A card I made as a Thank You for this wonderful librarian who granted me an interview for my Cultural Foundations class. Hats off to her! I got an A on my paper too!
Sunday, December 29, 2013
Wednesday, November 27, 2013
Thanksgiving Recipes
For those who call me for Thanksgiving Recipes: Here they are! Call me anyway...maybe while the turkey's in the oven!
Basil Rub for Roasted Chicken or Turkey
Make one batch for chicken; double it for a small turkey; triple for a large turkey.
1 Tbsp Salt
2 Tsp sugar
1/4 tsp garlic (powder or fresh minced)
1/4 tsp onion powder or dried onions
1/4 tsp paprika
1-1/2 tsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp basil
2 T olive oil
Mix all ingredients together and rub all over chicken, inside and out. Roast as usual.
If you really want the flavor to get into the meat, you can put it under the skin of the breast. If you don't usually use salt in your foods, then cut the salt in half.
Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free Cornbread
Servings: 6-9
Pan Size: 8x8 inch square
Oven Temperature: 350
Ingredients:
cooking spray
1 cup cornmeal
1 cup gluten-free flour (I use Domata Living Flour)
2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup dairy-free milk (I used almond)
1 egg
3 Tbsp. honey
3 Tbsp. dairy-free margarine (I use Earthbound Farms)
Spray pan with cooking spray; set aside.
Mix all dry ingredients and cut in butter until mixture is fine crumbs. Add milk, egg, and honey, stir until thoroughly mixed. Spread into pan as evenly as possible and bake for 20 minutes. Serve hot.
Original recipe (with wheat and buttermilk) from recipezaar.com; adapted to gluten free by me.
Zola Taylor's Crescent Rolls
Makes 32 rolls*
Ingredients:
1 cup milk
1 pkg. or 2-1/2 tsp dry yeast
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup butter, melted
3 eggs, room temperature, beaten+
1 tsp salt
4 cups flour
Heat milk until hot but not burning to touch. You should be able to stick your finger in it without getting burned. Mix in sugar and yeast. Let stand until foamy (about 5 minutes.)**
Mix in butter, eggs, and salt. Stir in flour. Stir until dough is very stretchy and stringy.
Cover and let stand overnight.^
Divide dough in half. Using just enough flour to handle easily, roll out into two large rectangles. Cut each into four rectangles, then cut each rectangle into four triangles. Roll from widest end. Place point down onto ungreased cookie sheet; cover lightly with a towel and allow to raise at least 4 hours.
Bake just before serving at 350 deg. oven until golden brown, about 10-12 minutes.^^
Serve on a pretty cloth-lined platter or in a cloth-lined bowl. Don't stack them too high. You want light, fluffy rolls, right?
* ** ^ ^^
Hints for the beginning baker
+If you forgot to get the eggs out ahead, it'll be okay. Just get them out as you gather up the ingredients. You do gather the ingredients first to make sure you have everything you need, right?
* I usually double this recipe, depending on how many people we are serving. For 8 people, 32 rolls makes 4 apiece, but they are small rolls, so that's okay. They also keep well for several hours or overnight, so extras are always good.
** If mixture doesn't foam by 5 minutes, it's either too hot, too cold, or the yeast has gone bad. Test your yeast by putting about 1/2 tsp with 1 tsp. sugar in 1/4 cup warm water. If it doesn't get bubbly, you need new yeast. If you want to do this first, then just add it to the mix, reducing milk and yeast by the amounts used in the test.
^I usually put it in the fridge overnight. The chilled dough is easy enough to work with, and to me seems less sticky. Use non-stick cooking spray on the lid or plastic wrap to keep the dough from sticking to it as it rises.
^^If you have several pans, you can't bake them all immediately before serving. You need to allow 10 minutes per pan, so start early or plan on taking rolls out of the oven all the way through dinner.
Grandma Joy's Candied Sweet Potatoes
(Joy B Jeffery)
Sweet potatoes*
1 can Coconut (the fine grated kind )
Bake potatoes in very hot oven, 450 until done. Cool and remove skins. Slice about 1/2 inch thick, or desired size. Dip in a syrup that has been prepared before hand.
