The pie was a big success. The kids were surprised that I actually brought in pie. I think, however, that it was not a huge hit for the young person who had never had pie before. It was far too sweet.
I did make sure that he knew that not all pies were quiet as sweet as these were.
They might even be disappointed that I am not their computer lab supervisor for next semester.
Classes end for the term on Monday and State exams start on Tuesday. I have lots and lots of student programming to do, much of it dependent on the outcome of next Friday's exam. This means that most of what I do from now until the 31st is a guess and a prayer and it also means that I'm practically sleeping in school on the 31st because the new term officially starts the next day and the kids need their programs. Sigh.
I think I'm going to do some knitting ...
Showing posts with label food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label food. Show all posts
Friday, January 21, 2011
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Pie!
Tomorrow is not pi day but rather the next to last day of the term. And I have pie. 2 of them, actually. Why? Because a couple of students in my class let it be known that they'd never eaten pie. Since part my job as an educator is to expand my students' horizons and provide them with new experiences, I bought pie.
No, I did not bake, nor did I make Mike or Squidette bake. Instead I am providing pie a la Costco. (And not a la mode -- no way to store ice cream.)
(No, I am not actually teaching this term. Rather, I have two computer lab sections that alternate with each other. Monday's section is getting cookies. The pies won't last over the weekend and I am not making a second trip to Costco.)
Oh, and I fixed my son's oboe.
Super Mommy strikes again!
(No more finished socks, I've been side-lined by a bug and by Squidette's new scarf.)
No, I did not bake, nor did I make Mike or Squidette bake. Instead I am providing pie a la Costco. (And not a la mode -- no way to store ice cream.)
(No, I am not actually teaching this term. Rather, I have two computer lab sections that alternate with each other. Monday's section is getting cookies. The pies won't last over the weekend and I am not making a second trip to Costco.)
Oh, and I fixed my son's oboe.
Super Mommy strikes again!
(No more finished socks, I've been side-lined by a bug and by Squidette's new scarf.)
Monday, August 17, 2009
A Taste of Lancaster
A few days ago we made our annual pilgrimage to Lancaster, PA. This year, for the first time in three years, we camped out.
The tent is brand new, having discarded our two older (and smaller) tents during the great b*d bug debacle of 2007. Two of our sleeping bags are also brand new as the kids have outgrown the child-sized ones that they used to use.
Squidette was put in charge of erecting the tent with Little Squid assigned to assist while I started a fire. Experience has shown that if we do not start a fire by 5 or so then we will not eat until really late. (Mike was unloading the car and doing a small amount of unwinding after a nerve wracking drive through some really nasty rain.)
They did a great job until it came time to raise the roof. At that point the stronger (and taller) adults had to step in and help. We also had to put the fly on as neither child has the height or jumping ability to get it over the top of the tent.
Yes, it is huge but it served well and we were all as comfortable as one can get in a tent on a hill.
Little Squid woke up each morning in a heap at the bottom of the tent. The rest of us managed to mostly maintain our positions on our mats but he and I had the more slippery sleeping bags and with his lower mass, he had a lesser ability to stick to the slanted surface.
After a dinner of locally made / grown, slightly undercooked, sausage, corn on the cob and (fully cooked) bread,--and s'mores for desert, we sat around our pitiful fire and knit / read. A quiet and companionable evening as we listened to guitar music coming from a neighboring campsite.
The next day we trooped off to a local corn maze for another annual tradition and got ourselves good and lost and then found again as we wended our way through the maize.
I got a good amount done on this year's Corn Maze sock.
A hefty lunch at Good and Plenty (another tradition), some shopping and then back to the campground to swim and just hang out for the afternoon. We did not even attempt a fire until after dinner, dining instead, on cold (cooked) sausages, fruit and bread, all obtained from a local market. Yum! Then, we finally lit the fire and sat around trying to think of campfire songs and instead singing all sorts of silly stuff.
Our neighbors, they of the guitar music (which I realized was recorded) stayed up way beyond our bedtime, chatting loudly. I couldn't really fault them, they did turn off the music at 10 (the campgrounds quiet time) but it started the night off badly for all of us and not one of us slept well.
Waking by 6:30 (habits are hard to break, especially when you haven't slept well to begin with), we breakfasted, read, and stared in awe at the incredibly dense fog that obscured our view of the cornfield just 100 yards away.
