Hannah is amazing

So my friend, Hannah, creates the cutest most adorable little creatures and is a Goddess of the Fiber Arts.

She has outdone herself and made these chickens.



I stand in awe.

Holidays

Next week is Evaluation Week which means no classes and people start going home for Winter Break. Ben is staying around until the 21st(Saturday) and so shall I. Although there is a possibility of a mid-week visit to Portland.
Tomorrow I would like to bake a pie. Yesterday I made Pumpkin Scones and Pumpkin Muffins.
Oh, also tomorrow I shall make Smoky Pumpkin Soup. It will be a wholesome day.

Also, you should REALLY book a Passion Party with me ASAP. There's only a couple weeks left to order Christmas presents(I can just mail you a catalog if you don't want to do a party) and parties are the best way to earn hostess credits and discounts so you can get your stuff for CHEAP! Plus, I will give you free things, like a full size Spice Lubricating Massage Lotion, just for hosting a party. Please email me at star.bjorge@gmail.com. Do not call, my phone is turned off due to unpaid bills. I can't get a new account, because my mom's and my account was randomly put under my name, so the debt is in my name too. Le sigh. But certainly, email me.

Winter Quarter

Tomorrow I register for classes for next quarter. If all goes as planned, my schedule will include these two:
Evolutionary Ecology
Winter and Spring quarters
Faculty: Karen Hogan ecology
Academic web site: academic.evergreen.edu/curricular/biohe/evoeco.html

Major areas of study include evolution and ecology.
Class Standing: Sophomores or above; transfer students welcome.
Note: This 12-credit program will meet from 6 to 9:45 p.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays and from 9 a.m. to 4:50 p.m. on five Saturdays each quarter (winter: Jan. 10, 24, Feb. 7, 21, Mar. 7; spring: Apr. 4, 18, May 2, 16, 30).
The year 2009 marks Darwin’s 200th birthday, and the 150th anniversary of the publication of The Origin of Species. In winter quarter, we’ll focus on Darwin’s contribution to our understanding of evolution. We will read works by and about Darwin, including The Voyage of the Beagle and The Origin of Species. We’ll also study some of the work by Darwin’s contemporaries, and learn about the scientific and cultural context of Darwin’s work. In spring quarter, we will study ecology from an evolutionary perspective. Fundamentally, this means that ecological interactions can be best understood by looking at how adaptations of the organism (form, physiology, behavior) interact with its environment (physical conditions, competition, predation, etc.) to influence the organism’s evolutionary fitness (reproductive success). We’ll investigate how the perspectives of evolutionary ecology can cast light on applied problems such as conservation biology, global change, and other issues.
Credits: 12 per quarter
Enrollment: 25

American Sign Language I
Credits: 4
CRN: 20173
Faculty: Anne Ellsworth
Days & Times: 3-5p Tue & Thu
Location: Lab II 2207
Enrollment: 30
In this course, students will learn basic finger-spelling, vocabulary, conversation sign and ASL grammar. Introduction to deaf culture includes invitations to participate in Deaf Coffee and other Deaf activities on campus and in the community.


For a total of 16 credits.
So that's
Monday: 6-9:45 pm
Tuesday: 3-5 pm
Wednesday: 6-9:45 pm
Thursday: 3-5 pm
And sometimes Saturday: 9 am-4:50 pm

Pumpkin Scones with Icing

Hannah sent me this recipe from
http://bread-and-honey.blogspot.com/2008/11/pumpkin-scones.html

Ingredients:
For the Scones
2 cups all-purpose flour
7 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
6 tablespoons cold butter
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
3 tablespoons half-and-half or milk
1 large egg
For the glaze
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
dash of nutmeg
2 tablespoons whole milk

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Lightly oil a baking sheet.
Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and spices in a large bowl. Using a pastry knife, fork, or food processor, cut butter into dry ingredients until mixture is crumbly and no chunks of butter are obvious. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, whisk together pumpkin, half and half, and egg. Fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Form the dough into a ball.

Pat out dough onto a lightly floured surface and form it into a 1-inch thick rectangle (about 9 inches long and 3 inches wide). Use a large knife or pizza cutter to slice the dough twice through the width, making three equal portions. Cut those three slices diagonally so that you have 6 triangular pieces of dough. Place on prepared baking sheet.

Bake for about 14 minutes. Scones should begin to turn light brown. Place on wire rack to cool.

To make glaze: Mix the powdered sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and 2 tbsp milk together until smooth. When scones are cool, use a brush to paint the glaze over the top of each scone.


Thank you, Hannah!

Mockingbird Hill

My mom sang to me a lot, because her mom sang to her a lot. This is one of the songs they sang/sing:



It makes me feel happy and safe. I hope it makes you feel good too.


