Well, we are here. Back from "Up Nort." Glad to be home. Maybe. It's stinkin' hot here. And our lawn is burned up. But the jalapenos I hung up to dry in the kitchen and the garage didn't mold, and the house is cooling down nicely after being left at 90 degrees. I've reconnected with a couple of my friends and all is right with the world.
Tomorrow? Massage and then some serious writing.
And the blog entries will come between the paying work. In the meantime, here is my photo of the day, unedited. Brother Lis testing to see how fast I can do the manual focus lens on my camera. Obviously? Not that fast. You can't even see the little reed she is holding up. But she looks pretty darn clear, doesn't she? Of course, my camera naturally navigates toward her anyway.
Sunday, August 12, 2007
Tuesday, August 07, 2007
Can't Talk "Family" without saying "and Food"
Family, Food, Fun. That's basically what trips back here entail. I'm certain it's that way for everyone.
Here's my dad, pronouncing his ham a success. I'm sure I've mentioned before that my boys call bone-in picnic hams "Farmington ham." Taylor and my nephew Jake requested Farmington ham as a counterweight to my moussaka Sunday night. Fortunately for me, moussaka is only popular with 50% of the family. This leaves more for me!
We had corn on the cob and yellow tomatoes with the moussaka, which made our meal rather...yellow on the plate. (Fortunately I had not drawn the yellow fiesta plate, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to see what I was eating!)
Mom made this fantastic salad with baby beets, onions, and cherry tomatoes. Balsamic vinegar was the dressing. Excellent!
Monday we found Old Dutch potato chips. Easy to do here. Not easy in South Carolina. Here is Nate modeling a box.
They aren't necessarily better than some of the ones we get at home, but it's a nostalgia thing.
And here is brother-in-law Bill making burgers for the grill Saturday night. He has a technique. Pretty much meatloaf, shaped into giant balls. Portioned out fairly, then smashed into patties. Delicious!
We also had a nice bottle of Riesling...a Piesporter Michelsberg Riesling I picked up. Can't remember the winery.
Here's my dad, pronouncing his ham a success. I'm sure I've mentioned before that my boys call bone-in picnic hams "Farmington ham." Taylor and my nephew Jake requested Farmington ham as a counterweight to my moussaka Sunday night. Fortunately for me, moussaka is only popular with 50% of the family. This leaves more for me!
We had corn on the cob and yellow tomatoes with the moussaka, which made our meal rather...yellow on the plate. (Fortunately I had not drawn the yellow fiesta plate, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to see what I was eating!)
Mom made this fantastic salad with baby beets, onions, and cherry tomatoes. Balsamic vinegar was the dressing. Excellent!
Monday we found Old Dutch potato chips. Easy to do here. Not easy in South Carolina. Here is Nate modeling a box.
And here is brother-in-law Bill making burgers for the grill Saturday night. He has a technique. Pretty much meatloaf, shaped into giant balls. Portioned out fairly, then smashed into patties. Delicious!
Today hopefully it's Jazzercise. Then lunch with The Cleveland Company, and tonight we go out for dinner with my siblings and their spouses. Kids? Tombstone Pizza.
Monday, August 06, 2007
Still Fits!
Huh. Isn't that something?
Running out to have breakfast with Lis. I'll write more later. Great dinner and conversation with the family last night. I have photos of my food and some of the family.
Running out to have breakfast with Lis. I'll write more later. Great dinner and conversation with the family last night. I have photos of my food and some of the family.
Sunday, August 05, 2007
Prison? Theatre? Antique Mall?
I saw this in Shelbville, Indiana yesterday. I couldn't resist shooting it. Obviously you can see from the sign that it's an antique mall. But before I saw the sign I saw the top and thought, "Looks like that used to be a prison."
I can just imagine prison guards in uniform with guns patroling inmates behind. But of course there is no courtyard behind. It's just a big brick building.
As I was standing on the street shooting, I asked an older gentleman about the building. He said it used to be a theatre. For decades it was a theatre.
Shelbyville is kind of a picturesque little town. It's right outside Indianapolis to the east. They have a central town square that is a parking lot and a traffic circle goes around it. The circle is lined with pretty buildings. Old ones.
I spent most of the day yesterday (when I wasn't taking my turn driving) listening to podcasts from a website I found, Nikonians. Wonderful conversation about photography and equipment. Digital and film. It's a great resource that I'm glad I found. I also started working through a Nikon D40 manual that was written by a guy named Ken Rockwell. So I played with my camera and remote a bit.
I also watched the movie "Big Chill." I'd forgotten what a good movie that was. I really like the scene where they show everyone unpacking their stuff. The different items they all had with them.
That's it for the day. Hitting the road here soon. Moussaka tonight at Mom's house! Hoo HOO!
I can just imagine prison guards in uniform with guns patroling inmates behind. But of course there is no courtyard behind. It's just a big brick building.
As I was standing on the street shooting, I asked an older gentleman about the building. He said it used to be a theatre. For decades it was a theatre.
Shelbyville is kind of a picturesque little town. It's right outside Indianapolis to the east. They have a central town square that is a parking lot and a traffic circle goes around it. The circle is lined with pretty buildings. Old ones.
I spent most of the day yesterday (when I wasn't taking my turn driving) listening to podcasts from a website I found, Nikonians. Wonderful conversation about photography and equipment. Digital and film. It's a great resource that I'm glad I found. I also started working through a Nikon D40 manual that was written by a guy named Ken Rockwell. So I played with my camera and remote a bit.
I also watched the movie "Big Chill." I'd forgotten what a good movie that was. I really like the scene where they show everyone unpacking their stuff. The different items they all had with them.
That's it for the day. Hitting the road here soon. Moussaka tonight at Mom's house! Hoo HOO!
Saturday, August 04, 2007
In the Driver's Seat
I can't believe it's been so many days since my last posting. It's been pretty hectic here, although you'd think it would be a little calmer since NATE GOT HIS DRIVER'S LICENSE!
Yup. Wednesday morning. I took him to Lancaster and he passed the test! After some errands, we arrived home and I announced to him that I planned to stay home the rest of the day to work and he could very well take his own self to his dentist appointment.
Now, that might not seem like much, but really...our dentist is on the other side of Ballantyne. It takes a certain amount of intestinal fortitude to shoot the gauntlet that is 521 at Ballantyne. But he made it, had a reasonably good appointment (already in wisdom teeth discussion), and got back home just fine.
Nate's driving is very good, if not a little cautious. Like nervous. But I suspect he'll calm a bit. Although his buddy Ryan didn't really settle down for several months.
He wore Mensa Boy's car Wednesday and Thursday and then we traded back so we'd have Big Green for another doctor's appointment. Another $189 on that car. But if you count that and the starter motor from last month, you still are looking at fewer repairs than a car payment, so I guess that's not all bad. This time it was a window motor. Driver's side. I debated not even fixing it, but somehow it felt like a safety hazard.
You don't realize how much you use that driver's window until it doesn't go down. Here are the encounters I had in the last two weeks:
1. Paying for parking at Discovery Place
2. Drive-Up ATM
3. Sweet Tea at Bojangles--a necessity for any self-respecting southerner
4. Security gate at Sun City
These were all just annoyances, and easy to work around, but there was just a nagging thought that I might NEED that window to go down.
So. It's fixed. And now we are ready to hit the road for Minnesota this morning. I'm the only one up so far, but I'll soon remedy that.
It's two long days driving to get back. We'll stop in Indy tonight. Since Nate can help with driving now, I've brought a particularly comprehensive batch of stuff to do in the car. 3 DVDs from Blockbuster online: "Big Chill," "Gray Matters," and "Rumor Has It." I also have several hours of podcasts from a website I found the other day, Nikonians, as well as a few archived episodes of NPR's "Splendid Table." I never get to hear that in real time.
And I have a user manual for my camera with me. I plan to go through it page by page. I've been experiencing a crisis of confidence with my photography, so I plan to spend a LOT of time on it this week (WATCH OUT FAMILY!).
I also have a new music and an ebook on my mp3 player. Can't remember which book. And the first three Harry Potter books. I stopped reading them around book 4, so now that the series is complete, I plan to work my way through them all from beginning to end.
That's it! It'll be a good trip!
Oh...Mensa Boy sent Nate a Driver's license Haiku when he heard about the test results. So I sent around an email soliciting more. Here they are:
The best advice is
Keep it between the ditches
So Mom will stay sane
-Jenny Hartley
Remember coffee
As you drive to Winthrop U.
Mom must ride with you.
You must understand that I am a Math/Science person. As I write this poem, I remember why I am math/science.
-Kathy Richardson
But does Nate know that
He should wear the car rather
Than just to drive it?
(Can it be all one sentence??)
-Sarah Heins
Hey! Beware! Take care!
Nate's in the driver's seat now
Hey! Beware! Take care!
Jane Alford
Bob: Don't be scared stiff.
Our Devon is driving too.
He is scarier!
Godspeed to Nate (and you all)!
Mary McClane
The last haiku I remembering writing was in the 7th grade but here goes:
Nate and the blue Echo
Poor Bob without his wheels
Lucky Karen home alone
I think my last sentence has too many syllables.
-Cassie
Yellow stripes and white
Flashing by on roads of gray
Mark a bigger world
-Lis Trouten
Gas is on the right side
Brake pedal is on the left
Don't get them confused
Jenny Overman
A boy and a car
Drivers on the road beware!
What were you thinking?
-Julia
Extraordinary
Nate has found his new freedom
Good Luck on the Road!
-Rena Livengood
Yay, for Nate Paulson!
He is now a driving man.
Mom can stay at home.
(Can haikus have punctuation? It seemed the first line really needed it. =-)Congrats, Nate!----Amanda Knoke
Drivers: Stay Alert
Your car may be in danger
Nate is on the road
(hmm...alert is one syllable or two?)
-Jenny Overman
That is so funny
I wish I could write like this
I would be so smart
-MOM
Authorization
DMV to NEP:
You have passed the test
-DAD
Yup. Wednesday morning. I took him to Lancaster and he passed the test! After some errands, we arrived home and I announced to him that I planned to stay home the rest of the day to work and he could very well take his own self to his dentist appointment.
Now, that might not seem like much, but really...our dentist is on the other side of Ballantyne. It takes a certain amount of intestinal fortitude to shoot the gauntlet that is 521 at Ballantyne. But he made it, had a reasonably good appointment (already in wisdom teeth discussion), and got back home just fine.
Nate's driving is very good, if not a little cautious. Like nervous. But I suspect he'll calm a bit. Although his buddy Ryan didn't really settle down for several months.
He wore Mensa Boy's car Wednesday and Thursday and then we traded back so we'd have Big Green for another doctor's appointment. Another $189 on that car. But if you count that and the starter motor from last month, you still are looking at fewer repairs than a car payment, so I guess that's not all bad. This time it was a window motor. Driver's side. I debated not even fixing it, but somehow it felt like a safety hazard.
You don't realize how much you use that driver's window until it doesn't go down. Here are the encounters I had in the last two weeks:
1. Paying for parking at Discovery Place
2. Drive-Up ATM
3. Sweet Tea at Bojangles--a necessity for any self-respecting southerner
4. Security gate at Sun City
These were all just annoyances, and easy to work around, but there was just a nagging thought that I might NEED that window to go down.
So. It's fixed. And now we are ready to hit the road for Minnesota this morning. I'm the only one up so far, but I'll soon remedy that.
It's two long days driving to get back. We'll stop in Indy tonight. Since Nate can help with driving now, I've brought a particularly comprehensive batch of stuff to do in the car. 3 DVDs from Blockbuster online: "Big Chill," "Gray Matters," and "Rumor Has It." I also have several hours of podcasts from a website I found the other day, Nikonians, as well as a few archived episodes of NPR's "Splendid Table." I never get to hear that in real time.
