Cream puffs and other things.

Today for dinner I made chicken florentine, baked potatoes, and cream puffs from scratch. They were the hugest pain in my ass - I screwed up one step very, very minorly, but it caused the cream to come out much too thin (almost liquid) and led me to do all sorts of ridiculous things to remedy the situation (including but certainly not limited to adding whipped cream in hopes of adding some "fluff" - homemade whipped cream, which I made on the spot, which took a while, what kind of person keeps heavy whipping cream on hand but not some damn aerosol Cool Whip? Me.), and ultimately it came out a perfect consistency. The original recipe is here, I tweaked a few things. If you try it, make sure you don't take the cream off the heat too soon. I got jumpy about not burning it and it didn't get to thicken enough.

How did I ever cook anything before I had a trusty and loyal Collie to lay beside me in the kitchen? 

Dewey pulled a huge blanket out of the crate and across the room to make himself a little nest and settle in during the cooking.

They got a little wild.

Thank God for patient Collies. Violet wonders when Dewey's gonna be done being a baby.

She's learning a "bang" trick. Basically the word "bang" and a finger gun cues a "play dead." She demonstrates above.

Gourds.

Eric's cactus.

The incredible potty trained three month old. Dewey, asking to go outside.

 

Red bell pepper.

Cream puffs!

In other news, I decided once and for all today to try to apply to the BSW program at IUPUI. I've been back and forth between a bachelor's in psychology and a bachelor's in social work for months, completely angsty and indecisive about it. Both have pros and cons, BSW program is more relevant to my career goals/plans to get my MSW post-grad, but my big hang-up has been that it's fairly competitive to get into. I'll need a lot of volunteer work and letters of recommendation between now and next fall semester, but when I type that out, not going for it seems like a cop-out, and it is. I'm nervous about starting in January, I feel like I have no frame of reference for what to expect (will it be easier than I think? Harder? Will I be completely overwhelmed? Bored?), and I don't. (More on that another day.) But the way the timing works out, I don't have to apply until I've finished the spring and summer semesters, so I think I'll have my footing at that point, and if I feel like I should stick with psychology then, I can. But if not, I'll be starting on volunteer work now and will be putting myself on a path that will allow me to apply for the BSW program if I feel like I can. I feel good about it. Mary has some contacts that may get me hooked up with a soup kitchen (I'm excited - I love volunteering), and my grandmother's church has some opportunities as well. I'm hoping to get three regular/recurring volunteers positions lined up within the next week or so.