1/2 cup water
1 cup light brown sugar
2/3 cup white sugar
1 block (1/2 cup) butter
1 tsp cinnamon (or allspice if Momm is coming to dinner)
1 tsp lemon juice
Put in pan and boil. After bringing to a boil, turn heat down to low. Cook until it thickens. Dep slices of potatoes in syrup one by one; be sure to turn them over, then place slices of potato in baking dish. First lengthwise, then crosswise. Put coconut between layers. Pour remaining syrup over them. Be sure syrup is thick. Put coconut and marshmallows on top and brown in oven.
Take out of oven when brown and let stand for an hour or so before serving. Leftovers are excellent chilled from the refrigerator or reheated in oven.
* I don't know how many but she usually brought a 6x6 casserole dish filled to the brim, so maybe 3 or 4? 4?
Basil Rub for Roasted Chicken or Turkey
Make one batch for chicken; double it for a small turkey; triple for a large turkey.
1 Tbsp Salt
2 Tsp sugar
1/4 tsp garlic (powder or fresh minced)
1/4 tsp onion powder or dried onions
1/4 tsp paprika
1-1/2 tsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp basil
2 T olive oil
Mix all ingredients together and rub all over chicken, inside and out. Roast as usual.
If you really want the flavor to get into the meat, you can put it under the skin of the breast. If you don't usually use salt in your foods, then cut the salt in half.
Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free Cornbread
Servings: 6-9
Pan Size: 8x8 inch square
Oven Temperature: 350
Ingredients:
cooking spray
1 cup cornmeal
1 cup gluten-free flour (I use Domata Living Flour)
2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup dairy-free milk (I used almond)
1 egg
3 Tbsp. honey
3 Tbsp. dairy-free margarine (I use Earthbound Farms)
Spray pan with cooking spray; set aside.
Mix all dry ingredients and cut in butter until mixture is fine crumbs. Add milk, egg, and honey, stir until thoroughly mixed. Spread into pan as evenly as possible and bake for 20 minutes. Serve hot.
Original recipe (with wheat and buttermilk) from recipezaar.com; adapted to gluten free by me.
Zola Taylor's Crescent Rolls
Makes 32 rolls*
Ingredients:
1 cup milk
1 pkg. or 2-1/2 tsp dry yeast
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup butter, melted
3 eggs, room temperature, beaten+
1 tsp salt
4 cups flour
Heat milk until hot but not burning to touch. You should be able to stick your finger in it without getting burned. Mix in sugar and yeast. Let stand until foamy (about 5 minutes.)**
Mix in butter, eggs, and salt. Stir in flour. Stir until dough is very stretchy and stringy.
Cover and let stand overnight.^
Divide dough in half. Using just enough flour to handle easily, roll out into two large rectangles. Cut each into four rectangles, then cut each rectangle into four triangles. Roll from widest end. Place point down onto ungreased cookie sheet; cover lightly with a towel and allow to raise at least 4 hours.
Bake just before serving at 350 deg. oven until golden brown, about 10-12 minutes.^^
Serve on a pretty cloth-lined platter or in a cloth-lined bowl. Don't stack them too high. You want light, fluffy rolls, right?
* ** ^ ^^
Hints for the beginning baker
+If you forgot to get the eggs out ahead, it'll be okay. Just get them out as you gather up the ingredients. You do gather the ingredients first to make sure you have everything you need, right?
* I usually double this recipe, depending on how many people we are serving. For 8 people, 32 rolls makes 4 apiece, but they are small rolls, so that's okay. They also keep well for several hours or overnight, so extras are always good.
** If mixture doesn't foam by 5 minutes, it's either too hot, too cold, or the yeast has gone bad. Test your yeast by putting about 1/2 tsp with 1 tsp. sugar in 1/4 cup warm water. If it doesn't get bubbly, you need new yeast. If you want to do this first, then just add it to the mix, reducing milk and yeast by the amounts used in the test.
^I usually put it in the fridge overnight. The chilled dough is easy enough to work with, and to me seems less sticky. Use non-stick cooking spray on the lid or plastic wrap to keep the dough from sticking to it as it rises.
^^If you have several pans, you can't bake them all immediately before serving. You need to allow 10 minutes per pan, so start early or plan on taking rolls out of the oven all the way through dinner.
Grandma Joy's Candied Sweet Potatoes
(Joy B Jeffery)
Sweet potatoes*
1 can Coconut (the fine grated kind )
Bake potatoes in very hot oven, 450 until done. Cool and remove skins. Slice about 1/2 inch thick, or desired size. Dip in a syrup that has been prepared before hand.