And I have a user manual for my camera with me. I plan to go through it page by page. I've been experiencing a crisis of confidence with my photography, so I plan to spend a LOT of time on it this week (WATCH OUT FAMILY!).
I also have a new music and an ebook on my mp3 player. Can't remember which book. And the first three Harry Potter books. I stopped reading them around book 4, so now that the series is complete, I plan to work my way through them all from beginning to end.
That's it! It'll be a good trip!
Oh...Mensa Boy sent Nate a Driver's license Haiku when he heard about the test results. So I sent around an email soliciting more. Here they are:
The best advice is
Keep it between the ditches
So Mom will stay sane
-Jenny Hartley
Remember coffee
As you drive to Winthrop U.
Mom must ride with you.
You must understand that I am a Math/Science person. As I write this poem, I remember why I am math/science.
-Kathy Richardson
But does Nate know that
He should wear the car rather
Than just to drive it?
(Can it be all one sentence??)
-Sarah Heins
Hey! Beware! Take care!
Nate's in the driver's seat now
Hey! Beware! Take care!
Jane Alford
Bob: Don't be scared stiff.
Our Devon is driving too.
He is scarier!
Godspeed to Nate (and you all)!
Mary McClane
The last haiku I remembering writing was in the 7th grade but here goes:
Nate and the blue Echo
Poor Bob without his wheels
Lucky Karen home alone
I think my last sentence has too many syllables.
-Cassie
Yellow stripes and white
Flashing by on roads of gray
Mark a bigger world
-Lis Trouten
Gas is on the right side
Brake pedal is on the left
Don't get them confused
Jenny Overman
A boy and a car
Drivers on the road beware!
What were you thinking?
-Julia
Extraordinary
Nate has found his new freedom
Good Luck on the Road!
-Rena Livengood
Yay, for Nate Paulson!
He is now a driving man.
Mom can stay at home.
(Can haikus have punctuation? It seemed the first line really needed it. =-)Congrats, Nate!----Amanda Knoke
Drivers: Stay Alert
Your car may be in danger
Nate is on the road
(hmm...alert is one syllable or two?)
-Jenny Overman
That is so funny
I wish I could write like this
I would be so smart
-MOM
Authorization
DMV to NEP:
You have passed the test
-DAD
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Camo
Yesterday my friend Chris and I were talking about how some stores are hard to get out of. Take me to Earth Fare (a local grocery store full of organic products), and I can spend hours in there, looking at everything and reading labels. It's like a library to me.
Chris said it's hard to take her husband Kevin to Dick's Sporting Goods.
"If he gets into the camouflage, I'll never find him!"
Chris said it's hard to take her husband Kevin to Dick's Sporting Goods.
"If he gets into the camouflage, I'll never find him!"
Monday, July 30, 2007
PG-Porn
Book Description
Prepare to enter a fantasy world. A world where clothes get folded just so, delicious dinners await, and flatulence is just not that funny. Give the fairer sex what they really want beautiful PG photos of hunky men cooking, listening, asking for directions, accompanied by steamy captions: "I love a clean house!" or "As long as I have two legs to walk on, you'll never take out the trash." Now this is porn that will leave women begging for more!
About the Author
The Cambridge Women's Pornography Cooperative asked women, young, old, rich, and poor, "What really, really gets you hot?" Armed with their findings, they worked day and night to create Porn for Women. Susan Anderson is a Los Angeles-based photographer who believes the future of porn shouldn't be in the hands of men alone.
I got a kick of this. I received a round-robin email with snapshots from the book, so I googled the name on one of the photos.
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Photos of Photographers
I read about this blog on one of the photo boards I surf. The blog is called "Damn Cool Pics". I haven't spent any time out there yet, but I did scroll through a pretty fun entry called "Photography and Photographers." Many of the photos have been altered to the nth degree in post production, but some of them are things I've seen happen around me.
Look at it here.
And here's my one photo of a photographer. My friend Jenny. Who always insists that I'm a better photographer than she is (bless her sucking-up heart).
Look at it here.
And here's my one photo of a photographer. My friend Jenny. Who always insists that I'm a better photographer than she is (bless her sucking-up heart).
Friday, July 27, 2007
Dangling Conversations: Wrong Number
Yesterday I tried to call a friend and got the wrong number.
"Hey! How you are you?"
"Good! How are you doing today?"
"Great. Whatchya up to?"
"Not much. What can I do for you?"
"Well, Is Linda there?"
"Sure! Which one?"
[chuckle] "You know, the one that vacuums up the dog hair."
"Hm. I think you might have the wrong number little lady."
I used the wrong prefix for our area. The guy owns a convenience store and produce stand. He has 2 Lindas that work for him.
"Y'all come by and see us sometime!"
In my defense? The guy did sound exactly like my buddy Don and he is always yanking my chain with some comment when I ask a question. I thought the "Sure, which one?" question was a fairly new one, but I never know for sure what he's going to say when I ask for her.
"Hey! How you are you?"
"Good! How are you doing today?"
"Great. Whatchya up to?"
"Not much. What can I do for you?"
"Well, Is Linda there?"
"Sure! Which one?"
[chuckle] "You know, the one that vacuums up the dog hair."
"Hm. I think you might have the wrong number little lady."
I used the wrong prefix for our area. The guy owns a convenience store and produce stand. He has 2 Lindas that work for him.
"Y'all come by and see us sometime!"
In my defense? The guy did sound exactly like my buddy Don and he is always yanking my chain with some comment when I ask a question. I thought the "Sure, which one?" question was a fairly new one, but I never know for sure what he's going to say when I ask for her.
Thursday, July 26, 2007
By the Side of the Road: Firewood House
Yesterday I had the opportunity to drive two couples to Spartanburg to see a fellow in a retirement community. The drive is about two hours each way, and I enjoyed listening to the couples all talk to each other, reminiscing about old times, talking about what is happening here in our community now with old friends and grandchildren, etc.
They were indulgent of my photo-taking, and even waited while I pulled over to take a photo of this firewood house.
Cool, huh?
They were indulgent of my photo-taking, and even waited while I pulled over to take a photo of this firewood house.
Cool, huh?
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
I'm Afraid...
Me: "I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to do the dishes this afternoon."
HE: "I'm afraid of that too."
HE: "I'm afraid of that too."
Monday, July 23, 2007
Product Review: Fage Yogurt
I've never known before that there was such an animal as Greek yogurt. Well, of course there would be Greek yogurt, but I didn't know that it was more special than any other kind.
Until I read this month's Prevention magazine.
There are several recipes for Greek foods, such as Souvlaki, Village Salad with Feta, and Tzatziki, a yogurt and cucumber dip.
The Tzatziki calls for Greek yogurt. Never heard of it, so naturally I googled. Greek yogurt is touted as being creamier than most, and that creamy-ness is attributed to a "centuries-old process that involves straining to let the whey drain out."
Hmmm...sounds like what I do when I want to use yogurt cheese. When I have a recipe that calls for yogurt cheese, I'll buy plain yogurt, line a fine mesh sieve with cheesecloth, dump the yogurt in there, and let it drain into a bowl for a few hours (while in the fridge). The result is yogurt that is much less watery.
The author of this Prevention article says that she uses Fage Greek -style yogurt. Googling that, I found all kinds of warnings about how expensive it is, and hard to find. So I prepared to buy the regular plain stuff and strain it for my Tzatziki.
But there was Fage (pronounced "Fah-yeh") at Harris Teeter, costing about 40 cents more per container than Dannon. Sounded reasonable to me.
Here's the recipe for Tzatziki from Prevention, August 2007.
2 C Greek-style yogurt (I used whole, but it comes in 2% and nonfat too)
1 C peeled, grated cucumber, spun dry in a salad spinner
4 cloves garlic, grated
1 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
3/4 tsp kosher salt
1/3 tsp ground red pepper
Mix it all together and refrigerate for 1 hour. Serve with warm pita bread.
I made a batch of this for our Posse Party last night and it was virtually inhaled by every person there. (Which is good, because I'm sure all of us are exhaling garlic today.) Even the picky eaters ate this stuff. We decided it would be a good salad dressing or baked potato topping as well. I made beef kebabs with an Indian-style marinade, and the beef pieces were quite good dipped in Tzatziki.
I used fresh-pulled, non-aged garlic, so I cut back to 3 cloves. I also didn't spin the cucumber. I put it and the garlic in my mesh sieve and pressed the juice out with a paper towel.
Apparently this yogurt dip is considered to be a necessary condiment for the table in Greece, much like ketchup is to the American household.
Until I read this month's Prevention magazine.
There are several recipes for Greek foods, such as Souvlaki, Village Salad with Feta, and Tzatziki, a yogurt and cucumber dip.
The Tzatziki calls for Greek yogurt. Never heard of it, so naturally I googled. Greek yogurt is touted as being creamier than most, and that creamy-ness is attributed to a "centuries-old process that involves straining to let the whey drain out."
Hmmm...sounds like what I do when I want to use yogurt cheese. When I have a recipe that calls for yogurt cheese, I'll buy plain yogurt, line a fine mesh sieve with cheesecloth, dump the yogurt in there, and let it drain into a bowl for a few hours (while in the fridge). The result is yogurt that is much less watery.
The author of this Prevention article says that she uses Fage Greek -style yogurt. Googling that, I found all kinds of warnings about how expensive it is, and hard to find. So I prepared to buy the regular plain stuff and strain it for my Tzatziki.
But there was Fage (pronounced "Fah-yeh") at Harris Teeter, costing about 40 cents more per container than Dannon. Sounded reasonable to me.
Here's the recipe for Tzatziki from Prevention, August 2007.
2 C Greek-style yogurt (I used whole, but it comes in 2% and nonfat too)
1 C peeled, grated cucumber, spun dry in a salad spinner
4 cloves garlic, grated
1 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
3/4 tsp kosher salt
1/3 tsp ground red pepper
Mix it all together and refrigerate for 1 hour. Serve with warm pita bread.
I made a batch of this for our Posse Party last night and it was virtually inhaled by every person there. (Which is good, because I'm sure all of us are exhaling garlic today.) Even the picky eaters ate this stuff. We decided it would be a good salad dressing or baked potato topping as well. I made beef kebabs with an Indian-style marinade, and the beef pieces were quite good dipped in Tzatziki.
I used fresh-pulled, non-aged garlic, so I cut back to 3 cloves. I also didn't spin the cucumber. I put it and the garlic in my mesh sieve and pressed the juice out with a paper towel.
Apparently this yogurt dip is considered to be a necessary condiment for the table in Greece, much like ketchup is to the American household.
Saturday, July 21, 2007
Grand Design
Friday we went to see "Body Worlds" at Discovery Place in Charlotte. This is an exhibition of real human bodies and body parts that have been preserved with a method called plastination. The bodies are essentially soaked in a plastic product and a vacuum is created that causes the plastic to soak all through the fibers.
That sounds really gross. And many people will not go to see this exhibit because they will be grossed-out. But there really is no way to explain to people how utterly un-intimidating this exhibit is without having them see it. That's a shame.
The exhibit is terribly expensive. It cost $50 for Nate and I to go see it. That included parking and the audio phones we rented. You really have to use the audio phones. You can see everything and understand everything by walking through and reading the signs, but the audio tour really is pretty cool. The exhibit is mostly about the bodies themselves, of course, but also about the plastination process.
