Yesterday I Got A Job

Yes it's true.  Kelly Leigh is currently employed.  On Thursday I was doing my usual applying to jobs that I felt I was qualified for and maybe could perhaps learn something from when on a whim and with a bit of desperation I thought, "maybe I should just apply for a waitressing job."  I was clearly having no luck with any jobs that were at all related to my degree.  So I went online and sent my resume to the first waitressing job I saw and continued writing cover letters for more science based jobs.  A few hours later, I get a call from a guy who says they'd like to interview me for the waitressing position the next day.  After I got over my initial shock (I was taken aback by the fact anyone actually wanted to interview me)  I agreed to meet them and went to my interview Friday morning.

I have to admit, I wasn't exactly pleased about getting the interview.  As the daughter of a caterer I've been asked countless times if I want to work in the food industry.  My answer has aways been "No."  The longer I worked and saw people who worked there for years the more strongly I was convinced this was not what I wanted to do with my life - I wanted to be on the other end.  I wanted to be catered for, not doing the catering.  I refer to my mom's staff over 35 as "lifers." Lifers have been, and most likely will be, in the restaurant business for life.  Most of them are unhappy in their job, and usually feel they're over qualified.  The reason people continue to work there is because they get stuck.  I never wanted to get stuck.

So when I went to my interview on Friday I didn't exactly go in with a strong desire to get the job.  I didn't try to answer questions correctly, but I did answer them honestly.  I didn't talk myself up at all.  I told them this wasn't a job I wanted to be doing, but I didn't mind doing it for the time being.  I even told them I'd be going home for awhile to visit my family.  The interview lasted an hour.

After it was over, I was on my way to the station and my cell phone started ringing.  They asked me to come back.  So I turned around and walked back.  Surprisingly, they offered me the job and a promotion.  I went in for a waitressing position, but they want me as a floor manager.  So now I am employed as floor manager.

I'm unsure how I feel about this.  On one hand, I have a job, which means financially we are in a pretty good position and I'll be able to meet people and be mentally stimulated.  On the other hand, I feel I am in grave danger of becoming a lifer.  I'm also aware that I won't be able to see Nick as often because our hours are going to be completely different.  I guess the thing I find most irritating is that I've been working in the restaurant industry since grade school, and after graduating with a science degree with honors, the only place I am qualified to work is in a restaurant.  Thank you Loyola University Chicago for providing me with such a useful degree.

My Veggie Burger is Bleeding!!!!!

Ok its not really bleeding, but it is pink and juicy.  All things a burger should be, if it has meat in it.  But this, my friend, is a pink and juicy veggie burger that you can really sink your teeth into.  Behold, "Best-Ever Veggie Burgers from Northstar Cafe".  I made a few alterations, if only because I was having a difficult day in the kitchen - I was out of a few things, forgot a few things and I was pretty much burning everything.  Even so these turned out really good, though they were a bit time consuming.  I was worried they might be too sweet because of the beets, but they weren't.  They were just plain delicious.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup basmati rice
• 1 white onion, diced small
• 1 pound of beets, diced small
• 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
• 1 can black beans, mashed with a fork
• juice from half a lemon
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp fresh parsley, minced
• 2 tbsp fresh mint, minced
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1/2 tsp thyme
• 2 tbsp all purpose flour
• salt and pepper to taste

Start by dicing your onions and beets.  Maybe I'm not that good with a knife but dicing beets was a pain - just so you know.  Next add a bit of olive oil to a pot over medium heat, and throw in your onions, cooking them until they're soft.  Add your beets to this pot, covering it and cooking it until tender.  While this is happening throw your rice in a pot and boil it.  Basmati rice only takes 12 minutes so that's easy.  The beets take awhile to get tender - make sure you stir it every so often so they don't burn.  I got lazy and burnt mine a bit.  The recipe calls for 3-4 cloves of garlic at this point, however, I forgot to add garlic.  Silly me.  Then Deglaze your pan with 2 tbsp cider vinegar.