Once the fog had lifted a bit, we went off to the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania. We've been here once or twice before and really like looking at the old trains. It was their family weekend so they had some retired engineers there to explain some of the engines to us. After a full two hours we pulled ourselves away and went to Jakey's for lunch. It was our first time dining there but not our last! Mike, Squidette and I all had bar-b-que sandwiches of one sort or another--Little Squid was less adventurous and had a hamburger.
A trip to That Fish Place, That Pet Place then ensued with the acquisition of lots of food and supplies for our turtles-in-residence and for Little Squid's soon-to-be blue tongued skink. Then a "quick" round of mini-golf at a new-to-us place (with a good amount of shade!) and back to the campground for more swimming / reading / relaxing.
Our final campfire was more successful than our first two and we managed to successfully brown our corn and smoked sausages which were eaten with fresh cantalope and more local bread. Mmm ... whoopie pies finished up the meal. Sitting around the fire we passed around my BeBook with it's collection of books and read a variety of selections from Grimm's Fairy Tales. Mike started a story from Arabian Nights (on his Nokia tablet) and we laughed and joked and generally enjoyed each others company.
All of us slept much better--probably because we were so very tired from two nights of little sleep--and were abruptly awoken by our neighbors noisily rising at 5:00 a.m. Grr ...
I managed to fall back to sleep and the kids didn't hear them but Mike was up for the day at that point and woke me up when he finally decided to start packing.
And so we are now home, though not at the end of our summer travels. I know I promised you Pittsburgh and, of course, there is all the knitting that always happens while we travel. Please be patient, I will get to all in good time.
The tent is brand new, having discarded our two older (and smaller) tents during the great b*d bug debacle of 2007. Two of our sleeping bags are also brand new as the kids have outgrown the child-sized ones that they used to use.
Squidette was put in charge of erecting the tent with Little Squid assigned to assist while I started a fire. Experience has shown that if we do not start a fire by 5 or so then we will not eat until really late. (Mike was unloading the car and doing a small amount of unwinding after a nerve wracking drive through some really nasty rain.)
They did a great job until it came time to raise the roof. At that point the stronger (and taller) adults had to step in and help. We also had to put the fly on as neither child has the height or jumping ability to get it over the top of the tent.
Yes, it is huge but it served well and we were all as comfortable as one can get in a tent on a hill.
Little Squid woke up each morning in a heap at the bottom of the tent. The rest of us managed to mostly maintain our positions on our mats but he and I had the more slippery sleeping bags and with his lower mass, he had a lesser ability to stick to the slanted surface.After a dinner of locally made / grown, slightly undercooked, sausage, corn on the cob and (fully cooked) bread,--and s'mores for desert, we sat around our pitiful fire and knit / read. A quiet and companionable evening as we listened to guitar music coming from a neighboring campsite.
The next day we trooped off to a local corn maze for another annual tradition and got ourselves good and lost and then found again as we wended our way through the maize.
I got a good amount done on this year's Corn Maze sock.
A hefty lunch at Good and Plenty (another tradition), some shopping and then back to the campground to swim and just hang out for the afternoon. We did not even attempt a fire until after dinner, dining instead, on cold (cooked) sausages, fruit and bread, all obtained from a local market. Yum! Then, we finally lit the fire and sat around trying to think of campfire songs and instead singing all sorts of silly stuff.Our neighbors, they of the guitar music (which I realized was recorded) stayed up way beyond our bedtime, chatting loudly. I couldn't really fault them, they did turn off the music at 10 (the campgrounds quiet time) but it started the night off badly for all of us and not one of us slept well.
Waking by 6:30 (habits are hard to break, especially when you haven't slept well to begin with), we breakfasted, read, and stared in awe at the incredibly dense fog that obscured our view of the cornfield just 100 yards away.
Once the fog had lifted a bit, we went off to the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania. We've been here once or twice before and really like looking at the old trains. It was their family weekend so they had some retired engineers there to explain some of the engines to us. After a full two hours we pulled ourselves away and went to Jakey's for lunch. It was our first time dining there but not our last! Mike, Squidette and I all had bar-b-que sandwiches of one sort or another--Little Squid was less adventurous and had a hamburger.A trip to That Fish Place, That Pet Place then ensued with the acquisition of lots of food and supplies for our turtles-in-residence and for Little Squid's soon-to-be blue tongued skink. Then a "quick" round of mini-golf at a new-to-us place (with a good amount of shade!) and back to the campground for more swimming / reading / relaxing.
