Sunday, March 29, 2009

Aerogardening


No, it is not gardening in an airplane, though I'm sure if there was a way to do that, Ben would find a way. It is the gift my mother-in-law got me for Christmas, which I did not ask her to do. This is not uncommon, however it is not the end of the world with her. She's super good about saying "I know you didn't ask for this, but I thought you might like it. If you don't, my feelings aren't hurt, we'll take it back." So, this year the unexpected gift was something called an Aerogarden, which is basically a hydroponic garden, or garden using water and special nutrients instead of dirt, as pictured here. 

I "planted" the herb seeds about 10 days ago, and within three days, things were sprouting! You must understand, this is a huge victory for me, given that I've never successfully placed any seeds in the ground that grew to anything. (Ben, of course, does not have this problem.) Anyway, it was very exciting to see this bubbling pot of water give birth to seedlings. I've previously had an herb garden in containers outside my back door, but those were planted from plants, and I inevitably killed them. I don't think I ever had any of them last more than a year. . (I usually tried to blame it on the summer heat or the dogs or something, but I'm pretty sure it had more to do with the caretaker!)I always ended up re-buying them from the friendly Herb Guys at the farmer's market. Either way, now I have basil, thyme, mint, dill, oregano, and chives growing in my kitchen. Very fun :-) Since this is all a very pre-determined type of gardening, I'm pretty sure I can't screw this one up, as long as I follow the directions, (knock on wood)...

Maybe next I'll try gardening in the airplane :-) 

Saturday, March 28, 2009

Is Google making us dumber?


This is one of my least favorite questions. It comes up fairly frequently in my master's classes, which discuss educational technology. Every time, I give an emphatic NO, because I personally feel I am quite a bit smarter for having Google, and the internet in general. With Google, every time I get curious about something (or my students get curious about something), I can figure it out. Many times it leads to more questions, which I then find more information on. So, not only can I find answers, I contend that it creates more curiosity!! Before Google, I was much less curious because finding out answers to questions required finding an expert or getting a book, and those were significantly slower methods to finding answers to little things than Google's standard 0.752 seconds, or whatever it is. Hence, in my opinion, Google encourages curiosity. 

That curiosity is driven by lots of things, and Google answers most of my questions. However, sometimes there are questions I didn't even know I wanted to know about. These "preemptive answers come from my favorite podcast, which I highly recommend from HowStuffWorks.com .
Sometimes the topic of each free, 10-20 minute podcast doesn't immediately strike me as interesting, but when I start listening, I'm hooked. Some of my favorites have been: 
  • Why orange juice tastes bad after you brush your teeth
  • How Delta Force works
  • How abandoned cities work
  • How OCD works
  • Does gum really stay in your stomach for seven years?
  • How redheads work
The one I'm dying to listen to next is How Deja Vu works. It is the weirdest thing to me. Anyway, even though some of these address random topics that you think you already understand (or don't care about), they have all kinds of interesting background information that I think is fascinating. They don't just say how stuff works, but also why it works. While I was hiking with the dogs today, I listened to one about how Kevlar bullet-resistant vests work, and how they're developing a new liquid bullet-resistant material. Fascinating :-) So if you're a curious sort like me, go to iTunes, and subscribe to the How Stuff Works podcasts. (No they're not paying me to advertise, but maybe they should!!)

Friday, March 20, 2009

Frustrated with technology?

For all of you who get frustrated with technology, (or who have become disconnected from the original "technology"), here is a little laugh entitled, "Le Book."

Wednesday Connections and Lovely Lemon Pie


Today I went to a funeral for a wonderful man I knew at church. He was killed in an accident on his scooter last week. At the memorial service, everyone had wonderful things to say about how he loved to serve people, particularly through Ten Thousand Villages (a Mennonite organization that supports fairly-traded crafts from artisans in developing countries). However, I was surprised no one mentioned his years of service in the kitchen at Trinity. He and his wife spent several years cooking meals for Wednesday Connection every week, which was a meal held before Wednesday evening classes. This is most impressive to me, because not everyone relishes the opportunity to cook for 30+ people every week (AND clean up afterwards) with no compensation! This guy was an amazing servant of the church. Anyway, in honor of him, I made a recipe I got from him that he once made for Wednesday Connection. Is is below.  In addition, I included the recipe for the pie I took to his funeral meal which turned out well. (It's a recipe from my high school home ec teacher!)

