Got any...

Resolutions?

Mine:

1) Laugh about something every day.
2) Every day, tell someone that I love them -- and mean it.
3) Cook something new at least once a month (thanks, Anata, for the subscription to Cook's Illustrated -- that will figure heavily in this resolution, and you rawk for doing that!).
4) Get out of debt. And stay out.

How about you?

Eat the yucky stuff?

Yeah, you should. Because it's good for you.

And actually, if done correctly, it tastes good, too.

Eat the Yucky Stuff

As a child, Kristine Hinrichs of Milwaukee routinely choked down boiled cabbage so she would be allowed to leave the dinner table. It wasn't until Hinrichs grew up and left home that she made a startling discovery: Cabbage was nutritious -- and could be delicious.
...

Sardines

Turnoffs: Strong, fishy taste. Tiny bones. Reputation as a frugality food.

Turn-ons: High in vitamin D and loaded with omega-3 fatty acids, which protect your heart and brain. Lots of protein, calcium and selenium. Low on the marine food chain so toxins such as mercury don't accumulate. Inexpensive.

How to eat them: Avoid sardines packed in vegetable oil, which is high in pro-inflammatory omega-6 fatty acids. Try "a squeeze of lemon, toasted red chile, extra virgin olive oil and mixed green herbs over garlicky al dente whole-wheat fettuccine," said Dr. John LaPuma, a chef and the medical director for the Santa Barbara Institute for Medical Nutrition and Healthy Weight.

Cabbage

Turnoffs: When overcooked, produces the smell of rotten eggs. Too much cabbage may make you gassy.

Turn-ons: One cup of shredded, boiled cabbage has just 33 calories but has 4 filling grams of fiber. Loaded with phytochemicals, vitamins and minerals. May reduce your risk of cancer and has a protective effect on the brain. Fermented cabbage (sauerkraut and kimchi) is a non-dairy source of probiotics, or bacteria that have a health benefit.

How to eat it: Can be steamed, fried, boiled, braised or baked. Use it in corned beef and cabbage, soups and stews and cold dishes such as coleslaw, said registered dietitian Dave Grotto, a spokesman for the American Dietetic Association.

Tomatoes

Turnoffs: Contain a slimy, jellylike substance around the seeds; thin skin, grainy pulp and seeds. Sweetness and acidity can vary.

Turn-ons: Lycopene-rich (red) tomatoes can help reduce your risk for heart disease and certain cancers, including pancreatic and prostate, said LaPuma. Cooked tomatoes -- including canned tomatoes and paste, juice, soup and ketchup -- contain up to eight times more available lycopene than raw tomatoes. Excellent source of vitamins A, C and K, and a good source of potassium, fiber and other phytonutrients.

How to eat them: Eating tomatoes with fat helps the body absorb their lycopene. The whole tomato has the greatest health benefits, so get the tomato paste products with peels, said LaPuma.

Broccoli

Turnoffs: Sulfurous smell.

Turn-ons: An abundance of antioxidants makes broccoli one of the healthiest vegetables you can eat. Aside from its anti-cancer properties such as sulforaphane, broccoli is a nutritional powerhouse that contains vitamins A, C and K, as well as folate and fiber. Has antibacterial properties.

How to eat it: Use it in dips, casseroles, soups, lasagna, stir- fry and salads, suggested chef Dana Jacobi, author of 10 best- selling cookbooks.

...

Brussels sprouts

Turnoffs: Parents or grandparents cooked them into oblivion. Sulfur content gives them an unappetizing odor.

Turn-ons: Has a higher concentration of glucosinolates, a type of compound believed to have cancer-fighting properties, than any other plants in the cruciferous vegetable family.

How to eat them: Trim the sprouts then toss with olive oil, salt and crushed garlic. Roast in a 400-degree oven for about 30 minutes until tender.

It's about that time again, yanno... time to make New Year's resolutions and all that stuff. We could all stand to eat healthy once in a while, right? I know I'm not exactly the best example for this... I love pork fat, I love dark meat... heck, I love FOOD. But there's no reason that the "yucky" stuff that's good for us can't also be stuff that we love.

Hey, I made the front page of Wired!!

'Tis the Season for Camera Tossing

The first picture on that Wired article is mine!!! Woohoo!!! [happy dancing]

I've been told that I was pale, but this is ridiculous

Japanese develop see-through fish

First came see-through frogs. Now Japanese researchers have succeeded in producing goldfish whose beating hearts can be seen through translucent scales and skin.

The transparent creatures are part of efforts to reduce the need for dissections, which have become increasingly controversial, particularly in schools.

"You can see a live heart and other organs because the scales and skin have no pigments," said Yutaka Tamaru, an associate professor in the department of life science at Mie University.

