May 5, 2008

Meari's Marvelous Monday Update 5/5/08

Yummies
Maybe I should say: Yummies that almost wasn't. I decided that I wanted to make Bourbon Glazed Salmon, which requires marinading the fish. No problem. I put everything in a ziploc bag over my lunch hour, and headed back to work. After work, I set about making the salmon. No problem. I'd read that if you boiled marinade you could you use for a sauce. Therein was the problem... Instead of boiling in a pan, on the stove, I decided to microwave it for 3 minutes. THREE MINUTES! While it microwaved, I continued to prepare the meal. In less than three minutes, I smelled something... Couldn't figure it out. I happened to glance at the microwave and I couldn't see the bowl! I opened the microwave and white smoke ROLLED out of it like a foggy haze. No, I didn't melt the bowl (it was glass). The sugar in the marinade crystalized and started burning. OMG, it smelled sooooo bad and my eyes were watering! I had to open the front door, side door, and the kitchen window.

In addition, now my microwave smells like burnt bourbon and brown sugar. I've tried everything... microwaving it with vinegar, microwaving water, cleaning with softscrub, cleaning with vinegar. It's dimished the smell, but every time I use the microwave it gets worse. :(

With that said.... I did get a good meal out of it:

Bourbon Glazed Salmon & Grilled Summer Squash



School
Sighs heard 'round the world! I swear over half the class sighed in relief when they found out their test scores last Tues night. Most passed. I was thrilled... absolutely thrilled to learn that I received a B! Three tests down... One to go! Our last test is considered our final, but it's not cumulative (thank goodness). Because we missed a couple days due to snow, we're making it up this week. Class tonight and tomorrow night... Ugh, that's over 6 hours of lecture over two nights. Next week will be the last test, I imagine since it's the end of Finals Week.

I got some other good news from the school I am transferring to. I went to see the advisor last night before my B Law class. Apparently, all of my Gen Ed requirements are done and 8 of the business classes I've taken qualify for the core requirement classes... which means I only have 9 core classes to take. In addition, 8 of the other business classes I've taken qualify toward the 9 required electives which means I only have to take 2 other classes to satisfy that requirement. To top it all off, I can complete a DOUBLE major with Accounting AND Finance. How cool is that?!? The advisor informed me that if I wanted to take two classes at a time, I could finish in about a year and half -or- 2½ years doing one class at a time.


Celeste
Ain't she cute? If she weren't so adorable, I'm sure the local squirrels wouldn't pick fights with her. Squirrel in tree, Celeste on the ground. Bark-Bark-Bark! up at the squirrel. Chatter-Chatter-Chatter! down to the dog. This is what I have to deal with. LOL!

Dogs have it made, don't they?


Gardening
I managed to clean out the dead stuff from my planted containers that I brought from my other house when I moved. They're ready for the new plants. :)

The rest of my tulips have finally bloomed. These are the pink ones I planted last Fall. I don't know what the purple flowers are. They were planted by the previous owner(s).



Socializing
Social Life? What's that?!? This weekend, I actually felt like I had a social life. LOL

On Saturday, I had a lunch date with M. He’s the one from the ‘burbs of Chicago and brought me salt when all the stores here were sold out last winter. The date was nice and the awkwardness of previous dates didn’t seem to be there. At least not for me, anyway. He asked if I was willing to get together over the summer after my classes were finished. I think he’s a good guy and I have a lot of respect for him. Not many men impress me like that.

On Sunday, my coworker hosted the “2nd annual Get Fit” BBQ. It was a lot of fun! The food was fabulous! Most people brought a dish to pass, which made it easier on the host and hostess. I brought Bacon Stuffed Tomato appetizers. Every person who tried them told me they were really good. :)

13 comments:

Terry said...

Congrats on the B! Flowers are beautiful and it sounds like you had a fun weekend. So, have you decided whether to take 2 classes next semester or 1?

Anonymous said...

I can't swear to it, Meari, but I think the purple flowers may be pansies! That's what they look like to me! :-)) Robin Ingle

Anonymous said...

One other thing...try baking soda in your microwave! It might work! :-))) Robin Ingle

Kendra said...

The purple flowers are either pansies or violas. If they're large (about the size of marigolds or petunias), they're pansies, and if they're small (about the size of a half dollar or so), they're violas.

Sorry about the smelly microwave. Have you tried lemon juice? That might help...???

Unknown said...

Congrats on the test! Sounds like school is going great.

Wish I had some advise about the microwave...

Anonymous said...

Great news about school, hope it all continues well.

Celeste is so pretty.

We had fish dramas here recently also and our whole house reeked of burnt onion, garlic and salmon (plus burnt cooking implements) for ages. Another reason to never let hubby in the kitchen :grin:. I ended up simmering cloves and a cinnamon stick with some lemon herbal tea bags on the stove top for about 10 hours. Seemed to help. Maybe something similar in the microwave? Good luck, I know how awful those smells can be.

Nancy M said...

Great job on the test, I knew there was no cause for worry there! :-) I think the flowers are Violas, they will come up from the last years occasionally, but not all the time. Your dog sounds a lot like mine with the squirrels, they would really carry on conversations out there! Celeste is a cutie, wouldn't want to deal with the matting of her hair. I had a mini schnauzer and that was bad enough. Did you read my blog? You are mentioned.....

Debra said...

Great pictures of the flowers and your dog. Big congrats on your grades!!!
Debra in Indiana

Chiloe said...

I don't think they are pansies: pansies almost never survive winter.

That's great for your test ;) Have you decided for next year?

Good luck with M ;-)

I almost forgot: Celeste is such a cutie !!!

Jennifer said...

I read on the internet once that you could roast garlic in the microwave, and it said to put it in for 10 minutes. I'd recommend AGAINST doing that - I ended up with charcoal, THICK yellow smoke and the most awful smell ever in the kitchen and the microwave. The smoke actually stained the microwave inside and I thought we were going to have to get rid of it.

It took DAYS and repeated scrubbings with different products (cleaning products, vinegar, baking soda, etc.) but I did get it cleaned. It actually took a few weeks to get it completely clean and stink free, but you wouldn't be able to tell now. I found that a cleaner with oxygen - like Fantastic with Oxygen, really helped. So did dishwasher detergent and hot water (dishwasher detergent has bleach). Definitely rinse, rinse, rinse, or rather wipe down, with plain hot water between products so you don't make noxious fumes, and keep a box of baking soda inside whenever you're not using it.

Sharon said...

Congrats on your grades - what an accomplishment! You're making so much progress and we're all proud of your hard work!! Thanks for sharing the pics of Celeste - don't you love owning a dog that's smaller than a squirrel? :) Good luck w/ the microwave odor - let us know if you hit on a winner for getting rid of "the" smell. Also, wanna share the recipe for the bacon tomatoes? They sound yummy!!

Anonymous said...

an easy way to clean your microwave oven (all the dirt will come lose and everything) is to put a lemon in the microwave and heat it (or lemon-juice in a pot of water, make it really hot, and you can use the water afterwards to rinse your oven).
Congrats on the school-test, and Celeste is adorable!

Jenna said...

A B on your B Law test? Congratulations! What a weight off of your mind. You are certainly going to pass with flying colors. Sorry to hear about your accident with the microwave. I still remember my purple dye incident. While it didn't leave a scent, it was a bear to clean up!