1/2 cup water
1 cup light brown sugar
2/3 cup white sugar
1 block (1/2 cup) butter
1 tsp cinnamon (or allspice if Momm is coming to dinner)
1 tsp lemon juice
Put in pan and boil. After bringing to a boil, turn heat down to low. Cook until it thickens. Dep slices of potatoes in syrup one by one; be sure to turn them over, then place slices of potato in baking dish. First lengthwise, then crosswise. Put coconut between layers. Pour remaining syrup over them. Be sure syrup is thick. Put coconut and marshmallows on top and brown in oven.
Take out of oven when brown and let stand for an hour or so before serving. Leftovers are excellent chilled from the refrigerator or reheated in oven.
* I don't know how many but she usually brought a 6x6 casserole dish filled to the brim, so maybe 3 or 4? 4?
Sunday, October 6, 2013
Computer Coding: A Beginning
I have been so busy with school I have hardly done anything else, but this will show you what I have learned to do in my Computing Foundations Class. It takes a lot of patience and persistence, a few tears and tissues, and an understanding husband, not to mention the help of several classmates and e-mails from our class Teaching Assistant. And then it works one minute and not the next! It is extremely frustrating to learn.
I will never take another web page for granted again!
I will never take another web page for granted again!
Click on Picture for More Information
Thursday, September 26, 2013
Grad School Reflections on Self Worth
Being around so many younger people makes me feel alive. They just accept me as one of the crowd and I don't feel like a misfit as a nontraditional student. We're all at different stages of our lives and careers.
A Facebook conversation between two grad students:
GS1: Half my facebook feed is people having babies or getting married and I'm just sitting over here writing about why people choose to read romance novels for class.
GS2: Other people say "and all I did was get married and have babies, while other people got master's degrees and became very successful." Why is it so hard to honor our own choices and recognize their worth? (I've been on both sides of that coin.)
GS1: That's perfectly stated! Why is self worth the hardest thing to see? (Of course asking that question on facebook is a problem in itself--comparing your "behind the scenes" with everyone else's highlights.)
GS2: We see each other's "game faces" most of the time, not just on Facebook, while with ourselves we see the whole reality, both good and bad. Comparison is one of our worst enemies. It generally results in either pride or shame, both of which block compassion and love.
The significance of that really hit home to me today. We had to do a project which was a self-running PowerPoint presentation. The objective was to start the slide show and then stand back and let it present itself. We could use pictures, text, sound, recorded voice, pretty much anything goes as long as it could play. I felt really good about mine, and took my turn right away, so I would not sit there and get nervous as I saw the amazing things other people did and wonder if mine was good enough.
It was a good idea in theory; in reality, after mine ran, and seemed well-received, I watched the others and some were very impressive. I found myself thinking that this one was more professional, or did a better job with humor, or better flash animations, or whatever. Maybe mine was too straightforward, or the jokes were too lame...
STOP! I did a great job. Mine was cute and funny and ran perfectly the first time. My timings were right on target. The other students laughed at most of the intended moments, sighed for the lonely little lamb, made sounds of agreement when the words of the songs resonated with them, and applauded loudly at the end. All in 4.5 minutes!
So now I wonder how many students saw mine and thought, "oh my gosh, mine is not that good, and everyone is going to be comparing it to hers."
We don't need to do that to ourselves! We need to go forward with confidence! I love what the professor said at the end. He got up and talked a little about how they reflect our different personalities and interests. Then he asked a beautiful question.
"How many ways are there to be excellent?"
And then we discussed some of the things we had seen: creativity, research, pairing of ideas, technological expertise, humor, personal insight, hobbies represented...
I hope we all took home a feeling of capability and power. Because there were both in that room today, from every single person there.
A Facebook conversation between two grad students:
GS1: Half my facebook feed is people having babies or getting married and I'm just sitting over here writing about why people choose to read romance novels for class.
GS2: Other people say "and all I did was get married and have babies, while other people got master's degrees and became very successful." Why is it so hard to honor our own choices and recognize their worth? (I've been on both sides of that coin.)
GS1: That's perfectly stated! Why is self worth the hardest thing to see? (Of course asking that question on facebook is a problem in itself--comparing your "behind the scenes" with everyone else's highlights.)