About five minutes after entering the exhibit, I came upon a display case showing joints. There was a hand, shoulder, and maybe an elbow. I don't remember that third one for sure. But what struck me was the hand. The audio narrator said the joints are designed so that motion is possible in multiple directions. But what struck me was when the narrator said, "The joints are coated with cartilage to reduce friction."
That is what the phrase "fearfully and wonderfully made" really means. And that phrase, from Psalm 139:14, echoed through my head as I spent the next two hours wandering through the exhibit.
It became easy to see God as a divine engineer, making decisions about this invention, and working out "Well, if I make it able to do this, I'll have to do something about this problem that could crop up."
That was the main thing I took away from the exhibit. The other thing I thought about was, "I sure am glad that I take good care of this body." Seeing all the muscles and organs, in stages of great health and also in serious disrepair, made me realize even more the importance of fitness and health. There was a cross-section of an obese person that really struck me to the core. As I looked on to these two slices of a person, I could see how the fat was so hard on the body. How the organs were laden with the weight. It's amazing how some of those organs are able to function at all. And this particular person had a pacemaker installed.
The exhibit of the obese person made me want to help overweight people as much as I can. It's a terrible burden to bear, both physically and mentally. And our society is not kind to people who struggle with this issue, even though more than half of us are overweight.
Seeing all the muscles was pretty cool. Most of the people who were preserved were obviously in pretty good shape. You could see this superior muscle definition and it was neat to see the individual muscles and muscle groups that our jazzercise instructors are always pointing out, "deltoids, rhomboids, lats, obliques, quads, etc."
There were three things I wished as I was going through the exhibit:
1. I wish the first third of the exhibit weren't so loud. The entrance is in an area of the museum where there are lots of noisy, hands-on exhibits to play with. There are walls separating the traveling exhibits from the rest of the place, but at the beginning of the special area they don't go all the way to the ceiling. It's hard to hear the audio in that environment, and it diminished the serious nature of the exhibit. I remember thinking that about the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit, too.
2. I wish there were special times that could be designated adults-only. Like an evening or two. The kids were well-behaved (in fact, the only people I saw leaning on the cases were ADULTS(!!)) and it was cool to see them marvel over the exhibits, but their chatter and excitement was also a distraction to the seriousness of the displays. Especially in the prenatal section.
3. I wish the exhibit were smaller. I was worn out by about half-way through and I know I didn't give enough attention to the displays in the last half.
I'm recommending this exhibit to everyone I know. But cautioning those with young kids that it can be very tiring.
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Kids Kids Kids
Yesterday was a day full of kids. It was fun, but I got pretty tired and dragged out by the end of the night...when I finally turned in at MIDNIGHT (!!)
It began at about 6:30 a.m. in a way most of our combined family gatherings do: Jeff and I both companionably working on our computers. Usually he goes out for coffee, but yesterday he let me make him some. (I think he was diluting it with the water, though.)
Then Julia got up and did whatever she does and settled in the comfy chair with a magazine. Here she is putting in her dessert order for the day.
Here's how the guys began the day, and pretty much would have ended the day, if not for Vacation Bible School. I call this "Boys Town." I never heard a thing from them all day except when they called to ask me to buy a 4th controller for their game console. But I didn't get to that because I was pulling in the driveway when they called.
So, after a bit of just hanging around the house in the morning, Julia and I and my niece Jessica set out to run some errands. Jess needed a swimsuit. Target seemed like the place to go.
NOT!
This is where the visit took the first dark turn. I was wandering down the aisle in Target, when I heard my sister say my name. I turned around and she had grabbed the sleeve of an unsuspecting healthcare worker (scrubs), and was saying, "THIS is the color on the walls at Mount Vernon!" Now...she says she prefaced that by saying to the woman, "this is a nice color on you but..."
I was fairly mortified. I said the poor woman, "I'm so sorry! Don't worry, she'll be going home in a few days and then Target will be safe again." And then I said to Julia, "Please do not grab the sleeves of strangers!" The stranger was chuckling and I think enjoying it.
I think.
Then 5 minutes later Julia knocked half a shelf of hair care products onto the floor with her
big *ss purse!
Needless to say, I was ready to get out of Dodge.
After several attempts (in the heat, I might add)to locate a complete swimsuit for Jess (did you know they sell the tops and bottoms separately? So now you can find a top that you want, but there is no matching bottom?), I finally called my bosom buddy Rena. She is shopper extraordinaire. In fact, she was out shopping during her lunch hour when we called. After chuckling at the thought that I, of all people, would be shopping with a teenaged girl, her advice was "Go to the mall. Buy a cup of coffee, sit down with it and your mp3 player and just let the girl go." She always knows exactly the right advice to give, tailored for my particular sensitivities (to noise, commotion, girls, shopping...you name it).
And so we did. But I never did get the cup of coffee. We walked into JC Penney's and found what she needed. Whew!
So after several stops on the way home to gather provisions for supper, we finally arrived, with me about $200 poorer. Isn't that just the way it works? The driver, who sets out not needing anything, ends up spending the most.
I commenced with supper prep during what I affectionately call "The Arsenic Hour." During this period of the day, which is usually about 2 hours long, not really 1, everyone is arriving home, hungry, full of questions, full of activity, I'm cooking supper and cleaning up dishes that have accumulated for the day, all the phones are ringing, etc. The arsenic hour has always been rough for me, but when you add a second family into the mix...a family who, just like ours, likes to parse each sentence, each phrase, ask lots of follow-up questions...it tends to make me very very jumpy. At one point I sent this text message to Rena:
in
out
door open
door shut
eat eat eat
videos
tv computers
piano
trombone
dart guns
whine whine whine...
WINE!!!
All I can say really is that it's nice that I have good drugs. Otherwise this could have ended up with the sound of a gunshot.
After supper was over, I got a call telling me that the hot air balloonist was about the arrive at one of the local vacation Bible schools. So I grabbed my camera and headed out, with the cheesecake I was making for Jeff barely started, and the supper dishes not done.
I was gone for 2 hours, standing around in the heat outside, but I did get to visit a tiny bit with my friend Jenny. And shot a couple of photos of her adorable little girl, Katherine:
And then, I came home, baked a cheesecake, watched a rerun of "House," and caught up on my email.
I never did get any wine.
Today? Who knows?
It began at about 6:30 a.m. in a way most of our combined family gatherings do: Jeff and I both companionably working on our computers. Usually he goes out for coffee, but yesterday he let me make him some. (I think he was diluting it with the water, though.)
Then Julia got up and did whatever she does and settled in the comfy chair with a magazine. Here she is putting in her dessert order for the day.
So, after a bit of just hanging around the house in the morning, Julia and I and my niece Jessica set out to run some errands. Jess needed a swimsuit. Target seemed like the place to go.
NOT!
This is where the visit took the first dark turn. I was wandering down the aisle in Target, when I heard my sister say my name. I turned around and she had grabbed the sleeve of an unsuspecting healthcare worker (scrubs), and was saying, "THIS is the color on the walls at Mount Vernon!" Now...she says she prefaced that by saying to the woman, "this is a nice color on you but..."
I was fairly mortified. I said the poor woman, "I'm so sorry! Don't worry, she'll be going home in a few days and then Target will be safe again." And then I said to Julia, "Please do not grab the sleeves of strangers!" The stranger was chuckling and I think enjoying it.
I think.
Then 5 minutes later Julia knocked half a shelf of hair care products onto the floor with her
big *ss purse!
Needless to say, I was ready to get out of Dodge.
After several attempts (in the heat, I might add)to locate a complete swimsuit for Jess (did you know they sell the tops and bottoms separately? So now you can find a top that you want, but there is no matching bottom?), I finally called my bosom buddy Rena. She is shopper extraordinaire. In fact, she was out shopping during her lunch hour when we called. After chuckling at the thought that I, of all people, would be shopping with a teenaged girl, her advice was "Go to the mall. Buy a cup of coffee, sit down with it and your mp3 player and just let the girl go." She always knows exactly the right advice to give, tailored for my particular sensitivities (to noise, commotion, girls, shopping...you name it).
And so we did. But I never did get the cup of coffee. We walked into JC Penney's and found what she needed. Whew!
So after several stops on the way home to gather provisions for supper, we finally arrived, with me about $200 poorer. Isn't that just the way it works? The driver, who sets out not needing anything, ends up spending the most.
I commenced with supper prep during what I affectionately call "The Arsenic Hour." During this period of the day, which is usually about 2 hours long, not really 1, everyone is arriving home, hungry, full of questions, full of activity, I'm cooking supper and cleaning up dishes that have accumulated for the day, all the phones are ringing, etc. The arsenic hour has always been rough for me, but when you add a second family into the mix...a family who, just like ours, likes to parse each sentence, each phrase, ask lots of follow-up questions...it tends to make me very very jumpy. At one point I sent this text message to Rena:
in
out
door open
door shut
eat eat eat
videos
tv computers
piano
trombone
dart guns
whine whine whine...
WINE!!!
All I can say really is that it's nice that I have good drugs. Otherwise this could have ended up with the sound of a gunshot.
After supper was over, I got a call telling me that the hot air balloonist was about the arrive at one of the local vacation Bible schools. So I grabbed my camera and headed out, with the cheesecake I was making for Jeff barely started, and the supper dishes not done.
I was gone for 2 hours, standing around in the heat outside, but I did get to visit a tiny bit with my friend Jenny. And shot a couple of photos of her adorable little girl, Katherine:
And then, I came home, baked a cheesecake, watched a rerun of "House," and caught up on my email.
I never did get any wine.
Today? Who knows?
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
8-Ball Zucchini
Can you stand it? Aren't these just the most adorable zukes you've EVER SEEN?
No idea why someone would feel they needed globe-shaped zukes, but they are cute as a button, aren't they?
My sister and her family have arrived at our house and are sleeping now. They've been vacationing in New York and D.C. and are winding up their eastern trek at our house. We were planning to meet in North Myrtle for a few days, but they said they are just tired of vacationing and want to lay around the house. That's fine with me!
No idea why someone would feel they needed globe-shaped zukes, but they are cute as a button, aren't they?
My sister and her family have arrived at our house and are sleeping now. They've been vacationing in New York and D.C. and are winding up their eastern trek at our house. We were planning to meet in North Myrtle for a few days, but they said they are just tired of vacationing and want to lay around the house. That's fine with me!
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Annual Eggplant Rave
It's time for me to rave again about the eggplant. This was the second big one I've gotten from the farm. We also get some of the long, skinny variety...Japanese eggplant. I like the globe eggplant because it makes for nicer frying. I often use the Japanese variety for stuff like soup and stew.
My cooking is generally low-impact for the food item, and low-fat, making it low-impact on the body as well. But I can never resist frying up eggplant at least a couple of times each summer. If you keep your oil at the right temperature, you'll cook the eggplant through without having it soak up too much fat. It's difficult to coach someone in that, though. I could probably site optimal temperatures for the oil and slice thickness for the 'plant, but face it...most folks will not go to that trouble. I can tell you, though, that last night I used peanut oil instead of my usual canola for this. Just because I'd run out of canola. I'd never fry this in olive oil...too much flavor from that oil. So the peanut oil? I think it turned out to be the best batch yet. I'm not a food scientist (nor do I play one on TV), but I imagine the reason for that is because peanut oil has a much higher smoke point, so I was able to have it hotter without danger of it going ballistic on me.
Last night I served the eggplant mostly out of necessity. I was running out of time and was actually looking around for some Morningstar Farms Chik Patties. But alas! All gone! (need to add that to the grocery list. Hmm..and canola oil)
So I started hurling items out of the crisper drawer again and here was this eggplant I'd forgotten about. AND some zucchini and yellow squash!
