An SAP Good-bye

I'm in TN this week.  The rousing metropolis of Smyrna, TN, to be exact.  Famous for Nissan, Sam Davis, a Confederate hero who gave his life rather than divulge information to Northerners from the Union Army, Sam Ridley, who was mayor of Smyrna for 40 years, and as of 2007, named by U.S. News and World Report as one of the best places in the United States to retire.

I'm not here to retire.  I'm here to wish a work associate/colleague/SAP mentor/friend good-bye and best wishes.  His last day with our company is Friday, and so our big send off is Thursday.  After 29 years with this company, he is moving on.  To Pittsburgh.  To a new opportunity using his SAP skills.

I'm not gonna lie.  I am going to miss this man.  Period.  No other person in our company sends me more emails or receives more emails from me.  I told our boss, M, today on the drive down that it could be weeks before I stop typing in "P" in Outlook to include him in an email.

Don't get me wrong.  I'm happy for him and his beautiful wife, T.  She touched me deeply a day or two after he announced their move that I was one person she really wanted to see before they left.  A lump forms in my throat even now as I type this.

But just because I'm happy for him doesn't mean I'm not going to miss him.

And yet, such is the nature of the work we do.  The SAP world is somewhat of a sub-culture all its own.

For those who don't know, SAP is a computer system that companies run to integrate their purchasing with their manufacturing with their quality with their warehouse with their sales orders with their finances.  That is WAAAAY over simplifying it, but like most any computer system, it needs knowledgeable people to get it going (commonly called "implementation") and to keep it running (commonly called "support").  And since knowledgeable people are in demand, many times we will only work together for a few short months or maybe a couple of years before the next project or assignment or opportunity comes along.

The people who "do SAP" are the ones who make up this SAP world.  We have our own language and if you've been in it long enough, you learn the secret handshake.

I haven't been in it long enough to learn the secret handshake.  But I speak the language pretty well these days.  Words like "integration" and "testing" and "transport" and acronyms like "ABAP" and "MRP" and "PIR" and "PIR" (different acronyms, I promise you) and "MM" and "FI" and "QM" and "WM" and "SD" and table names like "MARA" and "MARC" (pronounced by some as "mark" and by others as "mar-see") and MARM" and "AFKO" and "EKKO" and "EINE" and "MCHB" are all part of my normal vernacular these days.

And I'm not alone in that!  Lots of people all around the world speak this language!  Some even know the secret handshake.

Maybe someday I'll learn that, too.

But for now, for today, I have different lessons to learn.

Lessons about saying another SAP good-bye.  P's good-bye this week isn't my first.  And won't be my last. I have said "hello" and "good-bye" to quite a few SAP folks over the last 6 years of my life.  Good people.  People who have taught me a lot.

People like T, an MM consultant who taught me the ropes of MM.

And people like A, a PP consultant who taught me the ropes of PP.

But there's another lesson I am continuing to learn.  An SAP good-bye is rarely a "break-up," if you will.  It can be a break-up - I've had a few of those - where we don't even declare that "we'll just be friends" - but most are more like "I'm moving on, but let's stay in touch."  That has been true with T and A, that I mention above.  It's also been true with T, a lady who used to do WM with our same company.

It's been true of C, who was a member of our implementation team, and who knows exactly who I'm talking about when I say "Mary Poppins" or "His Royal Highness, King H - Duke of the Smart Ass, Defender of the Specdom."  Sometimes, nicknames are your only way to cope with an SAP project.  That and a good visit to The Melting Pot.

It's been true with B, who taught me the ins and outs of capacity planning within SAP.  In each of these cases - and many more in my life - I can pick up the phone, send an email or text, contact on Facebook, whatever - and seek out their help with an SAP issue or question.  Or in the case of C, discuss the ins and outs of a good butter sauce.  By and large, most SAP people are eager to help each other out, to help each other learn and grow in their skills, to not harbor their knowledge but to instead share it so others can learn.

And it will be true of P.  Even though he is leaving, and I will need to learn a new email address, I have every confidence that we will stay in touch - that we aren't "breaking up" but moving into a new stage of our SAP colleague life.  And that helps to make saying this good-bye easier.  Yes, I have a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes as I type this.  Yes, I am afraid that I'm not "ready" in my SAP skills for P to move on.  But I know he will only be a phone call or email away to talk me off the ledge, to interpret or speak Smyrna Bubba for me or to share a victory because we got our PLCs to talk to our SAP system for more timely inventory updates.

