Sunday Randomness #388: Jack still approves of Reading

Jack would like to share a public service message:

Read Aloud

Read to your children, your parents, your companion, your pets, your plants, yourself.

Reading aloud has many benefits some of which are explained in this interview with Jim Trelease: http://www.greatschools.org/students/7104-read-aloud-to-children.gs

Mr. Trelease encourages reading aloud not just for vocabulary but to develop a love of reading and a way to explore different ideas and the lives of people outside of our individual experiences.  He even encourages high school teachers to read to their students to help them develop into life-time readers-not just school-time readers.

Jack prefers picture books (as you can see from the picture!) but you can read aloud any book-just start reading!

Author #129: Dorothy Hinshaw Patent with how much dogs can smell

From Searching and Saving to Helping Planet Earth to Medical Alert Dogs, dogs of all breeds, sizes, and backgrounds are helping people around the world.    In Super Sniffers: Dog Detectives On The Job, Dorothy Hinshaw Patent takes us on a journey in pictures and text covering all the amazing things dogs can be trained to detect and locate from bombs to cancer to water contamination and more in between!  You can find out more about other animals and more about other dogs serving people at Dorothy's website: http://www.dorothyhinshawpatent.com/index.html

Author #128: Wonders in your own city with Sarah S. Brannen

Madame Martine written and illustrated by Sarah S. Brannen tells of a woman who lives the same way every day until a little dog named Max comes into her life and she discovers something new-the Eiffel Tower.  From Max leading her to the wonders of the Eiffel Tower, she decides to do some things the same and some things new.  View more of Ms.Brannen's wonderful illustrations at: http://sarahbrannen.yellapalooza.com/    We have a number of wonderful things in our neighborhoods, towns and cities from fall colors and farmer's markets to Christmas lights and holiday productions to baby animals in the spring along with beautiful blossoms to parks with splash pads and shaved ice stands in the summer.  What wonders are found where you live?

Sunday Randomness #18: The Obsolescence of Steam Rollers

So, um, yeah.  I've had these steam rollers (specifically Mist Condition Dry Hairsetter from General Electric GE) for several decades yet I was only using them about every 4-6 years.  Finally decided it was time to send them off to better pastures-especially since I'm leery about the safety and overheating issues that seemed to arise the last time I used them.

Thank you to my Aunts with long hair back in the day (whom I will not disclose to protect from age discrimination) who inspired me to get this unit and use it in the first place.  It did get used fairly frequently during the first part of its life with me but then that use dwindled as styles changed and other demands took the place of having time to put my hair up in rollers.

Farewell little rollers-my curls stayed in longer with more body and bounce when I used you vs. the curling iron.  The curling iron will never match up to the beauty and glamour you imparted, but now comes the day when I can no longer justify your storage space in the back of a drawer when you have aging issues and are no longer safe to use.  May you know that you were used and loved and appreciated and well fulfilled your role as an instrument of hair manipulation.

Author #127: Gabrielle Wang with The Race for the Chinese Zodiac

Gabrielle Wang wrote this version of the Chinese Zodiac story titled: The Race for the Chinese Zodiac with illustrations by Sally Rippin.  The pictures are done in Chinese Ink, linocuts, and digital media.  With beautiful earth tones and bold lines in the illustrations, this simply executed story flows smoothly from one animal to another as they reach the emperor and their designated year on the zodiac in the text accompanying the pictures.  Included are the Chinese characters for each of the animals.  For more about Gabrielle Wang and her other books, visit her website at: http://gabriellewang.com/

Author #126: What Scares Monsters with Adam Rubin

Big Bad Bubble by Adam Rubin with pictures by Daniel Salmieri

Just a cute book about a little monster fear and how to overcome that fear.  Has a surprise ending.

Sunday Randomness #975: A Brief History of the Man who explains some of the Universe

This looks promising for a look into the life of a man (Stephen Hawking) who has changed some of the views we have on science and the universe.  While I may not agree with everything he has shared, I do appreciate many of  his contributions, not least of which is his perseverance.

2014 Summer Movies #2: Places in The Heart

1930's Waxahachie, TX where a new widow takes in a boarder and a drifter who help her to keep her family homestead.  Released in 1984, we recently re-watched Robert Benton's film based on his home town.  Rated PG, the film does have some violence from racism and a tornado and a side story of the infidelity on the part of brother-in-law character.  The film strives for time period accuracy in furnishings, clothing, mannerisms and the like.  It's good example of  the depression era and it earned Sally Field her second Academy Award along with winning best original screenplay for 1985.

Sunday Randomness #261: And another insect (but this one's not for eating!)

