Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
What am I sappy dog blogging?
October 5, 2018What am I up to?
October 3, 2018Or, to what am I up?
Today is my birthday – many of my friends also have birthdays this week. To help us all celebrate, I baked up, with the help of my lovely assistant, HMS Defiant, The Best Cookies in the World – or, Chocolate, chocolate, chocolate, cherry, oatmeal cookies. And they really are TBCITW
Here is the recipe:
3/4 cup shortening
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon soda
3 cups regular, long-cooking rolled oats
1/2 cup chocolate chunks – chopped up Easter bunnies or candy bars work well
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
1 cup dried cherries
Heat the oven to 350 degrees.
Cream the shortening and sugars. When well blended, add the egg. Mix in the egg, then add the water and vanilla. Add the salt, soda and flour all together and mix. Add one cup of oats – mix. Add the chocolate chunks – mix. Add the second cup of oats – mix. Add the white chocolate chips – mix. Add the third cup of oats – mix. Add the dried cherries and mix them in.
I bake them on heavy baking pans lined with parchment paper.
I roll the cookies into big balls with my hands. The unbaked cookies are probably bigger than a golf ball, but smaller than a tennis ball.
Place them a couple of inches apart on the baking pan and bake for 15 to 18 minutes. Cool on the pan for a few minutes then place on a cooling rack.
I don’t have a problem giving out the recipe. It is based on the original Quaker Oats recipe that they have now changed.
With what am I drawing?
October 2, 2018
Originally inspired by the form and function of a sea urchin, artist Jennifer Maestre constructs unwieldy organic forms using pencils and pencil shavings that bloom like unworldly flowers. Some of her latest pieces appear to have grown tentacles and rest atop pedestals like scaley octopi. The artworks are designed to simultaneously attract the viewer but also offer a certain aesthetic defense. She shares in her artist statement:
The spines of the urchin, so dangerous yet beautiful, serve as an explicit warning against contact. The alluring texture of the spines draws the touch in spite of the possible consequences. The tension unveiled, we feel push and pull, desire and repulsion. The sections of pencils present aspects of sharp and smooth for two very different textural and aesthetic experiences. Paradox and surprise are integral in my choice of materials.
I love my colored pencils too much to use them this way – but these are fun to look at.
And it is Tuesday . . .
What’s up with the weather?
September 18, 2018We are about to experience rains from the tail end of Hurricane Florence. For those of you in the storm zone, here is a quick reference guide for hurricane categories.
It is Tuesday, so . . .
What am I noting today?
September 17, 2018
September 17th is Constitution Day. America celebrates this day to commemorate when delegates came together in Philadelphia at the Constitutional Convention in 1787 and signed the U.S. Constitution into law. However, it wasn’t until 2004 that the holiday took on the full name it bears today. In 2004, Senator Robert Byrd passed an amendment renaming the holiday “Constitution Day and Citizenship Day,” which requires public schools and institutions to provide information on the history of the country’s Constitution.
The Constitution is often called a living document since it can be amended through a governmental process. The process for amending the Constitution can be found in the Constitution itself. And it can often take time to add an amendment, a process the founders developed as an attempt to ensure the power remained with the people.
Gunsmoke and Knitting 