Quaintr

Here we go! My first late night ER-shift...

Despite a respectful job, a good income, a beautiful home, dear friends and a loving family, I don't feel complete. Something is missing... I don't shine, I don't feel passionate about the things I do. And yet I keep on doing these things.

So I made a list, actually three lists: 'things I love to do' 'things I don't not mind to do' and 'things I don't like to do'.  It puts things in perspective... if you spent a lot of time doing things you don't mind to do, you'll have less time to do things you love. So cut down on the neutrals! Another one: sometimes you have to do something you don't like to do (e.g. a nasty internship) to do the things you love (e.g. become a nursing home physician). Don't you just love perspective?

"What exactly is my responsibility as acting MD?"

"Just make sure they're still warm when you deliver them to their regular MD."

"Oh."

It has been a busy month. Moving to Holland, moving into my new room, catching up with old friends, starting my internships, whilst in the mean time making sure that my diet provides me with the essential nutrients to stay healthy. Last week, we had a themed 'new year's'-dinner. The theme: 'merican fud, which turned out to be quite healthy and very appetising.  

The recipes:

Appetiser: Artichoke dip and corn chips

5 tbsp (40g) Parmesan, 3 tbsp mayonnaise, 3 tbsp sour cream, 1/2 onion (chopped finely), pinch of garlic powder, 1 can artichoke hearts (chopped small pieces), pepper and salt to taste, some herbs you like (but only a pinch - i used basil and some paprika), 

Whisk 4 tablespoons grated Parmesan, mayonnaise, sour cream, dried herb(s), black pepper, salt, and garlic powder in medium bowl to blend. Stir in chopped artichoke hearts. Transfer mixture to oven-proof dish. Preheat oven to 180°C. Bake dip until heated through, about 20 minutes (about 30 minutes if chilled).Preheat grill. Sprinkle dip with some Parmesan cheese and paprika. Grill till cheese is melted. Serve with corn chips.

Soup: Ocean chowder

Olive oil, 1 yellow onion (diced), 1 clove of garlic, 1 stalk of celery (diced), 1 big carrot (diced), 1 pound (500g) potatoes (diced), 2 cups (500ml) vegetable stock, 1 bay leaf, 1 cup (250ml) heavy cream, fresh parsley, thyme (fresh or dried), freshly ground black pepper

Heat a swig of oil and sauté the onion for about 10 mins. Add the garlic, celery, and carrot. Cook for about 5 more mins, then add the taters, bay leaf, and stock, and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat and let simmer for about 20 mins (until the taters are just cooked). Add cream and herbs, and simmer for 10 more mins.

Main: Corn pudding, Coleslaw, Cabbage rolls, Biscuits

Corn pudding:

1/2 cup flour, 1 tsp salt, 4 tsp sugar, 3 tbsp butter (melted), 2 cups fresh, frozen (thawed), or canned whole kernel corn (cooked), 3 large eggs, 2 cups milk

Combine flour, salt, and sugar, and mix in the corn and melted butter. Beat eggs and add to milk. Stir into the corn mixture. Preheat oven to 220°C. Put the mixture into an ovenproof dish and place it in the oven for 10 minutes. Remove and stir with long prong fork, disturbing the top as little as possible. Return to the oven for 10 more minutes. Repeat stirring procedure. Repeat this 2 more times or till done (the pudding should be firm.

Coleslaw:

Dressing: mix 1/3 cup olive oil (add some water to make it 1/4 cup), 2 tbsp lemon juice, 2 tbsp mayonnaise, 2 tsp sugar, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper.

Salad: 3 cups shredded green, 1 cup shredded peeled carrots.

You can add any other kind of vegetable (squash, courgette, radishes, cucumber, bell pepper, celery, to name a few), nuts, seeds, and berries, to taste. 

Cabbage rolls:

1 cabbage head, 1 yellow onion (fine chopped), 1 clove garlic (crushed), 1 tbsp olive oil, 1 1/2 c raw carrots (grated), 2 c cooked mashed lentils, 2 eggs, 1 tsp Italian mix herbs, salt and pepper to taste, 1 tsp paprika, pinch of cayenne, 2 cups sieved tomatoes + 1 cup water.

Remove cabbage core, and either steam the cabbage whilst peeling off the leaves as you steam it, or plunge cabbage in pot of boiling water, bring to full boil, and then remove from heat. Allow cabbage to stay in covered pot about 20 minutes, drain, and allow cabbage to cool. Peal off 8-12 leaves, cut out the centre ribs and set aside. In the mean time, boil 1 cup of lentils with 2 cups of water (or vegetable stock). Add the lentils (mashed) to the carrots, onion, garlic, eggs, seasoning, and combine well. Spoon the mixture (about 1 or 2 tbsp) into the centre of each leaf, fold leaf edges over stuffing, roll into cigar-shapes (or try to, i can never manage). Arrange them at the bottom of a deep, flame-proof dish. Pour the juice (and some paprika) over stuffed leaves, cover, and simmer for about half an hour at 200°C. 

Biscuit: any recipe for baking powder biscuits will do. I got mine here.

Dessert: Pecan pie

However, i made the shell myself: 110g butter, ice water, 2 tbsp sugar, 1/4 tsp salt, 1 cup of flour. Chop the butter finely and freeze for half an hour. Add flour, salt and sugar to the butter, and add as much ice water as needed to quickly make a dough. Return the dough to the fridge until needed.

My first present:

(Appropriate, isn't it?)

Today, it's world-pi-day... which I celebrated with a normal carrotcake and a chocolat carrotcake. So which pie did you bake to celebrate?

A positive side to my new job: the wednesdays aren't so bad anymore... or at least not so bad compared to mondays, tuesdays, thursdays and fridays.

Today I had a pretty good day. We laughed a lot. I didn't feel completely stupid. Even did some usefull things and learned something.

What changed you might ask? Don't know precizely. Don't know if it's just one day or a more permanent effect. I do know I came prepared today... brought pieces of labadorite, citrine and jasper... and the fact I re-read some books in the weekend might helped.

The head of the department: "The last verpleeghuisarts in opleiding has left us, but soon meisje Queck will take over her patients."

"Queck has already started."

"Oww", sort of sees me, "welcome, then."

Most of the time I've got a perfectly functioning internal motivation system (ims). Sometimes this ims isn't enough to keep going, so one has to be creative in motivating oneself...

Today I made a sort of advent calendar. Not to celebrate the days but to count down. Not to Christmas but  to August 31. But the general principle is the same... I've given each day a number, there are about a hundred of them. And I wrapped small presents which I bought or 'discoverd' in the house. At semi-regular intervals I'm allowed to open one small present. (Semi-regular to keep the surprize element in... which is hard to do if you wrapped every gift yourself. )

I hope I've got enough external motivation wrapped...

Day two. What can I say? I think it's just not my cup of tea.

A new job! And what a job, or more precise, what a day.

"What do you do?"
"I'm studying geriatrics to be a nursing home physician."
"So what do you do inside a hospital?"

At 4 pm: "Great, you're early in the afternoon."
Makes me question my working hours...

Hiring my new white coat: "What size are you?"
"Usually a S, sometimes a M"
Trying on the M: ideal for hiding, found several spots inside my sleeve...
Trying on the S: perfect if I wanted to smuggle my husband with me to work!
Trying on the XS: my bathrobe is more flattering...
"Sorry, that's the smallest we have."
"Wtf?"
"We can make some XXS for you if you would like."
(More explanation: I'm a US size 8 (sometimes 10) or UK size 10 (sometimes 12)... which is not "extra extra small" by my standards.)

I think I'm going to have an interesting six months...