actual quotes.

Student, to me, after I checked to see that both sides of his worksheet were done: "What have I ever done to you? I make your life more difficult, but other than that..."

Teacher, to student: "You may be a little bit rude and a little bit self-centered..." Student: "..." Teacher: "No, I'm done."

Student, to teacher: "If you acted more like Student, maybe you'd have a girlfriend."
Teacher: "I'd rather die alone."



Spouse of teacher: "These cookie dough truffles are amazing!" (To which I agreed.)

Me: I can't believe the school year is over!

she's back. and she's wearing a viking hat.

I held an after-school cooking club where we made different types of squash, apple crisp, and used freshly grated parmesan cheese. It was a success! See the empty plates below. I plan to hold a session monthly, so let me know if you have suggestions for winter foods that are healthy-ish.

I wore my Viking hat from the Warrior Dash in class last Monday. That was fun. I made up a story problem about Viking boats (also about the number of Viking warriors before and after battles) and said "Hmm, I think we need a visual aid." Then I reached into my "props" drawer, pulled out a Viking hat, and continued teaching. The kids were a little shocked, but I suspect they enjoyed it. I actually heard someone say that it was a pretty good lesson... and I think all that was different was that I kept looking at my shadow in the overhead. And trying to poke people (or not poke people) with my Viking horns.

Squash-apple turnovers: I've been in somewhat of a squash frenzy. I love squashes - all kinds of them. To your left, you see a squash-apple turnover. Did you know you can cook apples like this? I suppose you probably did, because apples turn into applesauce. But they don't have to get mushy - you can saute them. With butternut squash. And then add some other stuffs, wrap them in crescent roll dough, and call it lunch?



Since I happened to have dough... I made some peanut-butter-smores turnovers as well.

 They were tasty too. Although marshmallow creme is a better option than marshmallows, because actual marshmallows kind of just dissolve. By kind of, I mean they really do.

Thanks for checking in. I hope to write something meaningful someday soon - it's there, inside me. I think.

YOU could be writing equations in a snap!

Has this ever happened to you? You have to multiply the same thing by itself over and over. So you write it out and your hand cramps because it’s so much writing. Introducing exponents! The simpler way to write equations involving things multiplied over and over. Turn 4 x 4 x 4 x 4 x 4 x 12 x 12 x 12 into 4⁵ x 12³ in a snap! Call 1-800-expo-now and pay 3 easy payments (and 1 difficult) payments of 9.99 (plus shipping and handling), and YOU could be writing equations in a snap!

- by a pre-calc student; his infomercial for exponents in his warmup journal. 

Teaching is going well so far - I have spent a lot of time at the school, but I have been excited to wake up and get out of bed every day. No biting (yet). Last week was the first full week of school but I feel like I've been around for a while already. 

Grand Rapids is really nice too - I've found a couple different groups to run with and just today met a runner about my pace who lives very close, so we may try to run together outside of 'official run times' too. I had friends in town last weekend too, so we went to Grand Haven and rode bicycles, then to an apple orchard. I love fall and have been making applesauce every couple days. Tomorrow, it will be soup! Probably Carrot Ginger Coconut soup because I have fresh left over ginger and don't know what to do with it. Also, I have all the ingredients. Maybe some cornbread to go with it?

This week will be another 5 day week of school, but on Thursday, I will be escorting my freshmen advisory group (about 17 freshmen) off campus for a retreat. I have plans to watch a volleyball game for Potter's House, plans to run, and now that I have some free time on weekends - picking out some new books to read over the weekend. Does anyone have any suggestions? I started reading John Piper's Don't Waste Your Life but also want something a little more... brainless.

This was a very factual entry. My apologies! I will soon attempt a cleverly written expose on some cleverly-chosen topic... but it will probably come out as an ode to cornbread made in my cast-iron skillet in rhyming couplets. I might spare you, if that's the case!

a grand week in grand rapids

I'm, like, official!

Before I moved, I ate brunch with some friends and their beautiful children. I ate ate other meals and met with more friends too... but I didn't take pictures of the food. I made a hashbrown quiche dish from More with Less that I thought was delicious. You could take any quiche recipe (I used eggs, evaporated milk, zucchini, ground meat, grated yellow squash, and grated cheese) and give it a hashbrown crust.
1. Grate/ shred raw potatoes and press them down into a well-greased pan - or into muffin cups... but still grease them really well!

 2. Bake the potatoes at 425 for 15-17 minutes or until crispy brown. Remove the pan from the oven.
3. Have the quiche ingredients pre-mixed, unless there was something you wanted on top only - like fresh basil or rosemary - and then bake it. Muffins were done by 15 minutes for me, the cast-iron skillet took 30-35.

 You didn't think I would make something without my cast-iron skillet, did you?

I moved and set my feet down! I am so excited to be teaching at the school where I am at. I have felt nothing but affirmed in my decision by the way God has worked everything out. You can pray for me to be confident around the students and around the teachers/ staff. I believe that my passions and enthusiasm will serve the school and the students well, and I will need God to work through me so that others can see it too.
This week, we had three days of professional development and I set up my classroom. Students start Tuesday. I will be teaching one section of geometry, two of Algebra II, and one of Precalculus. There is one other math teacher at the school. He'll be very helpful, as he's been teaching at the school since one semester into the beginning (12 years or so).

The above bulletin board is for student work. Not because it's silly, but because it's intelligent. Although, knowing me... the assignments might be a little silly. (Miss Wolfe, why are we reading "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie"?) I do need an idea for a hall pass - something that can't make noise or be thrown/ bounced/etc. I was thinking my OSU pennant, but I don't really want that going into the bathroom with the students. The other math teacher uses a giant protractor. I had a teacher in high school who used a box fan for a hall pass - I thought that was hilarious, but I don't think I can really do that. 

