All posts by Rebecca Michelle

Educator, traveler, reader, blogger. Loves learning, black coffee, and friendly people.
On My Mind

So little time!

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Two weeks since my last post – yikes, sorry about that!

In the last two weeks I’ve finished the school year with a wonderful group of students and said goodbyes to my colleagues and friends from the past three years. I left my school with my desk empty, my arms full of boxes, and my heart a jumble of emotions.

Now that my exams are graded, sealed, and stored, I’ve been spending most of my time figuring out everything I need to do because leaving for Malaysia on August 20. The ever-growing to-do list includes the following:

  • Figure out bank account
  • Figure out cell phone
  • Get rid of old clothes
  • Store winter clothes
  • Buy new summer work clothes
  • Get rid of “stuff”
  • Sell car
  • Pack things to save here
  • Move out of apartment
  • Store furniture
  • Visit relatives
  • Make money at summer job
  • Pack things to go to Malaysia
  • Go over teaching resources for my new school
  • Learn new curriculum
  • Try not to panic

Etc.

Confession: I like to make lists and systematically go through them and check off tasks. I do not like waiting until the last minute. There’s a lot of waiting until the last minute going on here, and it’s driving me up a wall. I can’t get rid of my cell phone until I sell my car, and I can’t sell my car until I leave my apartment, which I can’t do until I pack all my things into boxes that either go to Goodwill or into my car to move to storage (at my parents’ house and Mitch’s mum’s house), which I can’t do until the beginning of August because there’s so much more to do between now and then!

Try not to panic. Check.

Recipes

Recipe Box: Tzatziki

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Tzatziki is a dish of Middle Eastern origin that is often served as a side dish with pita, as a topping to other Middle Eastern dishes, like falafel and shawarma, or as part of a mezze selection. I made tzatziki tonight to accompany vegan shawarma (made with seitan), homemade dill pickles, and a chickpea-based Israeli-style salad. If all of that means nothing to you, try this: I cooked with a bunch of fresh vegetables and Middle Eastern spices, which is probably my favorite way to cook.

As an educator, I’m a process-oriented person, so my photos for today depict the process of making tzatziki rather than the finished product. Tzatziki is made with yogurt and dill (in my version) among other things, so it looks prettier unfinished. For the finished product, picture white yogurt with green flecks. (….Yum….)

On the way to becoming tzatziki
On the way to becoming tzatziki

What are all those ingredients, you ask? Good question.

You’ll need . . .
6oz plain Greek yogurt
1 cucumber, grated and drained
2 cloves garlic, minced
Zest of one lemon
Juice of half a lemon
2 tbsp freshly chopped dill
Kosher salt
Black pepper

Whisk together first 6 ingredients. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Chill and serve.

Kitchen gadgets that I used while putting this together
Kitchen gadgets that I used while putting this together

Enjoy!

New York, On My Mind

Solitude

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There’s a beautiful trellis behind my house. It sits up against the fence that separates our yard from the garage of the house next door. As a tenant in the front apartment, I spend my time on the porch rather than the back lawn. That’s in the lease, unfortunately. But when I get home from work in the afternoons, often before anyone else, and when the sun is shining, there’s no one to prevent me from spending a few moments with our secret garden.

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