Our final campfire was more successful than our first two and we managed to successfully brown our corn and smoked sausages which were eaten with fresh cantalope and more local bread. Mmm ... whoopie pies finished up the meal. Sitting around the fire we passed around my BeBook with it's collection of books and read a variety of selections from Grimm's Fairy Tales. Mike started a story from Arabian Nights (on his Nokia tablet) and we laughed and joked and generally enjoyed each others company.
All of us slept much better--probably because we were so very tired from two nights of little sleep--and were abruptly awoken by our neighbors noisily rising at 5:00 a.m. Grr ...
I managed to fall back to sleep and the kids didn't hear them but Mike was up for the day at that point and woke me up when he finally decided to start packing.
And so we are now home, though not at the end of our summer travels. I know I promised you Pittsburgh and, of course, there is all the knitting that always happens while we travel. Please be patient, I will get to all in good time.
Wednesday, July 08, 2009
Random Musings
It's amazing how dry my skin gets given that it spends hours and hours each day slathered in greasy sunscreen.
Squidette like humming Schubert's 8th Unfinished Symphony. She says the tune is "fun." How many teens can say that!
I can now say that I have changed the pedals on a bicycle. And the seat (though I'd done that before). And, I have a boo boo on my chest from changing said pedals. Don't ask.
I have survived 3 dinners without Mike and not had to resort to ordering in.
That said, we ate leftovers for two of the nights and I made macaroni and tuna for the third. Tomorrow is a bread, cheese and sausage picnic, weather cooperating. See, I CAN feed my children. Just not well.
It's sugar snap pea season and I'm in heaven! I eat them like candy.
The first skeins of Mike's new sweater are in their final soak in the sink and the next ones are mid-ply on my Journey Wheel. I had to stop to change the water for the skeins in the sink and decided to blog instead of going back to plying.
Squidette now has contact lenses.
The price variation for her lenses (on-line) was huge! There was almost a $200 difference between the highest and lowest priced suppliers for a 6 month supply. Phew!
Little Squid is playing John Adams in the camp musical.
Random enough for you?
Squidette like humming Schubert's 8th Unfinished Symphony. She says the tune is "fun." How many teens can say that!
I can now say that I have changed the pedals on a bicycle. And the seat (though I'd done that before). And, I have a boo boo on my chest from changing said pedals. Don't ask.
I have survived 3 dinners without Mike and not had to resort to ordering in.
That said, we ate leftovers for two of the nights and I made macaroni and tuna for the third. Tomorrow is a bread, cheese and sausage picnic, weather cooperating. See, I CAN feed my children. Just not well.
It's sugar snap pea season and I'm in heaven! I eat them like candy.
The first skeins of Mike's new sweater are in their final soak in the sink and the next ones are mid-ply on my Journey Wheel. I had to stop to change the water for the skeins in the sink and decided to blog instead of going back to plying.
Squidette now has contact lenses.
The price variation for her lenses (on-line) was huge! There was almost a $200 difference between the highest and lowest priced suppliers for a 6 month supply. Phew!
Little Squid is playing John Adams in the camp musical.
Random enough for you?
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Need Some Cereal?
So yesterday, I open my email to find the following missive from my father. I sat here reading and, as I choked back my laughter, got strange looks from my son. After reading it through once, I reread it, aloud, to Little Squid to much the same reaction. When Mike came out and asked why we were laughing, all I could say was "my parents are up to it again."
"Ya Gotta Believe,"
as told by my father, Larry Centor.
Kids mine --
So we take one of these little walks that end up in ...
How did you guess?
Waldbaum's!
Where there is a General Mills sale.
You buy 2 8.9 0z. boxes of Cheerios for $4.00 [4X (because with a $16.00 GM purchase of selected products, of which aforementioned Cheerios is one, you get a $4.00 coupon good for your next store purchase of ANYTHING)].
Now for the good part. Inside random boxes [1 out of every 10], there is a Discover card good for $5.00, $10.00 or $25.00.
So Mom thinks it would be great to buy 8 boxes, because with the $4.00 coupon it nets out to $12.00.
But wait, while on line she finds a $2.00 Cheerios coupon, so it nets out to $10.00.
But wait, there's more.
Opening boxes frantically, Mom finds a $5.00 Discover card.
Out net for the 8 box is $5.00.
'Great!' you say.
But wait.
'We have to go back to Waldbaum's.'
Can I argue?
So we return -- and buy another 8 boxes, and get another $8.00 coupon.
And go home. The end! Right? Wrong!
Ripping open Cheerios boxes like a raccoon at a garbage fest, Mom finds -- are you ready? -- another $5.00 Discover card, not once, but twice.