This is the side/ back of my room - a thank you from my preschoolers/ preschool classroom teachers, books, maps of who we're praying for, and the drawers are full of papers/ binders/ crafty-things.

I am ready to start! I've met some students who have come to the school for volleyball practice, and I met some parents at a soccer game Thursday night. I feel very welcomed.

An excerpt from a beautiful song at church today that I hadn't heard or don't remember:

"Come, ye weary, heavy laden/
Lost and ruined by the fall/
If you tarry till you're better/
You will never come at all.

Let not conscience make you linger/
Nor of fitness fondly dream/
All the fitness He requireth
Is to feel your need of Him."
 - come ye sinners (ten thousand charms)

"I love you too, baby girl!"

No, I'm not on a writing frenzy this week. Sorry to get your hopes up, but I wanted to add some pictures of food (as always) and the Rachel Carson trail challenge (as requested).

I don't have a bus story for you, but I do have a walk-story with similar characters. As always, there is a young (yet emanating maturity) blonde and a more-than-interesting man. When we come upon the man, he is pulling a messenger bag out of a bush (?) and calling out "baby girl! baby girl!" Seeing as there is no one else on the street outside of a car, I respond with a hello.
"Guess what, baby girl?" He says. "I forgot my bag!"
"I'm glad you remembered it then."
"Can I tell you something?" (He is walking furiously about 5 paces behind me to catch up.) "How old are you?"
"You're not supposed to ask a lady her age!" says I, ever the lady. (Did he hear me humming VeggieTales? See me skip over the curb?) But at this point, I have to turn, and he, it seems, caught on too late, so he still has to walk straight.
I give a slight nod of the head. "Well, have a good day!"
"Thanks, baby girl. I love you too."
At this, our blonde cocks her head to the side and her eyebrows (look at her face!) show that she is confused.

I used my cast-iron skillet (still love it!) to make a vegetable tarte tatin. It's a good summer vegetarian main dish (read: not super filling) but could also be a good appetizer. (Recipe easily adaptable from "The Cast-iron skillet cookbook.") It takes a little work (some refrigerating and rolling of the crust, but the cast-iron skillet makes it worth it.)

For the crust:
1 1/4 c all-purpose flour
1/4 t salt
6 T chilled, unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
2 T chilled vegetable shortening
5 T ice-cold water

Mix the flour and salt in a food processor. Add the butter and shortening. Pulse in the processor until the mixture has the consistency of small peas. Add the water, 1 T at a time and pulse quickly just until the dough sticks together and can be formed into a ball. Do not knead the dough. Form it into a disk, wrap it in plastic wrap, and chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

To prepare the filling... take lots of root vegetables. Carrots, turnips, parsnips, rutabaga, new potatoes, yellow onions, for example.  And chop them all. (Bigger pieces are better, especially for the onions. You might even trim the root end but leave it intact.

If the veggies take different cook times (onions are quicker to soften than a lot of the other named vegetables), cook the other vegetables beforehand, and then add with the onions to a large bowl.
Add:
2 T olive oil
1 t chopped, fresh rosemary/ 1 t fresh thyme (or 2 t fresh herbs, any kind you like)
1/4 t nutmeg
Salt and pepper, to taste
Stir until everything is thoroughly coated.

Scatter tiny pieces of 1/4 c butter in the cast-iron skillet. Place over low heat until the butter melts. Stir in 1 t Pernod, if you know what that is (ignore it or add 1 T white wine if you don't) and 2 t sugar. Add the vegetables to the pan, but do not stir them! Move them to fill in any empty gaps and occasionally press down while they brown and caramelize (about 5 minutes), but letting them sit brings the caramelized goodness. Remove from heat.

Roll out the pastry dough into a 10-12 inch circle (approximately a little larger than the size of your skillet. Lay the dough on top of the vegetables and tuck in excess dough around the edges... or eat it. Let's be honest. Melt a little more butter (or use a whisked egg white and 1 T water) and lightly brush the top of the crust. Make four 1 inch cuts in the top to vent steam.

Place the skillet in the over and bake for 20-25 minutes at 400. (No preheat warning - remember who is giving you the insructions!)

Place a large plate upside down on top of the skillet. Protecting both hands with oven mitts (important step), grasp the skillet and the plate firmly, flip over and invert the tart onto the plate. Slice into wedges and serve.
And some pictures from the Rachel Carson trail challenge that I did with some friends a couple weekends ago. You can't really see the mountains, but they were most certainly there.

summer time!

In the near future, the current daily refrains of "It's too loud!", "There's already two friends here!", and "I don't like it when you push me into the wall and put soap on my hair" will be replaced by "When am I ever going to use this?"

That's right. I accepted a teaching position at an inner-city Christian high school in Grand Rapids (see: pottershouseschool.org).I'll be teaching math: although I haven't seen an official schedule, I was told that I would have two sections of Algebra II, one of Pre-calculus, a geometry section (which, in future years, will turn into a section of AP Calculus), and then a math help period for some Algebra II students. I couldn't be more excited!
Well, I probably could be, if I was told that I could wear sweat pants every day... or also get paid to swim and run... or thought that 100 percent of my students would absolutely love me as a teacher. Aside from those thoughts, I probably couldn't be more excited.