And maybe...just maybe...if we stay in touch long enough, he will teach me the secret handshake.

Good-bye P.  You have taught me more than I can articulate in this post.  You have talked me off the ledge more than once.  You have given me insights into so many things, both on and off the job.  You speak Bubba better than anyone I know.  I never envisioned when I sat down next to you that first day we met that you and I would work so closely together or that I would dedicate an entire blog post to you.  But I wouldn't have traded a moment of the last 6 years of working together.  The absolute best of everything to you and your wife.  May God richly bless you both in your new life.

Love,
D

Baking Friday - Cookie # 1 - On Wednesday

That's right.  It's Wednesday, and I'm publishing a Baking Friday post.

Not a "What's for Dinner Julia?" post.

But a Baking Friday post.

And there will still be a Baking Friday - Cookie - post on Friday.  Only it will be Cookie # 2, but it's still the first Baking Friday - Cookie Friday, so it will really be Cookie # 1B.

So that means I should re-title this post to Baking Friday - Cookie # 1A.

And my "What's for Dinner Julia?" post for this week should really be a "What's for Dinner, Helen" post about the macaroni and cheese that I made on Monday night, but that's a whole 'nother story.  And won't be posted this week.

Are you confused yet?

I'm sorry.  Have a cookie.  It will make you feel better.

That was really the ugliest one in the bunch, so I'm sure you don't feel less confused yet, so please have another.  A prettier one.

Are you feeling better yet?  How about if I give you hugs and kisses?  Will that be better?  Can we be friends again?

Oh bother!  I forgot to get you a glass of milk.  I am so bad.  Sigh.

These little gems are Strawberry Valentine Cookies from Taste of Home.  And get this!  The strawberry flavor comes from Nestle Quick.  Strawberry Nestle Quick, of course, instead of the chocolate Nestle Quick, but I just couldn't believe these would taste good, so I had to try them.

And they did.  Taste good, I mean.  I was wrong.  They were soft and bendy and sweet and delicious.  I was happy to be wrong!

These are super easy.  Super easy.  Below are the ingredients, and if you are like me, when you first read "1/3 cup strawberry drink mix", you think Kool-Aid.  And you wouldn't be alone in thinking this, because the comments from people who've tried these clearly thought the same thing.  But that makes the cookies too red, too tart, too wrong.

So use the Nestle Strawberry Quick, and everyone will be happy.

How many years has it been since I bought Nestle Quick?  Any flavor of Nestle Quick?  Did I even have it in the house when my kids were little?  I don't believe so.  Probably the last time I bought a can of Nestle Quick, it was the old style can with the whole in the middle and the round top that you'd pry open with a spoon.  Anyone else remember those?

This one.  Remember it?

Crickets????

Where is my cane?

Ok, so back to the recipe..

Ingredients

For cookies

2/3 cup of softened butter

2/3 cup of sugar

1 egg

1 T. lemon juice

2 t. vanilla

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/3 cup strawberry drink mix (Nestle' Quick for milk)

2 t. baking powder

1/2 t. salt

For glaze

1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 t. shortening

For frosting

1/3 c. softened butter

2 T. strawberry drink mix (same as above)

1/8 t. salt

3 c. powdered sugar

3 - 5 T. milk

I did not use this frosting recipe.  I used a more standard butter cream and tinted it pink, because I was afraid that the Nestle Strawberry Quick in the frosting might be overkill, but I could easily be wrong.

I creamed the butter and the sugar until light and fluffy, and then added the egg and lemon juice. 

Then I mixed all of the dry ingredients together...

...and lo and behold!  The dough was pink!

I chilled it overnight, and then rolled it out the next morning.  It was very easy dough to work with and cut with cookie cutters.  The dough even held onto the cookie cutter for transferring to the parchment lined cookie sheet, if you know what I mean.

On rolling surface....

On cookie sheet!  (Easy, schmeezy!)

I baked them at 350 for 8 - 10 minutes and then let them cool on the parchment paper.  I cut big ones...

...and I cut little ones...

...plus one round quality taste test one from the last of the dough that you see in the lower corner.  G was my quality taste tester sometime during the day on Monday.  He approved.