Yes, another $10.00, after the $4.00 coupon, making the net on this batch $2.00.
Can you keep up with the math?
Yes, you're right!
16 8.9 oz. boxes of Cheerios for $7.00.
Life is good. No, life is g-r-r-r-reat!
"Ya Gotta Believe,"
as told by my father, Larry Centor.
Kids mine --
So we take one of these little walks that end up in ...
How did you guess?
Waldbaum's!
Where there is a General Mills sale.
You buy 2 8.9 0z. boxes of Cheerios for $4.00 [4X (because with a $16.00 GM purchase of selected products, of which aforementioned Cheerios is one, you get a $4.00 coupon good for your next store purchase of ANYTHING)].
Now for the good part. Inside random boxes [1 out of every 10], there is a Discover card good for $5.00, $10.00 or $25.00.
So Mom thinks it would be great to buy 8 boxes, because with the $4.00 coupon it nets out to $12.00.
But wait, while on line she finds a $2.00 Cheerios coupon, so it nets out to $10.00.
But wait, there's more.
Opening boxes frantically, Mom finds a $5.00 Discover card.
Out net for the 8 box is $5.00.
'Great!' you say.
But wait.
'We have to go back to Waldbaum's.'
Can I argue?
So we return -- and buy another 8 boxes, and get another $8.00 coupon.
And go home. The end! Right? Wrong!
Ripping open Cheerios boxes like a raccoon at a garbage fest, Mom finds -- are you ready? -- another $5.00 Discover card, not once, but twice.
Yes, another $10.00, after the $4.00 coupon, making the net on this batch $2.00.
Can you keep up with the math?
Yes, you're right!
16 8.9 oz. boxes of Cheerios for $7.00.
Life is good. No, life is g-r-r-r-reat!
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Experiments with Yogurt
A few weeks ago this article about yogurt appeared in the New York Times. It caught my eye and reminded me of the days when we used to make yogurt. Back in the days when I actually cooked.
Back then we had a yogurt maker like this one, the purpose of which is to keep the yogurt at the right temperature for a long time. It does not, however, heat, mix or chill the yogurt making it a one trick pony with expensive jars.
After mulling it over for a few days I decided to give the method in the Times article a shot. I heated a quart of milk, cooled it back down to the right temperature for the bacteria to do their thing, and added a few tablespoons of my favorite yogurt (Greek Goddess, non-fat).
I did as instructed and swaddled it in towels and left it for about 6 hours, chilled, and tasted. Yum! A bit loose, though, so I strained it in a Melita coffee filter until it was just right. Even better!
That batch yielded about 3 cups (maybe 2.5) for the quart and I gobbled it up in less than a week.
The following weekend I tried again with a gallon of milk. This took a long time to heat and, due to a longer fermentation time (I forgot about it and it went about 12 hours), it yielded a grainy, very thick yogurt (after a very brief straining), though still tasty. I still have some at work stuck in the bottom of a mason jar.
Last weekend was the third try and you know what they say about the third time. This time I used Stonyfield yogurt as the started and only let it ferment about 4-5 hours. Must I say it? This batch was the best! I strained it a little to thicken it somewhat but the texture was pudding like and just beguiling. I used my new, huge, strainer and had a fair amount of the yogurt escape with the whey, so I restrained the whey with the gold melita filter and used the really fine yogurt for our first experiment with frozen yogurt.
Little Squid and I took the fine yogart and combined it with some maple syrup and froze it.
Wrong move! It turned into a solid slab of icey mapley yogurt. I threw it in the food processor and ate it as a granita. Yummy but not scoopable and not what we were aiming for.
Yesterday we took 3 cups of the remaining yogurt and added about a cup of maple sugar granules that we acquired during our visit to Canada last summer. I ground it up a bit to get some of it really fine and left the rest in chunk form to add some texture. Then we tossed it into the ice cream maker which I had dug out of the recesses of several cabinets. (Its parts were scattered hither and yon.) The initial result, right out of the maker, was good but a bit sweet. It had, however, that great tang of real yogurt and was definetly a Pink Berry contender. There was a bit of a panic moment when, after several hours of freezing, it looked like it was a solid brick, but a bit of power on the ice cream scoop served to extract real, almost scoop like, portions. The general consensus is that it is good, but as previously determined, a little too sweet,
Last night I finally watched the episode of Good Eats on yogurt and, following Alton's recommendation, set more yogurt up to strain for yogurt cheese with which to make frozen yogurt. I was going to use corn syrup to sweeten it but with only dark syrup in the house we decided to go for plain.
