What-What?! Week of October 13th

This week went well -- had some bumps at work, but thankfully nothing huge.  The husband has this weekend off, which he's using to spend some one-on-one time with the older kids.  It can be difficult to find time for that, so I'm glad he has the opportunity.

Cooking: Simple Candy Apples


One of the highlights of this week was making candy apples with the kids. It was a simple project, and nice because it could be scaled down to just four apples, enough for each child to have two.

Materials

• Apples
• Candy melts
• Popsicle sticks (we used plastic knives)
• Toppings like sprinkles, nuts, chocolate chips, etc.

First, wash and dry the apples thoroughly, then insert the stick into one end.  Prepare a pan for the apples to dry on by placing some wax paper on it (butcher paper would also work well here).  Put toppings into bowls for easy dipping. Put the candy melts in a deep bowl, and melt in the microwave, stirring every 30 seconds until smooth.

Dip the apples in the candy melts, covering completely, then dip or sprinkle toppings onto apples.  Place on prepared pan and wait for the candy melts to harden.  Enjoy.
 
We did!

Food Review: Starbucks Chocolate Chai Latte

The husband and I tried this chocolate chai lattes, and were really disappointed. My husband and I agreed that they were just too sweet, which is pretty common with Starbucks, unfortunately. I liked the spiced chocolate taste, but my husband thought that it there was too much ginger. Normally I abhor ginger, but in this instance, I thought the chocolate offset the spices nicely. However, the whole thing was ruined by the sheer sweetness of the drink. Needless to say, we won't be buying them again.

(img via polyvore.com)

What-What?! Week of October 6th

After much talking and thinking, the husband and I have decided that we will be relocating to Washington state, specifically the Seattle area, sometime in the next year.  Because I continue to be unable to find fulltime work, we think it would be prudent to move on to greener pastures, as it were.  There are actually many reasons to choose that area, enough that I actually wrote an article discussing them.  Funnily enough, since writing the article, I keep stumbling into more and more information that goads us towards the Seattle area.

On another note, I am now registered for the BehavioralEconomics class at EdX; it’s being offered by the University of Toronto Extension, and will start in just over a week.

Film:  Mean Girls via Amazon.com

This week, I watched Mean Girls.  Yeah, it stars Lindsay Lohan.  No, I’m not a Lohan fan.  However, the film is entertaining, and well written.  Rachel McAdams is delightfully evil, and I appreciate the awkwardness that Lohan brings to the role of a homeschooled student thrust into conventional high school.

Books:  Super Hero Philosophy via Amazon.com

This is a pretty cool book that I’ve been reading; it’s a collection of essays that look at philosophical elements that exist in super hero media.  The first essay, which discusses the concepts of justice and mercy in the Thor comics, was a particularly interesting read, considering that I am now responsible for a class of 19 children, and I frequently find myself having to decide how much mercy to give a rule-breaker.  I tend to be on the lawful side when it comes to alignment, which in my experience tends to favor the justice side of the justice/mercy balance.  Some essays are definitely more interesting than others, both because of writing style, and because some of these topics are ones I’ve considered before.  Overall, I think it is a worthwhile read, especially since the book is currently free.  If you don't currently have a Kindle or other reader, I suggest downloading the PC or smartphone (Android?) app from Amazon, which is also free (yay for free things!)

Food:  Chicken Tetrazzini Casserole via The Pioneer Woman
Now that’s getting colder here, I’m looking forward to eating comfort foods, hot dishes, soups and stews. Thursday, my husband made a really great sausage, potato and broccoli chowder; it would have been good anyway, but what really kicked it up a notch was some Worchester sauce. It added just the right amount of umami.

Friday, we took the family to Costco for our monthly shopping trip there, and bought a rotisserie chicken for an easy dinner that night.  We had enough leftover chicken that I made this delicious tetrazzini casserole yesterday, and we’ll be eating the leftovers for dinner tonight (if you’re not cooking for a crowd, I suggest halving the recipe).  This is good, basic, comfort food.  Yum!

I’m also looking forward to more baking, as well.  I bought a 4-pound sack of chocolate chips while we were at Costco, and I’m looking forward to making chocolate chip cookies and muffins with them.