Then Monday evening I melted up the glaze in the microwave and dipped the little ones and glazed the big ones.  Only I ran out of the chocolate glaze, so I melted some white chocolate and glazed four with that.

I also had one broken heart.  And if you look closely you will see glimpses of Cookie # 1B...

I let the glaze harden and then I add the finishing touches of pink butter cream.

These make me smile all over again just looking at them.  Can we say Happy Valentine's Day early?

I packed them up with Cookie # 1B (again only glimpses until Friday!) and took them into work on Tuesday instead of Thursday since I won't be in that office on Thursday.  Hence we have Baking Friday - Cookie # 1A on Wednesday instead of What's for Dinner Julia? (of Helen?) on Wednesday.

Are you confused again?  Need another cookie?

Good!  Come back on Friday for Cookie # 1B!  Those taste even better than these!

Seeya then!

Baking Friday - Bread # 1

Scones!

Triple Chocolate Scones.  Vanilla Bean Scones.

Decisions.  Decisions.  Which one?  Both, of course!

Even though there isn't a heart or a spec of red on either version, each would make your Valentine feel valentine'd. (I have this on good authority.  Two people have said so.)  Especially served for breakfast with a cup of coffee and maybe some strawberries or raspberries on the side and a rose or two nearby.

I took that tray above to work yesterday, and they were gone by 9:10.  Most folks took a half of each, but the chocolate definitely went first.

The chocolate aren't as sweet overall as the vanilla bean, but the flavor boost is much higher.  One person said that the chocolate were amazing, but the vanilla bean were good - maybe too sweet for his taste.  All of the comments were positive.  I added a touch (3 drops) of orange oil to the liquid ingredients of the vanilla bean and discriminating palettes picked up on the citrus - ranging from, "I taste citrus" to a "dancing plethora of citrus and vanilla on the palette."  I will let you guess which quote was from my son-in-law, K, who has a penchant for words himself.  My son, S, said that he'd never had a chocolate scone, and his preference for scones are the fall flavors - spice, pumpkin, etc. - and that the chocolate as a little brownie like for him.  (I am still trying to figure out if that is a good thing or a bad thing.)  Even my daughter, B, ate some of a vanilla bean one - which says a lot, because while she is a white food eater, she isn't always open to trying new things.  I have one other quote, and then we will move on to the recipes.  One friend at work tried the two together in one bite, and this is his quote:  "when you try them together, the chocolate flavor is there but less intense, the scone flavor is throughout and the vanilla flavor is a nice end."  You would, of course, have to make both to try this experiment yourself, but they aren't hard, so you could.  And then your Valentine would feel extra valentine'd!  And that would be a very good thing, so go for it!

I've known for the last couple of weeks that I was going to do the Triple Chocolate.  I thought about making the heart shaped, but I like to handle scones as little as possible and didn't want the pursuit of heart shape to over-handle the dough.  So I decided to stick to the standard wedge shape.

But then I knew we were getting together with Papa S and Mama J last night - the same day as I'd be baking these scones - so Papa S could teach A how to shave...her face...um...

...and so J-man could give out kisses.

I do believe A got more kisses from J-man than Mimi last night.  We may have to talk about this.  But then A would simply argue that I sent more pecan brittle to her mother for Christmas than I gave to A, so J-man has her back and is just making up for that failure on my part.

And I would be hard pressed to argue against that logic....

But back to our story.  I knew we would be getting together last night, so I either needed to make a second batch of the Triple Chocolate or another flavor.  And I had been wanting to try Pioneer Woman's Vanilla Bean Scones for quite some time now, so chose another flavor.  However what I really wanted to try about her recipe was the glaze, and since I like a fluffier scone, I decided to put her glaze with a KAF scone.  This is a basic scone recipe that you can modify any number of ways as shown in the link and comments.  I won't make you crazy with pics from making both recipes, so I will simply let you peruse both of the above links to get the basic idea of what I did plus these few bullets:

• Glaze - did PW's recipe, using cream and 2% milk since I never have whole on hand
• Scone - used a vanilla bean and 3 drops of orange oil as the flavoring with the milk
• Scone - did not add any chips, fruit or nuts option
• Glazing - since the KAF scone is fluffier and not as thin as PW's, I did not dunk the whole thing in the glaze, because they were starting to fall apart a bit when I dunked just the top and sides

Do you combine recipes a lot?  I do it a lot.  A lot.  I rarely follow a single recipe that I find, but more often will combine what I think are the best parts of two or even three recipes when I'm cooking.