The last bit of Panko from the cupboard(grocery list again-check!), some pre-prepared bread crumbs for when the Panko ran out, and I was in business.
Classico spaghetti sauce. Hey we scratch-cookers don't always have time for homemade spaghetti sauce. Classico and Barilla are the only two brands I'll keep around.
My cooking is generally low-impact for the food item, and low-fat, making it low-impact on the body as well. But I can never resist frying up eggplant at least a couple of times each summer. If you keep your oil at the right temperature, you'll cook the eggplant through without having it soak up too much fat. It's difficult to coach someone in that, though. I could probably site optimal temperatures for the oil and slice thickness for the 'plant, but face it...most folks will not go to that trouble. I can tell you, though, that last night I used peanut oil instead of my usual canola for this. Just because I'd run out of canola. I'd never fry this in olive oil...too much flavor from that oil. So the peanut oil? I think it turned out to be the best batch yet. I'm not a food scientist (nor do I play one on TV), but I imagine the reason for that is because peanut oil has a much higher smoke point, so I was able to have it hotter without danger of it going ballistic on me.
Last night I served the eggplant mostly out of necessity. I was running out of time and was actually looking around for some Morningstar Farms Chik Patties. But alas! All gone! (need to add that to the grocery list. Hmm..and canola oil)
So I started hurling items out of the crisper drawer again and here was this eggplant I'd forgotten about. AND some zucchini and yellow squash!
The last bit of Panko from the cupboard(grocery list again-check!), some pre-prepared bread crumbs for when the Panko ran out, and I was in business.
Classico spaghetti sauce. Hey we scratch-cookers don't always have time for homemade spaghetti sauce. Classico and Barilla are the only two brands I'll keep around.
Eggplant Parmesan always goes well with my guys. And it's quite filling.
And of course, I had the added satisfaction of knowing the eggplant, zucchini, and yellow squash all came from the farm. Another "farm dinner!"
Sunday, July 15, 2007
"It's-Monday-Night-and-I-Have-to-Use-Up-Last's-Week's-Share-Before-I-Get-More-Tomorrow" Soup
Ok. You can call it "Farm Soup" if you want:
I started out thinking I would make Ratatouille. And really, I guess that is what this soup is. The french dish is essentially a vegetable stew of tomatoes, zucchini, eggplant, bell peppers, garlic and onions, all sauteed together together and seasoned with herbs. It can serve as a main course or a side dish. And sometimes as a filling for crepes.
Mine is essentially a "garbage soup." Open up the crisper drawer and start pulling stuff out.
GET OUT YOUR BIGGEST POT! This soup is like taco salad...it just runs away from you.
In olive oil, saute garlic, onions and diced carrots, if you are using them, until they begin to soften. I then added celery, eggplant, leftover savoy cabbage, and green peppers. I also threw in a jalapeno pepper because I had them and my guys like a little zip. I drizzled a little more olive oil in there and stirred it around just so the veggies were coated and woudn't stick to the pot. I also seasoned with kosher salt and pepper and sprinkled in some Black & Red pepper blend (This is from Penzey's and is a wonderful blend of ground red pepper and black pepper. Yeah, I could do that myself. But why?)
I sprinkled just a little dried oregano, basil and thyme in the veggies, slapped on the lid and let them cook on medium-low for about 6-8 minutes.
Then I poured in some Harris Teeter version of V-8. Here's why: 12-year-old Taylor talked me into buying a big jug of it two weeks ago and then decided he didn't want it. After it'd been opened, of course. No sense in letting it go to waste. I also dropped in a bay leaf.
And that's how my ratatouille became SOUP!
After I brought it back to a simmer, I tossed in some FRESH basil, thyme and oregano from my little herb pots on the patio. If I hadn't had fresh ones, I would have put in more of the dried versions earlier.
So I tossed in the chopped fresh herbs, 1 medium zucchini cut up into chunks, stirred it, waited about 5 minutes, and then served it with crunchy french-style bread.
The veggies were a nice mix of al dente and soft. And there were hardly any leftovers. My guys love this stuff.
If you don't care about how the chopping goes...if you can just let yourself go mad and chop like a fiend...you can throw this thing together in about 30 minutes.
I promise.
I started out thinking I would make Ratatouille. And really, I guess that is what this soup is. The french dish is essentially a vegetable stew of tomatoes, zucchini, eggplant, bell peppers, garlic and onions, all sauteed together together and seasoned with herbs. It can serve as a main course or a side dish. And sometimes as a filling for crepes.
Mine is essentially a "garbage soup." Open up the crisper drawer and start pulling stuff out.
GET OUT YOUR BIGGEST POT! This soup is like taco salad...it just runs away from you.
In olive oil, saute garlic, onions and diced carrots, if you are using them, until they begin to soften. I then added celery, eggplant, leftover savoy cabbage, and green peppers. I also threw in a jalapeno pepper because I had them and my guys like a little zip. I drizzled a little more olive oil in there and stirred it around just so the veggies were coated and woudn't stick to the pot. I also seasoned with kosher salt and pepper and sprinkled in some Black & Red pepper blend (This is from Penzey's and is a wonderful blend of ground red pepper and black pepper. Yeah, I could do that myself. But why?)
I sprinkled just a little dried oregano, basil and thyme in the veggies, slapped on the lid and let them cook on medium-low for about 6-8 minutes.
Then I poured in some Harris Teeter version of V-8. Here's why: 12-year-old Taylor talked me into buying a big jug of it two weeks ago and then decided he didn't want it. After it'd been opened, of course. No sense in letting it go to waste. I also dropped in a bay leaf.
And that's how my ratatouille became SOUP!
After I brought it back to a simmer, I tossed in some FRESH basil, thyme and oregano from my little herb pots on the patio. If I hadn't had fresh ones, I would have put in more of the dried versions earlier.
So I tossed in the chopped fresh herbs, 1 medium zucchini cut up into chunks, stirred it, waited about 5 minutes, and then served it with crunchy french-style bread.
The veggies were a nice mix of al dente and soft. And there were hardly any leftovers. My guys love this stuff.
If you don't care about how the chopping goes...if you can just let yourself go mad and chop like a fiend...you can throw this thing together in about 30 minutes.
I promise.
Saturday, July 14, 2007
I have No Idea...
I found this posted on Taylor's door this morning.
Last night we had a "boy night" here. This week Nannette brought her 8-year-old nephew, Cody.
Before they came, Cody talked to his sister Jordin on the phone. "We're going to Karen's for supper," he told her.
"She likes girls better than she likes boys," Jordin told him.
Huh. I guess I must have really snowed that little girl!
We had burgers on the grill, watermelon, the canned baked beans that I couldn't get Jordin to put on her ice cream sundae last week, and some cucumbers & tomatoes from the farm, as well as farm potatoes that I had roasted.
Nannette and I had glasses of Riesling, and then sat on the patio, trying to stay awake. Cody played Wii Golf with Nate and beat him! Cody has a really cute laugh...kind of a Woody Woodpecker thing.
And of course Taylor, Tony, and Mensa Boy all watched "Man vs Wild."
It was a fun evening.
Of course now we have this "deadly poison" thing.
Last night we had a "boy night" here. This week Nannette brought her 8-year-old nephew, Cody.
Before they came, Cody talked to his sister Jordin on the phone. "We're going to Karen's for supper," he told her.
"She likes girls better than she likes boys," Jordin told him.
Huh. I guess I must have really snowed that little girl!
We had burgers on the grill, watermelon, the canned baked beans that I couldn't get Jordin to put on her ice cream sundae last week, and some cucumbers & tomatoes from the farm, as well as farm potatoes that I had roasted.
Nannette and I had glasses of Riesling, and then sat on the patio, trying to stay awake. Cody played Wii Golf with Nate and beat him! Cody has a really cute laugh...kind of a Woody Woodpecker thing.
And of course Taylor, Tony, and Mensa Boy all watched "Man vs Wild."
It was a fun evening.
Of course now we have this "deadly poison" thing.
Friday, July 13, 2007
Grilled Okra
I posted this photo on August 13, 2005 and I've never had okra any different way since then. I adore this stuff and find myself wondering when my farmer is going to give me some this year. It's one of my favorite snacks.
My adorable friend, Kathy Richardson, who has left her job as our school principal to become the Queen of Math and Science at Winthrop University, just sent me an email asking me how to make it. She snagged a few one day as I was taking them to a class dinner.
So here's what you do:
Heat the oven to 400 degrees.
Clean your okra and cut off the tough knobs at the ends. Or not. Those ends do make handy-dandy handles for when you are eating them.
Roll the okra in olive oil and lay them in a single layer on a cookie sheet. I like to cook mine in this cast iron grill pan so that I get those nice grill marks. I'll roll them around periodically on the pan that's been heated NASA hot on top of the stove, and then finish them off in the oven.
But you can put them right into the oven on a cookie sheet or grill pan.
And basically just roast them in there until they are charring and have softened.
Take them out, sprinkle liberally with kosher salt, and munch away!
My adorable friend, Kathy Richardson, who has left her job as our school principal to become the Queen of Math and Science at Winthrop University, just sent me an email asking me how to make it. She snagged a few one day as I was taking them to a class dinner.
So here's what you do:
Heat the oven to 400 degrees.
Clean your okra and cut off the tough knobs at the ends. Or not. Those ends do make handy-dandy handles for when you are eating them.
Roll the okra in olive oil and lay them in a single layer on a cookie sheet. I like to cook mine in this cast iron grill pan so that I get those nice grill marks. I'll roll them around periodically on the pan that's been heated NASA hot on top of the stove, and then finish them off in the oven.
But you can put them right into the oven on a cookie sheet or grill pan.
And basically just roast them in there until they are charring and have softened.
Take them out, sprinkle liberally with kosher salt, and munch away!
A Day of Learning
Yesterday we met my aunt and uncle at the Billy Graham Library in Charlotte for lunch and to tour the exhibits. They were in town for an Elks convention and were about to leave to drive back to Albert Lea, Minnesota.
I learned a few things yesterday:
1. I learned a lot about the BG Library. I can't say that much of the information in there was new to me. I've been exposed to the life and ministry of Mr. Graham quite a bit. But this place is simply stunning. The use of modern technology to tell the story of Christ and the story of this ministry is simply amazing. It's too bad that the media made such a big deal about the talking cow. I barely noticed that.
2. I learned that you should take an auto-focus lens and use your camera strictly on auto settings if you have a chance to see someone you haven't seen for a couple years, and you have only a couple of hours with your subject matter. I took my 50mm lens, which I have to manually focus, and I ended up with quite a few shots that were simply not focused correctly. Largely due to my slow hand at it, but also due to the fact that I was in a low-light situation most of the time, where it is just plain harder to focus.
So, with all that, here at the few (somewhat) useful photos I took yesterday:
Jimmy Fox is a bus driver for our school. He actually drives kids from our neighborhood. Not mine anymore...our 'hood is too large now and needs two buses. Anyway, he's a retired minister and loves driving. Ever since the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association moved to Charlotte, Jimmy has wanted to work there in some capacity. This summer his hopes were realized when he was hired part time to drive shuttle buses and golf carts. He is absolutely loving it!
Here are my aunt and uncle in the exhibit areas. See what I mean about focus? I'm disgusted with myself over these. But...you live and learn.
Here is Mensa Boy and my uncle. MB's crystal clear, isn't he? Sheesh. So my uncle...he's an Exhalted Ruler in the Elks. I think that means he's like the president of their lodge or something. They have something like 1600 members in their lodge. I never knew much about the Elks, but they do a ton of charity work. So, like the Rotary, they basically exist to raise money and give it away.
