Chronicles of a Novice

I've finally decided what my goal is going to be for the first week of 2010. I'm promising to use the stairs at every opportunity I get. I work in a 9 story building and my work space is on the 4th floor. There are many hallways, corridors and sky bridges to get my 10 minute cardio workouts in but what about all those stairs I've been avoiding? If I walk up and down the stairs 4 times in 1 day, that's a lot of friggin stairs! My glutes will be rock hard and gorgeous by the end of 2010! Anyway...I'll add a new post at the end of week one.

Week One Goal: Stair Master
No more elevators! I will only use the stairs everywhere I go.

Beginning of week 1 Stair Master skill level: Novice

Today, I was excited to try a new recipe for a traditional pumpkin roll. Honestly, I had no idea that pumpkin rolls were so popular. Evidently, they are a family favorite during the holidays for lots of people but this has never been introduced to my family so it was a total find when I stumbled upon the recipe. Seemed simple enough and considering that I have NEVER baked anything before except my failed attempts at chocolate chip cookies back in middle school where most of the dough was eaten before the oven was even warmed up and the cookies that were baked were subpar at best. Anyway, since I’m looking for my “thing,” a task, project, etc that I’m crazy good at and people look forward to experiencing, I figured I’d give baking a try since it was the holiday season and I was feeling festive.

I’m feeling good. I realized that I bought WAY too much ingredients but too much is better than too little right? Pretty much I had enough to bake about 27 pumpkin rolls (or something like that). I decided to bake 4 for different occasions: family Christmas get-together, office holiday potluck, Christmas morning with the “in-laws,” and then, of course, I needed one ….just to keep on hand for those pumpkin-roll-craving moments. Basically, I wanted one that I could eat eat eat and not share. I’m selfish like that.

Roll 1:
Damn. I used fresh squeezed lemon rather than the lemon juice already waiting for me in my boyfriends refrigerator. This resulted in delicious fresh lemon juice. Great right? Nope. I also ended up with a massive amount of seeds. That’s what I get for trying to get all fancy with the fresh squeezed stuff! I should have read the recipe a little closer…it states I could use bottled juice. My bad. Seeds taken out, pumpkin goo mixed, prepped and popped in the oven. Good to go.

Ooops. I forgot to grease the pan. I even THOUGHT about it but just failed to actually do it in my excitement to get the pumpkin goo cookin. Oh well…no big. It was a pre-greased (non-stick) pan so it should slide out perfectly, right? No such luck. Luckily, with the adept baking hands of my boyfriend for assistance, we were able to pry the bread out of the pan without wrecking it too badly. Sorta broken and ghetto looking but smells super yummy.

Oh! Room temperature butter and cream cheese means its gotta be sorta melty. I thought this just meant it had to have been sitting out of the fridge for a bit (i.e. not brick hard) before its use. I could barely stir the cream filling and finally asked for more input from informed boyfriend. We finally got out the hand mixer since the concoction was still rock hard. Much mixing resulted in a nice whipped filling but it started out with tons of little butter pockets. Everyone likes biting into little pockets of butter right? Mistake noted. Moving on.

The rest of this first round was pretty uneventful. I slathered the filling on the cooled bread, rolled it up rather easily although it tore a bit because the bread was a bit thick and then wrapped the roll in wax paper to freeze. Waa-la. First completed pumpkin roll!

Roll 2:
I remembered to use the bottled lemon juice. Much easier. Kept the bread as thin as possible, melted the butter and cream cheese slightly before mixing and buttered the pan for slippery slidey success. This roll was so beautiful, I found myself jumping up and down and laughing like a little girl. It was glorious and smelled SUPER good!

Roll 3:
This was ALMOST as glorious as roll #2 except I got a little excited about the ginger and put a full tablespoon in rather than a teaspoon. Some creative scooping removed most of the excess and I figured the sugary heaven that this roll turned into would cover up any extra ginger-y task. Oh, and I also forgot to add the lemon juice completely. No big deal right?

Roll 4:
This roll was actually sort of an experiment since I was using the last of the roll 3 mix (I had some extra so I may as well make another roll right?). Anyway, I realized I didn’t have enough mix for a complete roll so I just added some ingredients here and there without measuring. Bad idea. This is where I always get into trouble when I cook. I completely over estimate my ability to be creative and forward thinking in the kitchen when I should just follow the recipe and move forward. Bah! Essentially, what ended up happening was the pumpkin goo mix was a bit too thick with flour. This created a very dense baked bread that had some interesting color variations and swirlies. It also wasn’t as flat as the others which made rolling more difficult and not as pretty. Anyway, I slathered on tons of cream, rolled it up and called it good.

Overall the pumpkin roll experiment was a total success! My family LOVED it at the Christmas get-together, my co-workers couldn’t believe that I actually baked it myself and I’ve been asked for the recipe and any tips from about 6 people. Yay. Perhaps this is my thing! Perhaps this is what people will think of when they hear my name. Maybe they’ll think…”oh man! That girl can freakin’ bake the HECK out of a pumpkin roll. Best I’ve ever had.” Maybe that’s just wishful thinking but I’m willing to try again, make improvements and share my creation with any willing parties.

