May 31 2008
A Taste of Summer
“Watermelon–it’s a good fruit. You eat, you drink you wash your face.” -Enrico Caruso
Archive for May, 2008
May 30 2008
On Your Mark… Get Set…
Today marks the beginning of a very busy time for Richard (and consequently for me!). He is taking a graduate level course that will only last for 3 weeks (classes are on the weekends). This is in addition to multiple projects he has going for his usual graduate coursework and his day job. We are looking forward to mid-June!…and then to December! I am so impressed with and thankful for how he balances his life. He always makes time for me no matter what he has going on!
I have 5 days of school left (with children). We (students and teachers) are all climbing the walls (the children are literally). I haven’t made my plans for next week, but I know that we will not be able to have class as usual. I have tried that this week and I was fighting a losing battle! In the midst of occupying and entertaining educating my darling little first graders for 5 more days, we are completing our end of the year duties (report cards, permanent record files, writing portfolios, awards,etc.) and preparing to move our classrooms. Needless to say things have been hectic at work! On a more positive note… I was filling out paperwork today for my students’ permanent records and I had to list assessment scores from the beginning of the year, middle of the year, and end of the year. They really have come a long way. It’s hard to believe that those little babies who could hardly use a pair of scissors when they came to me in August are now writing several sentences and are reading!
I think that’s all the news we have! Happy weekend!
May 27 2008
Double-Delight Peanut Butter Cookies
A week or so ago I was in Yarn Mart and a fellow knitter brought in a container full of these cookies. They are really delicious! The recipe actually won the Pillsbury million dollar bake off contest. They are crunchy a little bit on the outside and then have creamy peanut butter in the middle… but they are still flat/thin like a regular peanut butter cookie. My mouth is watering! I am trying my hand at them tonight and I’ll let y’all know how they turn out! I’m headed for the kitchen, but if anyone else has tried the recipe, please leave a comment.
INGREDIENTS:
| 1/4 | cup Fisher® Dry Roasted Peanuts, finely chopped |
| 1/4 | cup Domino® or C&H® Granulated Sugar |
| 1/2 | teaspoon ground cinnamon |
| 1/2 | cup JIF® Creamy Peanut Butter |
| 1/2 | cup Domino® or C&H® Confectioners Powdered Sugar |
| 1 | roll (16.5 oz) Pillsbury® Create ‘n Bake® refrigerated peanut butter cookies, well chilled |
DIRECTIONS:
| 1. | Heat oven to 375°F. In small bowl, mix chopped peanuts, granulated sugar and cinnamon; set aside. |
| 2. | In another small bowl, stir peanut butter and powdered sugar until completely blended. Shape mixture into 24 (1-inch) balls. |
| 3. | Cut roll of cookie dough into 12 slices. Cut each slice in half crosswise to make 24 pieces; flatten slightly. Shape 1 cookie dough piece around 1 peanut butter ball, covering completely. Repeat with remaining dough and balls. |
| 4. | Roll each covered ball in peanut mixture; gently pat mixture completely onto balls. On ungreased large cookie sheets, place balls 2 inches apart. Spray bottom of drinking glass with CRISCO® Original No-Stick Cooking Spray; press into remaining peanut mixture. Flatten each ball to 1/2-inch thickness with bottom of glass. Sprinkle any remaining peanut mixture evenly on tops of cookies; gently press into dough. |
| 5. | Bake 7 to 12 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheets to cooling rack. Store tightly covered. |
| High Altitude (3500-6500 ft): No change. | |
May 26 2008
Memorial Day
Amidst our golfing, boating, and grilling this Memorial Day weekend, let’s all take a moment to remember and be grateful for those who have sacrificed their lives so that we can live freely in the United States.
May 25 2008
Herb Gardening
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Yesterday I got to do something I’ve been wanting to do for awhile and just haven’t taken the time to do it! That’s what long weekends are about, right? I planted an urban version of an herb garden! I’m growing cilantro, flat-leaf parsley, sweet basil, chives, mint, rosemary, and lavender. The rosemary and lavender smell absolutely divine! I read that most of these herbs like sandy soil…and I didn’t have any sand…so I’ll have to get some and add it soon. If you have any herb gardening tips, please leave them in the comments!
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Cilantro, Sweet Basil, Flat-Leaf Parsley, Chives |
Mint |
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Rosemary |
Lavender |
May 24 2008
Vote for us!
My very talented photographer friend, Summer Williams, entered a few of her photographs in an Arkansas Democrat Gazette Capture Arkansas contest. Winners will have their photographs included a book. She inspired me to enter my photographs as well. Richard and I sat and laughed at mine, but nevertheless, please go vote for our pictures!
All you have to do is go to this site, login, search for Summer Williams and Laura Hughes and vote!
Thank you!
May 23 2008
Drumroll please!
Eric Carle’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar cake
Ta da! Well, here it is! Making this cake was a little more of an undertaking than I had expected, but it was a lot of fun! Richard helped me shape the cake and get the sections from where I iced them to the cake board. The lighting in our teacher’s lounge isn’t the best, but I made 3 different colors of green icing to try to match the colors in the book. I made a plain green and then one with yellow and a third with blue.
There were two other cakes–one chocolate with chocolate covered strawberries and another two-layer chocolate cake with chocolate frosting with chocolate chips on top and Twinkies fanning out around it (to make a sunflower!). I think everyone really enjoyed seeing the cakes and eating them!