The math teacher who is leaving shared all of her lesson planning documents with me, along with a majority of small classroom expenses that really add up (notebook paper, pens, post-its, etc.) - that will be really helpful. I am deciding how I want to decorate the classroom and make it my own at the moment. I am thinking about some applications of math (e.g. blueprints of buildings, charts about water pressure for scuba divers, graphs in the news, etc.) If you have anything that I could put up on the wall or as a background to a bulletin board, I'm happy to take it off of your hands. Other things that will help me stay organized would be empty coffee cans or binders. Once I learn more about students and get into class, I will try to put up some projects on donorschoose.org, but I'll wait until I can learn my students' interests to get some project ideas.

In recipe news, I made this Vegetable and Chickpea curry the other day (but not in a crockpot, so the flavors might not have been as enmeshed). And we received a bunch (literally, a number of bunches) of green onions in our CSA this week, so I made some green onion pesto with it. A different taste than a normal pesto, but I liked the little tastes that I had!

it makes the world go around and around and... (hanson, anyone?)

Three things are on the agenda for this morning. In no particular order of importance (particularly because most things that I post have little to no importance), they are:

1. I need a catch-phrase/ quote/ amalgamation of words that relates flying and love. I know that there has to be one out there, but all I can think of is "on the wings of love" which is now (was?) a television show tagline. Please help.

2. I had a delicious dinner last night. I had leftover vegetable soup with Shaker Corn Bread (in my cast iron skillet) on the side. Of course, I didn't really follow that recipe... instead of using what I'm assuming they meant by "egg substitute" of eggbeaters, I mixed 1 T flaxseed meal with 3 T water... Instead of chopped dill, I used a chile pepper in adobo sauce (I do understand that is a completely different taste)... Substituted frozen corn for fresh (nbd)... Substituted milk powder and water for 2% milk (without really measuring). Six out of ten ingredients remained the same, however.

I'm also reading my kindle while eating dinner on fancy plates, because I love the plates Diane found for me and I love free books.

The real highlight to the meal was a Hasselback potato. I used this recipe from my pretend-friend Joy because I had a sweet potato (even though she uses a regular potato) that needed eaten. It was delectable. Delicious. I will have to try this potato cooking method more often.

The recipe was followed pretty closely for the potato, except for the whole normal- sweet substitution. I think when I make it again, if I use a sweet potato, I'm not going to bother with pesto because the roasting made it good enough on its own. I also think I could've put brown sugar crumbles on top, or maybe even this pecan and goat cheese salsa. It was good but it almost took away from the roasted-goodness of garlic and butter and oil.




Also, I hadn't written down the pesto recipe, so I can't really give feedback on it. I food-processed some cashews, olive oil,  garlic salt, and spinach... I have a feeling hers would be a different taste with all her added ingredients. Mine was good though - I froze the rest for pasta leftovers some day. If I can ever remember to have leftovers...

3. My little preschoolers are teaching me a lot about love, and how I lack it. Interestingly, those of you who have heard me talk about "my buddy" or remember my post about my insensitivity toward his bodily excretions might be surprised to know that I feel a lot of love for him. I can see his turmoil and angst (that sounds really deep for a 3 1/2 year old, but I need some outlet for big words right now) - and while I do get completely drained and sometimes, yes, he makes me cry like one of the preschoolers myself, I am patient and can mostly love him. I need help and I rely on the Spirit inside me so that I can demonstrate some fruits of the Spirit with him - but also with others. There are other attributes the preschoolers have that frustrate me more quickly and I have trouble really embodying love to them.

Briefly

I have no news on next year yet, but I do have some other things I can share with you.

1. Where I'm traveling!
a. Carmel, Indiana - for a fun half-marathon.
b. Boston - to visit with some friends. I've never been to the East Coast, so I'm excited to see friends and to see the town. Any recommendations for places to go?
c. Baltimore - visiting my former advisor, meeting some professors at JHU and exploring some intelligent topics. They haven't learned too much about me yet, apparently.

2. What I'm cooking!
a. Caramelized onion meatloaf from my Almost Meatless cookbook - it had tofu, veggies, and a little bit of turkey. I liked it.
b. Roasted veggie pizza with hummus as the sauce and the crust cooked in a cast-iron skillet. I think it worked like a pizza stone.
c. Mango and black bean salad - I am starting to really like juicy fruits and mango is something I haven't tried much of. I liked it in this cold salad, which I ate as a lunch entree.

3. What I'm hearing!
"Miss Julie, when I grow up, I want to be a grown-up so I can make pancakes."
 - one of my preschoolers, a girl after my own heart.

I'm sorry (although you may not be) that I haven't infused this entry with my wit and inability to stop sharing. Another day I can share with you in a humorous, lengthy, rather tedious process. In the meantime, I hope you are having a lovely spring so far!

purity of heart means to will one thing - soren kierkegaard

Today, I am intermixing random quotes with general updates. Some quotes are famous, some are mine, none are both of those, and some are ones I never thought I would hear.

Quote One: "Julie, we can smell your bourbon around the office." (This was the unexpected one. But, except for the fact that I probably broke some sort of rule, my coworkers greatly appreciated the bourbon's purpose and put up with having the leftovers.

I made Buttermilk Bourbon Chocolate Cake. We ate it at our New Year's Eve dinner party and everyone loved it, so I thought that I would recreate it for a surprise birthday party today. Everyone loved it again. (I also used some high-quality cocoa powder in it - thanks, Debbie!)
My suggestions for her recipe - it was really rich when we ate it on New Year's, so I tried to tone it down. I split the batter into three cake pans rather than two so that the two layers of cake were a little thinner. I think that was a definite improvement. My filling was also definitely not as thick as it is in her picture, so that could be my substitutions... but I used neufchatel cheese instead of cream cheese (I think that makes it healthy, right?) and it tasted splendid. I also used a cheap bottle of bourbon, making my first trip into a state liquor store ever! Other comment - I had a lot of filling and icing left over, so I wouldn't make as much next time. It's tasty and we've been dipping our graham crackers in it, but there's a lot. (With the third layer of cake, I spoon some of the "filling" on top as a topping.) I think this is kind of like a chocolate-bourbon Boston Cream Pie. Like Texas Sheet Cake with bourbon-chocolate pudding in the middle. Like an empty long-course pool in the middle of summer. Oh, oops. My metaphors switched into my happy places there.

