Dec 15, 9:51 am
I don’t cook or bake often, but occasionally the kitchen bug bites me and I go crazy! This is especially expected around the holidays. In the spirit of giving and baking, I spent the entire evening making Spiced Maple Glazed Pecans. I am a little embarrassed to say: I found the recipe on Martha Stewart’s website. But no less, they are delicious and creative gifts. This little kitchen adventure also turned me on to Mason jars and Ball jars! There are so many cool things you can do with these things - and knowing me, I will spend the next year trying to figure those things out. Anyway, the first thing you want to do is prepare:
1) Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
2) Mix the following ingredients:
- 9 Tablespoons of melted unsalted butter
- 3 Tablespoons of light-Brown sugar
- 12 Tablespoons of Maple Syrup (I used Cracker Barrel brand.)
- 3 teaspoons of coarse salt
- 3/4 teaspoon of ground Cayenne pepper
- 2 teaspoons of thyme
- 2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon
Meanwhile, make sure your jars have been washed with hot water and soap. They must be dried out completely before storage. Pour 3 pounds of pecan halves into a bowl and try to pick out the really small pieces and flakes. Next, pour the mixture from step two into the bowl of pecans and stir slowly. Make sure every pecan is coated. (Three pounds is quite a lot to work with, so I just used 2 bowls and tossed them back and forth between the two.)
3) Pour the coated pecans in a thin layer onto a non-stick cookie sheet. A medium-sized cookie sheet will fit about 1 pound.
4) Bake them for 12 minutes, remove from oven and mix them up again. Put them back in the oven for another 5 minutes if needed for extra browning.
5) Let the pecans cool for 5 minutes, then use hands to break up any clusters. Pour pecans into the jars, seal and decorate!
Glazed, right out of the oven:
After:
I used Glue Dots (from the scrapbooking section at Walmart) to glue on my decoration.
Three pounds filled up 12 small jars and 1 medium one. Tailor the recipe for however many gift jars you need. (Btw, cinnamon was not a part of the original recipe but it’s a nice touch.)
Nov 12, 2:00 pm
My grandpa had a broken heart - split down the middle, in the shape of a zig-zag and hanging by a single thread of life. When my grandmother passed away - the one other soul in this world where his soul could find peace - even his brave heart could not fight the break. The love that they had for each other is sometimes inconceivable using just my mind. But when I close my eyes and open my heart, I can feel their love all around me.
My grandmother watched over him for a year as he tried to find enjoyment in the finer things. But the thread of life holding the two halves of his broken heart together was wearing thin. His soul called out to her and she appeared. At his side, holding his hand, quaking with joy, she exclaimed of all of the fun she was having in heaven. She missed him and he missed her. His decision was made in the final beat of his heart.
Saturday, he went into the hospital for emergency open-heart surgery. My mom and I booked the next flight to Florida to encourage him through the recovery. By Sunday evening, he was lively – joking with the nurses, telling us stories and laughing about what he originally labeled “heartburn”. He still needed a lot of rest, as it was a risky procedure, but the hopes were high and he was a fighter. Just 5 hours later, an urgent call from the hospital led us into the car, speeding down 25 miles of a dark empty highway and up the elevator to the intensive care unit. Time slowed down as they explained the details of the complications. Grandpa is gone.
He was a great man. He had love for everyone and never looked back. I want to live life the way he did - without regret. So instead of regretting the time I didn’t get to spend with him, I will celebrate the times we shared together. The love he had for my grandmother, the family they made and the life they lived…is the perfect model of love that I will seek in all aspects of my life.
Sep 09, 5:00 pm
I’ve been in hiding (aside from my short appearance at PAX, which we’ll get into later). But I haven’t blogged since MLG Orlando, so its only fitting that I jumble all of my updates into one blog.
(1)
I am making a career change (sorta). For the past 8 months, when I’m not gaming, I’m working at one of the top 3 pharmacies in the nation. It’s kept me on my toes and personally involved with people’s health and well-being. But when opportunity knocks, you have to reevaluate what will be better for you in the long-run. So when my roommate, Lady PMS, approached me with a job offer at her company, I hopped on-board the bandwagon. In one short week, I will begin my career in the Information Technology Industry (yay networking)! Officially, between being paid to play games and this, I am a GEEK! But all joking aside, I am super excited to start my new job. And it doesn’t hurt that the bread will be much bigger.
(2)
Penny Arcade Expo was AMAZING!!! Although we worked our butts off, getting to play all of the new Ubi titles and spending time with everyone was a great reward. It’s like a big family reunion when the Frag Dolls meet up for big events like this - but even more so when surrounded by the coolest and most hardcore of the gaming community. Its enough to make any gamer go ga-ga. Anyway, as most of you know, this was Jinx’s last appearance with us under that name! Now, our dear teammate and great friend, Ashley, will be moving to the other hemisphere for a totally rad job in the gaming industry. And with this in mind, we used our last night in Seattle to celebrate with her!