There is a reason why frozen yogurt is sweetened.
Mike had some of it for dessert and agreed that even with fresh pineapple on top it needed sweetening.
All of that said, I am now almost out of yogurt and am now in the process of making another batch. We'll experiment some more with the frozen side of it next weekend. This batch is destined for breakfast.
Back then we had a yogurt maker like this one, the purpose of which is to keep the yogurt at the right temperature for a long time. It does not, however, heat, mix or chill the yogurt making it a one trick pony with expensive jars.
After mulling it over for a few days I decided to give the method in the Times article a shot. I heated a quart of milk, cooled it back down to the right temperature for the bacteria to do their thing, and added a few tablespoons of my favorite yogurt (Greek Goddess, non-fat).
I did as instructed and swaddled it in towels and left it for about 6 hours, chilled, and tasted. Yum! A bit loose, though, so I strained it in a Melita coffee filter until it was just right. Even better!
That batch yielded about 3 cups (maybe 2.5) for the quart and I gobbled it up in less than a week.
The following weekend I tried again with a gallon of milk. This took a long time to heat and, due to a longer fermentation time (I forgot about it and it went about 12 hours), it yielded a grainy, very thick yogurt (after a very brief straining), though still tasty. I still have some at work stuck in the bottom of a mason jar.
Last weekend was the third try and you know what they say about the third time. This time I used Stonyfield yogurt as the started and only let it ferment about 4-5 hours. Must I say it? This batch was the best! I strained it a little to thicken it somewhat but the texture was pudding like and just beguiling. I used my new, huge, strainer and had a fair amount of the yogurt escape with the whey, so I restrained the whey with the gold melita filter and used the really fine yogurt for our first experiment with frozen yogurt.
Little Squid and I took the fine yogart and combined it with some maple syrup and froze it.
Wrong move! It turned into a solid slab of icey mapley yogurt. I threw it in the food processor and ate it as a granita. Yummy but not scoopable and not what we were aiming for.
Yesterday we took 3 cups of the remaining yogurt and added about a cup of maple sugar granules that we acquired during our visit to Canada last summer. I ground it up a bit to get some of it really fine and left the rest in chunk form to add some texture. Then we tossed it into the ice cream maker which I had dug out of the recesses of several cabinets. (Its parts were scattered hither and yon.) The initial result, right out of the maker, was good but a bit sweet. It had, however, that great tang of real yogurt and was definetly a Pink Berry contender. There was a bit of a panic moment when, after several hours of freezing, it looked like it was a solid brick, but a bit of power on the ice cream scoop served to extract real, almost scoop like, portions. The general consensus is that it is good, but as previously determined, a little too sweet,
Last night I finally watched the episode of Good Eats on yogurt and, following Alton's recommendation, set more yogurt up to strain for yogurt cheese with which to make frozen yogurt. I was going to use corn syrup to sweeten it but with only dark syrup in the house we decided to go for plain.
There is a reason why frozen yogurt is sweetened.
Mike had some of it for dessert and agreed that even with fresh pineapple on top it needed sweetening.
All of that said, I am now almost out of yogurt and am now in the process of making another batch. We'll experiment some more with the frozen side of it next weekend. This batch is destined for breakfast.
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Family Fun and Featured!
My post on Math and Crafts got picked up by a blog carnival. Cool! Given the lack of posts lately, this was certainly a pleasant surprise.
We've been rather busy Squid lately what with concerts,
(the first time the kids have played together on stage).
And plays (Bye, Bye Birdie) of poodle skirt fame. (No pictures, sorry!)
And bi-weekly bouts of yogurt making which, today, morphed into maple frozen yogurt.
Yum!
Tonight Little Squid is at a slumber party and I am about to settle in to some serious spinning.
Next week includes a science fair (Little Squid) and a high school information session (me at work). Which is nothing compared to the following week which includes a weekday wedding, a dinner with friends, a kids' concert and my school's prom. In 3 days.
We've been rather busy Squid lately what with concerts,
(the first time the kids have played together on stage).And plays (Bye, Bye Birdie) of poodle skirt fame. (No pictures, sorry!)
And bi-weekly bouts of yogurt making which, today, morphed into maple frozen yogurt.
Yum!Tonight Little Squid is at a slumber party and I am about to settle in to some serious spinning.
Next week includes a science fair (Little Squid) and a high school information session (me at work). Which is nothing compared to the following week which includes a weekday wedding, a dinner with friends, a kids' concert and my school's prom. In 3 days.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Catch Up Time
Spring Break started something like this ...
yes, that is a chicken bone ... they were out of lamb shanks.