Combine your mashed beans, rice, and beets in a large bowl.  Add juice from half a lemon, 1 tbsp olive oil, 2 tbsp parsley, 2 tbsp mint, 1 tsp coriander, 1/2 tsp thyme, 2 tbsp flour, and salt and pepper to taste.  (Note : I forgot to add flour at first, and they totally fell apart when I tried to cook them!)

Next heat a skillet over high heat, and add enough olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan.  Form the mixture into small patties and place in pan.

It'll take about two minutes on each side.  After you flip it you may want to add some cheese so it'll get all gooey and melty.

Put it between two slices of bread, or preferably a bun if you have one.

Be ready for a veggie burger taste explosion in your mouth because this is not your average meat substitute.

Stitch 'n' Bitch London Part 2 : The Stitching Bit

Tonight I went to my first Stitch and Bitch London meeting in the Royal Festival Hall.  I found a large group of knitters in the lobby and promptly sat down next to a few girls.  I asked one girl if she knew how to knit and if she would teach me.  She looked confused, but agreed to do so.  I later found out that this was her first time at stitch and bitch, although she had been knitting since she was seven.  After awhile I noticed that there was a group of "learners" sitting directly behind me being taught by what seemed to be someone who was a regular.  Oops. Leave it to me to force randos to teach me how to knit. Oh well.  My teacher for the evening was a very friendly and nice girl who was knitting gloves into an anime character for her friends birthday present this weekend.  I feel this speaks wonders to the type of girl she is.  Because of the configuration of the chairs I ended up mostly speaking to her, and another woman, who seemed to be a couple years older than me and much more professional looking.  The other woman was working on a baby sweater, maybe, she wasn't really sure yet what it was going to turn into.

After I'd started to get the hang of this knitting thing and they could stop instructing me, their conversation turned quickly to their love of all things knitted - no passion for all things knitted.  I've never really known any hardcore knitters before but I was really surprised by how enthusiastic they were about yarn, needles, knitting patterns, and the stress relief that comes from mindless knitting.  Um... I don't mean to be rude but I thought we were supposed to be bitching?  I don't know much about knitting related things so I must admit I found it difficult to chime in during parts of the conversation.  Though this was probably for the better because it allowed me to focus on my pretty mangled looking beginnings of a scarf.

Overall the girls were very encouraging and helpful.  As I looked around, I saw a wide range of women from all ages and all walks of life.  Surprisingly, I also saw quite a few men.  Unsurprisingly, they weren't exactly manly men if you know what I mean.  One older man, wearing cut off jean shorts far shorter than anything I own, and a senior citizen by his own admission (he's been enjoying free rides on the tube because of it) spoke to us briefly about his love of the knit.   Also, I was very impressed by one mature bird's (this is my new phrase for all women over 50) black and hot pink sweater she was knitting.  It had all sorts of patterns on it and her fingers moved so quickly just whipping it together like it was nothing.  I definitely enjoyed the characters here and everyone seemed to be genuinely interested in helping eachother with their knitted goods.

While Stitch and Bitch was a comfortable and friendly atmosphere, I'm just not sure I share such a passion for knitting, and admittedly I found it a bit boring at times.  Perhaps this is just because it was my first time, and maybe I need to give it a few more chances before I really get into it.  At the very least I am pleased with myself for taking proactive steps towards establishing my own social circle here, because lets face it - moving to a new city is tough, and showing up somewhere with no familiar faces takes some courage, for me anyways.  Anyways, I hope to get a purple scarf out of the whole ordeal.

