Old and New Adventures

Since I will be away from home all summer (details below) and, even more importantly, I am running out of time, I am working hard on the prospectus.  Things finally slowed down at work and so I have been able to concentrate on writing -- finally!!!  Fingers and toes crossed, I am hoping to finish Chapters 1 and 3 by Monday.  I really, really, really need to meet this goal!  I have failed to meet it again and again.  Now, I am out of time.  Who would have thought it would take so long?!  Certainly not me!  I usually do my best to clear things out of the way.  It annoys me to even have any unread emails in my Inbox.  But work and lots of personal things that I can't blog about have been winning so far...

Now here is a carrot dangling, as a reward for taking care of prospectus...  I am going to spend 12 weeks in China this summer, completing an internship in my field!!!  Yeah, I already had to buy the flight, in order to get the invitation letter for Chinese visa, so the trip is not dependent on prospectus.  However, there is no way I will be able to relax and enjoy the experience if the prospectus hippo is sitting on my back.  So have to take care of some old adventures before enjoying the new ones.  Prospectus is not the end but it's a huge leap.  Once I get it out of the way, results and conclusions will fall into place much faster.

Since I am completing a PhD, not Master's, internship is not required.  However, I am very happy about this opportunity because (1) it will make me a better instructor and (2) it will open doors if I ever decide to leave the world of academia.  And I will spend 12 weeks in China, with most of my weekends free for hopping on the train and exploring.  S. might even join me for a week.  That would be awesome!  He is not thrilled about me being away for so long, of course, but he IS thrilled about me being able to do something like this.  Thank goodness for Skype! :)

I had lunch with last year's intern today.  Even though she is in my department, I haven't met her before because I am rarely on campus these days, since I finished all my coursework already.  She provided lots of helpful suggestions.  Even better, we realized we have lots of things in common -- boyfriends in the same field, both of us enjoy cooking, we chose similar menu items w/out discussing them ahead, and many other things.  Now I have another great friend! :)

The process of obtaining Chinese visa has been interesting so far...  I received my letter of invitation yesterday and decided to start the application right away.  Well, you can't mail your application.  You have to bring it to the nearest Chinese consulate or ask somebody else to do it for you.  The nearest consulate is almost 11 hours away, one way!  I could find a travel agency but was not sure about handing my passport to them.  How do I know if they are reliable and won't sell my passport???  Ouch! 

Then I remembered that one of my good friends was attending a conference in the same state and would have to drive back through the city where Chinese consulate is located.  I called her immediately, hoping she has not left yet, and she agreed to come back one day later.  I overnighted my packet to her and she will take it to the consulate tomorrow.  Hopefully, I will have a visa by Friday afternoon.

Now back to writing so I can take care of old stuff and then enjoy the new stuff! :)

Best Pita Bread

Anybody who ever tried making pita bread knows that it has a mind of its own -- sometimes it poofs, sometimes it does not...  This King Arthur's Golden Pita recipe very rarely fails me -- and it's so soft and pliable, perfect for stuffing with yummy fillings or just dunking into your favorite dip.

I did not make any changes, other than skipping the dough enhancer (did not have any but I am sure it will this bread even better), so not posting the recipe here.

Four important things:  (1) do make sure the oven is very hot; (2) if making eight small pizzas, roll out into eight dessert-plate-size rounds; if the dough is too thin, it won't puff; (3) do let the rounds rest for at least 15 minutes before baking (I roll out, then preheat the oven); and (4) wrap hot pitas in a clean kitchen towel immediately (after they have cooled down completely, store in a plastic bag).

I made a batch yesterday.  It does not take a long time before the bread maker is doing all the mixing/rising.  All you have to do is remove the dough, place into lightly oiled bowl, form the dough into a large ball, and divide into eight small balls (or four large ones if you want to make large pitas).  Roll out on a lightly floured surface into eight dessert-plate rounds or four dinner-plate rounds.  Let rest at least 15 minutes while preheating the oven to 500 F.  Specific steps are listed in the recipe.  It's a magical moment when you see each round poof up! :)

We enjoyed pitas with falafel (made from mix so nothing special here), kebabs, and fresh salad (cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, sweet peppers, spices, and olive oil).