What I'm Working On...

...You know, in all my spare time.

Dutch Baby

Bless you, Rachel.

Her family served a German pancake while I was at their house on Saturday.  It was close enough to a Dutch baby to remind me to make one (and it was absolutely delicious).  Pair that reminder with complaints that Chrissy and I never make good breakfasts anymore (the complainer doesn't like eggs, apparently...), and we had a Dutch Baby for breakfast this morning!

Mama wanted peaches, so we had those on top.

Dutch Baby

Melt 1/4 cup butter in a medium-large (about 2-3 quarts) skillet in a 450 degree oven.  Meanwhile, whip 3 eggs until foamy (or, if you suddenly realize you only have one egg, just stick with that.  It works!).

Whip in 3/4 cup of flour, and 3/4 cup milk (or 1 1/4 cup, if you only had one egg).  Take the skillet with the melted butter out of the oven and sprinkle it with cinnamon, then pour in the batter.

Return to oven and bake for 20-25 minutes.

When done, remove from oven and top with fruit, syrup, or powdered sugar.  This recipe serves about three people generously, or six people can each have a smaller slice.

Information Please

There are entire shelves in the library dedicated to the New Deal.  Everyone wants to write peer-reviewed articles about the Smoot-Hawley Tariff for scholarly journals.  You'd think that writing a book on the Great Depression was a pre-requisite to becoming an author, scientist, or politician.

But what if I want to know about now?

There are so few articles available about the current government system, I'm really not sure where to turn.  Perhaps it really does take several years to publish a peer-review article for a scholarly journal, but that would lead me to assume that we now have information on the 2008 bail-outs and sudden decline of the stock market, which we don't.

Any ideas?  I'm not supposed to use popular news sources such as CNN, Fox or Reuters, but I think I might have to ask for an exception.  If I don't obtain either permission or find other options, this paper's got some changes coming.  Significant changes, which may be very good but will also be a little discouraging.

I think I'll be visiting the librarian tomorrow, and searching through government web pages. I'll keep you posted, because you live for this sort of information.  Right?

...

I'll keep you posted anyway.

Summer's Last Peaches

We're getting them while we can.

A Topic!

One of my classes involves a research project.  This project includes a substantial paper and two semesters of reading, researching, writing, speech giving, drafting, etc. etc.  I'd rather not be stuck with a topic I don't like, or one I'm ambivalent about (such as "The Effects of Hollywood on the American Culture from 1962 to 1965.").  Last year Beth wrote on local foods, so I couldn't do that.  I threw around ideas like "The Effect of Federal Policies on Small Business" and "The Changing Roles of Women in the 1900's"  but they all seemed way too broad, and not really topics I want to research for the next nine months.

Then, out of the blue (almost - I was brain-storming on paper), the idea came to compare previous American recessions and depressions with our current recession.  It has since been narrowed down to just the Great Depression compared to now, and I may reduce it further to just those events in our state.  This is so exciting to me, since I like:

• American History
• The 1920-40's
• Economics 
• How people's actions and reactions affect their communities
• Knowing the history of where I live

I emailed the authors of one of my favorite books, A Patriot's History of the United States, and they sent me a list of resources to check on the topic.  Lesson learned - if you'd like to ask question of someone you admire, just do it.  They're probably very nice.

Calzones

Once a week, I'm stranded on campus over the lunch hour.  I'm way to cheap to pay three to five dollars for lunch every time (it adds up fast!), so I've been making food on Monday afternoons (when I'm home) and freezing it until it's needed.  So far, I've made pot pies (Pyrex, I love you) and pumpkin soup.  

On Saturday, we went to the farmers market and I planned to buy peppers and tomatoes for a pizza.  I left with just peppers and detailed instructions on making paprika.  Today, the time came to bake, and I realized that pizza is a difficult thing to carry in a backpack.  But I still had the peppers and I still wanted pizza.  Hello-o?  Calzones!  

 

Yeast proofing in a hot-water bath.  