And finally, my aunt. She's my dad's baby sister...10 years younger than he is. Like my parents, Lyle and Lila love camping. They plan to sell their home when they retire and go on the road fulltime. They'll buy a little house in some state where the taxes are low, and then stop in there whenever they aren't on the road.
I learned a few things yesterday:
1. I learned a lot about the BG Library. I can't say that much of the information in there was new to me. I've been exposed to the life and ministry of Mr. Graham quite a bit. But this place is simply stunning. The use of modern technology to tell the story of Christ and the story of this ministry is simply amazing. It's too bad that the media made such a big deal about the talking cow. I barely noticed that.
2. I learned that you should take an auto-focus lens and use your camera strictly on auto settings if you have a chance to see someone you haven't seen for a couple years, and you have only a couple of hours with your subject matter. I took my 50mm lens, which I have to manually focus, and I ended up with quite a few shots that were simply not focused correctly. Largely due to my slow hand at it, but also due to the fact that I was in a low-light situation most of the time, where it is just plain harder to focus.
So, with all that, here at the few (somewhat) useful photos I took yesterday:
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Product Review: Grainy Pastas
The markets are becoming full of whole-grain products now. As my friend Jenny says, "Now is a great time to be on a diet." There are so many high-fiber, low-fat products now. I'm still skeptical about sugar content, but I haven't really done much investigating in that area yet.
In response to the fact that most Americans like their pasta smooth and white, several manufacturers are making blends of white and whole wheat. This Barilla line, called "Plus," is kind of a happy medium between Mueller's Whole Grains and Creamette's white, highly-processed products.
Here's a mini-comparison of three kinds of pasta. I'll just compare calories, fat, fiber and sugar for one serving (56g or about 1/2 cup):
Mueller's Enriched Macaroni-Cal 210, 1g fat, fiber 2g, sugars 2g
Barilla Plus Penne-Cal 210, 2g fat, fiber 4g, sugars 2g
Mueller's Whole Grain Rotini-Cal 190, 2g fat, fiber 5g, sugars 4g
So the whole grain is the lowest in calories, but the sugar content is twice as high. I suspect to make it more palatable to the average American consumer. But you do get 1g higher fiber and lower calories, which drops the Weight Watcher's point value:
Mueller's Enriched-4 points
Barilla Plus-4 points
Mueller's Whole Grain-3 points
The kids liked it. Actually, I should say they didn't dislike it. Ok...they didn't say anything at all. But neither did I. I assume they noticed...especially Taylor, who has a heightened sense of smell and taste, as well as being the most observant member of the family. I did not volunteer that the pasta was different and they did not comment that it was. So I passed that test.
I made a dish from "Cooking Light" magazine that had spinach, asparagus, bacon and parmesan in it. They gobbled it right up.
The Mueller's Whole Grain pasta was good, but a little too Euell Gibbons for us. Even for me, I thought. It was pretty dense and somewhat chewy. I like chewy in my pasta, but I thought the texture was just a little too apparent. I like my pasta to be a vehicle for the sauce...a background singer, if you will. I don't want the pasta itself to make any statements of its own.
Both pasta were more expensive than the regular stuff. Like about 50 cents higher per box. But I'll buy the Barilla Plus stuff a lot now. When I'm not busy making my own, that is.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
The Simpsons: Bart Simpson's Chalkboard
I've never been a fan of "The Simpsons." Never have seen even one episode. But when I found this compilation of chalkboard scenes on youtube, I couldn't help but share it. (I was surfing for videos, music and photos about education and technology)
Feed-the-Preacher Night
Every Friday (almost) we have our friend Tony over for supper. You've heard me talk about Tony. He's our minister, but also a close friend. I like to joke that Tony is the other 12-year-old I never had. When he is here, he gets Taylor riled up and they both take turns keeping us in stitches most of the night.
We sit around the supper table and talk about nothing most of the time. Tony tells jokes, we all tease him about how bad they are, and usually Nate, Taylor, or Mensa Boy introduce some speculative science thing that I don't understand. One night it was about geosynchronous orbit and wouldn't it be cool if we could have things in orbit around the earth that would be only a yard or so off the ground?
I usually just sit and watch it all happen. As my friend Jenny says, "It's like a train wreck. You just can't take your eyes away from it."
A few times this summer we've also invited my neighbor Nannette and last week she brought her niece, 7-year-old Jordin.
So the balance of power between the boys and girls evened out just a little last Friday.
Friday night dinner is usually a big affair. A large meal with dessert most of the time. I don't do that just to impress Tony. I like to relax by cooking and having a guest just gives me an excuse to whomp up something with several steps. And besides...Tony eats ANYTHING. I love having non-picky eaters at my house.
Last Friday, however, was a boy-friendly meal. Tacos. And for dessert we made our own sundaes. Nannette's niece is a little shy, so we gave her the lead on that, taking her to the grocery store with a list so that she could get all the ingredients we need for some really good sundaes. As I'm prone to do, I made up all kinds of stuff to pull her leg. "Pickles, Jordin? What about the pickles? You can't have a sundae without pickles! The best ones I know have ice cream, pickles, baked beans, tabasco sauce, chocolate chips, sprinkles, chocolate sauce..."
It was when she decided I was crazy that she relaxed, I think. That and the camera. She walked around with my camera and took photos most of the night. The little girl took a lot of photos of my house, including the messy parts.
But when we took her out to my neighbor's garden, I found that she has a pretty good knack for framing and macro photography:
It was a great night. And no one ever did put any pickles or baked beans on their sundae, so I don't need to put those items on next week's grocery list..
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Crime Doesn't Pay
Apparently today was not a good day to be a Chinese Food & Drug official.
At first, when you hear the lead-in to this story, and they are saying what has happened, it strikes you as sort of funny...that someone with this kind of job would do something worthy of this kind of punishment.
But as you listen to the entire story on NPR, you find that this situation is very very serious.
At first, when you hear the lead-in to this story, and they are saying what has happened, it strikes you as sort of funny...that someone with this kind of job would do something worthy of this kind of punishment.
But as you listen to the entire story on NPR, you find that this situation is very very serious.
Peach Cheesecake
Actually, it's not the cheesecake itself that is peachy. It's the peach compote hidden inside, and the peach preserve glaze on top, that lends the peachy flavor to this cake.
I found this recipe on Epicurious.It was originally in Bon Appetit magazine, June 2002.
The recipe was a pretty straightforward New York-style cheesecake recipe.
If you decide to make this, bear in mind that you really need to start a day ahead of the day you serve it.
Peach Cheesecake with a Gingersnap Crust
When you are ready to start, take your eggs and cream cheese out and put them on the counter. You really want them to be at room temperature when you make the filling.
Make the compote first, because it has to cool a little.
combine in a small saucepan:
4 small peaches (about 1 1/4 pounds), peeled and pitted
2 tablespoons of sugar (more or less depending upon how sweet the fruit is)
1/2 teaspoon of fresh lemon juice
Cover and cook over medium-high heat until the sugar dissolves and the peaches break down and are juicy. Stir occasionally. This should take around 5 minutes. I used frozen peaches from last year, so I had to let mine go a little longer, just to let them thaw. Uncover the the pan and let the peaches cook until they are tender and the juices thicken.
Cool the compote. I would think to at least room temperature. But really you could probably make this ahead of time and refrigerate, then take it out to warm up a bit before you use it. It's not a big deal: it's pretty forgiving. I just wouldn't put HOT compote in the cheesecake batter.
Now, heat the oven to 350 degrees. Take out a very large roaster pan, large enough to set the springform pan inside, and place it on the counter out of the way. Lay a kitchen towel in the bottom. Fill the teakettle all the way full with water and set it on the stove to boil. This is for your bain marie.
Make a gingersnap crust by grinding up
25 gingersnap cookies (about 6 ounces)and
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) melted unsalted butter
Press the crust into a 9-inch springform pan, bringing the crumbs up the sides about an inch. Put the pan into the oven and bake until you can smell the gingersnaps browning, 6-8 minutes. Remove from oven to cool on a rack.
Reduce the oven heat to 325 degrees.
Make the cheesecake filling
4 8-ounce packages of cream cheese
1 1/4 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1/2 cup sour cream
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Beat the cream cheese until it's fluffy. Gradually add 1 1/4 cups sugar and beat until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Mix in the sour cream and vanilla.
Place your pan on top of a piece of foil that is large enough for you to gather up around the outside of the pan. This will help with any leaks.
Spoon half the batter (about 3 cups) into the crust. Then spoon the compote by tablespoonfuls around the batter, spacing the glops apart. Pour the rest of the batter onto the top.
Here is my friend Cassie putting together the cheesecake. She is a cheesecake-maker extraordinaire.
Okay. So now you have the cheesecake together and the water in the kettle has either come to a boil or is about to. Gather the foil up around the outside of your springform pan.
Place the large roaster pan in the oven and pour the boiling water into it. Then place the cheesecake pan into the roaster.
Now, you are going to bake this cheesecake for about an hour. But start looking at it by around 50 minutes. You are going for a lightly-browned top and you don't want it to be all the way "set." The center of the cheesecake should have a little bit of a jiggle to it if you nudge the pan. You will probably think it's underbaked. But that cake is going to hold a lot of residual heat for quite some time. Not to mention the water in the roaster pan.
Remove the cheesecake from the oven. I remove the entire roaster with cake inside and place it on the counter, then remove the cheesecake. But that's probably not wise, because the water can slosh all over. And it's hard on the back. You can just remove the cheesecake from the pan.
Let it cool on a rack for a while.
The recipe says to cool it for 5 minutes, then run a knife around the outside to be sure it's loose from that pan, then remove the sides of the pan and refrigerate for a day. But other recipes suggest you cool it for a day and then remove the sides before you serve it. I prefer that method. I just don't want to do anything that might upset the cake before it's all the way chilled. And yeah...you need to chill overnight. It's tempting to just go 5 or 6 hours, but a 24-hour chill is really the best here.
"And it was evening and then morning, the second day."
Make the glaze
Combine in a small saucepan
1/2 cup peach preserves
1 1/2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
Stir this over medium heat until the glaze comes to a simmer. The recipe suggests straining it, but I had a snafu removing the cake from the pan, so I used the lumps and bumps and extra glaze that I would have lost from straining to glaze the top of the cake and cover the ugliness. I'll tell you about the mess in a second.
Remove the springform sides of the pan by running a knife around the edge between the crust and the pan sides, and then loosening the sides and sliding up over the top.
Spread the glaze over the top of the cake, arrange some peach slices on top, and maybe a sprig of mint.
And there you have it!
This was the fourth cheesecake I've made. I've never had one crack. Cracking happens when the cake becomes overcooked. It's still great to eat that way, just not as strikingly beautiful. Glazes and toppings help to cover up cracks. I think the bain marie method really helps to assure that the cake does not crack. The water is an insulator and helps distribute the heat throughout the entire cake, so that the bottom and sides don't get overcooked before the middle has had enough time. Because cheesecakes are large and dense, bain maries just make sense. (Like that? I made that up)
My snafu. So this was my fourth cheesecake. Never have had any trouble whatsoever, so I figured now I had enough experience to make a cake for the newspaper. A photograph-able cake.
I removed the cake from the refrigerator and began to run my knife around the edge. It was hard to make the knife go. I didn't expect that. The pan I use is pretty much nonstick. I kept going. I loosened the pan sides and started to lift it off. It really seemed like it didn't want to come. As I gently lifted the side up, there was cake stuck to it and it snagged my perfect top and tore a jagged edge about 6 inches long.
I had managed to run my knife down between the crust and the cake, instead of between the crust and the pan. I had cut the side crust completely off the cake. ARRGH!
