On Job Change and Spaghetti Sauce

You and I must be on the same wavelength.  Let's see...dreams of physical anthropology planned and dashed?  Check.  Museum career?  Check.  Current job as a trainer?  Check.  Philosophically waxing about 'dream job?'  Check.  I think I can confidently say that our friendship was meant to be. :)

I have been thinking about my career change too.  While mine was less forced than yours -- we made the choice to move to Salt Lake City -- it did feel forced in a way.  There were no jobs to be had in museums here, save for a gift shop attendant.  I was also looking forward to something that gave me a better work-life balance and something that didn't feel like moving mountain on a day to day basis.  I have now ended up as a trainer teaching soft-skills -- I teach the kind of management skills that I can confidently say did not exist in any of the museums I have worked in.  And yet, ending or shortening my museum career has been disappointing for me too.  I actually wrote in my journal this week about how working in a museum defined my identity for 10 years, and who am I without that?  I think it was the hope and dream of working in a museum that defined my identity, not the actual work.  Because, lord, teaching inaccurate history and booking port-o-potties surely did not mean that much.  

I find myself day dreaming about what my next step will be.  I'm getting to the age where that should probably include a baby...but I find myself day dreaming more about cooking, or reading, or going back to school (gasp!).  I think that I have a long career ahead of me...and do I want to spend the coming years doing what I'm doing now?  And if the answer is no, then how do I make that happen?  My job now requires me to read all sort of pseudo self-help articles and books -- how to change your habits, how to be more efficient, how to have crucial conversations -- and yet I find myself unable to execute even a plan for whatever my next step is. 

You took the strengths-finder test, right?  I've been thinking A LOT about my strengths, and how what I'm doing or what I could be doing will maximize those strengths.  My strengths are:

Learner

Responsibility

Connectedness

Context

Adaptability

So...what that means for me is: I love learning, absorbing material, but I also feel a responsibility to do something about it.  I'm also really good at following through on what I said I would do.  I think this has illuminated why I didn't feel like I was a "good" curator -- I like to move on and learn about new stuff, and I expect that people are as excited as me about the content.  Well, shoot, when you're teaching about how land investors in Phoenix took advantage of a whole slew of different people -- how can visitors get excited about that?  I digress.

What are your strengths, besides baking? How does that relate to what you're doing now, or what you want to do in the future?

And, I'll leave you with a recipe.  Clearly there are TONS of homemade spaghetti sauces out there.  Many of them consist of an extensive amount of ingredients.  I have married into a family that has a passed-down version of spaghetti sauce that is conviently the MOST delicious, and I think one of the most simple to make.  AND it only uses one pot!!  Wonderful.  I make it about once a month, and freeze it in servings for the two of us.  Josh does not like meatballs with pasta (I know, blasphemy!) so I take some out and freeze those separately, because he will eat meatball sandwiches.

Ransco Spaghetti Sauce with Meatballs

1 lb sweet italian sausage (or, whatever spicy-ness level you prefer, preferably uncased)

1 egg

1 cup (I think) italian breadcrumbs

Olive oil

Vegetabil oil

2 28 oz cans tomato puree (even the cheapest kind will still taste good)

2 small cans tomato paste

Salt/Pepper

Combine sausage, egg, and breadcrumbs in a bowl.  A note on the amount of breadcrumbs -- Josh's mom says to eyeball the amount of breadcrumbs so that it matches the amount of meat, meaning just dump in about a third of that can of breadcrumbs.  I come from the school of carefully making your own breadcrumbs, or at least using panko, but in this recipe, the can of flavored breadcrumbs worked wonderfully, and the eliminates the need to add in all sorts of other stuff.

Form meat mixture into meatballs, you'll probably get about 25, depending on the size.  Pour about an inch or so of mixture of olive oil and vegetable oil in your stock pot, or whatever large pot you have, and heat over medium heat.  You want the oil very hot so that when the meatballs cook when you drop them in, not absorb a bunch of oil.  I wait until I can the little lines forming in the oil (not sure of the scientific reason).

Drop the meatballs in, and cook for about 10 minutes, turning to ensure browning.  You're just browning the meatballs, not cooking them through.  Scoop out the meatballs one they are brown.

Pour in canned tomato puree and stir. Bring to a boil, and lower to simmer.  Return meatballs to pot and cook for at least 1.5 hours.  I cook it until I realize I've cooked it for 2.5.  Seems not to matter!!  Stir every once in a while to ensure the bottom doesn't brown.

So, the ingredients are really really simple, and every time I make the sauce I have the urge to add fresh herbs, garlic, whatever.  I resist the urge because as written, the recipe is so good.  But, if you feel the need, add stuff!  Its a flexible and forgiving recipe.