It is more fun to talk with someone who doesn't use long, difficult words but rather short, easy words like "What about lunch?"
-- Winnie the Pooh

Food has been an integral part of my life. I eat it to stay alive, literally. I also bake when I'm stressed (I seem to remember plates of cookies baked at 11:00pm the night before the team went to the Conference meet...) and now I'm going to learn how to decorate because that's what people do. Make things that look pretty. Especially when you already don't follow the recipe and things don't a) always turn out or b) can't be recreated. Look at our other New Year's dessert: Times Square Cake-ball (okay, you caught me - donut holes) cupcakes!

And I suppose I should include something beyond food because that is not the only part of my life worth talking about. It might be the only part worth drooling over, though.
1) I graduated! This may come as a surprise to many of you, because I apparently didn't tell anyone, seeing as how my grandmother recently called to tell me that she found out I had graduated and was working full time - but yes, it's true. Currently, I'm working full time with the same team that I worked with as a grad student: teaching a course on child development, researching evidence-based practices in education, drinking at bachelorette parties, maybe teaching preschool for a few weeks - but I digress. (Piqued your interest, though, didn't I?)
I'm breaking from the research world to enter back into teaching this fall. Between the amount that I regretted not trying it and the comfort that I have coaching swimming for high schoolers, I feel completely affirmed in my decision. I'm willing to fail in my attempts to be perfect or have it all sorted out, but I want to try it. I'll be applying for jobs starting in the fall, wanting to teach high school math or English. I want to teach at a project-based school, because they fit my personal teaching/ curriculum agenda perfectly and I think they'd be a great support. That's about all I know. Got somewhere exciting for me to live? Feel free to fight over me.

"Our business in life is not to succeed, but to continue to fail in good spirits." - Robert Louis Stevenson

2) I bought a new car, and it makes me smile. It's a Honda Fit. (Yes, insert your joke here. "That fits you," they all say, either because I am fit myself (if I do say so myself) or because it's a perfect fit. I've seen plenty of personalized license plates on fits that make me smile. (e.g. 'fitty' or 'perfct'.) Also, I am currently driving with non-expired tags. That's been nice too, now that I know you have to replace those little stickers with dates on them. At least the title is actually in my name, rather than waiting six months to find out that I didn't actually do all the steps.

i have good news and bad news.

Do you want the good news first or the bad news first?

Oh wait, it doesn't really matter what you think for two reasons: 

1. this is my blog, and it happens to be extremely one-directional and also me-centered, which means the bad news will always come first. I like getting it over with.
2. The good news and bad news are one and the same in this case. Guess what I found out can be made in a toaster oven?

Toasted marshmallows! Melted chocolate (and peanut butter) chips! I don't know why I never thought of it! (Yes, I do. It's because I have never owned a toaster oven before, and I am smart enough to realize you can't toast marshmallows in a regular toaster unless it somehow has an open flame.)


I have been cooking up many delicious recipes - mostly from my Almost Meatless cookbook. Barley-stuffed butternut squash. Albondigas (Spanish meatballs). Turkey and pinto bean corn bread pie. Stir fry. Sour cream pancakes. Up next? Eggplant. I love winter vegetables!


I've been listening to Timothy Keller's Ministries of Mercy. It's been really good so far, about how we cannot simply have a church based on verbal interactions and theology. Books are just a bunch of scribbles that we apply meaning to (Richard Foster, A Celebration of Disciplines) and it's actions that truly reveal love. Actions are pretty hard when you're faking love,  however, and that only gets you so far, which is to say, not very far at all, so I'm not suggesting that we only build our actions as a sign of love, which is something I often find myself doing. They should be an outpouring of love: like when something so good happens to you that you know there's not a chance you could keep a secret and you're going to blow like a teapot if it doesn't come out of you. (I think that also could be used to describe a couple flu symptoms. Use whichever metaphor you prefer.)


Timothy Keller says in Ministries of Mercy that alienation occurs when an object is separated from its purpose. Our purpose is to glorify and worship the Creator God. We are forever alienating ourselves by worshiping things other than the Creator God, by being slaves to sin and running away from every intention to glorify Him. We alienate ourselves. "It's like - how much more black could this be? And the answer is none. None more black." (Thank you, This is Spinal Tap).

But we are a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a redeemable people - but it is only through the will(s) of God.

If Jesus' subsistence, His food, was to do the will of the Father, how much more should we be emulating that? How much more should we realize that we are incapable of doing so ourselves? How much more do we see the necessity of Christ and of God's desire for us to be saved and God's will to have His creation glorify Him?
Much more. How much more glorifying could this be?

The answer is none. None more glorifying.

a lot of what's, but not in the tone that means 'huh' or 'are you serious?' Because I am most definitely smiling.

What I've been decorating:

Pumpkins and scarecrow cupcakes! (Scarecrow is not pictured here, don't worry.)

What I've been cooking:
Dark chocolate, Walnut, & Golden Raisin Cookies
Tuscan-Baked Chicken and Beans
Brie, Apple, & Arugula Quesadilla
Fall Vegetable Curry
and a ginger-pear-pomegranate crisp/ crumble that I won't bother posting the recipe for, because I don't think I followed any single step to make. I loved it, so if you ever see a recipe for one, it's worth trying. Add some other fall spices too, and it still tastes good.