This little critter was just outside our backdoor and we're glad he/she didn't get squashed by accident. Praying Mantis will eat any bug, both good and bad alike, but I still would rather have them in my yard than more pesticides.

Author #125: Daughter Leanne Campbell writes China Study Cookbook

The daughter of Dr. T. Colin Campbell (coauthor of The China Study) has written a cookbook titled (aptly) The China Study Cookbook.

We recently tried the Aztec Soup with onions, cayenne pepper, black beans, corn and lime juice in the base and topped with an avocado, tomato and cilantro salsa.  It was very filling and good at the same time.  It was better after a couple of days when the flavors had mellowed and blended more.  I think we may double the salsa next time since the avocado really added a mild creaminess to the soup which was of a spicy/sour blend with the cayenne and lime.

Author #124: Facts and Figures in the USA compiled by Dulberger

Michael D. Dulberger compares everything from Population Over Age 64 (Florida has the highest) to Grade 8 Science Proficiency Levels (North Dakota kids score highest) to Land Area (Alaska leads-dwarfing Texas by more than double the land area) to State Gasoline Tax ( Washington has the highest) to a slew of other categories.  It's a snapshot look at our nation and where each state ranks in Ranking America's Fifty States: A Comparison in Graphic Detail.  If you're any kind of a number cruncher, this book is for you.

Sunday Randomness #90: More inconsistencies in life

• A few years ago Daisy was invited to a birthday party and we typically write notes to remind us of upcoming events.  The following conversation occurred: "Daisy, do you need to put a note on the mirror?"  "No, I remember things about parties."

Mica was going to go to see Nacho Libre with some friends and they were planning on having nachos .  She remarked it was going to be a cheesy affair in more ways than one.

A disgruntled Daisy to a jubilant Mica after playing a board game:  "I'm not a sore loser, it's just that you won."

At the beginning of the school year one of the girls got a water bottle with a smart code on the side and a statement that it was a bottle of knowledge.  They responded that it may have been a bottle of knowledge for most people but for them it was the bottle of ignorance because they didn't have a smart phone.

Our local library increased the number of items you can checkout.  When telling Mica about this she was all excited and asked if it was increasing to 100 items to which I responded no, only to 50 and she responded with a little "oh" of disappointment.  How many kids are upset that the library limit of 30 items has only been raised to 50 items?  (Side note-she typically has her card maxed out with the new maximum so maybe she really does need a 100 item limit!)

Author #123: Eating wild in your own backyard with Morgan

Liz Brown Morgan  includes detailed current pictures in this Falcon Guide entitled Foraging The Rocky Mountains published in 2013.   We have a few of these plants in our yard and have eaten leaves from some of them such as mallow (marshmallow plant with the little button cheese wheels which are delicious), lamb's quarter, and of course dandelion greens.

Author #122: Man Eating Bugs with Peter Menzel

Man Eating Bugs: The Art and Science of Eating Insects by Peter Menzel and Faith D'Alusio.  The cover features a girl enjoying a deep-fried tarantula in Cambodia

Descriptions for pictures below (all food as described by Mr. Menzel): Traveling from Australia (top left clockwise) with witchetty grubs which are roasted in a fire and taste like "nut-flavored scrambled eggs and mild mozzarella, wrapped up in a phyllo dough pastry" to China with black water beetles marinated in ginger and soy sauce with an orange carrot flower garnish that you eat like a lobster or crab-breaking open the exoskeleton and "sucking out the white insides" to the picture just below on the right with the three scorpions (also from China) that are sauteed and taste a little like eating a twig.  Under the scorpions on the right is a stink bug pate from Mexico that is spiced with oregano and marjoram among other things and below the stink bug pate is a handful of mushi, the larvae of aquatic caddis flies, from Japan that will be boiled and then sauteed with soy sauce and sugar and will end up tasting like the soy sauce and sugar.  On the spoon are stir-fried weaver ants from Cambodia and finally, above the ants, is a fire-roasted tarantula from Venezeula which is the size of a dinner plate.  The Theraphosa leblondi  tarantulas actually have muscles and not just goo inside their legs and according to Mr. Menzel, taste like smoky crab after being roasted for about 7 minutes.

Although it was an engrossing book, I still don't think I want to change my western diet anytime soon.  The book was full of stories of the different cultures and bugs and other delicacies that they tried on their journeys along with many more pictures.    

Author #121: Deborah Noyes shares a tale of Chinese silk

 Even if the exact history of the travels of silkworms is not known, this book gives a reasonable hypothesis of the possibility of the silkworm traveling to Khotan with the Princess.  Deborah Noyes wrote Red Butterfly and Sophie Blackall did the illustrations with Chinese ink and watercolor.

