The Hungry Scholar

So, I have two blogs now.

thehungryscholar — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 01:03:26 +0000

I have this one, which I’ll post recipes on every so often.

Then I have my slightly inappropriate foodie/feminist blog where I get irritated a lot. I added “f’in” to the title to make it easier for you.

http://thehungryfinscholar.wordpress.com/

I just posted about bangers and mash.

AHHH…SHIT

thehungryscholar — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 15:24:43 +0000

Okay. I haven’t posted in a month. I get it. But…

CONGRATULATE ME!

The semester of absolute awfulness has come to an end. Ugh, I feel like I just finished my V training like in V for Vendetta. Anyway. I am back home in Indy, visiting family and such. I am making the entire Christmas dinner, so there will be a mega post, surely.

Anyway, have I told you I am running a half marathon. I KNOW. I’m still shocked, so shocked that I haven’t ran…yet. I will start today and get back to you.

But for now…celebrating: art museum, some cupcake action, some wine action, some Kathy Griffin action.

Rufio, Rufio, Ruuuufioooo!

thehungryscholar — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 14:28:46 +0000

This week has been rough. Along with riding the roller coaster of emotion, I have been dealing with this course load that is extremely overwhelming. I have 3 seminars, 2 teaching practicums, tutoring, and teaching business writing. My own work comes when I get home at 5. According to the therapist that visited the English Department the other week, graduate students need to carve out time for themselves. Well, I decided that I’d actually start making myself dinner again. I’ve probably eaten every sandwich and canned soup this semester. So, let’s add making food to my “things that make me happy” list.

I complain a lot lately. I know!

I’m happy, too. Like with this pizza. This pizza is basically sponsored by Trader Joe’s. I used their 99-cent herbed pizza dough, their canned artichokes, their pizza sauce, their mozzarella, and their prosciutto. I supplied the feta cheese. I burned my tongue, because I was so excited to eat real food. It was like that scene in Hook when Robin Williams finally saw the food (this pizza didn’t have weird neon colors though).

I am also having wine for dinner, and dessert, and one more before bed.

I’m reading though. So this is productive drinking, bitches!

Crumpets and Crazy

thehungryscholar — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 16:57:11 +0000

I keep having a reoccurring dream that I am walking the empty streets of Dundee, Scotland. Although I imagine every inch in vivid detail, I’m not quite sure why I am lost and what I’m looking for. This is all very obvious, but still the most frightening dreams I have ever had. Even more frightening than the ones where I’m driving and cannot stop the car. Using what skills I have from dream analysis, I guess what is going on is that I am still stuck in Scotland. I cannot move past what I lost going on that trip.

My friend recently told me that I should do things that make me happy. Shit, what? I made a list. It was short. So, I’m making an effort to do things that make me happy, well mainly finding out what that is. This includes cooking, baking, and blogging. So, yes. I’m alone in a town of couples, but I should figure out who the fuck I am. I need to embrace all this free time to figure myself out. Further, I’m trying to reach out to old friends. I am in the process of planning a trip to Chicago. I’ve cleaned my apartment on a weekly basis. I’m like Mary Tyler Moore.

So, it is probably hard not to think of Scotland (what I miss, what I loss) when it is all over my apartment. And, I had crumpets for breakfast. These are from Trader Joes, and while they are okay, they are much too thin in comparison to the ones in the UK. I slathered them with butter and peach jam (from the farmers market). Also, just so you know: a crumpet is like an English muffin but softer and you don’t have to slice it. They have nooks and crannies that work well with jam. Kate Middleton probably eats them.

Well, this is my breakfast and these are my thoughts.

The Thanksgiving of Ladies Night

thehungryscholar — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 15:30:58 +0000

The one thing keeping me afloat in this sea of funk is the occasional ladies night. Ladies night doesn’t involve much planning, just 3-dollar wine (Tisdale, what what) and copious amounts of cheese. This Friday was the Thanksgiving of Ladies Night. We had cheese, we had bread, we had artichoke spread, chocolate donuts, and an apple tart. We also had Trader Joes sweet potato tarts (from the frozen section). I was able to use my vintage 3-tiered plate thing. So, it was an eventful evening in my currently emo life.

Trader Joe's English Cheddar Cheese and Trader Joe's Artichoke Antipasto

Trader Joe's Sweet Potato Tarts and Schwan's Apple Tart

It was the first time I’ve cried from laughing in awhile. I have some great women in my life.

“I made a sandwich” and other emo victories.

thehungryscholar — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 13:16:20 +0000

The last couple posts were written during the “I’m totally fine right now” phase, also known as the denial phase. I thought I’d put off blogging until I was really ready. I waited until it wasn’t a chore or task that interrupted my self-loathing and drinking. Now I’m in the “my life is shit, but this too shall pass…shit” phase, which is a much more productive and fun phase. I’ve noticed my wit has improved with bitterness and sadness. Also, I have built up an really good tolerance to alcohol, especially whiskey. I wear depression very well.

But overall, I am good. I will meet the next semester will open arms, but I have to deal with this semester until I have time for myself. Blah, blah. Eat, pray, love. Blah.

So, what’s up with me? I’ve had an interesting semester. I’ve made new friends. I’ve gone out more. I’ve watched the entire series of Felicity. I’ve danced a lot more. I haven’t really cooked. I’ve finally found out what my “interests” are as far as academics. I’ve realized what great friends I have. They’ve written me sweet notes and left croissants at work for me. My life is shit, but the shit, too.

So, cooking. What does this have to do with cooking? A lot. I’ve noticed I’ve been baking a lot more. I’ve been making dinner from scratch. I think this is a sign of things turning around. I think mood and food go hand and hand, so my emo rants are warranted. But, you are in luck readers! I actually have blog content. Content that is not full of broken dreams and thorns, but rather unicorns and chocolate. Hor-fucking-ray.