What I've been running:
Finished the Columbus Marathon (that's number two for me), and still like running!

What I've been thinking: 

I finally watched the documentary Babies. I am struck by the cultural differences between the babies in the film. As an American, I think we are quick to assume that we have the right idea and that we have the only right idea. I watch the mother of the African baby wipe her baby on her leg and then clean her leg with a cornhusk. Immediately, we shudder and comment on the grossness and lack of hygiene. But what really determines the best option? Is our diaper plan the best because we are used to it, or is our diaper plan the best for all standards? Okay, I think hygiene might be on our side in this debate - unless you recall that too much hand sanitizer doesn't allow children to build up their immune systems and that is one explanation for the increased amount of allergies. But diapers add to landfills, plastics production, and more. How can we expect other countries to adopt our ways to deal with infant waste? 

I think this is analogous to a lot of educational reform issues (did I mention I also recently saw the documentary Waiting for 'Superman'?). Education-people tend to approach educational psychology and pedagogy with the same outlook that they learned through their educational experience. (Similar also to the cyclicality of physical abuse – parents who were abused are more likely to abuse their children than non-abused parents.) It’s not that the errors of our ways are ignored, but that we are more accepting of mistakes or errors in ways that are the norm or that we are used to. We think that our form of education is the best because it’s what helped those who plan the future of education succeed. We think that our childrearing ways are the best, because they are what we are used to. It is difficult for us to accept foreign ideas because we have preconceived notions that generally reflect our upbringing or experience: future experience is based off past experience. If you want to learn more about different styles of learning (but only if you want to), feel free to look at the blog of my cognition class: hooligangrads.blogspot.com or ask me to send you my critical reflection on Waiting for 'Superman'. Bottom line? Guggenheim (the producer/ director) doesn't have the answer either. He is simply, like the rest of us, still waiting for a Superman.

A Teaser!

Click here to view these pictures larger

Hey, so that's kind of cool, Shutterfly! That's not what I was picturing the 4 pictures doing... endlessly rotating through a 4 second slideshow... but I sorted a few out for you.

Yes, Bakes, I am lifting very heavy rocks. Truth be told... they didn't trust me with any heavy construction work. Most of the time, they had me lifting pebbles or cleaning up broken bricks or something demeaning. (Just kidding, it wasn't demeaning.) I am a bit awful at shoveling, it turns out. We had a system of 5 of us rotating through positions to hoist buckets of sand to the top of/ other side of a wall, and when it was supposed to be my turn to shovel... the rotation changed so that I did another position twice. And then later, they let me shovel because "It's good to have different tempos because then we get some rest." (Although, if I am being honest, not only was I slow but I kept injuring those around me. So the slow tempo- shoveler (myself) was only used when the person holding the buckets was very patient, forgiving, and had strong finger bones.)


Picture 2: The roads on a normal day. There were much worse days than this. 


Picture 3: Playing juegos (games, not the Spanish word for Legos) with the children. You can see the top of my head in the bottom left. I'm intensely focused on the UNO game.


Picture 4: What trip would be complete without the required OHIO photos? 

This is going to turn into a long post because I have a post waiting from a few months ago when I baked some chocolate chip cookies using a new recipe. Verdict? No better or worse than other recipes.

I promised a friend a surprise package - and I don't know what to put in surprise packages other than cookies. So I thought I'd make chocolate chip, because, let's be honest - what other options are there? I decided to test a new recipe from my grandmother. The handwriting down the side of the recipe is the recipe - doubled. That's a great sign. And, to give these cookies a fair test, I wanted to do it without substitutions. Guess how long that lasted?

If you guessed not long, you... are right.

Adapted from: Kitchen to Kitchen, Bev's Chocolate Chip Cookies

1. Sift dry ingredients in a bowl.

3/4 c rolled oats (Recipe says to grind in a food processor, but that was a dish I didn't want to wash.)

1 c whole-wheat flour

1/2 t baking soda

1/2 t salt

In an electric mixer, beat 1/4 cup softened butter until fluffy. (I used 5 t instead of 4 because that was the amount left on the stick. But feel that this substitution equals out the over-measured whole wheat flour.)

Add to the butter:

1/4 canola oil

1/3 c sugar

1/3 c brown sugar (Not quite there. I'll just add a little more vanilla. And vanilla syrup. And they will be sweet.)

1 large egg

1 "heaping" teaspoon vanilla (plus 1 T vanilla syrup)

While the mixer is running, add dry ingredients until mixed well.

Stir in 1 c chocolate chips. (Not even sure how to measure what I did.)

My chocolate chips spent too long in the car. And I don't want to run to the store. I tried peeling them apart - messy. But I washed my hands!

Or was that after?

And then I gave up and wanted to melt the chocolate chips and just stir them in to get what I think was about a cup. But I ran into a problem. See, unlike my unnatural fear of dried beans, I have a completely natural fear of melting chocolate. I have almost never done it correctly, regardless of melting method and how closely I actually follow instructions. Julie is trying to melt chocolate? Then it's almost guaranteed it will go from solid to burned. In 15 seconds.

Yep, curse: still on. Bye-bye, chocolate chips. The batter looks okay enough, I guess.

Bake the cookies at 350 for 8-10 minutes, until cookies are firm and golden on top. If you can make 2 1/2 dozen out of this, apparently it hovers around 100 calories. Good luck with that - it's like cooking dessert from Cooking Light: one serving size = approximately one bite. I made about 16 cookies out of this; could've made 20, maybe.