The break continued with some finishing ...
and more finishing ...
As well as some nice beginnings ...
(Those are peas if you are confused.)
And then there was some dying ...
And a little bit of yogurt making ...
Only a little bike riding due to the weather. And, lots and lots of matzah.
And then there was the worm poop ... I dare you to ask!
yes, that is a chicken bone ... they were out of lamb shanks.The break continued with some finishing ...
and more finishing ...
As well as some nice beginnings ...
(Those are peas if you are confused.)And then there was some dying ...
And a little bit of yogurt making ...
Only a little bike riding due to the weather. And, lots and lots of matzah.And then there was the worm poop ... I dare you to ask!
Sunday, February 01, 2009
Food, Kids, Food and Clocks
The first food picture is really too disgusting to start a pleasant blog post with so instead, I present something easy on the eyes ...
Squidette and Little Squid in Concert.
Now that your eyes are rested and you've oohed and ah'd and wished you could hear them ... I will forever blind you with the first picture of ...
Yes, that is a smiley face on the bottom one.
Piles of French toast -- but no snow!
Just a few pretzels ...
And more Bacon Explosion.
How about a Nixie Clock to calm your beating heart after all of that bacon?
Squidette and Little Squid in Concert.
Now that your eyes are rested and you've oohed and ah'd and wished you could hear them ... I will forever blind you with the first picture of ...
Yes, that is a smiley face on the bottom one.
Piles of French toast -- but no snow!
Just a few pretzels ...
And more Bacon Explosion.
How about a Nixie Clock to calm your beating heart after all of that bacon?
Monday, January 05, 2009
Fused Biofuel
As you may know, I tend to have problems in the kitchen. Mike has periodically banned me from said room but always rescinded the ban when he realized that the counters were not going to clean themselves.
When I move into hyper mode I tend to shove food into my mouth. That food will be whatever is handy at the moment so it can be either healthy or unhealthy. I tend to keep snacks at work that are in between. Healthy when eaten in moderation, unhealthy when eaten to excess. Things like peanuts, whole wheat pretzels, craisins, chocolate covered raisins ... That's what prompted my latest culinary disaster.
I decided to make popcorn.
Not the prepackaged, chemically laden stuff that you stick in the microwave but plain, barely salted popcorn. And I was using our handy dandy microwave popper. And I asked Mike how long to microwave it for.
When I move into hyper mode I tend to shove food into my mouth. That food will be whatever is handy at the moment so it can be either healthy or unhealthy. I tend to keep snacks at work that are in between. Healthy when eaten in moderation, unhealthy when eaten to excess. Things like peanuts, whole wheat pretzels, craisins, chocolate covered raisins ... That's what prompted my latest culinary disaster.
I decided to make popcorn.
Not the prepackaged, chemically laden stuff that you stick in the microwave but plain, barely salted popcorn. And I was using our handy dandy microwave popper. And I asked Mike how long to microwave it for.
See what happened?
Need I say more.
Monday, October 13, 2008
You Know They are Growing ...
... when you actually have to think about if the jeans you just took from the dryer are hers ... or yours.
Makes sorting the laundry a tad more difficult. But not too much.
We have had a nice, quiet, 3 day weekend here in NYC. The first two days were sunny and warm and we did ... nothing. Barely even got out except to run some errands.
Except for Squidette. She had a mock test in preparation for the Specialized High School Admissions Test (SHSAT if you care). The test is in less then two weeks. Gulp! Lot of pressure when both of your parents and 5 of your 6 aunts and uncles and one grandparent went to specialized high schools (two schools between the 7 of us).
She also had an annoying project that required hourly recording over an entire day. We helped. I have no problem helping if I feel the project is unreasonable in its expectations and this one expected a 13 year old to be out doors for 8 hours recording the position of the sun using a homemade sundial. In New York City. Where you can't just leave the sundial and return every hour.
We fudged it -- used a windowsill on the east side of the apartment and the balcony on the west side. The teacher did say they could use a window if they absolutely had to.
This leads us to today where I declared "we are going for a ride!"
And we did.
It was so quiet on the paths and, even on the streets, that you almost forgot you were in New York.
Almost.
We rode up to the Intrepid and then down and around the tip of the island, cutting across (from East to West) via the Greenmarket where we scored some leeks for tonight's dinner.
Pastries were also made but I misplaced my camera after documenting them. Oh well, blog fodder for tomorrow.
