Every profession has its uniqueness. Mine lies in the diversity of people I meet every semester; and the deliberate, well-planned strategies that have to be forged in order to penetrate their trust-zones – all for a long term, useful, result-oriented adult training system. Without going into the details (which is very tempting), I’ll simply say so far experiences have been quite rewarding – some emotionally touching, some in terms of the results, some in terms of unique (to me) experiences, the latest of which happened this morning when I reached the venue of one such training projects.
Everyone knows an outsider doesn’t have easy access into the premises of an organization, our training zones, beyond the reception. There, you have to register yourself and wait till your contact person escorts you to a well-furnished meeting room where the participants have assembled. Sometimes these meetings rooms are awe-striking; not surprising as Norway is one of the wealthiest of nations and this reflects in their business infrastructure as well.
Technologically advanced, say, divide a huge con room into three by pressing a couple of switches or levers that results in temporary walls folding out, stretching, and meeting at the ends; well-located, say in the 6th floor of a building, (Norwegian cities don’t usually have sky scrapers) overlooking the fjord and the expanse of snow capped mountains on one side and an elevated race course on the other; absolutely mind boggling logistics, say, wish for some sunlight, and the automated sun shades covering the huge glass walls/windows go up or down as the sun shines stronger or sober, to adjust the amount of light and heat within the room…. Wish they can have some mechanism to install an outdoor substitute of the Sun during those dark winters (the Sun studios are wonderful but highly expensive for the few ‘below poverty line’ here).
Excuse the distractions. This is one country that has enough of ‘abundant’ infrastructure; the only dearth is enough sensible minds to fill in the space.
Now to the reason of the distraction: The experience that filled so much excitement in a lonely, nocturnal creature that remains awake with restless fingers filling out spaces (350 words) on the MS Word while the rest of the family sleeps in peace, huddled under warm blankets, is very simple. I won’t mind a bit if you even call it silly or stupid. It was exciting nevertheless – to an uninitiated mind.
To combat the sudden ‘downward’ surge in the thermometer till 24 degrees C below zero, I was almost bandaged in wool and fleece, top to bottom when I started for work this morning. Perhaps feeling pity at my condition, my escort-hero at the venue suggested we take the indoor route to the building that sprawled just 25 metres away from the reception. By the time I finished arguing that it was just opposite the building that we were in and 10 steps were all that we needed to reach, we were already inside the elevator, diving through 2 or 3 (??) stories below the ground. And then, there was this completely isolated, approximately 12 feet wide corridor lined with machine rooms and safety rooms on either side, swinging in sharp angles, taking turns, transmitting factory sounds into its void, climbing up a few steps, reaching the gym door, and swinging left to take us to the building that we were heading for. The 30 seconds journey took probably 10 or 20 times more (my sense of timing took leave off me), leaving the follower out of breath partly due to the weight of clothes and partly because of the lengthy locomotion.
As my escort informed that most (actually every until anyone refutes) significant campuses or industry premises have underground tunnels that connect all the buildings in the same campus or to some other safe location outside. These tunnels help in transporting men and machines, all alike, when the climate outside is not quite suitable or in cases of ‘emergencies’. He was right. I remembered that night, four hours after Lill Bay Leaf was ushered into this world and was happily making that thumb-sucking sound heard from the waiting room outside, we were seated in a small car, like those airport ones, and were taken through an underground tunnel from the hospital to the hospital-hotel, some 50 metres away. It took us approximately 5 minutes underneath. Above the ground that would be translated into getting properly packed and packaged, ordering a taxi, risking infections, and then driving for 2 minutes or walking for 10.
A rich country, a strong infrastructure, a highly-taxed society has its advantages.
Are you still waiting for a food-talk?
After a 800-word gaga over things that perhaps nobody is interested in except me?
For you, dear friend, is a snacking delight that probably would stay with you longer than this post and remind, on a content winter evening filled with warm, aromatic Turkish coffee or Mexican hot chocolate, of some silly story from a Bay Leaf IP.
Chocolate Apricots
~~ from The Jewish Cookbook
What do you need?
~ Plain chocolate – 50 g/2 oz
~ Dried apricots – the books says 12 large but I got at least 25 (around 250 g) sliced and dipped in the chocolate
~ Ginger Powder or Cinnamon Powder – ½ teaspoon (optional)
What should you do?
1. Line a tray, baking or otherwise and freezer safe, with aluminium foil.
2. Slice the apricots lengthwise in three pieces. Set aside.
3. Melt the chocolate in the microwave at Medium, stirring every 2 minutes until melted or by placing it over a bowl of simmering water. Add the ginger powder or cinnamon powder, if using, and whisk until incorporated.
5. Shove the tray with the apricots in the freezer for 30 minutes, for the chocolate to set in. Use a blunt knife to scrape out the apricots and store in a covered container in the fridge or the freezer.
A great snack to nibble on while watching Oprah or the Winter Olympics. This defrosts easily, in some 30 minutes, and you can use milk chocolate instead of the brown. Use bitter chocolate if you really fancy it. You can also use those low-quality chocs that reached you ‘accidentally’. Using the spices charmingly peps them up, but can be easily forgotten. It actually doesn’t matter much about the type of chocolate you use and you can be creative in this area – mixing in any flavour that you like.
I heard of something similar with ginger instead of apricots. Ever tasted it? What do you think it will be like? I plan to try it out pretty soon and will definitely let you know about it here, if I did. Till then, may the chocolates keep you light.
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