Bûche de Noël

A small selection of baked goods.

As per my usual behavior during the holiday season I baked too much.  There are still gluten free goodies overflowing in my parents' house, but there was one dessert that didn't last long at all...a gluten free Bûche de Noël.  It was my first time trying such a cake (hence the flatness of the 'log'), but it is now a new staple in the Christmas baked goods. :)

A bit flat but just as tasty. :)

Hope everyone had a great holiday season and happy new year!

Independence

With the approach of July 4th I've been thinking of my own independence and those people and institutions that have given me the chance to become who I am.

I've been told by several people that I am unable to make decisions for myself - in essence they told me that my views, my way of thinking, and even sexual identity are based on someone else's - that I'd never have become like I am on my own.

At first I was very pissed.  Then after digesting it I realized the were right, partially.  We are all bombarded with external stimuli and it's how we decided to deal with it that defines us.  The places and people that have helped make me who I am are precious to me because they gave me the space and freedom I needed to explore the world.

"It's all that University's fault."

I am moderately liberal (compared to my hometown I'm LIBERAL) and my conservative family and friends have attributed my shift in perspective to the small liberal arts University that I attended.  I accept this claim in so far as my University gave me the opportunity to explore new ideas.  The political spectrum within my group of friends at the end of those four years ranged from highly conservative to highly liberal so really it was how we decided to process the input we received that determined our views.

The opportunities offered enriched my life:

And a handful of people will always be dear to me for helping me find my way including my biology professors, fencing instructor, Matt, Bruce, and especially Warren.

This won't make sense to anyone but Warren. :)

"It's just his influence; you're not really bi."

I lived with Matt for a year after college and because he was open and accepting I was able to puzzle my way through my own sexuality.  When I told Cleo that I was bi that was her response above.  There was real anger and some animosity to her response.  It took some time to let it go, to realize she was projecting her own fears.  Freshman year she, her roommate, and Elanore expresses their terror of being roomed with lesbians.  Cleo and I had been very close during college and I think she was worried about what me being bi was going to do to our relationship.

Actually I'm more of a 2 on the Kinsey scale:

But unless the person you're talking to knows about the Kinsey scale it's just easier to say bi.

And of course I'm grateful for our independence as a country and aware of the costs for my freedom to be who I am.

France, summer 2002.

Have a Happy Independence Day everyone!

Superman

My dad is my version of Superman.

Among all the things he's done, he has kept this car running for over 6 years -

There have been moments when I thought the fix was too big,

But he made it work again.

My dad works (sometimes too) hard, he loves me, spoils me rotten, and a girl can't ask for more.

Happy Father's Day!

Drunk Gnome

The family gnome is celebrating the new year early by drinking up the remaining brandy from the brandy snaps. :)

Cookies!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies

These are delicious! :)  Both the cookies and the filling have cream cheese in them.  They're so rich that you may have to eat half and save the rest for later.

(Taste of Home recipe, December 2011 - January 2012)

Cocoa Thumbprints (with extra filling from the above cookies) -

These are also delicious, but less creamy than the ones above because they don't have cream cheese in them.

(Food Network magazine recipe, Vol 4 No. 10)

Lacey Brandy Snaps

These are one of the most finicky desserts to make - the dough became one sheet rather than remaining in circles.  It was difficult to keep them from falling.

The filling for these was copious - I'm going to have to make more cookies to use it up, but I love the sweet brandy taste. :-D

The picture is of just the outside since the middle is added later.

(Taste of Home recipe, November 2011)



I also made a bunch of truffles and will have gained a billion pounds before the holidays are over. :)

Food Coma

There were only 10 people at Thanksgiving this year...they went a bit overboard on the pies. :)  

Top Row L-R: Apple, Deep dish Apple, Pumpkin Cheesecake. 
2nd row: Raspberry, Bomb Shelter Peach, Raspberry. 
3rd row: Pumpkin Cheesecake, Cherry, Pumpkin, Oatmeal Pecan. 
Bottom row: Cherry, Oatmeal Pecan, Pumpkin.


We all ate too much Thanksgiving food and then too much pie. Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving Food

I am thankful for Thanksgiving food!

Thanksgiving spread.

Every year there is a major cooking fest and my aunt and uncle's house.  My uncle's stuffing is to die for. :)

Then there are the pies.  There are usually at least 5 different kinds of pie.  In the past we've had (some pictured): pumpkin pie, apple pie, cherry pie, pumpkin cheesecake pie, berry cheesecake pie, pecan pie, oatmeal pecan pie, chocolate irish cream cheesecake pie, and more.

Butter Pecan Pumpkin Pie and a Cherry Pie

Slice of the Berry Cheesecake Pie topped with whipped cream and raspberries

 I can't wait to see what the guys come up with this year. :)

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

The Berry Cheesecake Pie went fast.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Pie - my cousins' favorite.

Slice of the Butter Pecan Pumpkin Pie.

Bones & Blood Success

For Halloween this year I didn't do an over the top costume or get drunk with a ton of grad students.  This year I was in a much different situation: family with small children.  An outrageous costume seemed immaterial (I still dressed up, but I used clothes and props I already had) and getting drunk was out of the question.

