Condolences

I imagine that a good portion of the Comp Sci gang is at a loss for words at the moment. What is it that one says to a good friend who's lost a parent? When the first words that come out of your mouth are, "I'm so sorry," you realize that it sounds far worse actually being said than how pathetically ineffectual it sounded in your head.

We're all aware of the fact that we, too, will one day have to bury our parents, but I don't think any of us are prepared for the reality of actually seeing it happen, or even of seeing it happen to someone we care about.

Knowing that all you can do is hope that your love and support makes it through the grief and pain can leave one feeling pretty damned helpless.

I suppose I'll just have to be here to lend an ear (and offer up a free meal or two), and hope I get taken up on the offer.

Back at TELUS

On Friday, I started another stint at TELUS, this one for four weeks to cover a paternity leave. Durn, I wish they'd just get the foreplay over with and hire me already. :)

I've decided that I'm going to try to bring a nutritious, carb-healthy lunch in on a daily basis, rather than relying on the food court at Scarborough Town Centre (which, not surprisingly, isn't especially lactose-intolerant-friendly). I'm ashamed to admit that their food court was my sole means of sustenance during my last gig at TELUS.

Off to a good start, on Friday I brought in a Thai beef green curry (with baby corn, carrots, snow peas, bamboo shoots and red peppers, plus a sushi rice/brown rice blend), celery sticks and raw cashews.

This week, I'm planning on bringing in breakfast sandwiches comprised of Serrano ham, avocado and the whole wheat-flaxseed meal banana bread that's currently cooling on our dining table. For lunches, I have my choice of making a black bean cassoulet or a mashed-cauliflower-topped shepherd's pie. The great thing about a three-day weekend is that I don't feel pressed for time, trying to fit all my cooking in!

Oh, mozzarella sticks...
...how I've missed thee

I thought I'd take the opportunity of being between jobs to conduct an experiment: feeding myself (homemade) buffalo mozzarella sticks.

I picked up buffalo mozzarella at the gourmet food shop just south of Noah's on Yonge, north of Eglinton (sorry, I can't remember the name of the place itself!) The intent was, hopefully, to find a mozzarella that my digestive system can process more readily than cow's milk mozzarella. The precedent is that goat's cheese doesn't cause me discomfort (just the bloat) that cow's cheese does.

Today I cut the cheese into wedges, dippped those into an egg wash, then a flour and thyme mixture, back into the egg, and then into panko bread crumbs. After a quick chill in the freezer, I dropped them into hot oil for a few seconds to brown.

It was so great to be able to eat mozzarella sticks again, and I've yet to suffer any ill effects. Yay, buffalo mozzarella!

This year's Dick in a Box