Where I’m At…

Growing up, I would spend New Year’s Day journaling about the year that passed and what I wished for the upcoming year. I would write anywhere from 5-10 pages. Even though I have stopped journaling some years ago, I still like to reflect on and learn from the past and plan for the future.

Although a little late, this is my 2012 New Year journal entry and lets you know where I am with the Accounting and Non-Accounting areas of my life.

With the CPA Exam

I took FAR back in October when I was about to lose the last conditional credit I had left. I got a 70 and all my credits had expired. I was forced to start at Square One again and signed up to take BEC in April. BEC has changed and now includes writing in addition to the multiple choice questions, making it even more challenging. I have started a self-study plan using the 2012 Wiley textbook and may add a Cram course in March. I plan to blog regularly on my study progress even if it’s a paragraph.

With my Career

In the past, I have avoided writing too much about my career on this blog. Going forward, I would like to change that since I feel this is the most exciting time of my accounting career. I left my corporate job and took a few months to decide what I wanted to do. I went on a number of interviews for Controller and Assistant Controller positions, but eventually I started a consulting business. I have always wanted to work for myself and it’s a dream come true to do that. There were many new challenges I faced and would like to write about them. I actually started 2012 in a Nerdy Accountant way – by closing my books for the year and calculating estimated taxes!

With my Non-Accounting Life

I have re-discovered yoga and healthy eating as a way to work on my health. I plan to include some of the new healthy recipes and cooking tips. Spending more time with family and friends is now high on my list and no longer second to work. After so many years of lopsided living, I strive for a fairly reasonable balance between my work and my personal life.  

With this Blog

Many aspects of my life have changed in the past year and I wasn’t sure what to do with my blog. I want The Cooking Accountant to reflect my present interests, but I find myself getting stuck. I get trapped into thinking that you, my readers, may not be interested in the things that currently concern me and that I might not have the most relevant advice for students. It has been years since I have been a student or a recent college graduate. The one thing I can offer, however, is advice to recent grads and interns on what to expect once they enter the corporate world.

Since all my peers either have their CPA license or gave up trying a long time ago, I feel like I can’t commiserate with them as I continue on my CPA journey. Most of my friends and family don’t understand why I keep trying and I am sure they are sick of hearing about it. I am sure there are others out there in the same boat as me, so I will continue to write about my journey trying to pass the Exam.

I am very thankful for my readers and will aspire to write things in 2012 that will interest you.

What are some of your goals/wishes/dreams/thoughts for 2012?

In the Homestretch plus a Roger Discount!

So this week I have been studying like a madwoman since I am taking FAR on Saturday. I should finish my Roger Cram tonight. That means I will have the next 3 days to review my notes and do questions. Wish me luck!

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Comfort Food: Zucchini Stuffed with Rice (Yemista)

Today, I am drawing on my Greek roots to share a recipe for a favorite dish with you – Yemista. Yemista means “filled” in Greek and I think it’s a fitting name since vegetables (bell peppers, tomatoes, zucchini or zucchini flowers) are filled with a rice mixture.

Depending on where you are from or where you visit in Greece, the stuffing mixture may vary but usually includes rice. My mother uses a rice and tomato paste mixture. My mother-in-law is from a different part of Greece and she uses a rice and ground beef mixture. (Both versions are excellent, by the way). In some restaurants, I have seen them topped with cheese, although I prefer the Americanized version topped with bread crumbs.

Michael Psilakis has a good recipe for Yemista in his book How to Roast a Lamb: New Greek Classic Cooking which I referred to as a guide for creating my own recipe. Psilakis uses dill in his recipe which my mom does not use. I find all these ingredient variations interesting (I’m a food nerd as well as an accounting nerd!), so I am interested to hear if you have tried a different variation.

Regardless of how the stuffing is prepared, Yemista is the food I grew up with. And believe me, you can’t get enough of it if you try it! And now that fall is almost here and the nights are getting chillier in New York, I wanted to serve this comfort food for dinner. Leftovers can be refrigerated and reheated for lunch or dinner the next day (although my dad likes eating the leftovers straight from the fridge! They are that good!).

Zucchini Stuffed with Rice (Yemista)
(Serves 4)

Ingredients

- 4-5 medium zucchini
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 1 celery stalk, finely chopped
- ½ a Spanish onion, finely chopped
- ½ cup uncooked long grain rice
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 3 cups water
- 1/3 cup fresh parsley, roughly chopped
- 1/3 cup fresh dill, roughly chopped
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 5 cloves garlic
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- Bread crumbs

Preparation

Wash the zucchini but leave the skin on.

Blanch the zucchini for 5 minutes (Boil water in a pot large enough to hold the zucchini, add the zucchini once the water is boiling and cook for 5 minutes until soft. Remove the zucchini from the pot and run cold water over them in a colander for a couple of minutes until they cool down).

Heat the olive oil in a large, deep chef’s pan or sauté pan under medium high heat.
Add the chopped celery and onion and sauté for 3 minutes until soft.

Add the rice and salt and pepper. Stir for 2 minutes being careful that the rice doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan.

Add the water while stirring and bring to a boil. Let the mixture boil for a minute and then turn off the heat.

Stir in the fresh herbs, lemon juice, chopped garlic and tomato paste. Let stand while you prepare the zucchini.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

On a vegetable cutting board or clean counter, slice each zucchini in half lengthwise.

Using a teaspoon, scoop out the seeds and create a little trough for filling with the rice mixture.

Coat a large pan or casserole dish with a light layer of olive oil.
Place the zucchini halves into the pan, skin-side down, troughs facing up.

Use a spoon to fill the zucchini troughs with the rice mixture. Fill a little higher than the top of the zucchinis if you have extra filling.

Sprinkle bread crumbs over the rice mixture.

Cover loosely with aluminum foil and bake for 45 minutes (removing the aluminum foil in the last 10 minutes of baking). Serve while still warm. Kali Orexi!

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