What a week.

Ups and downs and ups and downs. So many feelings. Grossness.

Let's take for example frustration with students which led to maybe a little bit of vengeance in having them call their parents in the middle of the school day, which then led to one set of parents coming down to the school to eviscerate their son in front of me, the teacher. This led to a mixture of pity, pleasure, sadness, and self-satisfaction. I think it was a success, but I also worry that I might not have wanted to open that window quite so wide.

But that wasn't it. There were friend-things, work-things, other-summer-work-things, on top of my endless pile of general things. It's a never ending barrage of things. 

And it's going on and on and on...

***

So okay, here are things I made this week that made it pretty excellent:

• Mujadara. Amazing. I used red lentils which broke down, but I think I liked it even more as sort of a creamy goop than separate lentils and rice. It tasted amazing--hearty, slightly sweet, a little earthy. Hard to imagine there are only three ingredients and they're all super cheap. Definitely going in regular rotation. Accompanied by a salad and a little bread--this shit is a real meal.
• This fake Manti which also goes in the category of cheap, easy, and delicious. Mine was a little tarnished by some odd tasting beef--it was local and grassfed and I wonder if some cows weren't eating some onion grass or something. It's just a little off. But otherwise, the flavor profile is amazing. Garlicky, yet tangy. Also, introducing me to paprika butter is dangerous. 
• Kale + caramelized onions + gruyere quiche. My crust was a flop, but the filling was amazing. Luckily the crust was so thick you could really eat around it (ugh). But it's official: 3 eggs to 1 cup heavy cream is the only way to do quiche.
• Strawberry rhubarb jam. This recipe I adapted... about 2.5 cups of rhubarb and strawberries each, 1.5 cup of white sugar and 1.5 cup sucanat, 1.5 lemons juice. I don't care for rhubarb--I didn't grow up with and generally dislike sour flavors, so I folded it in with the strawberries. This jam is perhaps too sweet, but it is very yummy. I'm not entirely sure how to use it all, though toast and peanut butter sandwiches will do for now.