Makes sorting the laundry a tad more difficult. But not too much.
We have had a nice, quiet, 3 day weekend here in NYC. The first two days were sunny and warm and we did ... nothing. Barely even got out except to run some errands.
Except for Squidette. She had a mock test in preparation for the Specialized High School Admissions Test (SHSAT if you care). The test is in less then two weeks. Gulp! Lot of pressure when both of your parents and 5 of your 6 aunts and uncles and one grandparent went to specialized high schools (two schools between the 7 of us).
She also had an annoying project that required hourly recording over an entire day. We helped. I have no problem helping if I feel the project is unreasonable in its expectations and this one expected a 13 year old to be out doors for 8 hours recording the position of the sun using a homemade sundial. In New York City. Where you can't just leave the sundial and return every hour.
We fudged it -- used a windowsill on the east side of the apartment and the balcony on the west side. The teacher did say they could use a window if they absolutely had to.
This leads us to today where I declared "we are going for a ride!"
And we did.
It was so quiet on the paths and, even on the streets, that you almost forgot you were in New York.
Almost.
We rode up to the Intrepid and then down and around the tip of the island, cutting across (from East to West) via the Greenmarket where we scored some leeks for tonight's dinner.
Pastries were also made but I misplaced my camera after documenting them. Oh well, blog fodder for tomorrow.
Monday, October 06, 2008
Battle to the Death
We recently restocked the apartment with the important things in life. Meat, milk, pasta, apples and M&Ms.
As I was happily scarfing down a handful, my ever knowledgeable husband steered me to this article.
Which led my children to do this ...
No, we're not weird ... really!
As I was happily scarfing down a handful, my ever knowledgeable husband steered me to this article.
Which led my children to do this ...
No, we're not weird ... really!
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Squid on Wheels -- International Edition -- The Food
As you well know, we squid take our food very seriously. While traveling, we do our best to partake of local cuisine. We even go to the extreme of trying to track down good local food on the road.
Our first food foray of the trip was to the Main Street Ice Cream Parlor in Chestertown, New York.
Wonderful food in a homey setting. We did not indulge in ice cream since we wanted to get back on the road fairly quickly.
Wonderful food in a homey setting. We did not indulge in ice cream since we wanted to get back on the road fairly quickly.On our first full day in Montreal, we did quite a bit of biking and needed to refuel before our attempt on Mount Royal. Serious exercise calls for serious food, in this case smoked meat sandwiches from Schwartz's Deli.
We did take out and dined al fresco at the base of Mount Royal.
And then comes the question -- why does one climb a mountain? The answer, supplied by my husband, "for the ice cream of course!" No pictures of that indulgence. We ate while walking back up to the peak because Little Squid and I felt that the point of riding a bike up the mountain was to get to the peak -- which Mike bypassed after toping out on the trail just meters below the peak. Silly us, we followed. Do'h! We then had to reascend about half a kilometer to get to the actual summit.
Lunch the next day was at a diner and included a plate of poutine. That's french fries covered in gravy and cheese curd to you Americans. It was surprisingly addicting. I guess I shouldn't be so surprised since there was a serious poutine following before we joined the bandwagon. I just didn't expect to really, really like it!
Lunch the next day was at a diner and included a plate of poutine. That's french fries covered in gravy and cheese curd to you Americans. It was surprisingly addicting. I guess I shouldn't be so surprised since there was a serious poutine following before we joined the bandwagon. I just didn't expect to really, really like it!
Dinners were fantastic though not photographed. We had lots of French, some Polish and some touristy food, including crepes and fondue in Quebec City. 
A little chocolate fondue to end the meal
Midday snacks were plentiful and consisted mostly of ice cream,
Maple Ice Cream!!! With maple sugar bits in it!!!
but had the occasional local specialty thrown in to mix it up. (No picture of the maple coronets consumed in Quebec City.) Keep in mind that the maple ice cream was local, so it counts.
And once we reached New Hampshire ... there were blackberries!
And once we reached New Hampshire ... there were blackberries!
Wednesday, July 09, 2008
The Squid Knits Guide to the Homemade Egg Cream
The following guide is not to be taken as gospel. Everyone swears by their method of making the humble egg cream. This is how we do it.
You start with chocolate syrup. U-Bets is traditional but anything will do in a pinch.
Take a large glass, about 14 ounces and this is the shape that really works best.
Squirt in about 1/4 inch (a little less then a centimeter) of chocolate syrup.