I totally want one of these. I love fancy goldfish anyway; I used to keep a couple of spectacular lionhead orandas that just made me happy. I hope to keep some specimen goldfish again someday. One of these nifty little guys would make a great addition to an aquarium.

The cover, she is finished

I have been doggedly working on finishing the 2010 yearbook cover for Ballyhoo Schools (our yearbook is preK through 12th grade, not just high school), and I think I might finally have finished it. I like to include a photo of each member of the senior class, and the final idea for how to do this came to me in a dream about a week ago (this is how many of my ideas happen, for better or worse).

My yearbook staff decided on "What a trip" as the theme for the yearbook, and I had wanted to incorporate the highway/freeway theme because Interstate 35 is so central to our lives here. I photographed signs all over the area, much to the consternation of people who gave me very strange looks as I pulled over to take pictures. Honest, I tried to stay out of traffic whenever possible. The time I parked along the side of the frontage road and aimed my camera into oncoming interstate traffic, though, seemed to get the most reaction. I probably won't do that again anytime soon. I'd rather not be the cause of a major wreck.

Besides, I didn't end up using those photos, but instead chose to use the toy wooden cars as the vehicles for the cover. I thought it was much more appropriate, since these are our little kids all grown up and leaving the nest, but they're still little kids to us, et cetera.

I know, it's an unusual cover and probably doesn't look like any other yearbook cover you ever saw. Since when do I produce something expected? Boring? Staid? Sorry, that just goes against my very nature. It also goes against my nature to choose one of the "stock" yearbook covers that Jostens provides. Yuck. No, I believe in plastering every available surface with creativity and quirkiness whenever possible. My classroom is prima facie evidence of this, in that I literally cover my walls with stuff to look at. I have always done this, instinctively; some educational philosophers advocate minimalist classroom environs to decrease distraction, but for people like me, I need to have stuff to look at to help me focus. Counter-intuitive, perhaps, but true.

Now to get down to the business of actually finishing the INSIDE of the yearbook.

My portrait is done!!

Checked DSFDF today and guess what? My unknown friend is now a known one! The lady I painted is Vicki Brevell and she's from central Texas. And she painted ME! How fun is that? This was a great project. I'm glad I decided to do it, even if I'm not very good at portraiture.

Lego-Man

Isaac has completed his Lego projects that he received for Christmas... I think he pretty much worked from daylight til bedtime on them until he completed them. The airplanes are from the Raiders of the Lost Ark Lego collection, and obviously the other one's a Star Wars: Empire Strikes Back vehicle. That one's even motorized. It was for ages 14-up, but he's such a Lego-head I figured he'd be up to the challenge.

Chinese dumplings

I've done steamed dumplings for my own brood several times and had a blast doing them. Tonight I got to share them with the extended family.





Ingredients in this mega-batch: a pound each of ground turkey, ground pork and ground beef... minced garlic... chopped fresh spinach... black sesame seed... sesame oil... soy sauce... beni shoga pickled red-thread ginger... grated fresh ginger... chopped water chestnuts.

This was a particularly tasty batch. I loved the extra little bit of pungency from the double ginger commingled with the garlic and the sesame oil. They weren't overly greasy at all, since I used very lean meat in it, and the spinach added lovely color as well as nutrition and flavor.

The whole family agreed, these are GOOD EATS. Beth & Brian also now have a new skill in their culinary arsenal, and they intend to use it. Beth was already plotting some filling ideas using cilantro and jalapeno.



The one thing I wasn't hugely happy about was that I had to use a different brand of wonton skins and I didn't like them as much as the brand I usually like to buy. They had too much dusty stuff on them. I know, it's necessary to keep them separated and unstuck, but it's also kinda messy and yucky to work with. Live and learn. And eat. Because they still tasted so good, hardly anybody could quit noshing on them.

Whass happenin, hot stuff?

My sister's little punk kid, Ava, was sporting her brand-new pink boots on Christmas Day. Every little girl who grows up in Fort Worth, Texas oughta have a pair of cowboy boots. And she instinctively knew how cool they were, because as soon as she opened the box, she began trying to put them on. Girlfriend's got style and fashion sense, that's what, even at one-and-a-half years old.

Birthday #62

Okay, so we didn't have a "6" candle. So we figured you could add "2" and "4" together, right?



Happy birthday, Pop! We love you!!! And we're looking forward to enjoying sixty-two more of them with you. You're gonna beat this cancer thing.

Letting sleeping dogs do what sleeping dogs do

Mom's white Schnauzer, Tessa... My sister's Pomeranian/Something cross, Lady... and up on top, my sister's Shih Tzu, Maddox.