Here's two close ups of the vanilla bean before I spend the rest of our time together on the Triple Chocolate.

Right out of the oven...

...and now all glazed and ready to eat.  Can you see the specks of vanilla bean paste?  Yea, baby!  That's the good stuff!  (Extra points if you now have that country song in your head!)

And now for our Triple Chocolate recipe and steps.  This is also a KAF recipe.  This is the link and below is the paste of the ingredients.  I pretty much followed this recipe as stated, but I didn't follow the instructions exactly.  What are we gonna do with me???  Just call me a Recipe Rebel.  (Ooo, I like that name!)

Scones

• 2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 2/3 cup King Arthur White Whole Wheat Flour or Premium Whole Wheat Flour
• 1/3 cup Dutch-process cocoa
• 1/2 teaspoon espresso powder, optional for flavor and color
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup (8 tablespoons) cold butter, cut into pats
• 1 1/2 cups semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• 3/4 cup milk or liquid whey (the liquid drained from yogurt)

Glaze

• 2/3 cup semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup half & half or liquid coffee creamer

I like to use my food processor when making scones.  I know some of you just gasped when you read that, and I know - there is a risk of over-handling the dough. 

"You don't want to cut with cookie cutters for fear of over-handling the dough, but you'll use a food processor?!"  

Valid question.  Please don't walk out on me just yet.  I don't over mix the dough; I "pulse" rather than push the "on" button.  And I have a lot of success.  The scones come out fluffy and soft and not dry.  (I'm not a dry scone fan, sorry.  If you are, that's fine; I just prefer a softer, thicker, fluffier, moister scone.)

Wanna see?

I put the dry ingredients in the bowl of the food processor (including the white whole wheat - so see?  These are healthy scones!)  Never mind the stick of butter on top there.  

I pulsed the butter in...

...and then added the liquid ingredients (milk, egg and almond since I'm about out of vanilla extract).

I pulsed again, until the dough almost came together.  This is where you can easily over mix in a food processor so err on the side of under mixing rather than over mixing.

I dumped it out on the board (should be dusted with a confectioner's sugar (3 T.) and cocoa (1 t.) mixture) and then added the mini chocolate chips.  I mixed these in by hand.

I shaped the dough into two 6-inch circles...(you can see the powdered sugar/cocoa mixture on the surface)

...and then cut in wedges. (I did 8 wedges instead of 6 since I wanted them a bit smaller.)  I embellished the surface with a few more chocolate chips and some chopped up white chocolate before sliding them into the freezer for about 30 minutes.  This freezer resting time is called for in a number of KAF scone recipes (not this one) but I find that it helps the dough relax and bake up fluffier, so I did it on this recipe, too.

Finally I baked them at 375 for about 20 minutes or until they looked like this and tested clean with a tester.

These could be eaten just like this, but this is for a valentine, so you gotta include the chocolate glaze!  (I do not ever have coffee creamer on hand, so I just used 1/2 and 1/2.)  And since I had the vanilla bean glaze made, too, I drizzled a bit of that over the chocolate.  (I'm bad like that.)

And some would say that I coulda/shoulda stopped there.  But I had more mini chocolate chips and white chocolate on hand so I had to add those!

And NOW I will declare these ready to share with your valentine and enjoy!

Hope this inspires you to bake up something special for your sweetie and your family.  (No need to wait till Valentine's Day either!)

Thanks for stopping by!  Next week is cookie....and I have a plan there I'm getting excited about, too!

Love,

Deb

What's for Dinner, Julia? Oignons Farcis Au Riz

How is your French?

Could you tell that was Onions Stuffed with Rice, Cheese and Herbs?

Good for you!  I knew I was blogging to the gifted class!

These.  Are yummy.  I would do these again.  Especially for a pretty cheap, easy vegetable that looks kinda fancy.  And chances are you have everything on hand already.  No special ingredients here, plus there is lots of room for substitutions if you need.  Out of Parm?  No worries.  Substitute whatever cheese you have on hand.  Out of one of the herbs?  Use thyme or whatever you have on hand.  Out of beef stock?  No problem - you can always use chicken or vegetable stock or even water, but add a clove or two of garlic to boost up the flavor a bit.