Add an inch or two (this looks like 2) of milk. Skim is fine but purists will probably insist on whole milk.
Now we come to the controversial part. May say to not stir until later -- we squid, however, like to mix our milk and chocolate together before adding the final ingredient.
Add seltzer while stirring. My seltzer was a little flat -- the head should be much bigger and overflow the glass for the perfect egg cream.
Drink quickly. Egg Creams do not hold well and are to be drunk up, not sipped.
Enjoy!
You start with chocolate syrup. U-Bets is traditional but anything will do in a pinch.
Take a large glass, about 14 ounces and this is the shape that really works best.
Squirt in about 1/4 inch (a little less then a centimeter) of chocolate syrup.
Add an inch or two (this looks like 2) of milk. Skim is fine but purists will probably insist on whole milk.
Now we come to the controversial part. May say to not stir until later -- we squid, however, like to mix our milk and chocolate together before adding the final ingredient.
Add seltzer while stirring. My seltzer was a little flat -- the head should be much bigger and overflow the glass for the perfect egg cream.
Drink quickly. Egg Creams do not hold well and are to be drunk up, not sipped.***
About a week ago I accidentally invented the Ginger Egg Cream when I mistook weak homemade ginger ale for seltzer. It was surprisingly good and the kids now occassionally add a squirt of ginger syrup along with the chocolate.
Little Squid also tried it with lingonberry syrup (thank you Ikea) and it was a likable addition. Not quite as refreshing as ginger, but still nice.
Little Squid also tried it with lingonberry syrup (thank you Ikea) and it was a likable addition. Not quite as refreshing as ginger, but still nice.
Enjoy!
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
R i i i p p p
It was while watching today's time trials that I finally came out of a Tour induced stupor and realized that if getting the sock over my heel was a struggle, then I probably was not going to wear the socks. I knit a few more rows after switching to a larger needle and then finally caved in and ripped it back. Time to start over.
Mike and Squidette are at a "all about the Performing Arts High Schools" seminar and Little Squid and I are home enjoying a quiet evening. After I finish this post, I will put on my audiobook and get down to some sprint knitting.
***
No knit finishing today. Instead, we finally managed to get a maintenance worker up to repair our broken towel rod and toilet paper holder. Not their fault. The towel rod has been broken for over a year ... we just never got around to calling to have it fixed. The toilet paper holder fell off the wall last week and broke in two. That was a problem.Mike and I did take a short walk and spotted this sign.
This place apparently makes the best tuna fish sandwiches in the city.***
KnittyOtter asked when I was going to show off our summer egg creams ... well, they are tricky to photograph since they disappear so fast ... but maybe Thursday. I'll even share the sacrilege of our newest invention, the Ginger enhanced Egg Cream.***
Lastly ... we passed the 300 mile mark today for family biking. We are putting on 11.5 miles every time the kids agree to ride to camp and have done 3 camp rides so far. Technically, Little Squid does 10.5 and Squidette does 11.5 if he decides to go straight home and not while away the hour between their ending times. However ... Squidette owes the family 22 miles for a couple of rides that we did without her and did not put in the over all totals. So ... we are crediting Little Squid with Squidette's extra mile per day -- which he does sometimes ride. All in all, we figure that it will even out in the long run. Saturday, May 17, 2008
Dining Al Fresco
Since Little Squid missed out on 12 family miles last week, we made it up with a Mommy-Monster breakfast ride. While Mike took Squidette to band practice, Little Squid and I pedaled uptown, purchased muffins at Fairway and then rode a mile more to some picnic tables along the Hudson River.
We had a lovely time and even made up our own theme song to the tune of the Addams Family. I had figured the song as blog fodder but Mike and Squidette vetoed it.For lunch we all walked up to the Ninth Avenue International Food Festival. This particular street fair is unique in that many of the vendors are actually local food establishments. There are the usual assortment of generic street fair peddlers of sausage and peppers and crepes but then there are the churches and neighborhood associations and local restaurants plying their fare.
See all those people -- look toward the back of the photo -- people stretching all the way up to 57th street (photo taken at 42nd street).
I love the different spellings of the same words ... shiskebab / chishkacab. 
Pork sandwiches, any one?
I chose a Caribbean vendor and feasted on jerk chicken, rice and peas and sweet plantains. The Squidlings dined on arepas -- "standard" street fair food but purchased from a less commercial stall.
Dessert was apple tart, bread pudding and zeppole. Yum!
Yes, yes they are wearing different hats in the two pictures. Like them? I got a new hat, too!
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