Wednesday Connection Baked Spaghetti
from Al and Carol Walczak

1 c. chopped onion
1 c. chopped green pepper
1 T. butter
1 28 oz can diced tomatoes
2 t. oregano
1 lb. ground beef, browned
12 oz. cooked spaghetti
2 c. cheddar cheese
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/4 c. water
1/4 c. parmesan cheese

Saute onion and green pepper in butter. Add tomatoes, oregano, and ground beef. Simmer uncovered for 10 minutes. Mix water and soup together in separate bowl. Add spaghetti and toss till covered. Place 1/2 of spaghetti mixture in greased 9x13 pan. Top with half of vegetable mixture. Sprinkle with 1 c. cheese. Repeat layers. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Bake uncovered for 30-35 minutes at 350 degrees. Serves 8-10. 

Lovely Lemon Pie

1 lemon, seeds removed, cut up, rind and all
4 eggs
1  1/2 - 1  3/4 c. sugar
1/4 c. butter
1 t. vanilla

Put all ingredients in blender and blend till smooth. Pour into unbaked pie crust and bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes until set and light brown on top.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Birthday Cupcakes


My mom and dad were here this weekend and we had an awesome time! :-) We took in the interesting art, machines, and scenery in Jerome, (that's mom enjoying the view) and had cupcakes for mom's birthday on Saturday!! I've now made these cupcakes twice in 2 weeks, because they are just awesome. They're what I make when I need a dessert that I don't have to get anything special to make it. (Though sometimes I cheat and buy frosting, because it's so darn good!) To be fair, these are nothing compared to Liz's Superhero Princess cupcakes :-) but at least they taste good.

Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

2 squares (2 oz.) unsweetened or semi-sweetened chocolate
1 c. flour
1 t. baking soda
¼ t. salt
1 c. sugar
½ c. butter, softened
2 eggs
2/3 c. buttermilk
1 t. vanilla
1 c. mini chocolate chips

Frosting:

1 ½ c. powdered sugar
2 T. cocoa
2 ½ T. milk
2 T. butter, softened
¼ c. mini chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 325. Line muffin tins with paper liners. Melt chocolate in microwave in 30 second intervals, being careful not to burn it.

2. In a small bowl, mix flour, baking soda and salt. In large bowl, beat sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

3. Alternately, beat flour mixture and buttermilk into sugar mixture. Stir in melted chocolate and vanilla. In a small bowl, toss chocolate chips in 1 T. flour to prevent them from sinking. Stir into batter.

4. Spoon batter into muffin cups. Bake 20 minutes or until tops are firm. Transfer pans to wire racks to cool. Remove from pans when cool.

5. Meanwhile, mix powdered sugar and cocoa; blend in milk and butter until smooth. Spread frosting over cupcakes, then sprinkle with mini chocolate chips.

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Jimmy Fallon is Hilarious!!

Ok, if you haven't seen Late Night With Jimmy Fallon yet, you are missing out. (I would love to say I'm cool enough to stay up until 11:30 at night to watch it, but I don't. It "tapes" on the DVR and I watch it the next night before bed. If you don't have that, all the shows are on Hulu.) Anyway, Jimmy Fallon is hilarious. If you saw him on SNL back in the day, he was constantly cracking up in sketches, which always makes me laugh. :-) He always come across as a very genuine guy. (Oh yeah, the Roots are his band, and they are amazing. Check them out on Pandora. I love that they have a tuba player!!)

Check out this clip from his first show in which he "slow jams" the news:


For more hilarity, see his Dance-Off with Cameron Diaz.

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Funky Photo Effects :-)

Check out this way cool website where you can fiddle around with your pix and put super-cool effects on them!! It's www.befunky.com. As my friend Liz would say, it sucked me in :-)

Sunday, March 1, 2009

Good news!!

