I have an accounting exam tomorrow, here’s a screen-shot of my study sheet (I get to bring it to the exam), Carly would be so proud:

Don’t you wish you were me?

I’m heading to Chapel Hill this weekend to visit the BF. I haven’t been there since August, so it’s about time I get back in touch with my Carolina. It’s sure to be a fun weekend, between Kenan-Flagler’s MBA Casino Night (scroll to the bottom) and Halloween. Marc is going to be a sheep (organic, free roaming, grass-fed, obvs) and I will be his keeper, in the form of Little Bo Peep.

This was us last year, authentic Liderhosen and Beer Wench. Pretty fun!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

On Wednesday the Babson Marketing Club (Lottie may or may not be a member) is hosting a panel on retail marketing. The panel is full of superstars, including Babson’s current President Leonard Schlesinger who worked for Limited Brands before coming to Babson. It’s open to the public, if you’re interested in retail marketing, just retail, or just marketing, come on over!

I achieved crow pose during hot yoga today. I’m very proud of my yogic self. If I wanted to be very hard core I’d call it bakasana.

Namaste.

During my first year at business school I am working with Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc. on a consulting project. Ocean Spray is a cooperative, owned by a network of over 600 growers. My good friend KS happens to know two of those growers very well (her Uncle and Grandfather), The Morse Brothers, who have been a part of Ocean Spray for four generations. So, she was awesome enough to arrange a visit to one of their cranberry bogs!

The Morse Brothers currently operate the second largest set of bogs in Massachusetts (see their website for locations) and also have some bogs in Canada. Combined they are the are the 4th or 5th largest grower in the world.

This particular set of bogs was in Plympton, MA, right near Carver, yeah I’ve never been out there, but it was a lovely autumn drive. When we arrived the harvest was in full swing. Cranberries are harvested in two ways, wet harvest and dry harvest. We witnessed a wet harvest. In a wet harvest the cranberry bog is flooded when the berries are ripe and picked with a machine. Since the berries are so full of air they float to the top.

Wet harvest cranberries are used in juice, crasins and anything processed. Dry harvested cranberries, which are pick off the bushes with a machine, are the ones we buy at Thanksgiving. Also, there’s a method behind the flooding of the bogs. Each bog is built at a different level, so first the highest bog is flooded, then drained and the water is transferred to the next lowest, until you’re all done. This of course requires that bogs be near bodies of water.

You can see a flooded and un-flooded bog in this picture.

After a bog is flooded the berries are picked with this machine.

Once all the cranberries are floating around the growers put on their waders and get bogging. A very long piece of rubber, that’s basically a huge belt gathers all the berries together into one spot. Then, a huge pump is put in the water and the lil’ berries are raked towards the pump by the growers and sucked in. Then they are separated out from the leaves, spray washed and loaded into the truck, which makes its way to an Ocean Spray facility in Carver, MA. Once there the berries are washed again frozen for at least 3 months, then juiced or crasin-a-fied. Here are two really short videos of the process.

Here are some pictures of the loading and washing.

At the plant each truck is weighed on the way in and on the way out and 3 different samples are taken and analyzed for percentage of useable berries. Usually around 96% are useable. The growers are paid by the barrel and the truck usually carries about 475 barrels of useable berries.

Since Ocean Spray is a Co-Op the growers are all paid the same price per barrel and in addition have to put in a certain amount of equity (into Ocean Spray) per barrel, hence the joint ownership!

Each acre of cranberries in Massachusetts produces about 300 barrels, but the Morse Brothers planted a new crop this yer that’s supposed to yield 500 barrels. Once you plant a crop it takes about 5 years until they can be harvested, so you need some advance planning. And, due to all the wet weather this summer the crop wasn’t as good as in years before. Plus, berry plants aren’t cheap, an acre of cranberry plants will run you about $12,000.

Currently, the global demand for cranberries exceeds the supply! So, if you are looking for a new line of work, get some waders, and think about growing.

My parents always told us horror stories of the meatloaf they were forced to eat during childhood, so growing up I never had the joy of eating it. I actually didn’t even try meatloaf until I went to the Duplex Diner in Adams Morgan and I actually liked it! Recently, my Mom discovered a “gourmet” recipe in Chris Kimball’s cookbook and now we’re hooked.

What sets it apart is the meat, you don’t use just ground beef, but rather a combination of beef, pork and veal Along with that there’s a brown sugar and ketchup glaze, some fresh parsley and bacon on top (we use less than the recipe says and sometimes none). Also, don’t forget to serve with mashed potatoes, there’s no other way!

INGREDIENTS:

Brown Sugar – Ketchup Glaze

• 1/2 cup ketchup or chili sauce
• 4 tablespoons brown sugar
• 4 teaspoons cider vinegar or white vinegar

Meat Loaf

• 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
• 1 medium onion , chopped medium
• 2 medium cloves garlic , minced
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon table salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
• 1/2 cup whole milk or plain yogurt
• 1 pound ground beef chuck
• 1/2 pound ground pork
• 1/2 pound ground veal
• 2/3 cup Saltine crackers , crushed (about 16), or quick oatmeal, or 1 1/3 cups fresh bread crumbs (we use breadcrumbs)
• 1/3 cup minced fresh parsley leaves (we use a little less, just because I don’t like parsley much)
• 6 – 8 ounces bacon , thin sliced, 8 to 12 slices, depending on loaf shape (we use either none at all or just a few slices laid over it, the bacon flavor can get kind of overwhelming and take away from the meat loaf-ie-ness deliciousness)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. For the glaze: Mix all ingredients in small saucepan; set aside.

