Heat is Work and Work is Heat

Oh, my son.... he's four years old now and loves to talk in jibberish just for the fun of it.  Of course, it's always pieces of truth that he's heard elsewhere that he strings together to make nonsense.

Tonight, at the dinner table, to the end of a string of randomness, he adds, "heat is work and work is heat." Oh dear, I thought.  This is what happens when my son sits and watches you tube videos of physics with my physicist husband...

And so, my son and husband sat at the table singing "heat is work and work is heat"--a song that my son is still, half an hour later, singing by himself now as he finishes his dessert.  Great.  Well, at least he'll have some fundamental science down before he heads to Kindergarten in another year.  Just enough to amaze his teacher and confuse his classmates.

For those of you who would love a little physics running through your head in the form of a catchy jingle, have at it.  Hope you enjoy it as much as the men in my house. :)

(Feel free to only listen to the soundtrack here--the video is not that important, only the song... :-P   )

Something fun for our first day of snow!

Here is a little project we set out to do on this wet and snowy day....


LET IT SNOW! :D

Sleep Deprivation

Hand-in-hand with a newborn come frequent diaper changes, regular feedings, tiny cries, and, the real kicker, sleep deprivation.  With your first child, the sleep disruption comes as a shock more than anything else.  No matter how much someone tells you about it, you're still not prepared for the ever-interrupted REM sleep.  With subsequent children, you're more mentally prepared, and the focus becomes how on Earth do I cope with this loss of sleep while caring for (insert # of children here) children.

Not only is the lack of sleep difficult, but I find myself struggling with one of life's most basic functions when I'm lacking my normal slumber: social pleasantries. I just can't seem to hold regular conversation or act as a person usually would.  I keep talking when someone else is trying to get a word in.  I don't answer when someone asks a question.  I ignore people I know just because I can't think of something to say to them.  I stare into space when people are talking to me--not hearing a word their saying.

Of course, when the person finally recognizes my failure as a receptive listener or conversationalist, they bid me adieu.  During this time, I take the opportunity to profusely apologize for my lack of social skills and promptly blame it on my newborn bundle.  I'm not sure that this is always a good enough excuse, but it's my excuse nonetheless.

And so, in proving my point, I'm now finished this post.  I've said something.  I've now awkwardly ended, probably a little too soon, and now I'm off to care for a newborn between sleeping spells....

Bug Time Again!

Yesterday we had the opportunity to watch a cicada emerging from its shell.  While taking a stroll on the nearby college campus, my son excitedly told me he saw a cicada shell walking.  I turned to tell him that this, of course, couldn't be the case, when I realized that he was indeed seeing a living cicada within its shell.  It was an eerie sight--it looked very dead and yet very alive at the same time.  We took it to Daddy's office to get an explanation of what exactly what going on.  Turns out, we found this baby cicada just in time to see it breaking from its skeleton!  Here's a little photo journey of the exciting process...

Breaking Free

 My husband was very concerned that left in that position, on the bottom of the container, the cicada's wings would not properly form.  So, he helped it out onto the porch rail so it would have more space to grow...

 See the little wings it has to start!

 Watching the wings puff out and form was an amazing process.  See here as they continue to expand.

 Hard to believe that large bug came out of that SMALL shell!

 It took over an hour, but he was finally free and his color started darkening.  (I have no idea if it's a he or she, really, so don't take that comment as truth in regards to gender.)

 And that's the last I saw of it before my one year old daughter brushed him away with a stick into the grass below!  He was too camouflaged to be found thereafter.

17 months or 17 years??

My daughter is almost 17 months old, but sometimes it seems like she's 17 years old instead.  I don't know where she gets these ideas, but let me give you an example:

"Oh, hey friend!  Yep, I'm just about to do my workout. Sure, we can still talk, 

just let me get set up here..."

"Let me just put you on speaker phone so I can hear you better."

"Is it working?  Can you hear me okay?"

"Oh, yeah, this is just my morning routine--gotta get my exercise in, ya know?"

"I'll go ahead and start with the leg-lifts...."

"...Then on to the push ups....Umm, there's some guy over there totally watching me. This is weird."

"Uh, you know, I think I'm going to have to do this later..."

"Oh, no problem--we can still keep talking...go on, what were you saying?"

Because you asked for it: Homemade pie crust

I've had so many requests for my pie crust recipe that I thought it about time to blog my methods.  I've gone back and forth about posting my techniques, since, really, I am no professional.  What I do, I do because it works for me, not because there's any reason for it.  It's possible that some of the things I do are even no-nos in the baking world.  I certainly haven't had any culinary classes to know any better one way or the other.  All that I know is that my pie crust is consistently delicious; I won't be buying any pre-made crusts from the store in the near future, for sure.  So, without further ado, here it is, my recipe for a double-crust pastry!

Ingredients:
2 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp. salt
2/3 c. COLD butter
8-10 TBS cold water

1) First mix the flour and salt together.  Then, cut in the butter with a pastry blender small chunks at a time. (If you don't have one of these, two knives work just as well, it merely takes more effort!)  Continue until mixture consists of crumbs no larger than a pea.