Ugly cake.
So I meticulously cut the crust remnants from the pan, fitting it like a puzzle to the sides of the cake with my fingers. Gently, gently pressing the sides together to "glue it." I carefully smoothed down the jagged top and then glopped all the lumpy glaze across the top.
I think it turned out pretty photogenic, if I do say so myself.
I found this recipe on Epicurious.It was originally in Bon Appetit magazine, June 2002.
The recipe was a pretty straightforward New York-style cheesecake recipe.
If you decide to make this, bear in mind that you really need to start a day ahead of the day you serve it.
Peach Cheesecake with a Gingersnap Crust
When you are ready to start, take your eggs and cream cheese out and put them on the counter. You really want them to be at room temperature when you make the filling.
Make the compote first, because it has to cool a little.
combine in a small saucepan:
4 small peaches (about 1 1/4 pounds), peeled and pitted
2 tablespoons of sugar (more or less depending upon how sweet the fruit is)
1/2 teaspoon of fresh lemon juice
Cover and cook over medium-high heat until the sugar dissolves and the peaches break down and are juicy. Stir occasionally. This should take around 5 minutes. I used frozen peaches from last year, so I had to let mine go a little longer, just to let them thaw. Uncover the the pan and let the peaches cook until they are tender and the juices thicken.
Cool the compote. I would think to at least room temperature. But really you could probably make this ahead of time and refrigerate, then take it out to warm up a bit before you use it. It's not a big deal: it's pretty forgiving. I just wouldn't put HOT compote in the cheesecake batter.
Now, heat the oven to 350 degrees. Take out a very large roaster pan, large enough to set the springform pan inside, and place it on the counter out of the way. Lay a kitchen towel in the bottom. Fill the teakettle all the way full with water and set it on the stove to boil. This is for your bain marie.
Make a gingersnap crust by grinding up
25 gingersnap cookies (about 6 ounces)and
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) melted unsalted butter
Press the crust into a 9-inch springform pan, bringing the crumbs up the sides about an inch. Put the pan into the oven and bake until you can smell the gingersnaps browning, 6-8 minutes. Remove from oven to cool on a rack.
Reduce the oven heat to 325 degrees.
Make the cheesecake filling
4 8-ounce packages of cream cheese
1 1/4 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1/2 cup sour cream
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Beat the cream cheese until it's fluffy. Gradually add 1 1/4 cups sugar and beat until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Mix in the sour cream and vanilla.
Place your pan on top of a piece of foil that is large enough for you to gather up around the outside of the pan. This will help with any leaks.
Spoon half the batter (about 3 cups) into the crust. Then spoon the compote by tablespoonfuls around the batter, spacing the glops apart. Pour the rest of the batter onto the top.
Here is my friend Cassie putting together the cheesecake. She is a cheesecake-maker extraordinaire.
Okay. So now you have the cheesecake together and the water in the kettle has either come to a boil or is about to. Gather the foil up around the outside of your springform pan.
Place the large roaster pan in the oven and pour the boiling water into it. Then place the cheesecake pan into the roaster.
Now, you are going to bake this cheesecake for about an hour. But start looking at it by around 50 minutes. You are going for a lightly-browned top and you don't want it to be all the way "set." The center of the cheesecake should have a little bit of a jiggle to it if you nudge the pan. You will probably think it's underbaked. But that cake is going to hold a lot of residual heat for quite some time. Not to mention the water in the roaster pan.
Remove the cheesecake from the oven. I remove the entire roaster with cake inside and place it on the counter, then remove the cheesecake. But that's probably not wise, because the water can slosh all over. And it's hard on the back. You can just remove the cheesecake from the pan.
Let it cool on a rack for a while.
The recipe says to cool it for 5 minutes, then run a knife around the outside to be sure it's loose from that pan, then remove the sides of the pan and refrigerate for a day. But other recipes suggest you cool it for a day and then remove the sides before you serve it. I prefer that method. I just don't want to do anything that might upset the cake before it's all the way chilled. And yeah...you need to chill overnight. It's tempting to just go 5 or 6 hours, but a 24-hour chill is really the best here.
"And it was evening and then morning, the second day."
Make the glaze
Combine in a small saucepan
1/2 cup peach preserves
1 1/2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
Stir this over medium heat until the glaze comes to a simmer. The recipe suggests straining it, but I had a snafu removing the cake from the pan, so I used the lumps and bumps and extra glaze that I would have lost from straining to glaze the top of the cake and cover the ugliness. I'll tell you about the mess in a second.
Remove the springform sides of the pan by running a knife around the edge between the crust and the pan sides, and then loosening the sides and sliding up over the top.
Spread the glaze over the top of the cake, arrange some peach slices on top, and maybe a sprig of mint.
And there you have it!
This was the fourth cheesecake I've made. I've never had one crack. Cracking happens when the cake becomes overcooked. It's still great to eat that way, just not as strikingly beautiful. Glazes and toppings help to cover up cracks. I think the bain marie method really helps to assure that the cake does not crack. The water is an insulator and helps distribute the heat throughout the entire cake, so that the bottom and sides don't get overcooked before the middle has had enough time. Because cheesecakes are large and dense, bain maries just make sense. (Like that? I made that up)
My snafu. So this was my fourth cheesecake. Never have had any trouble whatsoever, so I figured now I had enough experience to make a cake for the newspaper. A photograph-able cake.
I removed the cake from the refrigerator and began to run my knife around the edge. It was hard to make the knife go. I didn't expect that. The pan I use is pretty much nonstick. I kept going. I loosened the pan sides and started to lift it off. It really seemed like it didn't want to come. As I gently lifted the side up, there was cake stuck to it and it snagged my perfect top and tore a jagged edge about 6 inches long.
I had managed to run my knife down between the crust and the cake, instead of between the crust and the pan. I had cut the side crust completely off the cake. ARRGH!
Ugly cake.
So I meticulously cut the crust remnants from the pan, fitting it like a puzzle to the sides of the cake with my fingers. Gently, gently pressing the sides together to "glue it." I carefully smoothed down the jagged top and then glopped all the lumpy glaze across the top.
I think it turned out pretty photogenic, if I do say so myself.
Monday, July 09, 2007
Hummers
This is my kind of hummer. Absolutely no cost (well, may a few cents of sugar)...way less than the Hummer car...which costs about what our first house did.
I've been cooking and photographing all weekend. Both require a lot of breath-holding. So today I'm working on breathing.
(I should explain that I do not ALWAYS hold my breath when I cook. Just when I cook something I've never done before, I plan to photograph it, and I'm worried that it might end up looking a little messy. See below)
I am absolutely LOVING my new little lens for my camera. But I should mention that this particular photo was not taken by that one. The new lens is a 50 mm. This was taken with my 55-200 telephoto lens. I started out sitting 4 feet from the feeder with the 50 mm lens and the birds were just too scared. They came to the feeder - that wasn't a problem. But they were swooping at my head. And all my shots were to the side like this one because they always like that perch. My office window is to the left of this shot, so now I've removed the screen from that window and I plan to shoot them through the glass with the little lens so I can get them straight on.
During breaks from work, that is. I'm going to be doing some serious desk jockeying this week. I have material for 5 stories, another story that needs more interviewing, and about 30 hours worth of CDs to do for the Clevelands.
So back to work. I'll write about the food later. That's one of the stories for the paper (yay!).
My Peach Puzzle. Much messier-looking than the photo on NPR, but just as good, I think.
I've been cooking and photographing all weekend. Both require a lot of breath-holding. So today I'm working on breathing.
(I should explain that I do not ALWAYS hold my breath when I cook. Just when I cook something I've never done before, I plan to photograph it, and I'm worried that it might end up looking a little messy. See below)
I am absolutely LOVING my new little lens for my camera. But I should mention that this particular photo was not taken by that one. The new lens is a 50 mm. This was taken with my 55-200 telephoto lens. I started out sitting 4 feet from the feeder with the 50 mm lens and the birds were just too scared. They came to the feeder - that wasn't a problem. But they were swooping at my head. And all my shots were to the side like this one because they always like that perch. My office window is to the left of this shot, so now I've removed the screen from that window and I plan to shoot them through the glass with the little lens so I can get them straight on.
During breaks from work, that is. I'm going to be doing some serious desk jockeying this week. I have material for 5 stories, another story that needs more interviewing, and about 30 hours worth of CDs to do for the Clevelands.
So back to work. I'll write about the food later. That's one of the stories for the paper (yay!).
My Peach Puzzle. Much messier-looking than the photo on NPR, but just as good, I think.
Friday, July 06, 2007
Lounging
There is plenty of down-time for everyone around here this summer. Particularly the kids. They've been reasonably good about not complaining of boredom. Although that might be because uttering the word "bored" can result in being assigned a task.
Yesterday I fell in love with some property. There is a house on it, but what I really loved was the location. Deep in the heart of Indian Land, nestled in the woods, the owner enjoys wildlife and peace and quiet. It's about 5 miles further away from Charlotte than we are.
It has awakened in me the desire to have a home in the woods. With maybe just an acre of land all around me. If I could find an acre or two in the woods that we could afford, I'd buy that and build an energy-efficient home on it.
But it would have be here in Indian Land. I just don't want to leave here.
Yesterday I fell in love with some property. There is a house on it, but what I really loved was the location. Deep in the heart of Indian Land, nestled in the woods, the owner enjoys wildlife and peace and quiet. It's about 5 miles further away from Charlotte than we are.
It has awakened in me the desire to have a home in the woods. With maybe just an acre of land all around me. If I could find an acre or two in the woods that we could afford, I'd buy that and build an energy-efficient home on it.
But it would have be here in Indian Land. I just don't want to leave here.
Thursday, July 05, 2007
The Morning After
The entire neighborhood smells like stale sulphur this morning.
We had fireworks going on in all directions last night, from about 8 until after 11. It continues to amaze me how people will literally blow their money.
But...those of us cheapskates got to enjoy a pretty good show.
I spent the evening with my camera on a tripod. Since the remote control I ordered has not arrived, I had to depress the shutter by hand. I spent quite a bit of time researching how to take the photos. Essentially, I set the camera to "Manual," set the shutter speed at 'bulb,' the aperture at 7.1, and depressed the shutter whenever the explosion started. Then I let go of the shutter as the firework died out. It's not an exact science. The hardest part was focus. I kept reading that the manual focus should be set at 'infinity,' but there is no infinity symbol on my lens. So I dialed it all the way out and then tried to back off a bit until it looked like most of the fireworks would be in focus.
I'm not wildly happy about these photos, but I figure they aren't bad for a novice. What I should do is go to a display this is organized and has cool fireworks that end up being flowers, etc. Regular people seem to tend to just buy ones that make a lot of noise and don't necessarily go up in a pattern. I suppose the others are more expensive.
Anyway, I never heard sirens last night, so apparently there weren't any terrible injuries.
We had fireworks going on in all directions last night, from about 8 until after 11. It continues to amaze me how people will literally blow their money.
But...those of us cheapskates got to enjoy a pretty good show.
I spent the evening with my camera on a tripod. Since the remote control I ordered has not arrived, I had to depress the shutter by hand. I spent quite a bit of time researching how to take the photos. Essentially, I set the camera to "Manual," set the shutter speed at 'bulb,' the aperture at 7.1, and depressed the shutter whenever the explosion started. Then I let go of the shutter as the firework died out. It's not an exact science. The hardest part was focus. I kept reading that the manual focus should be set at 'infinity,' but there is no infinity symbol on my lens. So I dialed it all the way out and then tried to back off a bit until it looked like most of the fireworks would be in focus.