(3)
I’m a traitor, backstabber, sellout, whatever you want to call me. I gave my Blackberry Curve to my roommate (since she decided to go swimming with her phone) and I finally broke down and bought the new iPhone. GO ME! Giving up what I thought to be the greatest smart phone to date was a very difficult decision to make. For 4 months, my Blackberry was like a vital organ...constantly pumping me with my daily intake of email, instant messaging, GPS, Google Calendar, Facebook status updates, and so much more. But I have been playing with my iPhone for the past few hours and that weird feeling of guilt is finally wearing off. This thing is awesome! Along with all of those other features, I now have YouTube, MySpace, iTunes, and tons of other cools apps! Everything about it is sooooo pretty, but my one complaint is the battery life. I totally suppressed it into the back of my mind until I realized that this may be a serious life-threatening issue (sorta). Can you imagine being at work for 9 hours and your iPhone died like 4 hours in? I don’t think I can handle ANYTHING without a smart phone. So, I may have to carry a charger around with me…
(4)
I went to Gearbox Software’s VICTORY party on Friday night! In celebration of the Brothers in Arms: Hell’s Highway and Samba de Amigo releases, they filled up an amazing venue in downtown Dallas with gamers, designers, developers, you name it. Decorated with WW2 parachutes hanging from the ceiling and DJ’ed by Fresh Prince of Bel Air’s DJ Jazzy Jeff, it was THE place to be this weekend! Plus, being a V.I.P also helps the party ego. Anyway, I got to play both games and they were awesome! Granted, BiA:HH won ‘Best FPS in show’ at E3 this year. And I totally kicked ass at Samba de Amigo because I have natural skill. Just saying…
Jul 12, 11:15 am
11:00 AM - Its Saturday morning and here we are at MLG Orlando. In a dark ballroom, lit only by the monitors and tv’s displaying this year’s most competitive 360 titles, hundreds of people prepare for virtual battle. We’re waiting for our turn to sit down and shoot our first bullet of the day. I’m in the zone - the kind of focused adrenaline that sets apart assassins from civilians. Okay, well, maybe I am being a LITTLE dramatic. But no less, we’re couting down to round one. FD, how do you feel?
Psyche - I am feeling pretty good right now. I got a good amount of sleep so I should have energy to frag all day. Go FD!
Brookelyn -I’m waiting in line to get LAN play in before the tournament, but am disappointed to see there are only 4 stations dedicated to Rainbow. It’s going to be a long day!!!
Valkyrie - Woot, I’m going to roll some noobs in a few minutes. Be glad it’s not you I’m going to make cry…
***
1:30 PM - We’ve played 2 teams so far in warm-up (Lost one, won one). But now that Rhoulette is here, we’ve got all of our pieces in place. It’s only a matter of time (very, very little time) until zero hour, so the pressure is on. Remember, Pyra, breathe deep and visualize the kill.
Reporting in from the front,
Pyra
Jul 01, 1:44 pm
I rolled out of bed at 6:30 in the morning on Wednesday and drove to work on my day off. The powers-that-be decided to schedule a meeting on my only day of freedom! But no less, I showed up for duty right on time. About two months ago, all of the Pharmacy Technicians at my workplace were given an employee profile to complete online. It was a personality test presented as a wide array of questions (personal, situational, math, vocabulary, etc). We knew the test would be utilized by our company for some greater purpose, but nothing happened with it for such a long time that it was no longer a concern. But hump day bumped the issue to the surface. A rep from the company that does the performance analysis (a.k.a. Performisys) was here to hand-deliver our results. My fancy, custom-bound “Confidential Report” had never been opened and I would be the first person to lay eyes on the results! After reading it through with some backbone information provided by the rep, I got some great insight into how I tick. (On these scales, which are 1 to 10, either extreme will have its strengths and weaknesses. A 10 isn’t necessarily better than a 1.) Here are some of the more predominant scores from the list:
Learning Index : 9 out of 10
Strong capacity to adapt quickly in a learning situation.
Typically finds it easy to learn the requirements of a new job.
Numeric Ability : 9 out of 10
Quick in mentally determining mathematical solutions to problems.
Demonstrates a sound understanding of mathematical processes.
Numeric Reasoning: 10 out of 10
Demonstrates little difficulty in assimilating new information of a numerical nature.
Can process numerical data to reach conclusions or understand inferences.
Assertiveness : 4 out of 10
Low need to control others and very diplomatic.
Attitude : 9 out of 10
Optimistic, Relaxed Social Style and Trusting.
The kind of person who immediately gives trust but won’t give it back when its broken.**
**A low attitude score would be skeptical and only give trust where its earned.)
Independence : 2 out of 10
Cautious and reserved; May seek support or supervision often
Objective Judgement : 8 out of 10
Will tend to trust observable facts in their thinking process.
Comfortable with a logical approach.
Accommodating : 9 out of 10
Holds societal norms and self-control as important guides for behavior.
Cooperative; likes harmony within a group
I mulled over all of these key points in my profile and applied it to how I work with others. In doing so, I realized I could also use this in my other social settings. Even though I already knew these things about myself, I always ignored it. So now that it is in writing, its unavoidable. Because of my personality, I tend to leave a lot of things unsaid around people who are on the opposite side of these scales. But meeting them half way will solve a lot of communication issues and hopefully result in amazing relationships. Stepping outside of my norm will be awkward, but rewarding. I guess rolling out of bed with the sunrise wasn’t such a bad deal after all.