They had a little heartier flavor than the typical chocolate chips. Nothing I'd rave about more than I rave about my other chocolate chip cookie recipes. Got any good ones you would share?

If people never did anything silly, nothing intelligent would ever get done. - ludwig wittgenstein

I really like Joy the Baker (www.joythebaker.com) for two main reasons:
1. Pretty much everything she makes gets starred in my google reader. (Starred means "I want to try this.")
2. She wears a headlamp to read in bed. And she admitted it on her blog. One of my pastors also admitted to wearing a headlamp, and I think it is one of the best ideas and misused products out there.

That said, these chocolate chip cookie dough balls have been starred since June 29. I made them yesterday - kind of.

I tried to make them yesterday.

Please, oh college athlete in me, recall the annoying adages about "do or do not, there is no try."

I restate: I tried to make them yesterday.

This was some of the most delicious cookie dough that I've ever tasted. Greek yogurt instead of eggs equals pure deliciousness. But I think I used too much yogurt, or too little flour, because these balls sprawled on the pan like they were ready to get a nice little tan and cookie-skin-cancer in the oven. I had assumed that the balls would be firm like the peanut butter part of Buckeyes, but these were not. I then assumed that cookie dough freezes into a peanut-butter-part-of-the-Buckeye-consistency, but, alas, it does not. Note to self: the single serving size of Greek yogurt should be measured to see if it is more the 2/3 cup. Next note to self: Flour should actually be measured with the knife evening out the top rather than assuming the little mound on the top adds a quarter cup.

Delicious.

I let them freeze overnight, as per directions, and then the next morning began my task of melting chocolate and dipping it in. I believe I've mentioned my ineptitude at melting chocolate. To be honest, my ability is not simply inept, it is more antagonistic: melted chocolate is my cooking enemy. The last time I made Buckeyes, I went through three bags of chocolate chips, began crying, and told my housemates that we would no longer have Buckeyes at the wedding shower and instead would have peanut butter balls. Yes, that was my senior year of college. Why do you ask? A housemate bought a bag of chocolate chips and melted them for me. It worked.

So instead of melting chocolate, I used Nestle's pre-melted baking chocolate packets! Super good idea! Oh, except that they were unsweetened. Okay, let's add some powdered sugar! Super good idea - er, good idea? Oops, too thick. Add another packet of chocolate. Good idea - er, this is (no exaggeration) beginning to look like burned chocolate. How is it possible that I can burn pre-melted chocolate simply by stirring in powdered sugar? (The college athlete in me says, "If you can dream it, you can achieve it!")

Then I tried to dip some cookie dough balls in the chocolate-powdered sugar mix. Didn't work. Idea! I spread some of it on top of the ball. That lasted for about three balls. And then they went back to the freezer.



In other news... I have a freezer full of cookie dough that can't be baked. But they are frozen enough to be stab-able now, so I've been using lollipop sticks to pick them up off the cookie sheet.



Creativity. It's just not as appreciated in the kitchen.

p.s. We have some decorations in our house! And a couch! Come visit!
p.p.s. I leave for Peru on Saturday!

be jubilee!

I moved! Yay! This was Kristi's birthday present to me, and it's hanging in our stairwell at the moment. Tomorrow's plan? A Wii party. We have no furniture in the downstairs - well, there's one bookcase - but that leaves plenty of room to canoe without smacking anyone or anything. Come visit! If you continue reading this post... you'll see that's a definite plus for me.

I also bought new rain shoes in Texas that are super-dute cute (but I can stand it). Last year, it was pink heels (which I still wear) and this year, it was blue plaid rain shoes. Much more grown up than my pink rain boots, and much easier to carry around if I need to bring a second pair of shoes with me, like when I'm pretending to be old.

Peru update - fundraising has gone splendidly. Thank you all for helping me out and praying for me and my team. I'll remind you before I leave (August 28) but all looks well. They increased our expected trip cost by $200, but you guys covered above what I asked and thus my savings will cover the increased cost. Thank you, thank you! On August 15 at 1:00, Veritas (my church) is having a Missions Lunch - I'll be giving a little 5 minute talk about my upcoming trip and a few other missionaries at Veritas will be talking too. This serves as your official invitation. No, I won't make you eat guinea pig.

I made this: Pesto Meatballs and Orzo Recipes - Pasta Main Dish Recipes - Meatball Recipes and it was tasty. I haven't made anything else spectacular in a while. I am craving some intricately-decorated something though. I'll let you know what I come up with.