I'm not wildly happy about these photos, but I figure they aren't bad for a novice. What I should do is go to a display this is organized and has cool fireworks that end up being flowers, etc. Regular people seem to tend to just buy ones that make a lot of noise and don't necessarily go up in a pattern. I suppose the others are more expensive.
Anyway, I never heard sirens last night, so apparently there weren't any terrible injuries.
Wednesday, July 04, 2007
Cherry Chocolate Chip Ice Cream
This the kind of recipe you'll love & hate. Because most of my readers are the kind of folks that like precise recipes. But I'm telling you...ice cream is very forgiving.
I had these fresh bing cherries about to mold. Cherries just don't last long, and I'm the main consumer in our house. So one afternoon I pitted about 2 cups of them, tossed them in a pan with a little sugar (maybe 1/2 cup?), and sauteed them until the cherries had broken down and I had a syrup, but they hadn't cooked so long that they had jelled.
I put that in the fridge.
Today I took that out, poured it in my bowl, and added:
1 cup whole milk
1/3 cup sugar
Dash salt
1 cup half-n-half
1/2 cup whipping cream
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Stirred it all until the sugar was dissolved. And suddenly decided to see if Mensa Boy had left any chocolate chips. Yup, about 1/4 cup. Tossed those in.
I put it in my handy-dandy countertop ice cream maker and got this! Simply stunning!
Now here are some notes for you:
1. When you simmer the cherries or blueberries or whatever berries you are using (yes...that should have been note #1...use any kind of berries), start with a little sugar, like maybe 1/2 cup to 2 cups berries. Taste it to see if it's sweet enough.
2. You still need to add sugar to the dairy products of the ice cream recipe. I didn't do that with the blueberry ice cream last week and it just wasn't that good. The berries were sweet, to be sure, but the ice cream was just not.
3. I used the ice cream recipe for my maker, and just reduced the whole milk by 1/2 cup to accomodate the extra room needed for the cherries. But I'm thinking I actually added maybe 1 1/2 cup worth of cherries and syrup...got it? There was plenty of extra room in the maker for the extra 1 cup of stuff. In fact, that doesn't take into account the chocolate chips, either.
4. I used whole milk, half-n-half and whipping cream. But you can step down the fat content by switching whole milk for 1%, half-n-half for whole milk, and whipping cream for evaporated skim milk. TRUST ME...I do that all the time and NO ONE EVER KNOWS. I just didn't this time because I had half-n-half and whipping cream left from something else I made earlier. (don't remember. don't ask.) You can definitely trust me on this if you know me, because if you know me, you know I DESPISE low-fat and reduced-fat stuff. I like full-fat stuff. Just eat less.
I'm going to make the blueberry ice cream again and add sugar to the dairy. That was the true trick.
Oh. And. Kirsch would be nice.
I had these fresh bing cherries about to mold. Cherries just don't last long, and I'm the main consumer in our house. So one afternoon I pitted about 2 cups of them, tossed them in a pan with a little sugar (maybe 1/2 cup?), and sauteed them until the cherries had broken down and I had a syrup, but they hadn't cooked so long that they had jelled.
I put that in the fridge.
Today I took that out, poured it in my bowl, and added:
1 cup whole milk
1/3 cup sugar
Dash salt
1 cup half-n-half
1/2 cup whipping cream
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Stirred it all until the sugar was dissolved. And suddenly decided to see if Mensa Boy had left any chocolate chips. Yup, about 1/4 cup. Tossed those in.
I put it in my handy-dandy countertop ice cream maker and got this! Simply stunning!
Now here are some notes for you:
1. When you simmer the cherries or blueberries or whatever berries you are using (yes...that should have been note #1...use any kind of berries), start with a little sugar, like maybe 1/2 cup to 2 cups berries. Taste it to see if it's sweet enough.
2. You still need to add sugar to the dairy products of the ice cream recipe. I didn't do that with the blueberry ice cream last week and it just wasn't that good. The berries were sweet, to be sure, but the ice cream was just not.
3. I used the ice cream recipe for my maker, and just reduced the whole milk by 1/2 cup to accomodate the extra room needed for the cherries. But I'm thinking I actually added maybe 1 1/2 cup worth of cherries and syrup...got it? There was plenty of extra room in the maker for the extra 1 cup of stuff. In fact, that doesn't take into account the chocolate chips, either.
4. I used whole milk, half-n-half and whipping cream. But you can step down the fat content by switching whole milk for 1%, half-n-half for whole milk, and whipping cream for evaporated skim milk. TRUST ME...I do that all the time and NO ONE EVER KNOWS. I just didn't this time because I had half-n-half and whipping cream left from something else I made earlier. (don't remember. don't ask.) You can definitely trust me on this if you know me, because if you know me, you know I DESPISE low-fat and reduced-fat stuff. I like full-fat stuff. Just eat less.
I'm going to make the blueberry ice cream again and add sugar to the dairy. That was the true trick.
Oh. And. Kirsch would be nice.
Yeah. He Took Care of Him, Alright
Some days, actually a lot of days lately, it's just hard to be a Republican.
Monday was one of those days. That was the day President Bush commuted Lewis Libby's sentence.
In 2003 Bush said this,
"If there is a leak out of my administration, I want to know who it is. And if the person has violated law, the person will be taken care of."
Was it guilt on Bush's part? I mean...he cites Libby's service and says the former White House aide suffered enough. He's got a bad rep now. No street cred. And the sentence imposted was "too excessive."
Bush acknowledges that Libby done wrong. The dude lied to investigators. He wasn't even the one that leaked the Mrs. Plame's identity. But he lied and lied and lied.
To protect who? Our dear leader? (shaded reference to another famous guy intended)
Monday was one of those days. That was the day President Bush commuted Lewis Libby's sentence.
In 2003 Bush said this,
"If there is a leak out of my administration, I want to know who it is. And if the person has violated law, the person will be taken care of."
Was it guilt on Bush's part? I mean...he cites Libby's service and says the former White House aide suffered enough. He's got a bad rep now. No street cred. And the sentence imposted was "too excessive."
Bush acknowledges that Libby done wrong. The dude lied to investigators. He wasn't even the one that leaked the Mrs. Plame's identity. But he lied and lied and lied.
To protect who? Our dear leader? (shaded reference to another famous guy intended)
Bugging Around
I'm still photographing bugs in my neighbor's garden. Sure, I have bugs myself. But I don't have a garden.
I started photographing them last week, mostly just to get in some practice with macro photography, bokeh, depth of field, etc. But now this week a Nikon D40 group I subscribe to is running a competition for bug photos. So I'll be doing more in the coming week. It's fun to have something to look for to photograph. Most of the group members are way out of my league, but it seems like some of them are not, so I feel like I'm kind of in the middle of the pack.
Today will be a low-key 4th. It always is for us here. We used to go hang at my parent's house and then go to to fireworks. But we only went to fireworks to make my mom happy. The rest of us hate the noise and commotion. Probably tonight we'll just sit on the sidewalk outside my house and watch the ones the neighbors shoot off on the other side of our subdivision.
Until then, we'll probably rent some of the "Rocky" movies. We were talking about them the other day and realizing that Taylor has never seen them.
My friend Jenny did a great story on Nate in the Fort Mill Times. As of a few minutes ago, today's edition was not online. But if you check periodically, it'll pop up fairly soon, I reckon.
Go to Fort Mill Times and look for "IL Senior Takes 'Leadership 101'"
I started photographing them last week, mostly just to get in some practice with macro photography, bokeh, depth of field, etc. But now this week a Nikon D40 group I subscribe to is running a competition for bug photos. So I'll be doing more in the coming week. It's fun to have something to look for to photograph. Most of the group members are way out of my league, but it seems like some of them are not, so I feel like I'm kind of in the middle of the pack.
Today will be a low-key 4th. It always is for us here. We used to go hang at my parent's house and then go to to fireworks. But we only went to fireworks to make my mom happy. The rest of us hate the noise and commotion. Probably tonight we'll just sit on the sidewalk outside my house and watch the ones the neighbors shoot off on the other side of our subdivision.
Until then, we'll probably rent some of the "Rocky" movies. We were talking about them the other day and realizing that Taylor has never seen them.
My friend Jenny did a great story on Nate in the Fort Mill Times. As of a few minutes ago, today's edition was not online. But if you check periodically, it'll pop up fairly soon, I reckon.
Go to Fort Mill Times and look for "IL Senior Takes 'Leadership 101'"
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
Busy Bee
It was a busy day yesterday. I didn't make any money, but I sure got a handle on how to get some in the coming weeks. I received a fairly large assignment of work from my beloved Cleveland Company. So much, in fact, that I told them I'd have to do the batch of CDs they need in shifts.
I also came out of the day with something like 6 stories to write. Some will be very short "new business" stories for the paper, one will be another food story (YAY!) and the other is a story I'm pitching for a quarterly magazine our paper publishes.
And I found some time to play with my camera in neighbor Mary's garden, capturing bees busy at this bush of hers. I'm sorry I can't identify it. I really suck at plant identification.
I also went hogwild downloading NPR podcasts to my mp3 player last night. NPR has many, many podcasts available, so I downloaded the last editions of "Wait! Wait! Don't Tell Me!" and "Whad'ya Know?" as well as a "Hidden Kitchens" story and a "Kitchen Window" one.
I may have to add a daily walk to my schedule just to get a chance to listen to these!
While I was tinkering with my player, I discovered several flash games on there. I started to play some of them and found that I just don't have the part of the brain that tells me HOW to move the little characters around on the screen. Nate was watching me try to play this airplane game and really could not understand how I could fail to see that the plane drops down when it goes one direction and then flies up when it faces another. He tried to coach me, but pretty much gave me up as a lost cause. I do think I might try to figure out "Free Cell," though. I always have my player in my purse, so I can do that when I'm stuck somewhere waiting for something.
That's all I know right now. Today Nate and I will go to the Rotary meeting, then he goes to school to move more boxes. I'll head to a chiro appointment, and then try to make some calls for interview appointments. This afternoon I'll take him to Ryan's to spend a couple of days and then I'll make the rounds of the farm and grocery store.
Make a good day today! Life is GOOD!
I also came out of the day with something like 6 stories to write. Some will be very short "new business" stories for the paper, one will be another food story (YAY!) and the other is a story I'm pitching for a quarterly magazine our paper publishes.
And I found some time to play with my camera in neighbor Mary's garden, capturing bees busy at this bush of hers. I'm sorry I can't identify it. I really suck at plant identification.
I also went hogwild downloading NPR podcasts to my mp3 player last night. NPR has many, many podcasts available, so I downloaded the last editions of "Wait! Wait! Don't Tell Me!" and "Whad'ya Know?" as well as a "Hidden Kitchens" story and a "Kitchen Window" one.
I may have to add a daily walk to my schedule just to get a chance to listen to these!
While I was tinkering with my player, I discovered several flash games on there. I started to play some of them and found that I just don't have the part of the brain that tells me HOW to move the little characters around on the screen. Nate was watching me try to play this airplane game and really could not understand how I could fail to see that the plane drops down when it goes one direction and then flies up when it faces another. He tried to coach me, but pretty much gave me up as a lost cause. I do think I might try to figure out "Free Cell," though. I always have my player in my purse, so I can do that when I'm stuck somewhere waiting for something.
That's all I know right now. Today Nate and I will go to the Rotary meeting, then he goes to school to move more boxes. I'll head to a chiro appointment, and then try to make some calls for interview appointments. This afternoon I'll take him to Ryan's to spend a couple of days and then I'll make the rounds of the farm and grocery store.
Make a good day today! Life is GOOD!