One of my co-workers (a redhead) walks into the lounge everyday and starts with some variation of "big news guys!" or "good news! " or "bad news!" You never know what it's going to be, but there's always news from her. Usually, it's something along the lines of, "My kids are idiots! They don't get perimeter! Who doesn't get perimeter!?!" So, basically, her version of news is far less dramatic than she makes it. But she's a redhead, she can't help it. We love her anyway :-)

ANYwhosy-howsy (as another co-worker says), my good news this weekend is that I can make my favorite bread recipe with double the water and it still works. I know, not as dramatic as you were hoping. Get over it. I was making the oatmeal bread (see below) from More With Less (one of a very few other recipes that I make repeatedly) while I was talking with my parents on the phone. Not only was I making the recipe, I was doubling it. However, I always double, so I didn't think this would be a problem.

Enter "problem." As I was measuring the yeast, a brief trace of a thought occurred to me that it seemed like I was adding a lot of water compared to normal. However, I was talking on the phone at the time and trying not to drop the cell phone in a sink of water (yes, it's happened) so I didn't give this much thought. When I'd finished putting in my 10 cups of flour and still needed at least 2 more cups, I decided I better double-check my doubling. Sure enough, I quadrupled the water instead of doubling it. Oops. At this point, everything was mixed, kneaded and rising, and the time, energy and ingredients invested were too great, so I just hoped for the best. (To be honest, this is what I hope for every time I make bread. I cross my fingers and hope that it will rise!)

Two hours later, it turned out just fine! :-) Way to go More With Less for having a forgiving recipe! (This time, after 5 years of making this recipe, I finally wrote in the doubled amounts, so as not to tempt the forgiveness of the recipe too much!)

Oatmeal Bread

Makes 2 loves
Combine in a large bowl:
1 c. quick oats,
1/2 c. whole wheat flour,
1/2 c. brown sugar,
1 T. salt,
2T. Butter


Pour over:
2 c. boiling water

Stir in to combine.

Dissolve:
1 pkg dry yeast (=2 1/4 t.)
1/2 c. warm water
;
When batter is cooled to lukewarm, add yeast mixture.

Stir in:
5 c. white flour

When dough is stiff enough to handle, turn onto floured board and knead 5-10 minutes. Place in greased bowl, cover and let rise until doubled. Punch down and let rise again. Shape into 2 loaves and place in greased 9x5x3" pans. Allow to rise 30-45 minutes. Bake at 350 degrees F for 30-40 minutes. Cool on rack, brushing loaves with butter for a soft crust.



Sweet Potato Biscuits

My current favorite recipe that I've made once a week for at least...6 weeks now is sweet potato biscuits. The thing that is amazing about this is that if I'm made something more than once in the past 2 years it is notable. I LOVE trying new recipes, but it takes me a LONG time to come back to them again; not because they're bad (well, those I just don't go back to), but because there are so many other good-looking possibilities out there, I just have to give them a shot!

These drop biscuits require very few ingredients and very little prep time if you boil a sweet potato or two, mash it up, and put it in the fridge. Enjoy!

(Maybe I'll even post a picture if I can take a decent one next time I make them.)

Sweet Potato Biscuits

1 c. flour
1 T. baking powder
½ t. salt
5 T. cold butter, in small pieces
1 c. plain mashed sweet potatoes
2-4 T. milk

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Combine dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Use a pastry blender or 2 knives to mix the ingredients until it resembles coarse crumbs. With a fork, stir in sweet potatoes. Add enough milk to make wet dough. (Will not form a ball). Drop by spoonful on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake for 14 minutes. Let cool in pan for 1 minute, then remove from pan to cool.

Makes 10-12 biscuits.


Life comes in strange places


Greetings all and welcome to a new blog :-) Although I do have a different blog, that one is primarily directed at addressing the craziness that happens in my life at school. However, praise the Lord, that is not all there is to my life. 

This blog will be my attempt at reflecting on the other 14 hours of my days that are not consumed with school. Generally speaking, that will include things like fun places we've eaten, my current favorite recipe, and goofy things my dogs do (yes, his tongue really is that long). Who am I kidding? There's a great chance it will also include recipes that I substituted one too many ingredients on, slightly hallucinogenic moanings of tiredness, and stories of my most recent uncoordinated episodes for your reading pleasure :-) 

Either way, I hope this brings you a few laughs, and a few good recipes :-)