What is 842 recipes till tenure? It is a personal
reflection, a thought piece, and an experiment all rolled into one. Cooking
keeps me sane. Cooking is joy and love, and forgiveness and self exploration.
And I need plenty of that these days.
The idea of the blog developed during my first two years on
the tenure track. I might lack time for vacuuming, but there was always time
for new recipes. I mixed writing lectures with looking at food blogs, read
articles while waiting for bread to rise or bake, and went through slides while
stirring risotto. And I like challenges. I had originally planned, after
treating Advice for New faculty Members and Life on the Tenure Track
practically as religious books during my first year, to write a book. Provide a
female perspective on being on the tenure track at a highly ranked US
institution. It was called 8 articles in
500 miles, summarizing my two goals for the year: to write 8 articles and run
500 miles. In a year.
Well, that didn’t happen. What did happen was painting my
apartment, writing 3 articles, running 276 miles, sustaining a knee injury that
took 4 months of physical therapy to heal, building a lab, prepping 3 new
courses, and getting 2 new assays to work.
Oh, and I meet B, and we got involved, and suddenly, the 8 articles and
500 miles in a year no longer seemed as important as couple dinners, cooking
and eating together, and giant piles of cuddles on the couch with the cat,
watching Big Bang Theory.
Year 2, I decided to extend the goal from year 1, because
even if it took me 2 years to write 8 papers and run 500 miles, that was still
decent. However, a chance conversation in the hallway right at the end of year
1 lead to a brand new, shiny collaboration and project that would rapidly
consume me. The missing 5 papers? They went on hold: instead I wrote nearly a
dozen grants and 3 IRBs and did 3 new preps for the year. And the papers? It
worked out to only 3 for the year, submitted that summer. And cooking? Sometimes it worked – a friend
got an amazing chocolate cake for his birthday. But B’s cake ingredients sat
around until we finally drank the Guinness.
I did make the rest of the 500 miles though, thanks to a grueling
training regime that was NOT ENOUGH for high altitude.
But, this puts us into Year 3 on the tenure track, or the
midpoint in my pre-tenure years. I decided to pick back up the idea of the
book. Except to write a blog, not a book. Because a book is static and a blog
is evolving and fresh – and allows for increased dialogue. I cook because I
love cooking, because at a very rough part of my life, it was something
clarifying. And I will try to make anything, because failing in the kitchen
doesn’t scare me. In terms of how I did
my first 2 years on the tenure track, I want to tell you not enough. But I know
from reading some excellent blogs over the summer, that that is probably
Imposter Syndrome and I am doing pretty well. I also have a yearly review
letter that says I am doing pretty well.
Still, I would never claim to be an expert on how to be successful on
the tenure track. Here is more a record of how to survive, and be happy, and at
the least, be well fed.
The idea for 842 recipes until tenure came from the goal to
write 842 recipes before tenure. The number was decided for me. 842 is B’s
track ID number, and he has two giant 842 magnets for the car.
When not on the car, they live on the fridge. It was a natural progression from
the giant suggestion on the fridge to the new challenge: 842 recipes before
tenure. Most of the recipes featured will be the first time I try them, with
notes on whether or not it worked. Most recipes will be coupled with reflection
on the events surrounding the food. Few, if any will be my own creation. The
creativity I have is poured into science. The experiments I do are in the lab.
When I post a kitchen session, I will include a link to the website the recipe
is from if possible, or a link to the cookbook.
There will be some recipes that I have done before, during years 1 and
2, that are new favorites and were worth making again and again.
If you came for science, that is the other blog HERE. If you
came for food, recipes, and life on the tenure track, then this is the right
place for you. It’ll be fun, and frustrating and hopefully quite pleasant for
all of us. And yes, I will discuss work and science some here too. I can’t help
myself. I'm also going to do 842 miles, because you know, I just can't help myself.