Monday, July 02, 2007
A New Favorite Salad
Last night I made this salad from a recipe in the July 2007 issue of "Fine Cooking" magazine. And every member of the family declared it "worth repeating." Here is the recipe adapted by me (because I had leftover chicken so didn't need to cook chicken breast, I didn't have fresh ginger or sesame seeds, was short 1/3 cup of sliced almonds, and I forgot to put in the scallions!)
Chinese Chicken Salad
Salad:
Leftover roast chicken (about 2 cups...shredded)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
8 square wonton wrappers
Cooking spray
1/3 C sliced almonds
Snow peas, trimmed and and cut on the diagonal into thirds (1/2 c)
1/2 small head napa cabbage, trimmed and cut crosswise into 1/2-inch wide strips (3-3 1/2 c)
1/2 small head romaine cut crosswise into 1/2-insh-wide strips (1 1/2-2 c)
Dressing:
1/4 c rice vinegar
1 1/2 Tbs soy sauce
1 Tbs Asian chile sauce*
1 very large clove of garlic, crushed and then finely chopped
1 tsp ground ginger**
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/4 c peanut oil
Turn the oven on 375 degrees. Cut the wonton wrappers into 1/2-inch strips and lay them out on a single layer on a cookie sheet that you've covered with foil and sprayed with cooking spray. Squinch the wonton wrapper strips a bit with your fingers to give them a wavy shape. Spray lightly with cooking spray and salt them sparingly.
Bake for 8-10 minutes, until golden brown and delicious.
Blanch the snow peas for about 20 seconds in boiling water. Shock them in ice water.
Cut and wash the lettuce and cabbage. Spin dry. Toss in the snowpeas.
Roast the almond slices in the oven or a small skillet until they get that roasted smell and start to turn a light tan color.
Assemble all the dressing ingredients. Pour about 1/4 cup of the dressing over the shredded chicken and toss well. Throw the chicken and almonds into the lettuce mixture and gently toss with the hands, adding more of the dressing until everything is the way you like it.
Plate the salad, garnish each plate with the wonton strips and then get out of the way!
*I had this chili-garlic sauce, the recipe called for "sweet Asian chile sauce)
**2 tsp minced fresh ginger would have been better
Chinese Chicken Salad
Salad:
Leftover roast chicken (about 2 cups...shredded)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
8 square wonton wrappers
Cooking spray
1/3 C sliced almonds
Snow peas, trimmed and and cut on the diagonal into thirds (1/2 c)
1/2 small head napa cabbage, trimmed and cut crosswise into 1/2-inch wide strips (3-3 1/2 c)
1/2 small head romaine cut crosswise into 1/2-insh-wide strips (1 1/2-2 c)
Dressing:
1/4 c rice vinegar
1 1/2 Tbs soy sauce
1 Tbs Asian chile sauce*
1 very large clove of garlic, crushed and then finely chopped
1 tsp ground ginger**
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/4 c peanut oil
Turn the oven on 375 degrees. Cut the wonton wrappers into 1/2-inch strips and lay them out on a single layer on a cookie sheet that you've covered with foil and sprayed with cooking spray. Squinch the wonton wrapper strips a bit with your fingers to give them a wavy shape. Spray lightly with cooking spray and salt them sparingly.
Bake for 8-10 minutes, until golden brown and delicious.
Blanch the snow peas for about 20 seconds in boiling water. Shock them in ice water.
Cut and wash the lettuce and cabbage. Spin dry. Toss in the snowpeas.
Roast the almond slices in the oven or a small skillet until they get that roasted smell and start to turn a light tan color.
Assemble all the dressing ingredients. Pour about 1/4 cup of the dressing over the shredded chicken and toss well. Throw the chicken and almonds into the lettuce mixture and gently toss with the hands, adding more of the dressing until everything is the way you like it.
Plate the salad, garnish each plate with the wonton strips and then get out of the way!
*I had this chili-garlic sauce, the recipe called for "sweet Asian chile sauce)
**2 tsp minced fresh ginger would have been better
Sunday, July 01, 2007
And So It Continues
You've heard "the beat goes on?" Here at our house, the breakdowns go on.
Most, but not all of the issues have been resolved. The oven guy came and replaced the igniter. Swore to us that this would be the last time. Bolstered his promise by telling us that previous repairs were done with an old part that has since been re-manufactured. Apparently re-manufactured in 2003, but the "other technicians" continued ordering the old part.
Yuh.
The refrigerator repair guy came and did some work on our freezer again. Installed a new new new modification (so called because he did a new modification 2 years ago, a new new modification last year, and now another one the other day), and showed us how to clean out the ice accumulation behind the back panel of the freezer, the clanking against by the fan being the cause of the airplane take-off sounds.
And he left dripping water and warm food in his wake as he neglected to turn both the refrigerator and freezer parts of the fridge back to cool. We discovered it 6 hours later when I opened the freezer and had water dump out onto my foot.
And I have a new cell phone. Razr like before, but newer. And I finally added more minutes to our account when I received the third bill in a row with TONS of overage charges.
The computers have been behaving. And it's been only 3 days since the last power outage. And 5 since the last cable outage.
So all is going well.
Except.
Yup. There's always an "except..."
BIG GREEN. Bad starter motor. Tow truck, night on the lift, repairs done. $350. Without our prior approval.
Mensa Boy is ... disturbed. On the warpath, even. Which will be a surprise for those of you who only think of him as this (the one on the left), or this (thank you Greg Schneider).
He was promised, when he followed her over there, that any repairs to Big Green would be done only after he was contacted.
Today he was called and told she was ready.
We probably would have held off a day and gotten an estimate from our favorite auto repair, J.P's Auto Repair, if we'd been told it would be $350. They are just down the road from the place we sent the car, and we do all our stuff with them. The only reason we didn't this weekend is because J.P's is closed on the weekends.
And then when we went to pick her up, it started to look suspiciously like she had been given a hand-me-down part. Yes, remanufactured. We do not put used clothes on our kids, or used parts in our cars. Remanufactured or not. We are just snobs that way.
The fella that did the repair said the 'RFMD' designation on the invoice was a mistake, that he did indeed put in a new part, but when we got home Mensa Boy did some googling around on the Napa Auto site, found the part number from the invoice on there and the price was SIGNIFICANTLY lower than we paid, and in fact matched a part number for an RFMD part.
So. I'll go to J.P's in the morning and get Derek's opinion, and an estimate as to what it would have cost if we'd had them do it. And Mensa Boy will do some talking to the manager of this other place. And if we do not get some sort of remuneration if the explanation is unsatisfactory, (we could be wrongly suspicious) then I'm afraid you, dear reader, will be seeing another 30-day advertisement against this repair company on this blog. Remember the Benchcraft furniture incident?
On the other hand...we had an EXCELLENT meal this evening, the guys are all gone for the next two hours, and I ordered a new lens for my camera that should come in a couple of days. I'm excited!
Broke, though.
----sweet 50mm f/1.8 lens---->>
Most, but not all of the issues have been resolved. The oven guy came and replaced the igniter. Swore to us that this would be the last time. Bolstered his promise by telling us that previous repairs were done with an old part that has since been re-manufactured. Apparently re-manufactured in 2003, but the "other technicians" continued ordering the old part.
Yuh.
The refrigerator repair guy came and did some work on our freezer again. Installed a new new new modification (so called because he did a new modification 2 years ago, a new new modification last year, and now another one the other day), and showed us how to clean out the ice accumulation behind the back panel of the freezer, the clanking against by the fan being the cause of the airplane take-off sounds.
And he left dripping water and warm food in his wake as he neglected to turn both the refrigerator and freezer parts of the fridge back to cool. We discovered it 6 hours later when I opened the freezer and had water dump out onto my foot.
And I have a new cell phone. Razr like before, but newer. And I finally added more minutes to our account when I received the third bill in a row with TONS of overage charges.
The computers have been behaving. And it's been only 3 days since the last power outage. And 5 since the last cable outage.
So all is going well.
Except.
Yup. There's always an "except..."
BIG GREEN. Bad starter motor. Tow truck, night on the lift, repairs done. $350. Without our prior approval.
Mensa Boy is ... disturbed. On the warpath, even. Which will be a surprise for those of you who only think of him as this (the one on the left), or this (thank you Greg Schneider).
He was promised, when he followed her over there, that any repairs to Big Green would be done only after he was contacted.
Today he was called and told she was ready.
We probably would have held off a day and gotten an estimate from our favorite auto repair, J.P's Auto Repair, if we'd been told it would be $350. They are just down the road from the place we sent the car, and we do all our stuff with them. The only reason we didn't this weekend is because J.P's is closed on the weekends.
And then when we went to pick her up, it started to look suspiciously like she had been given a hand-me-down part. Yes, remanufactured. We do not put used clothes on our kids, or used parts in our cars. Remanufactured or not. We are just snobs that way.
The fella that did the repair said the 'RFMD' designation on the invoice was a mistake, that he did indeed put in a new part, but when we got home Mensa Boy did some googling around on the Napa Auto site, found the part number from the invoice on there and the price was SIGNIFICANTLY lower than we paid, and in fact matched a part number for an RFMD part.
So. I'll go to J.P's in the morning and get Derek's opinion, and an estimate as to what it would have cost if we'd had them do it. And Mensa Boy will do some talking to the manager of this other place. And if we do not get some sort of remuneration if the explanation is unsatisfactory, (we could be wrongly suspicious) then I'm afraid you, dear reader, will be seeing another 30-day advertisement against this repair company on this blog. Remember the Benchcraft furniture incident?
On the other hand...we had an EXCELLENT meal this evening, the guys are all gone for the next two hours, and I ordered a new lens for my camera that should come in a couple of days. I'm excited!
Broke, though.
----sweet 50mm f/1.8 lens---->>
Product Review: Lifestream Waffles
My new favorite breakfast. I found these first at Earth Fare, our fun grocery store. I went there on a quest for waffles made of hemp. Yup, hemp. I read about them in Prevention magazine and Mensa Boy and Taylor wanted to try them.
Since then I have found these at my regular grocery store. Interestingly, they never have the hemp ones at the regular store, but they do have these Fig+Flax ones and I haven't tried these Pomegran Plus ones yet, but I'm looking forward to it.
They are all wonderfully flavorful. And not too sweet. I schmear them with all-natural peanut butter and then have milk or orange juice. That pretty much rounds out a big breakfast for me...around 530-550 calories. Lots and lots of fiber.
I know I'm luckier than most because when I count calories, I'm counting to be sure I get enough, not that I'm getting too much. Because I'm a jittery devil.
So I'm not sure if I'd recommend this to folks who are trying decrease their caloric intake...at least maybe leave the peanut butter off? I do have to say that they are so flavorful, I could easily see eating them plain, with nothing at all on them. Or maybe a sliced up fresh peach or some blueberries or something like that.
They are stupendous!
Since then I have found these at my regular grocery store. Interestingly, they never have the hemp ones at the regular store, but they do have these Fig+Flax ones and I haven't tried these Pomegran Plus ones yet, but I'm looking forward to it.
They are all wonderfully flavorful. And not too sweet. I schmear them with all-natural peanut butter and then have milk or orange juice. That pretty much rounds out a big breakfast for me...around 530-550 calories. Lots and lots of fiber.
I know I'm luckier than most because when I count calories, I'm counting to be sure I get enough, not that I'm getting too much. Because I'm a jittery devil.
So I'm not sure if I'd recommend this to folks who are trying decrease their caloric intake...at least maybe leave the peanut butter off? I do have to say that they are so flavorful, I could easily see eating them plain, with nothing at all on them. Or maybe a sliced up fresh peach or some blueberries or something like that.
They are stupendous!
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