Piano pals

Another family holiday tradition involves music. I've been playing the piano for nearly forty years. My niece, Ava, joined me on the piano bench to assist, and together we made some beautiful music together with a few Christmas carols to serenade the rest of the family.

Aunt Bill's Brown Candy

A holiday candy-making tradition in my family is the annual concocting of Aunt Bill's Brown Candy.

Dunno who Aunt Bill was. No relation to us, as far as we know. It was just a recipe used by Mama Alice, who was my great-grandmother, and she had clipped it out of the Daily Oklahoman a zillion years ago. We've been making this stuff ever since.

Mama Alice was the mother of this sweet lady, my Grandmother:

To start with, you get a skillet and put in two cups of sugar. That's it. No water or butter or anything else. Just sugar. And you put it over heat to melt it down.

In another pot, you put in four cups of sugar and two cups of heavy cream. Don't skimp. It's candy, for heaven's sake. You *can* use whole milk or half-and-half, but why? Might as well go all the way, I say. Put that over medium heat and bring it to a boil.

The sugar will start melting right before your eyes. Do NOT walk away from it -- stir and stir and stir, otherwise it will scorch and ruin.

Almost done! This is just sugar, melted. Cool, eh? Well, okay, actually, it's pretty hot, but it's fascinating to watch it take shape anyway.

You really do need two people to make Aunt Bill's Brown Candy. Mama Alice could do it by herself, but none of us can figure out how she managed it. Once the sugar in the skillet has completely melted and the sugar-and-cream mixture is boiling, you need to add the melted sugar in. But you can't just dump it in... no! You must add it in a thin stream no larger than a knitting needle and stir the cream/sugar mixture constantly to incorporate it.

Keep stirring. Do NOT stop.

You will also need some chopped nuts for this. My sister here is chopping up some pecans. We are a pecan family. We always like to have pecans in the freezer for just such an occasion.

Keep stirring it until it reaches the Firm Ball stage on your candy thermometer. Then turn off the fire and stir in a quarter-teaspoon of soda. Stir until the soda is completely incorporated into the mixture, then add in a half cup of butter and stir that until it's fully melted in:

Now set the pan off the stove or onto another unlit burner for about twenty minutes to allow it to cool down a little. You don't want to put it into a really COLD place, though, because you will still need to be able to stir in the nuts.

Using a wooden spoon, stir it as vigorously as you can until it loses its sheen and becomes thicker and heavier. Add the vanilla at this point and stir it in.

Add in the nuts and stir it up well, then turn it out into a buttered dish to cool completely:

Now you just wait a while until it cools off and sets up.

Once it's cool, slice it into small portions (it's very, very rich and a little goes a long way -- trust me on this one). It stays nice and moist and doesn't get dried-out even if you leave it sitting on a tray with other candy.


The complete recipe:

AUNT BILL'S BROWN CANDY

6 cups of white cane sugar, divided into 2 cups and 4 cups

2 cups of heavy cream (you can use whole milk if you insist, but please splurge on the cream, k?)

1/4 teaspoon of soda

1/2 cup butter

1 teaspoon of vanilla

4 cups of broken or chopped nuts (preferably pecans, although walnuts work well too)


Pour two cups of sugar into a heavy skillet and place it over low heat to melt the sugar. Stir it continuously with a wooden spoon to prevent it from scorching. When it's melted, it should not be dark, but a nice golden color instead.

Pour the remaining four cups of sugar into a large pot along with the two cups of cream and stir it over medium heat until it is boiling.

When the sugar is completely melted, drizzle it in a thin stream (no larger in diameter than a knitting needle, please) into the cream/sugar mixture, stirring continually to incorporate it. Continue cooking until it reaches the Firm Ball stage on the candy thermometer.

Turn off the heat and stir in the soda until it's completely mixed in. Now set the pan off the stove (but not in a chilly place, please) and allow it to cool for about twenty minutes. You don't want it to have cooled so much that it's no longer stirrable. Add the vanilla and stir it in, then add in the nuts and stir it well.

Turn the mixture out into a buttered dish and spread it out. Allow it to cool completely, then slice and serve!

The Best Christmas Dinner Ever

Yep, you read that right. We had TurDucKen for Christmas dinner! This one was also stuffed with wild rice and pecans.


The turkey's skin was coated with a spicy Cajun rub.


It comes completely de-boned except for the two turkey wings. Pop did the carving of the birds after they came out of the roasting pan.


All the meat was incredibly moist and flavorful -- perfection incarnate (pun intended, thank you). My sister and I agreed that it was probably the best holiday meal we ever ate. It was just that good.


Rick loved it.



Brian & Beth loved it.


Martha loved it. Her favorite part of the meal, though? The Hatch jalapeno garlic bread. I was quite fond of that part, too... it was scrumptious.


Granddad loved it.



