Yum!

Today is one of those days when I felt like my lunch was worth a bit of an extra effort, so I mixed up a yeast bread dough out of unbleached plain (white) flour & rye with a dash of yoghurt and melted butter & salt for flavour. Then turned it into a pizza with a topping of tomato paste, chopped broccollini, zucchini, spinach, cherry tomatoes, & some ricotta cheese. Normally I would have added herbs and spices to it after putting on the tomato paste and before the other toppings, but I forgot, and it was absolutely wonderful without it.

And it didn't take all that long to make either--prep time takes a bit, but thanks to my beloved pizza stone, baking takes very little time--just put it in the oven to get hot when I start mixing up the dough, make the dough, let it rest while chopping veg, then roll it out, pull the stone out of the oven and put the dough on it--it starts baking whilst I put on the toppings, and is nearly done in the time it takes to clean up the cooking mess. (It helps that the only thing on that which actually *needs* cooking is the crust!)

The good news is that tomorrow I get to enjoy the same yummy goodness, with no effort needed beyond walking to the fridge to get it, and then deciding if I'd rather warm it in the toaster oven, or enjoy it as is (both are good). I think that the joys of left-overs are one of the main reasons I am willing to take time out of my busy schedule to cook something more elaborate than cous-cous or angel-hair pasta with veg once in a while.

Yum!

Today is one of those days when I felt like my lunch was worth a bit of an extra effort, so I mixed up a yeast bread dough out of unbleached plain (white) flour & rye with a dash of yoghurt and melted butter & salt for flavour. Then turned it into a pizza with a topping of tomato paste, chopped broccollini, zucchini, spinach, cherry tomatoes, & some ricotta cheese. Normally I would have added herbs and spices to it after putting on the tomato paste and before the other toppings, but I forgot, and it was absolutely wonderful without it.

And it didn't take all that long to make either--prep time takes a bit, but thanks to my beloved pizza stone, baking takes very little time--just put it in the oven to get hot when I start mixing up the dough, make the dough, let it rest while chopping veg, then roll it out, pull the stone out of the oven and put the dough on it--it starts baking whilst I put on the toppings, and is nearly done in the time it takes to clean up the cooking mess. (It helps that the only thing on that which actually *needs* cooking is the crust!)

The good news is that tomorrow I get to enjoy the same yummy goodness, with no effort needed beyond walking to the fridge to get it, and then deciding if I'd rather warm it in the toaster oven, or enjoy it as is (both are good). I think that the joys of left-overs are one of the main reasons I am willing to take time out of my busy schedule to cook something more elaborate than cous-cous or angel-hair pasta with veg once in a while.

manged to return to work despite an evening of play

Spent this morning getting started on chapter three, which meant needing to spend some time creating figures, which meant spending quite a bit of time fighting with ArcMap (which program I've never been properly introduced to, but have sort of half learned to do a few basic tasks on my own) trying to tell it that the the data I obtained from the departmental computer for Tasmania geographical information (coast lines, rivers, roads, etc) is *not* in an "unknown coordinate system", but actually uses the same Australian grid as that under which the samples were collected. Alas, despite some clear directions in the program "help", the buttons that are meant to be there simply didn't exist, and I was unable to do it. Eventually, I decided to have the samples also plot as "unknown coordinate system" as well, and lo and behold, suddenly both the outline of Tasmania and the samples plot in the correct place with respect to one another! I now know where on the coast these samples were collected (some back in 1984, some in 2000, but all by people who are currently in the department, so there is a chance I can get photos of the rocks in the wild, if they can find them).

Once I figured out where the samples came from, I started the writing, and only had time for about 300 words before it was time for clovis_t and I to head to his parent's house for "tea" (which is what Australian's call their evening meal, even though for many families, his included, no tea is consumed). We had a lovely evening--there was one other guest, Mike, who is down visiting from Adelaide to help Peter with some tasks in his vineyard for a bit (I think in trade, Peter having just returned from a trip to help out with Mike's family's vineyard up there).

The conversation flowed, the food was good, and I made good progress in converting that lovely blue wool knit dress into a cardigan--the front is slit & hemmed, and half of the neck line cut and hemmed. I still need to finish the other half of the neck, either slit the sides to the hips, or add side-gores to give it a bit more room in the legs, lengthen the sleeves (using the fabric from the turtle-neck I removed from it), and add pockets and buttons and it will be ready.

After we arrived home again (around 22:00!) I settled back in to work, and managed to pretty much double today's words written, so my total for the day is 656 words and three figures/tables referenced. Not bad for a day where I took a number of hours off in the evening (which is normally my best working time). Time for yoga & bed!

manged to return to work despite an evening of play

Spent this morning getting started on chapter three, which meant needing to spend some time creating figures, which meant spending quite a bit of time fighting with ArcMap (which program I've never been properly introduced to, but have sort of half learned to do a few basic tasks on my own) trying to tell it that the the data I obtained from the departmental computer for Tasmania geographical information (coast lines, rivers, roads, etc) is *not* in an "unknown coordinate system", but actually uses the same Australian grid as that under which the samples were collected. Alas, despite some clear directions in the program "help", the buttons that are meant to be there simply didn't exist, and I was unable to do it. Eventually, I decided to have the samples also plot as "unknown coordinate system" as well, and lo and behold, suddenly both the outline of Tasmania and the samples plot in the correct place with respect to one another! I now know where on the coast these samples were collected (some back in 1984, some in 2000, but all by people who are currently in the department, so there is a chance I can get photos of the rocks in the wild, if they can find them).

Once I figured out where the samples came from, I started the writing, and only had time for about 300 words before it was time for clovis_t and I to head to his parent's house for "tea" (which is what Australian's call their evening meal, even though for many families, his included, no tea is consumed). We had a lovely evening--there was one other guest, Mike, who is down visiting from Adelaide to help Peter with some tasks in his vineyard for a bit (I think in trade, Peter having just returned from a trip to help out with Mike's family's vineyard up there).

The conversation flowed, the food was good, and I made good progress in converting that lovely blue wool knit dress into a cardigan--the front is slit & hemmed, and half of the neck line cut and hemmed. I still need to finish the other half of the neck, either slit the sides to the hips, or add side-gores to give it a bit more room in the legs, lengthen the sleeves (using the fabric from the turtle-neck I removed from it), and add pockets and buttons and it will be ready.

After we arrived home again (around 22:00!) I settled back in to work, and managed to pretty much double today's words written, so my total for the day is 656 words and three figures/tables referenced. Not bad for a day where I took a number of hours off in the evening (which is normally my best working time). Time for yoga & bed!