Author Archives: admin

Getting stuff done

Posted on by
Reply

Sometimes it is hard to get anything done around the house. This past few weeks have been productive. Eli has gotten to the point where he can help out. We made a set of coat hooks for short people. I replaced the old toilet seat with a nice new one. I even found a cheap one that is 100% recycled wood and made with an “eco friendly processes.” This weekend Bridgit and I moved the microwave form the counter to the pantry. It is nice having the extra counter space. Other tasks have been to fix a couple shelves in the lower kitchen cabinets, add more wine capacity in the basement, and put some grip tape on the side entry threshold.

Last night I changed the oil and rotated the tires on the Caviler and Eli got to help with the lugnuts. He sometimes needs to be told more then once not to play with tools. While I worked on the car, he worked on moving all the tools he could reach from the garage to the driveway, but when asked, he cleaned them up. Unfortunately, now I am going to have to hunt for them because most of the tools ended up in different homes.

Ski season is drawing to a close and Eli also had fun helping me with ski maintenance. He watched me apply wax and then helped scrape. He now associates any wax with skis: he saw a candle gingerbread man at my mother's house and asked to eat it. Bridgit told him that it was made of wax and he told her that he wanted to put it on my skis.

Yokohama IceGaurd IG20

Posted on by
Reply

Years ago tire manufactures came out with “all season” tires and told everyone that they now could have one tire that would do it all. The problem with that is you end up with one tire that does everything OK, but nothing well.

I have already covered why and how I got what tire as well as initial impressions here. Now we get into how they have worked out.

We have had a good snow year and it was a good idea to get winter tires. We are avoiding putting many dry miles on them to save wear. That is the one advantage of having one care with and one without snow tires. The tires have performed well.

Over MLK weekend we drove up to the UP for some skiing and family visiting. Almost 1000 miles total were traveled during the trip. Most of the trip up was clear until we got into the UP. We spent a couple hours on roads that were covered with packed snow and cruised along. The tires handled great and were in their element. About a foot of snow fell while we were in town. They didn't seem to like the brown slushy crud that develops on the roads. They had some initial slip that was easily mitigated by starting in second gear. In fresh powder and hard pack there was no problem at all.

At highway speeds with crosswinds the car got blown around a bit and the squidgy-ness of the tires made counteracting the wind wobbly. Another thing I found was that crossing the bridge being in the left (center) lanes was a bad idea. On the Mighty Mac the center lanes are metal grate and the snow tires got pushed around as they sunk into the holes. This usually isn't a deal, but was something that I had never thought about.

Also so far gas mileage hasn't been affected much. The first tank on the trip had quite a bit of warming up. One that was all traveling we got great mileage, 36.49 mpg.

It's mid Febuary now and soon it will be time to take them off. Supposedly they wear really quick above 45 degrees Fahrenheit.

Frozen Rhubarb

Posted on by
Reply

Betsy wrote, “I was wondering, what are your suggestions for using frozen rhubarb? I think frozen has some drawbacks (a bit tougher, etc), but we have a ton from this late summer.“
Click “read more” for response.My initial answer: save it for me! I LOVE rhubarb. I seem to be in good company: Nigella Lawson has several rhubarb recipes in each of her cookbooks. I have made her Rhubarb Polenta Cake (How to be a Domestic Goddess) with frozen rhubarb, and while it is not the same as using fresh, it is still pretty spectacular. Really, I have baked more with frozen rhubarb than I have with fresh. It's best not to let it thaw all the way (and if you do, be careful not to stir it too much), and don't use it in recipes where a particular constancy is important (i.e. scones). The freezing helps break down those pesky, tough cell walls, so it can actually help with the consistency of late summer stalks. Frozen rhubarb is good as long as you aren't too attached to it being pretty, and it definitely won't be pink!

As for what to do with it? Try stewing 4 c. rhubarb tossed with a blend of about 1/2 c. sugar (1/3 c. honey) and 1 T. corn starch and a fair shake of cinnamon*** in the oven on 350 or so for 30-45 min (the perfect thing to do if you're also baking dinner), or on the stovetop on a med-low setting. This is delicious with a scoop of ice cream or some granola and yogurt. You could even do an oatmeal-crumb topping. For more of a custard add an egg or 2 to the above recipe and replace the corn starch with double the amount of flour. Whatever you make, do try adding a pinch of cardamom: it is SO divine with rhubarb. A little vanilla wouldn't hurt either.

Thanks for the question; I'm going to have to dig through my freezer and see if I have any rhubarb left and conjure up something reat.. But really, Betsy, do save some for me. Pleeeease!

*** Cinnamon has an amazing ability to combat tartness, thereby reducing the amount of sweetener needed. Great to keep in mind when dealing with rhubarb or cranberries.

Yes we can.

Posted on by
Reply

We are so excited today. It is time for a new direction and this country will be so much better off. We lit a candle at church for our new president recently and our thoughts and prayers are with President Obama (it feels so good to say, type, and even think that), his family, and his staff.

Tonight we had an Inauguration party. People came over and we watched the days events. As we made the cake I talked with Eli about what was going on. I explained that the president is in charge of the county like Mama and Papa are in charge of our family. I told him that the current President didn't make good choices and that we are going to have a party to tell the new President “good job!” Eli told me that Obama was going to drive over in a car (toddlers are so precise some times) and have cake. He was bummed when I told him that Obama wasn't going to come over. We did make a cool Obama cake though

BTW, the cake is a chocolate cake from the Fannie Farmer Baking Book, with cream cheese frosting.