The fourth batch of authors (up to 120!)

First batch of authors 

Second batch of authors

Third batch of authors


Fourth batch of authors:

• Alexander, Sue
• Anderson, Julie
• Auch, Mary Jane
• Barrett, Judi and Ron 
• Barretta, Gene
• Bazaldua, Barbara 
• Bergen, Lara 
• Bolden, Tonya
• Cocca-Leffler, Maryann
• Demi
• Donaldson, Julia
• Fleischman, Paul
• Frankel, Erin
• Gilbert, Laura 
• Jordan, Apple 
• Kurtti, Jeff
• Lepp, Bil
• Napoli, Donna Jo
• Nivola, Claire 
• Peet, Bill 
• Peterson, Scott 
• Posner-Sanchez, Andrea 
• Richards, Kitty 
• Schubert, Leda
• Sehlinger, Bob 
• Stewart, Melissa
• Telchin, Eric
• Tobin, Jim
• Weinberg, Jennifer
• Winter, Jeanette

Author #120: The Multiplication of One Grain of Rice with Demi

And this is why you never agree to do one minute of homework at the beginning of the school year, with the homework doubling each class period.  One Grain of Rice by Demi  is an clear way to teach about the power of exponents. Rick Regan explains it far better than I ever could in his post on the exploring binary website: http://www.exploringbinary.com/1073741823-grains-of-rice/

Sunday Randomness #316: Old phones and it's a table not a desk

I found this old ad for phones-note the sale ended on January 14, 1984.  So these were the new styles and models when I was in school.  Just thought it was something fun to reminisce about with all the changes.  

 

 It's a table not a desk! For this second section of the post I really should have posted this last year when Mica was at this particular apartment up at school.  These pictures were taken at the end of the semester but the incident happened at the beginning of the Spring semester 2013.  Her roommate had a "desk"  (table imitating a desk) like the one on the top and Mica's side had no desk.   I asked about a desk with drawers, saying that in my experience a desk had drawers.  The complex manager said they might have some old desks with drawers out back and the facilities people found Mica one of the last ones.  

Yes, it's beat up but Mica much preferred her old beat up desk with drawers than the new desk without drawers (table imitating a desk).  Maybe this complex has gone back to traditional desks-either that or they haven't updated their promotional photos to reflect that tables have replaced the desks.  I maintain that a desk should have at least one drawer (if not multiple drawers) otherwise I think it's a table not a desk.  

And we leave you with more semantics with this "Monkey" video from Bob and Larry:

Author #119: Do symbols mean anything? Jim Tobin changes an inappropriate word

I laughed aloud while reading this distinctly distinguished picture book: The Very Inappropriate Word by Jim Tobin and illustrated by Dave Coverly.  I look forward to looking up more books by both author and illustrator.  This is one of those books I would seriously consider buying for our personal library.

Micheal collects words.  One day he hears an inappropriate word and what happens next is all too common and hilarious in that awkward kind of way.   What Michael's teacher does in response to the word being said in her classroom promotes how we can bring out the best in others, letting the inappropriate fall by the wayside.  This is also a top-notch book to show the advantages of a wide vocabulary.   The illustrations are done to exemplify the words written, emphasizing the meaning.

Oven Roasted Vegetables

Oven Roasted Vegetables P.39 VV5th RS cookbook

1 med. zucchini
1 med. summer squash
1 med. red bell pepper
1 med. yellow bell pepper
1 lb. fresh asparagus
1 red onion
3 T. extra-virgin olive oil
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper

Heat the oven to 450 degrees.  Cut all the vegetables into bite-size pieces.  Place them in a  large roasting pan.  Toss with the olive oil, salt and pepper.  Mix to coat.  Spread in a single layer in the pan.  Roast for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally until the vegetables are lightly browned and tender.  (May take longer depending on how soft you like your vegetables.)

Cook's note:  We did not have the red onion which I think would have been a great addition but we did double up on the squash and we only used a few shakes of salt so you could definitely do salt and pepper to taste.  This was a really good easy recipe and we just mixed everything in a bowl and then roasted the veggies on a rimmed cookie sheet.

Author #118: Round the world with Cinderella and Paul Fleischman

 

Paul Fleischman brings the Cinderella story to new heights in Glass Slipper, Gold Sandal with illustrations by Julie Paschkis.  This delightful version features snippets of the Cinderella story from different countries including China, Indonesia, Ireland and Zimbabwe plus many others.  Along with the main illustrations there are intricate backgrounds such as the one featured on the front cover and hidden in the backgrounds are the names of the countries for the snippet and main picture on a particular page.  Some pages are broken into bands with multiple countries featured such as a page with parts of the story from Russia, Iran and India.  It's a whimsical telling of a popular fairy tale with great illustrations.

