- Working on rule of thumb for kids trying to decide what to do with garbage, toys, etc. Here it is: Should I drop it on the ground? No. #
- http://twitpic.com/ezrzs – Wesley: "I'm gently falling down with my umbrella." #
- Day #63 of 100+ temp this year. Record is 69. 5 more 100+ days forecast this week alone. #Austin #
- Me: "Look a bird!" W looks while I steal his sandwich. W: "Don't take my sandwich. Where's the bird?" Gullibility thy name is 3 year old. #
- Lots of beautiful butterflies in central texas this time of year. I can see them from my 7th floor office window and at home too. #austin #
- http://twitpic.com/f9zbl – Living near sea world (san antonio) means W has built quite the collection of orcas of all sizes from thrift … #
- "For most men, the recommended limit [of sugar] is 9 teaspoons [per day]" http://bit.ly/sh8HO Per hour maybe I could do that, but per day? #
- A 12oz can of cola has about 40g of sugar. That works out to about 9.6 teaspoons. I'd like a large soda and supersize my insulin please. #
- I hate giving Red his favorite treats. He walks around whining because he can't find the "prefect" spot to eat them. Stresses us all out. #
- Video of Jillian Bowling http://flic.kr/p/6T6o74 #
- Video of Wesley Bowling http://flic.kr/p/6TatuS #
- Wesley in 3d roller coaster ride http://flic.kr/p/6T6L4M #
- Video Amber & Becca play DDR http://flic.kr/p/6Tb9iL #
- Let it rain. Finally rain in Austin. Lightning too. http://flic.kr/p/6T7Dy8 #
- We are quickly devolving to a single color of playdough. From the looks of it I'd say it will be neutral grey. But we'll have lots of it. #
- Because of thunderstorm the temp has dropped 24 degrees F in the last hour. 98->74. Now approx 1,000,000% more humid. #Austin #weather #
- Atheists who'll take in your pets after the Rapture http://bit.ly/k4BJo My new calling? Money up front of course. Monthly payments ok. #
- Fabulous electrical storm has been going on for a few hours. No rain. Made Red a little jumpy on our walk. Really impressive. #
- Just finished "the island of doctor moreau" & "around the world in eighty days" on librivox.org. Up next "David Copperfield" all 35hrs of it #
- almost forgot "Ivanhoe". that was before "80 days" quite good. librivox.org #
- I would love to know what this costs. Dinner in the Sky http://bit.ly/MvKWn #
Tags: twitter
Last week I ran across this very easy recipe for making butter and thought the kids would like it. I asked Wesley what he thought and he was all for it. Of course, what goes better with homemade butter than homemade bread? Nothing, that’s what. So we made bread, too.
This morning Jillian and I made the bread. We used our typical recipe to make a couple of loaves of white sandwich bread. The recipe is easy and really tasty (as you might expect at 1/4 cup of butter per loaf).
Jillian adding the butter (not the homemade stuff)
Once the bread was all mixed and kneaded Wesley and I got to work on the butter. We ended up using heavy whipping cream that had been ultra-pasteurized. Apparently there is a bit of variance about what exactly is called heavy cream vs. heavy whipping cream. What it really comes down to is that you want the highest percentage of fat you can find with as little pasteurization as possible. The more it is pasteurized (ultra) the longer you have to mix it and the less buttermilk you will have. Even still ours worked just fine.
Wesley adds 2 cups of heavy whipping cream and 1/2 tsp salt.
Wesley was in charge of the mixer. He really liked running it and made less mess than he could have, but still splattered a bit of cream around.
Fun, but a little loud (and messy)!
The cream when we first started mixing.
Aerial view of mixing in action.
After maybe five minutes or so the cream started getting thick and foamy (like you’d expect from whipping cream) and then started to break down into chunky pieces and a thin white liquid separated out. The liquid is the butter milk, which had we wanted to we could have saved.
The butter and buttermilk separating.
Once the buttermilk separates out you get to have some real fun. At this point we squished the butter together with our hands into a ball. Then put the whole bowl, butter included into the sink and ran cold water into it. We kept squishing the butter together and letting the buttermilk get washed away. Unfortunately our tap water (being summer in Texas) was kind of warm and the butter was a little soft. We added some ice cubes which seemed to help.
Squishing the butter together and rinsing off the buttermilk.
Super buttery fingers and hands and arms and shirts and ...
When we were done we’d turned the two cups of cream into about a half cup of very soft butter. We put it in the fridge to harden and wait for the bread to be done.
Our finished product.
A few hours later the bread came out of oven and had cooled enough to be cut. It was still warm and steamy and the butter was icy cold.
Our homemade bread topped with our homemade butter (and some store bought pears).
And how was it? Delicious.
Worth the effort!
Our homemade butter won’t last as long as store bought before it spoils. Of course I doubt it will last long enough to get the chance.
- re healthcare RT @donttrythis: "I also think that the word "Class" is underused in this debate, and the word "Socialism" is waay overused." #
- Can't Find a Job? Best and Worst Job Markets | Indeed.com http://bit.ly/3a8Ilv – Austin #9 getting better, Seattle #13 getting worse, DC #1 #
- The bar has been raised: Make: DIY water rockets with drop-away boosters http://bit.ly/74WhL Our single phase rockets: http://bit.ly/mD4rj #
- Reminds me a bit of S-W : Dark Carnival of the Soul: Gathering of the Juggalos 2009 http://bit.ly/6nVAM #
- Mystery Solved? Web Readers May Have ID'd Man In Seattle WIth Missing Memory – NPR http://bit.ly/nqtFb #
- from amber: 300 sunny days a year in austin. 242 more than seattle. I knew it seemed bright down here. gotexas.com (dont go texas it sucks) #
- http://twitpic.com/epvhn – We are playing hide 'n seek. I'm under a sheet in the bedroom. Shh! Don't tell Wesley. #
Tags: twitter
Baking the cake: I added blue and green to the cake to make it look like water.
This is what I stared out with.
The white cake was not level, so I cut strips of the chocolate cake to even it out.
Frosting cakes in Texas is hard, the frosting is so warm. So I gave it a crumb coating and stuck it in the fridge for 15 minutes - then I was able to frost it easily.
I did the sides first: I used brown frosting on the sides then covered it with brown colored sugar crystals and chocolate rocks. Then I frosted the top with blue, added "waves" and then blue colored sugar crystals to help the "water" look shiny.
This is how the turtle started out. I made legs, bud did not use them.
Working on the shell.
And then there is the duck part of Joshua’s design. When I was at the cake store, I found the perfect little candles. So 2 candle ducks are catching a ride on the turtle’s back while on his swim in the pond:
Top view
His head
The Ducks
Side 1
All done!
Here she is saying "TWO" and pointing to the duckies.
Happy 2nd Birthday Jillian Rose! I am so glad you loved your cake.
All of the turtle cake picture: http://flickr.com/gp/hunterji/eSc4h7
Tags: Amber, Birthday, Cake, Jillian, Turtle Cake