i think i kind of want to a do an m.p.a (masters of public administration.) it seems the logical next step in order for me to continue in the life of a public servant. i'm doing some research on some programs now. u of t has the best looking one (read: touted as "interdisciplinary" aka bird-course lagerfeld coast-mode-ville) but it's not really geared towards working professionals. york has one that you can do entirely online, but...it's york. the u of t one is SUPER wishy washy and you get an internship out of it (writing grant applications, research papers, policy reports.) it seems like the best application of my academic skills/leanings to my increasingly capitalist philosophies (ie. wanting a house.)
we saw a couple of more places tonight. one was listed today and there's ALREADY a few offers on it. it's crazy. this market is insane.
tonight for dinner i made us pho, with a pork stock made from bones simmering with star anise, garlic, black peppercorns, and onion bits for a full 24 hours in my trusty slow cooker. i bought sliced frozen beef from the chinese grocery store, defrosted it and stuck it in the bottom of a colander. i cooked off some rice noodles in a pot of boiling water and then dumped the noodles and all the boiling water into the colander to kind of par-cook the beef a bit. i wanted to set aside some stock for maybe making ramen or for freezing, so i didn't use it all for the pho. the stuff i did use i doctored up to taste even more vietnamese with some sliced ginger, soy, fish sauce, a few pieces of bashed up lemongrass and a decent hand with salt to make up for the loss of msg. i added bean sprouts, thai basil, and lime wedges to the bowl. it was a reasonable approximation but still not quite there. the bean sprouts were very raw, wet and basement tasting (you know how bean sprouts can taste like basement sometimes???) so they kind of overpowered the dish. i think next time i'll skip it and add a bit more salt. pretty good for a first attempt though. the stock was ace. i threw it in the fridge to make skimming the fat easier and it came out a quivering, gelatinous mass. BEST!
tomorrow we're getting up early and heading to upstate new york. i have the day off so we're heading into town to check out sites for the ceremony and we're going to see my niece's dance recital and do a mother's day thing with my mom at the conesus inn. they're known for their prime rib. i'm known for eating prime rib. it's a match made in heaven.
the dotytron and i are going to get our cross border shopping done during the day tomorrow and then hopefully brave the rough side of rochester to eat a garbage plate at nick tahou's hots and go to the great house of guitars with the dotytron. my sis it out of town during the day so we're going to the mother's day tea at my niece and nephew's nursery school. i'm super stoked to sit in little wee chairs and eat graham crackers and apple juice with all the other moms! the dotytron is pumped as well!
big weekend ahead of us...time to call it.
fin.