The dough before kneading.  Yes, the yellow bowl makes it look more spectacular than it really is.

Dough after kneading.  Yup.

This photo I'm adding simply for it's beauty.  It reminds me of Norman Rockwell or Andrew Wyeth.  I wrapped the bowl in a dish towel and stuck it in the warm oven.  It was warm because we had just made frozen pizza.  Sorry, we don't live glamorous lives where frozen pizzas are unheard of.  

Farmers' Market peppers. Aren't they gorgeous?  The pumpkin lookalike on the right is the kind they make pimentos from.  I wrapped them in foil and olive oil and baked them at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.  Then I chopped them up, along with tomatoes (my garden), basil (the farmers' market), and garlic (my Arabian uncle).  

(Ok, fine.  Kroger).

By this time the dough was stretchy.

 Self-explanatory.  Baked at 450 for about 20 minutes.

 

Done!  If you make calzones, do me a favor and brush them with egg whites or milk before you bake them.  I always forget to do that to breads, so they're never shiny.  Please take a picture of your shiny bread and send it to me.  That way, I'll know someone has learned from my mistakes (because I sure haven't).  

Mind you, making calzones is not a mistake.  Oh, no.  I can hardly wait to be stranded on campus this week!

P.S.  They're really easy. 

Thoughts on College

I started college the last half of August, and so far I really like it.   I'm taking Math, Honors English, Philosophy and Plant Biology.

Math is good for me - I'm not really into numbers, but I like it. It's been hard to follow the teacher, because she has so much material to go through in a short amount of time.   English is fun, because we do it around a large table and actually discuss things and get to know each other.  Philosophy is frustrating, because unless you go at it from a Biblical point of view (which the professor is not), it doesn't make sense, and you're left without any definite conclusions about anything.  Plant Biology is very fun, and we've done fun, dangerous things like boiling ethanol to remove chlorophyll from leaves.

It's difficult in that there are so many unsaved people there.  The campus is really open to hearing about the Gospel though.  Plus there are so many people-watching opportunities.  I think it's funny just how stereotypical people are sometimes, and I'm sure I am too, which makes it even funnier.  I'm really growing in how I relate to people, especially people with whom I disagree strongly (there are plenty of those).  It's been interesting to see the reactions of people when they find out I was home educated - most have never met a homeschooler before, but they have all expressed great interest in it.  I'm so, so glad my mom took the time to teach and raise us.

I'm hoping to post more pictures soon, as time allows.  Well, I need to go do math, math and more math!    Did I mention that I have lots of math homework?  Yes?  Well it's true.  

The CSA

Yesterday, we drove downtown to a farmer's market to pick up Beth's first CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) share. Because Beth moved on campus this year, she and her roommate Sarah decided to subscribe to one of these. Basically, once a week for ten weeks, Beth will go to the farmer's market with a special cardboard box, and return with the box loaded with vegetables from the farm she supports. The idea behind this is that the farmers and the consumers will get to know each other, the farmer will have an source of income which is not subsidized by the government, and the consumer will have access to good quality, local, non-chemically treated food (organic in all but expensively certified name). Beth and Sarah can even drive to the farm and help with planting if they want to!

The two owners of the farm are so sweet! While the wife was talking to us, the husband was putting an additional squash, a pumpkin and tomatoes in Beth's box because "She's a growing girl and needs lots of good food." They really love what they do, and Beth and Sarah will love the food. Their share looks a bit expensive at face value, but the quality and sheer quantity of produce they get, as well as knowing who grew it, where, and what went into the food they eat is well worth it.

http://www.localharvest.org/csa/

Which is it?

Summer or Fall?

Cool, breezy mornings and sweltering afternoons.
The chickadees have returned, but the hummingbirds are still here.
School has started (and going nicely), but we're not wearing sweaters yet.

I guess this is a good chance to enjoy the last bits of summer, but I do wish it would rain - it's been so dry here lately.

Are you seeing any hints of Fall?