Ready to go in the oven.

So I embraced the family style Halloween celebration and turned to baking.

My friend The New/Step Mom and I created Bone cookies with a Blood sauce.  Of the two treats that we made I think these were the hit.

Bone cookie dipped in Blood sauce.

The Buried Surprise Cupcakes were a hit with The New Mom's nieces, nephews, and daughters.  I was less impressed with them - buried gummy body parts is amusing in theory, but make eating the stupid cupcake harder and messier.  I'd make them for kids again anytime, but the Bones & Blood I will be making again next year if possible.

Conclusion:
Bones & Blood = delish.
Buried Surprise Cupcakes: meh.

Easter

     Easter has never been one of my favorite times of the year.  Rabbits, eggs in bright, cheery colors, flowers, and baby animals; it's as if we're trying to give our subconscious a nauseatingly-cutesy defibrillation to wake it up from the winter dreary. In this part of the U.S. there's usually some snow still on the ground when we got all gussied up to go to church.  After we finished hunting for easter eggs and other sweets around the house (some of which weren't found until later in the year) we would go put on our Easter duds.  When I was younger my mother made frilly dresses for both my sister and me.  We would be wearing frilly dresses with bunnies, white lacy gloves, lace trimmed socks, white buckle shoes, and large white hats that sat on top of our curled and hairsprayed stiff hair.  There would be some variation on this outfit every year.  Sometimes I would have a matching hair clip instead of a hat, sometimes I would have a little white purse to go with the outfit.  Who knows, maybe when I was little I love dressing up like that. My mother also made us frilly dresses for Christmas every year.  It was a very loving gesture and we were praised for our outfits, but looking back I'm slightly horrified.

       The Christian tradition doesn't bother me today, but in my memory going to church Easter Sunday meant sitting and listening to how humans are a faulty creature.  Jesus had to die in order for us to be whole and even then we had to devote our lives to this being.  For me, and maybe my memories are tainted by my mindset now, its a holiday where you are reminded how unworthy you really are.

The other aspect of Easter, which seems ridiculous, is rabbits and eggs.  I believe its linked to the pagan celebration of the spring equinox, but what its morphed into seems a bit daft.  I just set up the Easter village in the bay window yesterday.  For some reason I'm the only one who can set it up "the right way".  I think my sister just wants an excuse not to do it. :)  The Easter version of the village is so cutesy that it makes me slightly nauseous.  There are little dressed up bunnies in various forms of action - carrying signs with little carrots on them, planting flowers, watering a garden, walking arm in arm, holding a flowered arch, etc.  I set it up with the Easter pieces because I know it means a lot to the rest of my family.  If I were to do it my way there wouldn't be any pastel buildings or personified bunnies.

I have had some nice Easters.  This year I'm going to opt out.  I'm going to use my thesis as my excuse and stay away from the festivities that will ensue at my parents' house.

This year will be a celebration of the coming of spring by, weather permitting, reading by the lake.  Money will soon be tight, but I'm going to buy myself a book as a treat for handling the winter in a mentally healthy way.

Happy Spring!

April Fools

Nature's April Fool's Day prank was to dump snow on us just after giving us several days of warmer weather.  The snow was nearly gone.  I have a picture of some friends and I on a bridge on a warm October afternoon - the trees are all still green and the sky so blue.  This is the image I keep in my mind's eye when looking out at a landscape covered in snow.  Soon - soon there will be green again and it will last for a few months.

I'm not sure why but this picture has always spoken to me about our differences.  I'm walking on the left hand side while the other three are on the right.  You can't see Elanore, the photographer, but I've always associated her as being on the right hand side.  All three of them are married now.  They are also all very religious, some variant of Christianity (Baptist, Methodist, and Lutheran). Even their order in the picture seems relevant.  Elanore is behind the camera - she has her own life but it always seems like she's following behind someone else.  Cleo is out in front like always - she knows what she wants and isn't afraid to go get it.  She is very strong, independent, and outspoken.  Liz is behind her, she also knows what she wants and has strived toward it.  She is a little less outspoken, more of a follower, but independent enough.  I'm on my own on the left, watching.  Seems I've always been watching, but not really living.  I'm not outspoken and have a tendency to follow.  These years in grad school have been good for me.  I've had no one to follow and I've had to find my own footing.  In this picture we're all traveling down the road of life, but I've diverged from the road they've taken.  I watch, but keep to my own.

So I've started over again on my Daphnia data collection.  Hopefully I have my search images right this time.  I don't want to have to start again, again.

This weekend is going to be spent grading lab reports.  I'm hoping very much that not all of them waited until yesterday to start it.

I've started listening to music rather than television shows while working on the microscope and I'm really glad I had my Paste subscription while they were giving away music.  I've discovered so many new artists by letting my iTunes randomly shuffle through my collection.  The current album I'm listening to is 'Life Like' by The Rosebuds.

Well, I had better continue working.  Happy Friday!