Lastly, the reason that I just want to wrap myself up in protective gear/ bubble wrap/ why my 9-months-pregnant friend pitied me and suggested that I get a day to just recuperate... I have had a week of minor injuries. All of them fun to talk about, and none of them terribly painful (until today's.)
1. Last Thursday - I got stung by a bee. Or a horsefly. The last time that happened, Molly took me home from Kristi's soccer game - which means I was probably less than seven.
2. A week ago Friday - I walked to DQ for a Nerds blizzard (Calah, I thought of you) without socks. My shoes have over 500 miles on them - they should be broken in, right? No. The walk ended with a blister and me bleeding through my shoe. But the Nerds Blizzard made it home.
3. Later that day - I stepped on a teeny-tiny piece of glass. It came out, but I had to hop on one foot out of the crawl space, up the stairs, through the kitchen, and into the bathroom so that I didn't drip blood on the white carpet.
4. Today: I promised (emphatically) that I would catch my little swimmers' heads as they swam backstroke.
"DO NOT turn around," I said. "I will get your head if your head is going to hit the wall."
Swimmers 1 and 2: turn around about halfway down the pool.
Me: "What are you doing? I said not to turn around!"
Swimmers 1 and 2: giggle giggle. Oh, hey! Look at Swimmer 3!
Swimmer 3, in a dramatic change of events, is SPRINTING across the pool, head-first, aimed right at the wall with no shot of having an arm hit first, about three giant steps from me. I then SPRINT two of the three giant steps - slip on step 3, wonder in the air if I'm going to need mouth-to-mouth, land somehow on the corner of the pool, with my leg on something painful (the corner of the pool, I'm guessing), one hand blocking Swimmer 3's head from hitting (successfully, I might add) and my other arm sprawled on the other wall of the pool. If it hadn't been the corner, I would've been in the pool. 
I'm pretty sure I bruised my shin bone. The actual bone. Swimmers 1 and 2 immediately said "that's why WE turned around!" to which I grimaced a smile out and pretended not to care that my leg was stunned. It hurts to walk on it... but the swelling went down after I iced it. It currently has about a 6-inch red bruise line running the length of my shin, accompanied by small swelling (just iced) and hopefully, a deep blue bruise as of tomorrow. As much as it hurts, it would hurt me much more inside if it were this painful and showed no outward signs of it.
I don't think that will be too much of an issue.

The Spy Bar

I went to a spy bar (called The Safe House) in Milwaukee this weekend - it was quite amazing. The escape route/ secret exit was closed, and I've heard that's one of the best things about it, but I would say it was still worth it. There are no advertisements or signs for the bar, and to enter, you either have to know the password or do some silly task (usually involving a hula hoop or the can-can) for the bookshelf to open up and let you in. Once inside, there are televisions monitoring the entrance room so that you can see what people have to do. There are a lot of spy-things (decor, jails, ejection seats, one-way windows) inside. It was great.

As was Milwaukee- I was there visiting Cara and Nate. First thing on the docket? Eclipse. (For me and Cara, anyway. Not Nate.) It was great - the wolves actually looked scary, not like the little arctic pups they appeared to be in the second movie... only complaint was that one character (who has been in all three films) suddenly generated a Southern accent after reminiscing about his past. Oops. Maybe the directors should have thought of that before filming the first two movies? Or at least before starting to film this one?

From all of this, I managed to take one picture - of funfetti brownies: a birthday cake for Cara and I! (Our birthdays are a week apart.) And then I didn't want Nate to feel left out, and immediately forgot how old he really is (24) so I added an "& 5". Luckily, going one year older means that I just pretended it was a birthday cake for his birthday... coming up in March?

Oh well. I'll let you know if I attempt to create any other fancy treats, but I might be all sweeted out from those brownies right now. And the free cookie on the plane. Here are my next recipes I want to try:

Summer squash pizza

Portobello, Broccoli, and red pepper melts

Spinach Mascarpone Pasta

And... just so you know that I am still the Julie you all know and love (yes, I am wearing mismatched pajamas right now... but I was actually talking about sweets): Chocolate chip cookie dough balls

I'll let you know what is going on - I think I'm going to have a lot of life updates in the next few weeks. And my Peru fundraising is going really well! Thanks everybody!!! Please remember to pray for me and my team, especially once we're down there. Our plane tickets were supposedly purchased on Friday.

such 'citing things!

Gah, a couple updates.
1. Guess where I was?

Denver!
2. Guess what I won in Denver?

An honorable mention for my lovely poster! (See it? It;s the little paper tacked to the corner.) That's me, next to my poster. We had fun in Denver that's not photographed here, including mostly restaurants and some really fun runs in the sunrise because 5:30 in Denver felt so late! I was at a conference for Society for Prevention Research (actually, my honorable mention won me a year membership) and we talked a lot about preventing things.

3. Guess what I've been cooking?

Some yummy chocolate chip cookies for Stephen for suggesting a good label name for my creeper stories (although they're temporarily on hiatus since it's warm enough to bike again.)

And I had a nice attempt at making cereal. It kind of worked, except the liquid didn't spread all the way out, so there are some cereal-pieces and then some burnt-oat pieces... But I liked it. And I'm going to try again. Now, can someone tell me why More with Less doesn't explain how to add in extremely condensed marshmallow charms?

4. Guess where I'm going this summer? Everywhere. I will update more later!

(New recipes) by (activities) and (thoughts) over (rusted pipes)

Supposedly, I just shared my spring break photo album on blogger. We'll see if that actually happens after I type this post. I led a group of 6 undergrads around Columbus and we served with different organizations every day, tried new desserts, and I learned that cows can have runny noses.

I tried a new recipe called baked oatmeal - you bake it in a pan and it has an "oat-cake" consistency but it can be eaten like pancakes, with fruit, syrup, etc. Loved it! I also made tasty sour cream pound cakes but without pictures, I feel like I have no proof! Maybe I'll make them in my mini bundt cake pans...

Summing up school (in this case, just teaching Child Development): Can I say (and will anyone be surprised?) I forgot how much I enjoy sitting in front of a group of people who have to listen to me. It's like I'm sitting in front of 120 people who not only have to listen, but can't really respond. (Obviously, that's a bit of an exaggeration and I hope it's more active than that, but they still get to hear all my stories.) I found out I'll be presenting a paper at the Society for Prevention Research in Denver this June - once I know something about what I'm presenting and how the politics will all play out, I'll let you all in on the delectable piece of knowledge.