Make Your Own Hummus

Most people I know love hummus.  In fact, it was even featured on Stuff White People Like, because apparently all white people like hummus.  I, for one, am a white person who loves hummus. Go figure.  I also know that most people do not make their own hummus, they buy it already made in the grocery store.  I seriously don't know why everyone does this because making your own hummus is so easy and a lot more economical.  I make hummus all the time and I haven't posted it before because hummus recipes are a dime a dozen and mine isn't original at all.  But I thought maybe people who are out there wasting their hard earned money on hummus never thought to look up the recipe for it so maybe by posting this I will inspire them to go ahead and make it themselves.  So here is my hummus recipe for all you hummus lovers out there.

Ingredients

• Juice of 1 lemon (I like it really lemony, but you may want to use a bit less if your not such a citrus fan)
• 1 can of chick peas aka garbanzo beans
• 1 1/2 tbsp tahini
• 2 cloves garlic (pressed)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp olive oil (plus extra for garnish if you're so inclined)
• A pinch of paprika (optional)
• 3 tbsp water 

All you have to do is throw everything into a food processor and hit the go button until its the right consistency.  I'd say that looks about right.  If you like it thicker, add less water.  If its too thick, add more water.  Simple.

Scoop it out and put it in a bowl.  Sprinkle with extra paprika and a bit of olive oil, for presentation of course!

Wasn't that easy?  Serve it with some warm pita bread, or if you're feeling super healthy opt for carrots.  Delicious!  

Stitch 'n' Bitch London Part 1 - Mostly Bitching

You may have noticed on my List of Things to Do that go to a Stitch 'n' Bitch night is number 7.  If you haven't heard of Stitch and Bitch, basically they are knitting groups, at which you can do your fair share of bitching, while you're stitching.  Stitch and Bitch London holds these meetings at various cool locations throughout central London, and they teach you how to knit for free!  How cool is that?  Well, if you ask me thats super cool because most things in London are EXPENSIVE.  And since I am in need of meeting people and making new friends I thought this would be great and they must be friendly people if they're willing to share their mad knitting skills with low lifes like me for no moolah.  All I have to do is show up with knitting needles and yarn.

I try to create mini adventures to keep myself entertained around here.  Nick is in the Holy Land doing business (not with God though) so that means I'm extra bored.  So today I went to Loop, a shop for all things knitting.  This place isn't even remotely close to where we live but it looked cute and it was a good excuse to go to a new part of London.

So I take the tube to the Angel stop on the Northern Line and I head off on my way.  I'm supposed to walk North towards this one street.  Ok sounds easy enough, except the street is DIRECTLY across from the station.  How I'm supposed to walk towards it, unless I'm crossing the street which clearly isn't what google intended, is beyond me.  So I willy nilly pick a direction and start walking.  Google says its supposed to be a 16 minute walk.  I walk for awhile and I feel like I am not going in the right direction because the street seems way more windy then it looks on the map.  However, London doesn't believe in well placed street signs.  They may or may not be posted at the corners.  Also they're not like street signs like in America, they're posted on the sides of buildings making them much more difficult to spot.  So I kept walking until I actually found a street sign and learned I wasn't even on the street I was supposed to be on and I was supposed to be walking in a straight line.  Good one.

Can I just say I want a fancy shmancy phone with GPS?  My darling husband (who has lived in London his entire life I might add) uses one all the time, and he gave me his piece of crap really old nokia which is useless for people like me who have no sense of direction.

Anyways.... I turned around and hiked for a half an hour in the other direction and finally found the shop.

It was cute, as expected, and the shop keeper was a friendly Canadian who married an English guy too.  She said she's been here for 20 years, I assumed she liked it, but she said she didn't and warned me not to have babies or else I'd be stuck here too.  Thankfully, that is most definitely not on the agenda and I will continue with my prega-phobia.

Anyways she told me to pick out some yarn, and then she got the appropriate needles for the yarn.  Apparently the yarn you use corresponds to your needles - who knew?   She gave me rainbow colored ones.    Do you like my purple yarn?

I'll be attending my first stitch and bitch session tomorrow night at the Royal Festival Hall and I'll let you all know how the stitching goes, as I'm sure you've noticed the bitching part will not be a problem.