I made a sandwich today. When I visit my parents they take pity on this poor graduate/bitter ex lifestyle and buy me food at Trader Joe’s. So this was a quality sandwich at least. It is also my lunch. But yes, pretzel buns. I put some turkey on it. I put some Swiss on it. I packed some grainy Dijon mustard on the side. I put it in one of my mini jam jars I bought in the UK. I don’t really have hoarding tendencies , but I refuse to throw these away. They are cute though; it’s a cute lunch. I’m fucking adorable.

Well, I’m sitting in a coffee shop and I need to make a Prezi presentation about cover letters. I must go. But, hey! I’ll post tonight. That is consistency, folks!

I ate one off the floor.

thehungryscholar — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 22:06:14 +0000

Have you been baking?

What did you think of that restaurant?

Are you still blogging?

Oh, the life of a horrible blogger. The second year of your PhD is a bigger kick in the ass than I thought it would be. I’m on campus from 7 to 4 (usually), and then I come home and hit the books. My weekends: wine. My life: hectic.

I thought I would get my shit together before I started blogging. Well, my shit is half together.

Life updates:

Teaching business writing is the bomb.
I am slowly recovering from a cold.
My friends have been a fantastic support system and I’ve actually had some fun times, emo shit aside.
I am unpacked, finally.
I have a bed now, after sleeping on the couch for a month. I love that bed. It’s a queen. Every bed before that has been a twin. I know, right? This is a big deal.
I’m defriending a lot of people on Facebook. It is fun.

Yeah, this is why I didn’t blog. Blah, right?

I’m staying in tonight, to read. But to earn myself some cool points, I did go to a pub last night. I ordered a beer and a hot toddy. And, I ate some pretty good fish and chips for this side of the pond. I bitched about things with some great women.

But tonight, I read.

Before doing so, I cleaned the trail of tissues my cold left. Then, I finally made…kale chips. I bought a lot of kale at the farmers market today, so I thought it was time. It was simple: 375 degrees, bite-sized pieces of kale with olive oil and sea salt, and for 15 minutes. It was so good, I ate a kale chip off the floor. The taste reminds me of the roasted pumpkin seeds my mom used to make.

This paired well with my prosciutto and Gouda sandwich.

Time to make some tea (with milk, I’m a lady) and read.

Welcome back, blog, to my life.

emo shit

thehungryscholar — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 14:48:30 +0000

As most of you would say, I need to get my blogging act together. I agree with you; you win this argument.

Breaking up after a long relationship–a relationship that you thought would be your last–is life altering. Half of your life, your heart, is given to this person. Then after the break-up it is handed back to you (“I believe this is yours”) and you think, “What the hell am I supposed to do with this?”

This is intertwined with my experiences abroad (in Scotland). If anything, the trip woke me up. I returned to America with a desire to live each day to its fullest, travel more, dance more, (insert more cliches). I got back, was thrown into my shambled old life, and realized a mess had to be cleaned up before I could even think about “living life to its fullest.”

So, I’ve been cleaning. And I’ve put a lot of things on hold while I tried to figure things out, the blog being one of them. “You’re back. You’ve figured things out!” Yeah, no. But, I realized I was addressing the problem in all the wrong ways. So, I’m back on track.

I just bought some leeks, so my desire to cook has reappeared. So, I’ll share whatever recipe I use for those leeks in a post soon.

For now, I must read Foucault and stare at the pretty flowers I got at the farmers market.

I wish I could capture the colors better.

Thistle Thursday: Scottish Dessert

thehungryscholar — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 18:57:09 +0000

Hello. I haven’t been blogging lately, because I’ve had insomnia. You think staying awake all night would give me more time to blog, but I didn’t. This insomnia has been ongoing for two weeks and I attribute it to stress and not owning a bed. Money comes my way tomorrow, though. And like Michelle Tanner’s pencil bed, I will have paid for my own big girl bed. I hope this puts an end to staying awake until the wee hours. It is driving me crazy.

You know what else is driving me crazy? I think I have a toothache, which isn’t surprising considering I spent 2 months in Scotland. These people love sugar and I love them for it. My dentist will be pissed off, though. He usually is with me. But who flosses, right?

Anyway, today I’m going to express my love for all things Scottish and sweet. Some of things may not be “Scottish,” but they made them better. So, holler. In no particular order.

Sticky Toffee Pudding

Alright, this was my favorite thing I had over there. And, if you come back next Thursday for Thistle Thursday (what a damn ugly name) I will be making Kate Middleton’s favorite sticky toffee pudding recipe. So, stay tuned for that and the creepiest picture of her and me (just wait).

So, sticky toffee pudding. Have you ever had gingerbread in its cake form? It has a taste similar to that, with warm toffee sauce dumped over it. It is usually served with cream, ice cream, or whip cream. My favorite sticky toffee pudding had to be at the Rick Steve’s recommended Reverie in Edinburgh. I ate at this pub 6 times while in Scotland. Six times!!!!

Scottish Snowballs

Do you like jam and coconut? I do, too. I had Scottish Snowballs several times while in Scotland. Imagine raspberry jam sandwiched between two slices of sponge cake and then covered with frosting and coconut. There you go. I’ll be making these soon, trust me.

There are more, but I’m too tired (insomnia people!) to go through my collection of pictures. Please visit next Thursday, because it will be an entire blog post devoted to my unhealthy obsession to Kate Middleton and sticky toffee pudding.

Well It’s A Start

thehungryscholar — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 02:56:42 +0000

New place. Got the living room unpacked. Still need a coffee table. Still need an artist boyfriend. He will put pretty things on my walls.