New activities! Remember my New Year's resolution to learn something new? How about soccer? Rock climbing (not really new, but a re-start.)? Catching a Frisbee under my leg? That was my previous week. I scored a goal - when the goalie was actually guarding, no less - and I enjoyed it, "retro" shoes and all. I rock-climbed a 2+ without failing, except for the safety portion... Minor setback. Catching the Frisbee under my leg was not my greatest success story, as my strategy was to just pick up a leg (any leg) and simply try to catch the frisbee, whether my hand was behind my leg, on the other side of my body, or waving above my head. One piece at a time.

Let me sum up power steering for you: You. Want. It.
Let me sum up repair on the power-steering-fluid-pipe-thing: You don't want to have to repair it.


Lastly, I want to sum up a little about my thoughts on Easter this year. Last year, I was not a happy camper at Easter - and I remember pitiful-ole-Julie whining to God, "Why meeee?? What a hoooorrible weekend!" (In the same tone that a little towhead once whined about not getting chocolate for Easter.)
Then, realizing that as glorious as Easter is, the first Easter was a much more horrible weekend. Why?
Because the people that were convinced that Jesus was the Messiah had just watched Him die. They completely lost their hope. You know the despair.com namesake demotivator? It's a picture of a sunset with the phrase, "It's always darkest just before it's pitch black." That's what the disciples were going through. On Thursday, they watched Jesus get arrested. Pretty bleak. But maybe,  if He's really God - they'd say - he'll save himself! On Friday, they see Him die and get taken down to a tomb. Er - more black. Could this get any worse?
Short answer: Yes. Long answer: YEEEESSSS.
Saturday was the Sabbath day for the Jews - which meant they weren't permitted to work or distract themselves with any activity, including cooking. They went to the temple and would have had to worship their God, knowing that the man they thought was their Savior had died. And from sunup to sundown, they would have been able to do virtually nothing but think. Now that's black. And Sunday morning rolls around, even blacker. The beliefs were that the spirit left a dead body after three days. Sunday was the third day - there was absolutely no hope left. No god could do anything now - Jesus was really dead. What a suck-y weekend.

What a great God, who, as we know by now, did rise on the third day.

What a way to make someone feel bad for whining.

With such a great few previous weeks, I found myself wishing that I were in want and could understand more about the significance of Easter weekend and the spirit of waiting and leaning on God.

In summary - "He is not here, for He has risen!" - Matthew 28:6a

Cooking with Julie! a.k.a. who really follows recipes anyway?

This is what I made today. With a number of variations. I'm sharing my recipe and the original, entitling this post "Cooking With Julie" because I've recently had a number of people act very interested when I tell them I "cook." I have to clarify which definition I'm using. That's what the quotes mean.

a. Cook, v., as in "create a food dish that is enjoyable to eat."

b. Cook, v., as in "fumbles ingredients into something swallowable." 

I'm normally b. This butternut squash - mushroom (kind of, see edits) - barley risotto might actually belong in the (a) category. And I altered a number of things (see my attention levels) and it was still tasty and delicious. 

Ingredients

• 3  cups  (1/2-inch) cubed peeled butternut squash (about 1 1/2 pounds) When I need to cut butternut squash, I usually put it in the oven for about 10 minutes because the skin softens a little bit. I just used a butternut squash. No measurements.
• 3  tablespoons  olive oil, divided
• 3/4  teaspoon  kosher salt, divided
• 2  cups  thinly sliced shiitake mushroom caps (about 1/2 pound) Don't really like mushrooms... but I put some in anyway. Probably the equivalent of 1 oz. (But it worked out for me.)
• 1/3  cup  finely chopped red onion
• 1  cup  uncooked pearl barley Hmm, yeah, I don't know if I used pearl barley. I used a Quaker box that says "Medium barley."
• 2  garlic cloves, chopped
• 2/3  cup  white wine  Did you know wine goes bad after you open it? I thought it just kept getting better. This is a long way for me to say "I used water instead of wine." (Go ahead, insert religious miracle joke here.)
• 3 1/2  cups  organic vegetable broth Hey, actually did this one!
• 1/4  teaspoon  black pepper
• 4  ounces  Taleggio cheese, diced So, the cheese connoisseur at Meijer didn't know what this was. And I didn't remember that it suggests Brie if you can't find Taleggio. So I shredded some smoked Gouda cheese. Good choice. 
• 2  tablespoons  fresh thyme leaves Need I even say whether I really included this or not?

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 450°.

2. Combine squash, 1 tablespoon oil, and 1/4 teaspoon salt; toss well to coat. Arrange squash mixture in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake at 450° for 25 minutes, stirring once.

3. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms; sauté 5 minutes or until browned (or until they burn and stick to the bottom of the pan about 30 seconds later. Burn #1), stirring occasionally. Transfer mushroom mixture to a bowl; keep warm.

4. Heat remaining 1 tablespoon oil in pan. Add onion; saute 4 minutes or until tender (or until they, too, burn and stick to the bottom of the pan some time later. Burn #2 - but apparently, burnt onions are a good thing!), stirring occasionally. Add barley and garlic; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add wine; bring to a boil. Cook 3 minutes or until liquid is nearly absorbed. Add broth, remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, and pepper; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 30 minutes or until barley is tender and liquid is nearly absorbed. Remove from heat (Burn #3 - a finger); add cheese, stirring until cheese melts. Stir in squash, mushrooms, and thyme. Serve immediately.

Go out and make someone's day today (or tomorrow, depending on when you read this.) Psychologists have found that meaningful conversations mean more than small talk - start a meaningful conversation! Somewhere, I read an article that says people respond better when physically touched - students in school who receive physical contact from the teacher (i.e., a tap on the arm) are more likely to answer questions in class. Plus, people are happier when they hold hands... but I can't find the real source right now. Sorry! But look on the bright side - I just summarized some reading for you!