Seeing President Obama speak and the millions of people who came to see and support him really help make me think that there is hope for our country. The benediction was amazing. It was reverent, but also humorous.
“we ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get in back, when brown can stick around … when yellow will be mellow … when the red man can get ahead, man; and when white will embrace what is right. That all those who do justice and love mercy say Amen.”

Amen indeed. God Bless America.

Leftover cookies

Posted on by
Reply
Food

No, this is not about what to do with too many holiday cookies. These cookies are made with leftovers. Yes, cookies made from leftovers. Friday night I finally remembered to plan ahead and put together the batter for yeast waffles. Saturday morning I realized we didn't have any syrup, and I didn't feel like making any, so I opened a can of crushed pineapple. We didn't use all the pineapple on our waffles, so I started to think of how to use the rest. Yes, it's delicious in smoothies, but 'tis the season to bake cookies so I pulled out a great Fannie Farmer recipe for Pineapple Cookies. Alas, I only had 1/2 cup of pineapple, not the requisite 1 cup. Bummer. Or not. There has been a jar of cooked cranberries (the beginning of cranberry sauce) in our fridge for quite some time and I needed to do something with them. So I filled out the rest of the cup with the cranberries and a little honey, altered the spices in the cookie (inspired by Dorie Greenspan) and came up with quite a delicious concoction. As the Fannie Farmer says, these cookies are “thick, soft, cakelike.”
Cranberry Cookies (approx. 40)

1 stick room temp butter
1 c loosely packed brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 t vanilla extract
1/4 t almond extract (or an additional 1/2 t of vanilla)
1 c cranberry relish
2 c flour
3/4 t baking soda
1/2 t powdered ginger
1/2 t chinese five spice
1/2 t cinnamon
1/2 c pecans or walnuts, chopped
If you really want a cranberry cookie try adding 1/2 c dried cranberries.

Preheat oven to 350, grease cookie sheets. Whisk the dry ingredients together. Cream butter and sugar. Scrape down and add egg and extracts, beat until light and fluffy. Add dry mixture to the cranberry mixture. Stir in nuts and optional dried cranberries (or maybe some chopped crystalized ginger?). Drop by spoonfuls into prepared cookie sheets, about 1 inch apart. Bake about 12 min until matte. Transfer to racks to cool.

Holiday Break Ends

Posted on by
Reply

Today is our last day of break. Bridgit and I are both blessed to have two weeks off, and we even got a snow day tagged onto the start. I have been sick since before the break started and have been hoarse for almost two weeks. I was actually out sick the day before the snow day so I have had 18 days off. Now the kids are sick and I am almost better. We have been popping hippie-o-pathic remedies, vitamin C, teas, and all sorts of things to keep us all healthier.

Break has been great, I really like Christmas more at the beginning though. Christmas time is so chaotic it is nice to get it out of the way so the rest of the break can be relaxing. We had a 5 day chunk where we were going non-stop between Christmas, visiting family and friends, and Amelia's baptism.

Its going to be hard to get up and go to work tomorrow. Can I retire yet?

Snow Tires

Posted on by
Reply

After thinking about it for a couple years we finally took the plunge this year. The All Season Tires on the Vibe are worn to the point that they are fine for summer, but weren't quite making the cut. I will put them back on and then in spring of 2010 we will get new tires and probably rims. As far as cost goes they are only a couple dollars more then regular all seasons and you spread wear out between two sets of tires. Extra costs come from getting them swapped a couple times a year which will run you $50 total a year. That price can be mitigated if you get a second set of rims and swap them yourself (which I plan to do). Most people get steel wheels, but we already have steel wheels, we will get nicer rims for the summer tires. Another way to look at it is: what is the price of your deductible and increased insurance rates from an accident? A few extra bucks for two sets starts to look nice.

After looking at the whole range of options I settled on “winter performance” tires. They have a winter compound that stays softer in colder temps and have treads to deal with ice and slush more then feet of powder. They still work better in powder then an all season tire though. Reviews are difficult because the lines change every year and who puts multiple sets of snow tires on in exactly the same conditions? I was able to get an idea from tirerack.com and some magazine/newspaper reviews. The best article I found was this one.

After looking at the range of options I had it narrowed down to a couple options and then availability decided on which of the two. I ended up getting Yokohama Ice Gaurd IG20's. I called Discount Tire and asked about price matching because I found them online for about $15 less a tire then they were advertising, and asked if I needed to bring anything in with the price and they guy said that I could do that or they could look it up online from the store. When I went in I told the guy the tire I wanted and that I saw it for this price and he just said “we can do that.” Lesson learned, I am glad I didn't pre-buy them buy them online.

I have had them for a few weeks now and am really happy. Before I went to get them I did some informal stopping distance testing with the regular tires. Our side streets were plowed, but still mostly covered in snow and ice. It was basically go 25mph and hit the brakes when I pass the tree. With the snow tires I was stopping in about 60-70% of the distance of the all seasons. I also had the old tires and 3 stores worth of groceries in the car. We got a snow day before break and about 10″ of snow. I just had to take them out. I went down the street and back with some sliding around the culdesac, but it worked out fine. On the slush and ice covered roads they worked great. At highway speeds they are a little squidgy.

We will see how they handle the rest of the winter and how many seasons they will last. I am hoping for 4 seasons, but they wear quicker then all seasons, especially on dry pavement.