My mom also sang me THIS song, and I never knew that it was from "Jesus Christ Superstar" until Jessie Christensen mysteriously began to sing it one day. I was stunned and asked her where it was from. Then I remembered my mom loves that musical. Oh well. I love this song too.

Pumpkin Muffins!

I made these last night and they were AMAZING. The recipe is from the Co-op monthly specials flyer.

Thanksgiving Morning Organic Pumpkin Muffins
2 1/2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
3 eggs
one 15-ounce can organic pumpkin (i substituted 1 3/4 cups pumpkin puree)
3/4 cup oil
1/2 cup raisins (i left these out)
1/2 cup walnuts (left these out too)

Cinnamon/Sugar Topping
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Sift together flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, allspice, and cloves. In a separate bowl, beat eggs until well combined. Add pumpkin and stir to combine. Add oil gradually, stirring to mix well. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix. Do not over-mix. Add raisins and walnuts, stirring just to combine.
Grease and flour or line 12 large muffin cups or 16 mini-muffin cups 3/4 full or two mini-loaf pans and sprinkle lightly with cinnamon/sugar topping (to make tops hard and crunchy). Bake 30 minutes or until tops are firm.

LOL

Found on I Can Has Cheezburger

The Mixtecs

I've been doing a research project about the Mixtec of Mexico. They are most famous for their Codices, which are books of pictographic writing that tell stories of their history.
These are the signs for the days in the Mixtec calender:

And this is the coolest pictograph I've come across so far :-)

I think I'll write more when I'm done with my project.

Baking, cooking, computers

I just made Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies and they are delightful.


In other news, Evan and I discovered that the reason it seemed like the overheating had gotten worse is because it has. My computer's fan isn't running at all, which explains a lot. So I've ordered a new one for $50 and Evan is almost certain he'll be able to install it for me. The intense heat of the computer killed my hard drive so I just had to buy a new one of those for $100 and have Evan install THAT. Also, my battery is pretty much shot, so unless I want to use my computer plugged in all the time, I'm gonna have to invest in one of those too. The heat killed that part too. Evan is pretty sure that the rest of the computer should be fine. He was saying that if it doesn't work, it generally won't turn on, there's no gradual for the rest of the parts(sort of). But he doesn't know if it's affected the life of the computer, so it might not last as long as I'd like it too. I'm still going with fixing it though, because a couple hundred bucks is a lot cheaper than a grand, which is what a new one would cost(i'm not buying some shitty PC again, I'll buy a new Mac and take better care of it for my next computer). The good news is that my new hard drive is 3 times as much memory(320 GB) so that'll be nice to have.

Other things I've baked lately:
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins but I substituted brown sugar for white, butter for the oil, did a whole cup of pumpkin(which I baked and pureed myself the other day), and heavy cream for the water. I also didn't have any cloves, so left that out, and I forgot the chocolate chips but didn't even realize it until I'd eaten two of the delicious delicious muffins.

I also made Pumpkin cookies the other day but now I can't find the recipe I used. Oh dear. The people who were at my Halloween Party will vouch for their deliciousness.

What else have I been making...? Oh! I made Chicken Tikka Masala from scratch on Tuesday night! I got the recipe from the Co-op monthly advertisement. I'll type it out so you can make this too! I'm sure it would work just fine with tofu, or just leave the "meat" out of it, and pour the sauce over rice and veggies.

To make the marinade:
Combine 1 cup of plain yogurt with juice from half a lemon, one teaspoon of fresh chopped ginger, 2 teaspoons of black pepper and one teaspoon each of ground cumin, ground cayenne pepper, cinnamon, and salt.
Place 2 pounds of boneless chicken breast or thighs, cut into one inch chunks, into a glass or metal bowl, add the marinade and refrigerate overnight.

To make the sauce:
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 medium onion, diced
1 serrano pepper, diced [i substituted some jalapeños from my garden]
2 tablespoons garlic, peeled and minced
2 tablespoons fresh ginger, peeled and minced
1 teaspoon each of garam masala [i found this at the co-op in bulk, so I'm sure you can find it wherever you live, too!], ground cumin, paprika, and coriander
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 cup tomato sauce, plain
1 cup heavy cream

In a 6 quart sauce pan [or 5 quart soup pot, in my case], heat 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil and saute the onions until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, ginger, serrano pepper, garam masala, cumin, and coriander and saute 3 minutes more. Add the tomato paste and simmer 3 minutes. Add the tomato sauce and heavy cream and simmer 15 minutes.
While the sauce simmers, in a heavy skillet over medium heat, heat 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil and saute the marinated chicken, stirring often. Add the cooked chicken pieces to the warm sauce and mix well. Serve over basmati rice.