2)  Then, add water a tablespoon at a time, tossing with fork or knife after each addition.  I do this by eye; I no longer measure the water amount.  I continue adding water until the mixture looks completely moistened (NOT WET).

3)  You should be able to form a large ball with the crumbs.  Be careful not to spend much time making the ball!  The more you play with the dough, the less delicious and flaky it will ultimately be.  If it's still too crumbly, add more water.  (But again, be careful not to add too much.)   At this point, separate the large ball into half and place one half on a piece of wax paper with a dusting of flour.

4)  Now, this step is not crucial to the crust, it is merely my way of making the process less anxiety-ridden.  It's very stressful when the crust gets stuck to things and you can't easily move it to the pan.  I have developed this method so as to keep the process as stick-free as possible.

I lay another piece of wax over the dough and roll it.  After the first couple of rolls, I pick up the piece of wax, sprinkle a little more flour, and turn it over to the other side to do the same.  This seems to prevent the dough from sticking and makes it easy for me to ultimately move it from the counter to the pan with little effort.

(If at any point, it seems like the dough is sticking to the wax, simply lift it and sprinkle a bit more flour.)

5)  When you are finished rolling out the dough, simply lift off the top layer of wax paper and then slide your hand under the bottom piece of wax paper.  Flip the dough onto the bottom of the pan.  (Sorry for the bad quality of these pictures; I was attempting to photograph the process myself which was difficult since both my hands were occupied... :) )

6)  For your second crust, simply repeat steps 3-5, though you may want to make the circle a bit larger this time.  Lay the crust on top of the filled pie.

7)  Pull off any extra dough to leave only about one inch extra around the entire pan.  Fold this under itself to create a nice clean look on the top.

8)  Next, you want to put on the finishing touches.  Beautify the edges however you'd like (pinching in one finger is my standard method, as shown here.)  Make a few cuts on the top of the pie to let steam escape (you can always get creative here in your designs....).  And then finish it off with a sprinkle of sugar for good looks and added "yum!"

And you're done!  Simply put it in the oven and follow the baking directions for the pie.  Remember to put foil on the edges of the crust to keep them from browning too soon.  (But be forewarned, sometimes this is tricky!)  You'll be glad you took the time to make homemade crust in the end...!

Goodbye, Hairy Guest

My husband and I came downstairs the other day to find that the spider had completed an egg sac.  This is something she attempted about two weeks ago, but for whatever reason she failed to do correctly.  Here's a picture of her half-built egg sac and what seems to be her eggs (the yellow liquid) on the bottom of the glass.

In some ways I was disappointed that her attempt had failed.  Finally, I thought, this made the decision of what to do with her more clear.  My husband could absolutely not keep the spider if she was about to lay another hundred replicas of herself.  She had to be taken away--far, far away.  But alas, she never completed the sac and we deduced that the yellow liquid must have been her eggs...

Yet, as I mentioned, just days ago we found she had built another sac.  This time, she completed it.  And there was no yellow liquid to be seen.  I was once again feeling comforted that her future had become more clear.

My husband, on the other hand, was not as comforted.  Over the past two weeks since her failed attempt to build a sac, my husband spent various hours building a beautiful home for her.  He found a large glass container and outfitted it with dirt, rocks, sticks, and even a bathing pool.  Why a pool you ask?  Because he had also spent a similar amount of time on the computer researching just what this spider would enjoy in her habitat. And, as he researched, he found that she was most likely a fishing spider, still under the larger category of nursery web spider.  A spider who would enjoy a nice pool.

I can't say I wasn't a little jealous--I wish he spent that much time worrying that our home was as beautiful or well-equipped for our creature comforts.  But, that's besides the point.  The point is, she was, as far as anyone could tell, comfortable in her new terrarium.  Comfortable enough, it seems, to make a second attempt at building an egg sac, and comfortable enough to succeed in that attempt.

The egg sac is amazing.  It is so beautifully round and the colors are almost speckled.  Despite my disgust at the thought of one hundred more spiders growing inside it, I am in awe at the sight of it.  Some interesting facts: the spider will not eat until the eggs have hatched (she's too busy guarding her kin), and it will take upwards of two weeks until the baby spiders come out.  And in that time, my husband was tasked with finding a new home for the soon-to-be family.

Shock.  Pain.  Acceptance.  Stages of grief... even now applicable.  My poor husband couldn't bear to see his precious pet go.

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But he is a good husband.  A sacrificing husband.  An understanding husband.  And ultimately, he loosened his grip and let go...  We took a walk to the campus lake and he let her free, by the water, a suitable habitat for such a creature.  She was a long-standing presence in our home, and so it seemed fitting to spend a moment on a farewell.  She didn't scamper quickly away as I expected.  My husband had placed her on a rock, and there she stayed.  Even as we walked away, she sat.  Still.  Perhaps wondering what to do next?  She probably had lived her whole life in our basement.  I hope the big wide world of nature wasn't too much for her.

Goodbye, our large hairy guest.  I wish you well in your new life.... far from mine.

*I made my husband pose for these pictures....just in case you wanted to know. :-P