Serve these on a Monday night to your neighborhood association committee members, and they will ask with delightful anticipation, "Ooo!  What is that?!"

Once they have added their honey mustard pretzel chicken and salad to the plate, the stuffed onion adds a rather special yet rustic, gourmet feel to the overall presentation.

And they aren't hard at all!  The most difficult part is hollowing out the onions.  Julia says to use a grapefruit knife, and I'm sure she is right, but I don't have a grapefruit knife.

Nor do I have a grapefruit spoon.

Please note.  I have a cranberry spoon, but I do not have a grapefruit spoon.

In case you wondered about my values, I clearly value and serve cranberries more than grapefruit.

I'm sure this explains a lot to some food psychologist somewhere, but I'm not yet sure what.

So back to the hollowing out of the onions.  You begin by removing the root and stem and peel of the onion.

Note:  keep the things on the left, pitch the things on the right.

Then you cut a cone from the middle with a sharp paring knife - even if you have a grapefruit knife.  

Isn't that a cute onion cone at the top?  I think so.  Note: keep the cone.  You will use it.

Now you take your grapefruit knife that you don't have, or your grapefruit spoon that you don't have or your regular spoon that you do have (your cranberry spoon won't help you here) and dig out that cute little middle stem and the middle of the onion, leaving the bottom and sides intact.

That is IF you can leave the bottom intact.  Oops!  But we're all friends here so I can show you my oopses.  (Yes, that is a word, I'm sure of it.)

Julia tells us to boil these onion cups for about 10 - 15 minutes.  I boiled the oops onion a bit less, since it had more "cup" and less "sides" than the others.

And once you take the onions out and let them drain, you add about 1/3 cup of rice to the boiling water and let it partially cook - about 15 minutes - and drain the rice, too.

Meanwhile, we saute the onion innards in butter and add some Parmesan cheese, cream, bread crumbs (I used Panko) parsley, oregano, basil, sage.  Add the rice when it is done and correct the seasoning.

Then you stuff this yummy goodness into your onion cups, ready to bake for a while.

Drizzle the onions with a little olive oil or butter and then add some white wine and beef stock to the dish to then bake at 375 for about 1 to 1-1/4 hours, basting every 10 - 15 minutes or so.  I half baked them on Sunday evening and then finished them up on Monday.  

They smell WONDERFUL when they are baking!  B came into the kitchen and asked what she smelled.  She wondered if they were a different kind of bread, and that came partly from the yeasty wine aromas when the oven door was open for basting.  

And I think they taste really good, too!  The filling is the best part, no doubt, but the onions are sweet and tender.  See?

I have some leftover stuffing that I put in a separate ramekin that I will bake for another dinner this week.  I am looking forward to that, too!

If you are interested in the honey mustard pretzel chicken, I essentially followed this recipe from blogger,

Cinnamon Spice and Everything Nice.  This was tender and juicy and quite tasty as well without being too salty.  

Not bad for a Monday night dinner!  Thanks again, Julia!

Mimi and J-man Time!

I got to spend yesterday with this flirt.

"I'm cute, aren't I, Mimi?"

Yes, yes J-man, you are.

"Mommy and Daddy like my cheesy grin.  Do you like it, too, Mimi?"

Yes, yes, J-man, I like it, too.

"Look what I can do now!  What's inside here, Mimi?"

Yes, yes, J-man, you are growing very fast.  It's a good thing that when you come to Mimi's house, I don't have to do anything else but watch you, so you can't get into drawers that you shouldn't.

 "What's this, Grandpa G? Can I play with this?  Ha-ha!  I'm so funny!"

Yes, yes, J-man, you can play with GG's calculator.  And yes, you are so funny!

And you are growing so well, J-man.  Here, would you like to play with this piece of crumpled up paper?

"Oh!  That makes a fun sound, GG!  Yes, I will play with this!"

Look at you, J-man!  Do you realize what you did there?

"What?  Hang on!  I have to hold onto the love seat before I fall."

Yes, yes, J-man, but for a couple of seconds there, you were standing by yourself.

"What's that?"

Yes, yes, J-man, just keep growing like you have been, and you'll be able to answer your own question very soon - before we even know it.  We will do our best not to blink and miss a moment.

Love,
Mimi

PS - see I can talk about something other than food!  Sigh of relief.  I was starting to wonder...