I’m a novice. Pretty much everything I do is at the beginner level. I’m the new kid on the block in every activity I try. I’m the assistant but never the top dog. I’m the backup but never the lead. I’m a jack of all trades but an expert in none. Case in point: I can sew but nothing too extravagant. I’ve made a quilt but I had lots of help from the quilt masters in my family. I’m learning how to knit but it takes forever and I get confused quickly. I can play a few chords on the guitar but spend lots of time staring at my uncooperative, Freddy Flintstone fingers. I can paint…sort of. I can write short stories but I’m not immensely creative and I lose steam quickly. I love to craft but the end products are always riddled with slight imperfections no matter how many times I go over it and how hard I try. I’m an eager cook but I lack the patience to enjoy and absorb the entire process. I can dance but I’m at my best dancing solo after a few glasses of wine in my cozy apartment with my two cats as an audience. I can sing but don’t put a microphone in front of me cause I’ll clam up. You get the point. I’m an eager learner. I take notes, I show up for the lesson, I invest the time, and I am genuinely interested in learning the trade, whatever it may be, but I’m at a point in my life where I really want to be good at something. Like REALLY REALLY good at something. While I’m aware of my novice skill set, I’m also in tune with the things I AM good at. I’m great with punch lines and can get almost anyone to laugh, I can tell a story like any true Irish woman can, I can handle my liquor like a champ (also like any true Irish woman can), I have a contagious laugh, I’m genuine, loyal and believe there is good in everyone. I’m a great gifter, I’m a hard worker and I’m a quick learner. I know my character flaws and my forte and I am simply hoping to capitalize on the strengths and downplay on the weaknesses by finding my perfect “thing.”

I’ve always admired people who have a “thing.” You know who they are. Your friend Mary who makes homemade jam from scratch and you can’t wait to be gifted a jar. Or, your Aunt Carol who can knit ANYTHING and it always looks adorable. Or John, the fantastic, creative, entertaining and enchanting cook. Or Jamie, the girl with the beautiful voice, John, the wicked guitar player, Joyce, the gifted painter, Charlie, the mixed drink MASTER, James, the Factoid King who could tell you everything you wanted to know about mythology and ancient history or Christie, the super put-together chick with perfectly coifed hair and unbelievable makeup technique, etc, etc, etc. I’ve always wanted to be one of those people. I’ve wanted something that I’m known for besides the girl that can make you laugh. Or the one that has tons of shoes. Or the red head. Whatever. I want to CREATE something. I want to have a tangible skill. I know that having a skill is part luck and part practice. Some people are just naturally gifted with a fantastic ability. Some people work their asses off to learn all the ins and outs of a trade or skill. For some people, it’s a combination of both. Up until this point, I’ve coasted on my novice status and been satisfied with knowing how to do many things at an ok level. No more. I’m ready to put the work in but, unfortunately, I have no idea where my skill set lies.

Hence, this blog. I’ve created this blog in order to chronicle my endeavors. Today, a coworker and I were talking about New Year’s Resolutions. We admitted that neither one of us ever make any but we do set goals for ourselves. Every single year I set the goal of “getting in shape and losing some weight.” DUH! How unoriginal. I’ve done this every year of my life for the last 10 years and it never happens. Part of the problem? I don’t have a hobby. I don’t have a “thing” to keep me busy and away from the after work snackies that keep the poundage on. I’ve decided that rather than have weight loss on my mind when entering the New Year, I will instead focus on a new goal: Finding my “thing.” I haven’t seen the movie Julie and Julia yet but I think the premise is sort of the same as mine. I want to create a blog about all of my creations from my successes to my failures. I hope to, day by day, come closer to discovering the thing that I’m best at. I don’t have outlandish expectations of trying a new task every single day but I do hope to take something new on each week. This may be a craft, a new dish, or an activity. This is my goal. This is what I’ve been searching for. This is the perfect solution to the longing I’ve had to find my “thing” for years now. I’ll take inspiration from lots of sources throughout the year including Martha Stewart (the woman really is quite brilliant), RealSimple, fellow bloggers, friends, coworkers, allrecipes.com, my immeasurably talented and supportive quilting mom, my brilliant and witty dad, my two, fervently opinionated but nonetheless loving and encouraging brothers and the rest of my passionate, chaotic, slightly abrasive but always lovable and welcoming extended family.

I hope to gather some friends along the way. I hope to gain insight from my blog readers and will always welcome tips and suggestions. I’m a novice remember? I need to learn from the experts and I can’t be afraid to ask questions. I’m honestly not sure where this year will take me and what this project will teach me about myself but I’m, for the first time in as long as I can remember, excited about my New Year’s goal. This blog is not created to be down on myself or toot my own horn but simply to chronicle my trials and errors (and if I toot my own horn from time to time…who can really blame me!). As I’ve so clearly illustrated, I am a novice. This includes the tender art of blogging. This is my grand experiment and some days will hit while other days will miss. This blog will not be perfect. This blog will not always be P.C. This blog will not always be upbeat, sassy, funny or life changing. This blog will be honest. This blog will reflect me. This blog will be just as dynamic, forthright, and eager as I try to lead my life every single day. I hope you decide to follow my journey and perhaps be encouraged to embark on your own. Happy New Year.