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Location: Work.
Yearning For: An ergonomically correct chair. *ouch*
Listening: "Allentown" ~ Billy Joel.

Received an email this morning on the company-wide distribution list from the new CEO. Apparently, the efforts taken to cut costs over the past few months have been effective, but not effective enough. Corporate is currently examining what they call "redundant facilities" in the DC, Atlanta, and Long Beach offices in preparation for consolidation maneuvers. Another round of "reductions" will begin within the next few weeks and might not end before the Christmas season. I'm reserving comment for the moment, except to say that I'm not completely surprised. I also won't be completely surprised if my supervisors (who are all based in Atlanta) request that Hitoshi and I transfer to Georgia.

*sigh*

In other news, Monday night was semi-successful. I came home and threw a load of laundry in, then set about making dinner while Peter unwound with EverQuest. I made Pouch Chicken for the third time and, once again, it turned out very well. I found the recipe in The Joy Of Cooking in the "Poultry" section. I think its title is actually something along the lines of "Chicken Breasts With Sun-Dried Tomatoes and Olives Cooked in Foil". Roughly, one seasons boneless, skinless chicken breasts with salt and pepper, spoons a mixture of olive oil, sun-dried tomatoes, and kalamata olives over them, folds them into little foil pouches and pops them into the oven for about twenty minutes. When the pouches are slit open, the chicken is incredibly tender and juicy. The first two times I made Pouch Chicken, I followed the standard recipe; Monday night, I experimented with barbecue sauce instead of the tomato-olive compote. Using a bottle of Kraft Barbecue Sauce as a base, I added apple vinegar, honey, paprika, brown sugar, dry rub seasonings, Dijon mustard, and a splash of Peter's Sam Adams. I boiled the mixture down to a thick glaze and coated the breast pieces with it before wrapping them. The result was good, but I was a little disappointed that the sauce seemed to "cook away", leaving very little of its flavor in the meat. I've decided to marinate the chicken next time and see what happens. I served the breasts with green beans (canned--I wanted to get fresh and steam them, but there wasn't enough time) with lemon pepper and a touch of butter. Peter wolfed down his plate and then went looking for more. Fortunately, the breasts I had bought at Bristol Farms on Sunday were huge; I bought two, but was able to split each of them into two nicely-sized pieces. All in all, a yummy dinner, if I do say so myself.

While eating, we watched "The Daily Show" (Jon rules!) and then Trekkies on DVD.