GS2: We see each other's "game faces" most of the time, not just on Facebook, while with ourselves we see the whole reality, both good and bad. Comparison is one of our worst enemies. It generally results in either pride or shame, both of which block compassion and love.
_______________________________________________________
The significance of that really hit home to me today. We had to do a project which was a self-running PowerPoint presentation. The objective was to start the slide show and then stand back and let it present itself. We could use pictures, text, sound, recorded voice, pretty much anything goes as long as it could play. I felt really good about mine, and took my turn right away, so I would not sit there and get nervous as I saw the amazing things other people did and wonder if mine was good enough.
It was a good idea in theory; in reality, after mine ran, and seemed well-received, I watched the others and some were very impressive. I found myself thinking that this one was more professional, or did a better job with humor, or better flash animations, or whatever. Maybe mine was too straightforward, or the jokes were too lame...
STOP! I did a great job. Mine was cute and funny and ran perfectly the first time. My timings were right on target. The other students laughed at most of the intended moments, sighed for the lonely little lamb, made sounds of agreement when the words of the songs resonated with them, and applauded loudly at the end. All in 4.5 minutes!
So now I wonder how many students saw mine and thought, "oh my gosh, mine is not that good, and everyone is going to be comparing it to hers."
We don't need to do that to ourselves! We need to go forward with confidence! I love what the professor said at the end. He got up and talked a little about how they reflect our different personalities and interests. Then he asked a beautiful question.
"How many ways are there to be excellent?"
And then we discussed some of the things we had seen: creativity, research, pairing of ideas, technological expertise, humor, personal insight, hobbies represented...
I hope we all took home a feeling of capability and power. Because there were both in that room today, from every single person there.
________________________________________________________
Even so, I am amazed at some of the professional things these students have already done, and many at such a young age. I kind of feel like a homebody who wandered into school. I remind myself that I was well qualified to get in. I even got a scholarship. My experience and background is different than theirs but no less valuable.
And with that, I confess, I like the silly Amish romances that my more literate classmates stick up their noses at! I don't mind the predictability of Christian romance books. Mysteries and thrillers are also predictable, in my opinion. I like my pleasure reading light, clean, and uplifting. Many of those authors actually know an awful lot about human nature. I also like Jodi Picoult, Michael Palmer, Robin Cook, and Mary Higgins Clark; I like Trixie Belden and the Hardy Boys but not Nancy Drew.
The point is, it's okay. It's me. I'm entitled to like what I want and bring my own unique perspective to what I read, what I share, and it doesn't make me less than other readers, not even the one who owns almost the entire Stephen King collection.
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
Observations from My First Month in Grad School
As an undergrad, I went to a satellite campus, and felt that people mostly kept to themselves. In my current grad program, people are friendly, and we are beginning to form a cohesive group, helping each other out.
I feel like my mind has expanded 100-fold in just a few short weeks.
Facebook is my friend. I created a group for our program, and it has been the best resource ever for our tough computer class, wherein we are learning JavaScript and HTML.
Expect the unexpected.
Sometimes it pays to use the more expensive parking, even though I've already paid for the student commuter lot.
After all the technical difficulties I had getting ready for a PowerPoint presentation, the last was the short-circuit in my brain that incorrectly computed the time I needed to leave home for a class that I have already gone to several times. Hence the expensive parking to get to class on time.
I really can
a. do homework
b. drive
c. work
d. watch flashy PowerPoints
e. listen to music
f. sort the laundry
even with a splitting headache, but it's not easy.
But I can't do dishes, make dinner, or vacuum.
I saw a car that had a school plate--football is a huge thing here and it's quite common to see them--but this one had a plate that said MRSBOB. (name changed to protect the innocent.) My reaction was that I would never do that. I love my husband but I am not just MRS somebody. Besides, my husband's name is too long to fit on a plate with MRS on there too.
What kind of person drives that car? I found myself making up scenarios in my mind.
I wonder...
- How many of us know exactly what our license plate says? I always did, but for some reason the latest one doesn't stick in my head.
- If I personalized a plate, what would I put on it? What would you?
I also wonder...will I still feel a little bit wacky and wry after my Excedrin and Coke (the drink not the drug) wears off? Probably.
I certainly don't have time for projects and crafts, so this blog may be all about school for a while.
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