entered all the applicants' names, emails and the job titles into a spreadsheet and created an email merge. I addressed them by their first name; then said something similar to, "I understand you applied for the position of 'whichever.' Could you please send a cover letter describing your experience and your qualifications for the position." I also utilized the merge fields to tell them what to name it (title_first-last) - this was just a test in direction following.  I removed my phone numbers from my email signature as well as the link to my profile, but I left name, title, address and email (please note, my name was in 3 places). Right now you are wondering why I explained what I wanted to read in the letter. Clearly, assuming that people would include a cover letter was a mistake; I didn't want to leave anything to chance!

Okay, back to why you are reading...you found a position you want. You need to write a cover letter. Here are some tips:

• Don't use the greeting "Dear Hiring Manager" unless you have exhausted all resources. Search the company's web site. Search LinkedIn. Try.
• Don't spell the person's name wrong. Seriously. Someone actually copied my signature into the letter then proceeded to address me Amy, or Hiring Manager, or HR Manager, or Amiee or - my favorite - To Whom it May Concern.
• Don't quote the job description. You can reference it, but listing back requirements only tells me you can copy and paste.
• Don't fill your letter with corporate jargon. Don't use vocabulary for the sake of it. You're not fooling anyone.
• Do write in your voice.
• Do use spell check. Have someone else proof it. Dot your i's and cross your t's.
• Do utilize the company's name.
• Don't forget to update the company name when you re-use your cover letter. Nothing puts you in the circular file quicker than sending me someone else's cover letter.
• Don't forget to update your personal information, and for Pete's sake, include an email and phone number.
• If you live in another state, it would be wise to proactively address that. If I am looking at 2 qualified resumes and one is someone out of state - ie, not available to meet in person you get trumped, by at least one, and you can bet that you have less of a shot than someone with a thoughtful cover letter who tells me why they are looking to relocate.

Rather than keeping a canned letter and using it on all of your applications, you should instead, keep a document of sentences or blurbs. Categorize them. Use them together to create a custom letter for each application. Highlight your skills. Tell me why I need you on my team. Please.

In the same way that I won't date someone who date spams me - my term - it's when someone sends a form email to introduce themselves to pretty much anyone showing up in the "online now" list. I automatically think I wasn't worth your thought or effort. The world is built on relationships, certainly the business world. This cover letter is your first opportunity to connect to me.

If you did your homework you can find out a lot of opportunities to relate to your potential boss and make them need to at least meet you in person to talk further. It's practically a formula, and the internet hands you the solution.

Good luck!

Saddened by this World

I know I sometimes come off a little too blunt (I say straightforward) or perhaps standoffish (cautious and observant, in my mind); maybe my overly efficient East Coast roots are misinterpreted. The thing is, those who judge me, don't really know me. I didn't really have the easiest life ever. So I might be guarded or protective of those I care about. I don't apologize. But the truth is I am Pollyanna at heart. I truly believe in the good. Feel-good movies, or even that Kleenex commercial, can make me cry. I like something about everyone I meet.  Even if someone is a complete jerk to me, I pause to think about what they might be going through that makes me the recipient of their anger, and usually give them a pass. You don't know a person until you walk in their shoes. So it might surprise you that the news might break me down.

Over a month ago, my friend shared her friend's link to row4row.org on Facebook. Jenn Gibbons' charity, Recovery on Water is a support group for women cancer survivors who row. When I first heard of Jenn, I was jealous. She was doing something I hope to someday do, give my support to those trying to kick cancer. I lost my mom to cancer. And even though I know she would never have been interested in rowing, every survivor has something that gets them through. I became addicted to her blog about her journey. I began to get this feeling that was feeding my spirit.

Mid-June, Jenn set out to row the 1500-mile perimeter of Lake Michigan, solo. She had a handy GPS so you could follow her progress. This served her well - so many supporters offering a bed or a clean shower or oar to the city upon her arrival at the various ports. Despite some terrible weather, she kept going. Read her blog; you can feel the challenge she was up against - you can hear and see it too!

She was forced to take an unplanned break last week when her grandmother passed away. That post made me sob. It made me miss my family in a deep and profound way.  I felt connected to her. Back on track, she was set to row to Beaver Island, MI early Sunday morning when she was attacked and sexually assaulted by a man believed to have tracked her and traveled to do this to her...in her boat. Her 700-lb vehicle of miracles.

MI/IL/WI people - be on the lookout for a yellow jeep, smiley wheel cover; more info here: row4row.org/?p=2142 and the Chicago Tribune article

Last week we all mourned for the people of Aurora, Co. We still do. A friend of mine calls Aurora home, and in fact went to the batman midnight show opening...thankfully at a different theater in town. She and her family are okay.

I have a tough time with events such as these. This guy in CO wasn't crazy, he had a very well thought out plan to kill people, and the police who tracked him. Jenn's creep is believed to have traveled a long distance to harm her...who knows what is going through his mind. What has happened to our world?

But, tonight, I am seeing no good in these people, I am no Pollyanna. They both made calculated decisions to carry out these acts. Senseless violence. It sickens me. It angers me. More than that, it makes me sad. And frankly, I have had enough sad around me.

When senseless tragedy happens, I first get thankful I don't have kids. And then I think about my niece and nephew. And I get sad all over again.

I hope that these criminals are brought to justice. I wish Jenn the strength to continue on her journey, but i don't blame her if she can't. More than that, I hope she gets some form of protection so she can continue without fear. I can't imagine being out there alone after someone tries to steal your spirit like that. From everything I know of her, she won't be stopped that easily...

I started this post last night. Since then, the news of her attack has been plastered all over the news. This guy is not going to get away. And, as for Jenn, I was right. Here are excerpts from her post today:

"I still believe that there are more good people in the world than bad."

"I still believe that life is a gift, even when it’s scary and unfair. I still believe that life offers us the privilege, the opportunity, and the responsibility, to give something back, even when people try to take things away from us."

"Regarding the trip, one thing hasn’t changed: I’ve still got this. But the trip plan will change in a few ways to ensure my safety."

"Most importantly, I will no longer be alone."

Jenn, you are an inspiration to every human. You are a leader. You have changed me.

Are you Green with Envy?

Usually Saturday mornings are when I catch up on DVR, but since the shows are on a summer break. And since I am not a channel surfer either, I just watched whatever was on when I turned it on. It was a Jack Hannah show about whales and dolphins. Then a show about rescuing sea creatures. I felt like the manatees that were being saved. And once the kids shows were over, the infomercials start.

Green "drink," via Cuisinart

Here's the thing. With the whole vegancurious thing, I have been working at being healthier. I have also been wanting to get a good blender.  In fact, I watched this Popular Mechanics video in hopes of figuring out which one. So I was instantly hooked. I watched the whole infomercial for the NutriBullet. In fact, I was so inspired to buy this thing, I decided tho put some stuff into my Cuisinart blender to see how it did.

Here's what went in:

3 kale leaves
1/2 banana (from the freezer)
6 frozen grapes
handful of blueberries
1/2 inch of fresh ginger
1 T chia seed
1 T coconut oil
1 c water

Yields 2 glasses.

You can see what it made. For starters, the idea of coconut oil was good, however in practice, it stayed as a solid and was in chunks in the drink. I'd probably still put it in, or maybe just use flax seed or olive oil. The flavor was insane. Just that little bit of ginger made it zing. And while it was overall chewy...it solidified the fact that I need to get a new blender. I highly recommend the recipe if you have a good one!

This is creativity...

Was it wrong to expect something like this to be submitted for the open graphic designer position?

http://ibrandstudio.com/inspiration/55-examples-clean-resume-designs