And Miss Alice loved it, being the meat-eater that she is. After she cleaned her plate, she asked me if she could go back and get more meat. Of course, I told her she could. My baby girl would eat meat for dessert if given the option. And I suppose that's not a bad thing.

A mystery solved?

A few days back, my husband brought this little iron doohickey in from the front porch. "What is this?" he asked me.

"I dunno. Maybe one of my students thought it was funny and left it for me. They all know how much I despise skwerls."

I have kept it by the computer in hopes I'd eventually find out whodunit. Looks like maybe my benefactor has finally broken her silence in my comments section. :) Umm, thanks... I think. The two skwerls look just exactly like the ones in that horrid insurance commercial. You know the one, where they're high-fiving each other because they just sent a car careening off into the ditch. Rotten little tree rats.

Hehehe!!

Merriest of Christmases to you all!

This is a Christmas card I made for a couple of new friends who I love with all my heart and who I hope to see again someday soon. T&E, y'all rawk!

I pray that each of you is able to shake off despair and find the joy and beauty that is all around you. There may be much to be discouraged about, but there is so much more to rejoice in... for we have a Savior, born to us this day in the City of David... a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.

I'm dreaming of a...

A White Christmas in Ballyhoo!

Life in a century-old house

We're going to have to shell out about six thousand bucks to get this thing leveled. Until then, though, we have doorway issues. Most of the time they don't pose a huge problem, but on windy snowy days like today, snow blows in under the back door.

And you wonder why I'm always cold? Why I turn my electric blanket on high at 7pm every night so it will be roasty-toasty when I get into bed? Why I have absolutely no desire to step more than two feet away from our space heater at any given time?

BRRR! Merry Christmas, y'all!

Preparations for Santa

Tonight at our house, Santa's getting some white chocolate macadamia cookies, decorated by our three punks. Here, Martha's writing "Thank You" on one of the cookies. As you can see below, Isaac decided to do her one better by writing "You Rock" on another one. Hey, anything for an edge with the Claus Man, right?

White stuff

Looks like we're going to have an extremely rare white Christmas here in north Texas this year.

No No No No No No No No No

Just received an e-mail from The Weather Channel:

...WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 6 AM TO 4 PM CST THURSDAY...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN FORT WORTH HAS ISSUED A WINTER STORM WARNING FOR SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW...WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 6 AM TO 4 PM CST THURSDAY.

A POWERFUL WINTER STORM WILL MOVE ACROSS NORTH TEXAS OVERNIGHT AND INTO THURSDAY MORNING. A STRONG COLD FRONT WILL MOVE THROUGH DURING THE OVERNIGHT HOURS WITH AREAS OF RAIN AND THUNDERSTORMS TRANSITIONING TO AREAS OF SNOW DURING THE MORNING HOURS ON THURSDAY. AREAS GENERALLY FROM EASTLAND TO MINERAL WELLS TO SHERMAN WILL HAVE THE BEST CHANCE FOR ACCUMULATING SNOWS INTO THURSDAY AFTERNOON. WHILE GROUND TEMPERATURES MAY BE AT OR ABOVE FREEZING FOR MOST OF THE DAY...STRONG NORTHWEST WINDS OF 25 TO 35 MPH WITH HIGHER GUSTS WILL RESULT IN SIGNIFICANT AREAS OF BLOWING SNOW ACROSS THE WARNING AREA. NEAR BLIZZARD CONDITIONS WITH SIGNIFICANT REDUCTION IN VISIBILITY DUE TO BLOWING SNOW WILL BE POSSIBLE ACROSS THE WARNING AREA...DESPITE THE LACK OF SIGNIFICANT ACCUMULATIONS. THIS WILL LEAD TO DANGEROUS TRAVEL CONDITIONS ACROSS PARTS OF NORTH TEXAS.

A WINTER STORM WARNING MEANS SIGNIFICANT WINTER WEATHER IS EXPECTED ACROSS THE WARNING AREA. THIS WILL MAKE TRAVEL VERY HAZARDOUS OR IMPOSSIBLE. EXTREME CAUTION IS ADVISED IF YOU MUST TRAVEL.

WTF? This is Texas, right? This does not make me happy. Although it's probably punishment for having SO enjoyed the warm balmy weather outdoors today. I shouldn't have reveled in it, should I have?

[sigh] I am just not a winter person, I suppose. Give me tropical warmth any day, and you snow people can keep your white cold death.

My favorite Nativity set

I picked up this little clay Nativity set in Port-au-Prince, Haiti a few years back. The stable is made from a coconut shell. I think that of all the Nativity sets I have, this one's my very favorite.

Jwaye Nwel, indeed! Merry Christmas to my Haitian brothers and sisters. I love you and miss you so much. M'vle we ou.