2. For the meat loaf: Heat oven to 350 degrees. Heat oil in medium skillet. Add onion and garlic; sauté until softened, about 5 minutes. Set aside to cool while preparing remaining ingredients.

3. Mix eggs with thyme, salt, pepper, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, pepper sauce, and milk or yogurt. Add egg mixture to meat in large bowl along with crackers, parsley, and cooked onion and garlic; mix with fork until evenly blended and meat mixture does not stick to bowl. (If mixture sticks, add additional milk or yogurt, a couple tablespoons at a time until mix no longer sticks.)

4. Turn meat mixture onto work surface. With wet hands, pat mixture into approximately 9-by-5-inch loaf shape. Place on foil-lined (for easy cleanup) shallow baking pan. Brush with half the glaze, then arrange bacon slices, crosswise, over loaf, overlapping slightly and tucking only bacon tip ends under loaf.

5. Bake loaf until bacon is crisp and loaf registers 160 degrees, about 1 hour. Cool at least 20 minutes. Simmer remaining glaze over medium heat until thickened slightly. Slice meat loaf and serve with extra glaze passed separately.

YUM! Way better than Grandma’s, sorry Doris.

Has anyone heard of Mika besides myself, Tommy (thanks to me), Marc, Melindita and Kristen? Yeah, that’s what I thought, you haven’t. Welp now you have. Mika is a Lebanese born British singer who is totes.awesome.com. He is most known for his song Grace Kelly which reached #1 on the British Singles chart in January 2007 and stayed there for 5 weeks. However, it did not reach #1 status in the US, there’s not a concrete reason why, but it’s probably because American’s aren’t cool enough. Oh well.

His first album, Life in Cartoon Motion, was released in February 2007. Marc somehow discovered it (probably by reading something trendy like NY Mag), bought it (via iTunes, obvs) and shared it with me.

One of the best songs is probably Lollipop, just listen, you’ll want to sing and dance and be 5. I had the priviledge of going to one of his concerts in DC at the 9:30 club. It was small and we were sitting right near his Mom (inspiration for his song “Big Girls”). It was a wonderful show, Mika is a performer and loves the crowd. Have you ever been to a concert where life-sized teddy bears dance on-stage (besides Raffi) and bubbles float around? Yeah that’s what I thought.

So why am I writing all about Mika anyways? Welp, he came out with his second CD on September 21st called The Boy Who Knew Too Much. The songs are all very Mika, just go listen, let me know your favorite song and I’ll tell you mine!

You can preview the album on iTunes or his website. He’s also touring around the US at the moment. I missed the Boston Concert (lots of tears), but perhaps you can catch him elsewhere.

There’s a new Lottie in town. She lives in the hundred-acre wood, wears pearls, and if friends with a Pooh. Oh and did I mention she’s an Otter?

Today is the debut of “Return to the Hundred Acre Wood.” The first authorized sequel to “Winnie the Pooh” and the “House at Pooh Corner” since 1928. Apparently Eeyore finally offed himself (jk, I got that from SNL), so they had to introduce a new character, Lottie the Otter.

According to a WSJ tidbit (sent to me by Christie, shout out) Christopher Robin returns from boarding school and meets Lottie who takes a swim in CR’s bath, plays a mean game of cricket and helps start up a school for the Hundred Acre Wood critters.

Frankly I’m a little annoyed there is another Lottie to compete with, but the fact she wears pearls makes it a bit better. I probably have to buy a copy. If you need me I’ll be brushing up on my cricket game.

I’ve been MIA from the blogsphere, due in part to homework, but mainly to this this video (look on my Facebook newsfeed if the link doesn’t work). Especially watch 1:38 to 2:07, who is that beautiful girl in the mask?

You though business school was all about case studies and statistics (or just didn’t know either way). Welp it’s not!

During the first month of the full-time MBA program at Babson each student is assigned a creativity project and has to “create” a 20 minute presentation using their creative medium. Every creativity group is assigned a “creative consultant,” a real artist they work with for 4 weeks to learn about the medium, the creative process, and basically get way outside of their comfort zone. This year (as you might gather from the video), the mediums were painting, sculpture, mixed media (don’t ask what it is because it has no definition), improv, writing, movement and most importantly MUSIC (my group).

Why the hell do they do this you ask? What in the world does this have to do with business? Welp, A LOT. First, group work. Imagine making music with 14 other people who are not experts in the field, or putting on an improv show, or painting, or writing a story as a group and then having to present it too all your peers. If that doesn’t make you fearless in the workplace I don’t know what will! And, you get pretty good at working in a large group, which happens a lot in the real world. Second, creativity – in business you need to be creative, how else do you think Apple came up with the Ipod or that french guy invented Gore-Tex? Creativity my friends.

Though my month of making music did not make me an expert in groups or creative thinking in business it sure got me started along the path. So, next time you’re stuck at the office working with an annoying co-worker or can’t come up with a good solution to a problem (any type) I suggest making music, painting, or perhaps making some sculptures out of printer paper. It really might help!

If you’d like to hear the audio of my presentation watch this one, my beautiful angelic solo is around 1:40, you will not believe your ears.

1) OMG GOSSIP GIRL IS NEW TONIGHT! I have been so busy studying accounting guess who had to tell me? MY MOM. I can’t believe I was this close to missing the season premier of the greatest show of our time. Wow, Melindita, Christie, and most importantly Richard (who I also just found out is no more on gawker, tears), would have disowned me. I can’t wait to see what happens and to read the daily intel recap tomrorow during class!

2) I did at least watch the VMA’s. WTF Kanye? Nobody does that to Taylor, she is more of a musican than you will ever be!

Image Courtesy of Perez

3) Accounting is life, the rest is just details… Except when it comes to Gossip Girl.