Author #117: Melissa Stewart substantiates the symbiosis in forests with cocoa trees

Intricately paced from chocolate to cocoa pods to leaves and roots, No Monkeys, No Chocolate traces the path to an abundant harvest of cocoa beans as we meet the many different characters who each play a integral part in helping a cocoa tree to be the most productive it can be.  By contrast, on typical cocoa farms, the conditions result in "fewer than five percent of all cocoa flowers (producing) pods" as opposed to the more natural cocoa tree forest approach as presented in the book where the cocoa trees give a much higher yield of cocoa beans.

Matt Ford wrote an article for CNN titled:  "Chocolate's bitter sweet relationship with the rainforest" that discusses the plight of rainforest grown cocoa beans vs those grown on cleared land as mono-cultures.  Help support some local producers of bean to bar or brew chocolate:

• http://www.criobru.com/
• http://www.amanochocolate.com/
• http://www.mezzochocolate.com/ 
• http://www.eatchocolateconspiracy.com/
• https://www.facebook.com/SolsticeChocolate
• http://millcreekcacao.com/
• and Ruth Kendrick's gourmet chocolate site: http://chocolot.com/

Sunday Randomness #103: $75 and the furnace starts up

Another appliance post!
We noticed at the end of the winter season that the basement seemed colder than usual.  After attempting to adjust the thermostat, it was clear that the furnace was starting up but wasn't turning on.  Just like car troubles, we had seen this scenario before and heard the same sound of the furnace attempting to warm up and turn on.  So I had a pretty good idea that all we needed was a new ignitor, but since it was the end of really cold weather, I didn't see a compelling reason to fix it at the time.

Fast forward to mid-June and now the temperatures outside are in the eighties.  I got thinking about the furnace and thought I'd better check it out again.  Same thing-just wouldn't quite turn on.  So my dad came over and took out the old ignitor, we took it down to Manwill and I bought a new one for about $75 and we brought it home and my dad installed it.  Then we tried the furnace.  It took several tries (about 4 times) to finally clear the air out of the line but then the furnace started up, stayed on, and began blowing warm air into the basement.  Of course we had to set the thermostat to around 85 degrees just to test it.  I'm glad that it's one less thing to think about in the back of my mind and when winter comes the furnace will be ready to go and I won't be wondering what's wrong with it and/or why I didn't fix it earlier.

Such a little piece but vitally necessary.

Swedish Tea Cakes

 Ingredients for cookies include pecans, butter, powdered sugar, flour, salt and vanilla.

Finished cookies

Swedish Tea Cakes (p.139 in the VV5th Ward cookbook)

1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 cup butter (2 cubes)
2 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. salt
2 cups flour
1/2 cup finely chopped nuts (almonds or pecans)
extra powdered sugar

Beat 1/2 cup powdered sugar, butter, vanilla, and salt together until light and fluffy. Stir flour into mixture.  Then add nuts to mixture and mix just until dough holds together.  Shape into 1-inch balls and place one inch apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 325 degrees F for 15-20 minutes or until cookies are set, not brown.  Immediately remove cookies from cookie sheet, cool slightly, then roll into extra powdered sugar.  Cool completely, then roll again in powdered sugar.  Makes about 3 dozen.  

(Note from cook:  The cookies may be starting to brown on the bottom-this is fine-you just want them to hold their shape and not squish before taking them out of the oven.)

Sunday Randomness: #13 Sun and Shadow on a Mallard duck

 This juvenile female Mallard duck came visiting in early April.

Both pictures were shot on the same day near the same time with the same camera-just different natural lighting from nearby trees.  I wish she wasn't so blurry but she moved faster than we expected but she didn't seem scared.  She was more interested to see if there were food tidbits to be had in the lawn.

Mexicorn Casserole

 Ingredients in top picture with yellow rice, corn and peppers (substituted for Mexicorn), cream of chicken soup, sour cream, butter and cheese

Finished casserole

Mexicorn Casserole p. 37 from the VV 5th Ward Cookbook

1 (5-oz.) Yellow Rice, cooked

1 can Mexicorn (don't drain) 

1 c. sour cream

1 can cream of chicken

3 T. butter, melted

1 c. shedded pepper jack cheese 

Mix everything but the cheese and bake at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes.   Top with cheese and cook until melted.  You could also double the recipe and add sauteed onions and cooked chicken to make a main dish.

(Note from Jean: we used a generic corn and peppers blend and a Mexican cheese blend since that's what we had on hand.  It still tasted delicious and we loved it.)

