Brain Food

 

A couple of months ago I made a command decision to quit attending the university that I was enrolled in so that I could switch to a small community college in my area.  I did this because the community college offered a degree in culinary arts and baking/pastry, and I've decided to stop fighting myself and finally get a degree in the area that I truly love, food.  

I had to chuckle about the whole enrollment process because not only did I have to provide an official high school transcript, but I also had to take COMPASS tests in reading, writing and math.  I graduated in 1988 and math wasn't my strong suit back then.  Now?  I know I've heard of polynomials and functions, but I have no idea what they do, or more importantly, what I'm suppose to do with them.

I finished the reading with a 96, the writing with a 99, and the math with an abysmal 51. *sigh*

I did try to bolster my brain power with burst of protein before hand and while it may not have worked, it was a damn tasty try.

Tuna Salad

5 ounce can tuna in olive oil, undrained

1/2 cup shredded extra sharp white cheddar

1/4 cup chopped sweet onion

1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley

1 tablespoon olive oil

salt 

pepper

Mix together all ingredients, except salt and pepper, in a medium bowl.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Serve on the bread of your choice with fresh vegetables.

I Am A Cheesewhore

Every Sunday my best friend and I meet up at the university library to work on our on-going book project. The library has these really great rooms on the 5th floor that bring in a lot of light, have large tables, comfortable chairs and even one with a pc. If we're having a particularly good session we can end up staying for 3+ hours. Working our creative brains for that long means we get hungry....really hungry. Since we're allowed to bring food and drinks into the library, we usually bring special "snacks", alternating Sundays.

Last Sunday I brought in green onion cream cheese with everything bagels, among other things. Since I have yet to attempt bagels from scratch, I made the cream cheese. And it was insanely easy. The best part, though, was that after I mixed it all together and it mellowed for a few hours, it tasted really close to a mixture of pepper and garlic-herb Boursin. Oh happy days for the cheesewhore.

Green Onion Cream Cheese
8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
2 green onions, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon freshly minced garlic
1/2 - 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1/4 teaspoon salt

Mix all ingredients together in a small bowl, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 3 hours, but over night is best. Take out about an hour before you want to serve so that it comes back to room temperature.