Here's an example:
About a month ago, I started looking for an internship, a required part of my program. I flipped through the newspaper, scoured the internet, and racked my brain to come up with a good list of places to apply to. I made a big spreadsheet of all the possibilities.
About three weeks ago, I met with my advisor to talk about it. I told her what I thought I wanted, handed over the spreadsheet, and made plans to talk to her again in two weeks.
Lo and behold, just a couple of days later she and another professor in the department came up with a project that needed a writer. Later that week I attended a meeting, met the team, and became the latest addition. I'm now working on a consulting project for the local children's hospital with a team of design students and faculty. It's not something that I thought I'd be doing in a million years, but here I am using my writing skills for a worthy cause. It's a great feeling when everything works out better than expected.
This is a bit of a forced segue, but I'm going to say that "better than expected" is also a phrase that could be used to describe my latest culinary adventure: boneless buffalo wings.
I have been craving wings for at least two weeks now. That, combined with Superbowl Sunday, is what prompted me to try my hand at making them. I skimmed through a lot of recipes online, compiled the important parts, and came up with this. The measurements may not be exact, but the results are delicious. Oh, and it's a one-person meal (so you don't have to share!).
Boneless Buffalo Wings
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| Assemble the ingredients. The egg is raw, by the way--that's just the milk making it look like a cooked white! |
1 boneless chicken breast or 2 chicken tenders
1/2 cup Bisquick (I used low fat)
1/4 cup breadcrumbs
Salt, pepper, paprika
1 egg
2 tbsp milk
Cooking spray
Hot sauce, like Frank's Red Hot
Butter
Steps
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces. In a baggie, combine the Bisquick, breadcrumbs, salt, pepper, and paprika (or your preferred blend of spices). In a bowl, beat together the egg and milk.
2. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray and set it near your work station.
3. Add half of the chicken pieces to the baggie, close it, and shake until coated. Remove the pieces and add them to the egg mixture; turn with a fork to coat. Put the pieces back in the baggie and coat them with a second layer of the Bisquick mixture. Repeat with the rest of the chicken.
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| I baked mine in the toaster oven, hence the tiny tray. |
[Tip: I always find it helpful to have a "chicken hand" and a "clean hand" when doing this. Use your chicken hand to handle the raw meat, and your clean hand to handle things like the fork and the baggie. That way only one of your hands gets coated in batter!]
4. Arrange the chicken pieces on the baking sheet. Put the tray in the oven and bake the wings for about 5 minutes on each side (more or less depending on how big they are--watch them carefully). As you can see, I baked mine a little too long!
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| A couple of chicks who spent too long in the tanning bed! |
5. Prepare the sauce while the wings are baking. Place about a tablespoon of butter/margarine/whatever you like in a bowl with whatever amount of hot sauce looks good to you. Microwave the bowl until the butter has melted and then stir it all up. Taste the sauce and adjust if needed.
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| Before. You can use whatever hot sauce you want-- but let's be real, go with Frank's. |
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| After. It looks a bit like tomato soup. |
6. When your wings are done, add them to the sauce and toss to coat. Garnish with veggies and serve with a side of light ranch.
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| I had a salad to go with my junk food too, I swear! |