Sunday Randomness #317: Pets, Pets, and more Pets

Current Pet round-up includes:  Betta Fish with a red piece of pellet food

 Guinea Pigs Ginger and Caramel

 Chickens-White one is Baltimore, Black and White speckled is Bea, and Brown-variegated is  Shantaclaira-these were a gift from some friends who moved away.  We've had them since last June and we get eggs occasionally.

Jack on the tower is master over all

Sunday Randomness #102: $20 and the dryer heats up again

Drum turning but no heat coming out and the clothes aren't drying?
That's one cool dryer but we want a hot dryer! 
An appliance should feel useful and know its importance in the household. (like WALL-E!) 
So what's a cold dryer to do?

Turns out that all we needed was a little part called a thermal fuse that we bought at the local Sears parts store for about $20.  We could have bought the part cheaper online but buying it in person guaranteed we were getting the correct piece and could take it right back if it didn't work out.  Replace one little fuse and the dryer's working as good as ever! 
(Thanks to my wonderful dad for the diagnostic advice and the labor to replace the fuse.) 

Corn Pudding

Corn Puddin' 
Recipe from the VV5th ward cookbook
1 can cream of corn
2 eggs, lightly beaten, 
3/4 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon cornstarch
4 Tablespoons butter, cut into small chunks
         (we cut the butter down to 3 Tbsp and probably could have cut it to 2 Tbsp.)
1 teaspoon vanilla

Beat eggs, then add rest of ingredients.  Bake at 375 degrees F until it bubbles (normal is around 30 minutes). 

We were surprised at how good this was-we would probably only make it once a year but it was definitely tasty and different. This is from a neighbor who lived in the South.  She served her mission there decades ago and an old southern gentleman made this every month for the missionaries, telling them in was an old southern recipe.

Sunday Randomness #303: Georgia O'Keeffe bringing Sunday light

 I've checked out this book before now.  Georgia O'Keeffe: An American Perspective by Lauris Morgan-Griffiths, published in 2009 by Quercus in the UK.  I love the quote on the back: "I found that I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn't say in any other way-things that I had no words for." Georgia O'Keeffe, 1923

For this post I picked Pedernal from 1941-1942 that is on display at the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe, New Mexico http://www.okeeffemuseum.org/
I also like the explanation with this picture: "This flat-topped mountain, O'Keeffe's view from her Ghost Ranch house, was her favourite mountain and where her ashes were scattered.  It was a view she never tired of painting.  She portrayed it many times in different colours, different seasons, each time overlaying her mood and imbuing the view with a distinct atmosphere - as if by doing so she could tryly embody it.  'It's my private mountain.  It belongs to me.  God told me if I painted it enough, I could have it.'"

Lighter Lemon Pound Cake with 7 Up

Top picture with some ingredients

Bottom picture finished cake

7 Up Cake p. 103 in the VV5 ward cookbook from 2008

 1 1/2 c. butter
3 c. sugar
6 eggs
3 c. flour
2 Tbsp. lemon extract
3/4 cup 7 Up  (or other lemon flavored soda beverage)

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add eggs one at a time and beat well. Add flour. Beat in lemon extract and 7 Up.   Pour batter into well greased and floured jumbo fluted pan.  Bake at 325 degrees F for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until done.  Cool about 15 minutes and then remove from pan.


(Baker's note:  We cut the butter down to 1 cup and baked it in a regular large bundt pan.  We also added about 10-15 minutes to the bake time until a toothpick came out clean.) 

Sunday Randomness #225: Sunlight and horses

"Stop seeking out the storms and enjoy more fully the sunlight." - Gordon B. Hinckley

Daisy has discovered the world of horses and received a horse page-a-day calendar for a surprise "New Year" present and this was a recent page. She's letting me use it for this post since I thought it was aptly applicable for a new year.

 The quote is from a New Era article from July 2001 on The Spirit of Optimism
https://www.lds.org/new-era/2001/07/words-of-the-prophet-the-spirit-of-optimism?lang=eng

2014 Summer Movies #1: Apollo 13

(Summer movies are those that appeal on a level sublime or occasionally secondary, in one way or another, but they are movies we feel we can recommend with some extent of assurance.   Apollo 13 is starting out the movies for 2014.)

Rated PG, movie came out in 1995, event happened in 1970, lots more historical facts available including a bunch of science facts from Apollo 13 found here: http://www.universetoday.com/62339/13-things-that-saved-apollo-13/    It's an intense movie but a good one. The reluctance to watch an old space movie was quickly replaced with anticipation of what would happen next.

I admit, I think we're starting to lose track of all the movies starring Tom Hanks ;)