Is it just me...

or is there an owl in my butter?!

What a hoot!!

snort o.O

Weekly Randomness for November 28, 2014

News that made me stop what I was doing to look it up.

• Thankful for family, no matter how unlikely. 
• Avalon is coming - cannot wait!! (more details here)
• Strategic trickery is universal (at least not uniquely human). 

Weekly Shits n' Giggles

• Remember when this stuff was the Red Ryder BB gun of its day? 
• Better than the one I made in Girl Scouts. 
• My Pinteresting Randomness

Weekend Aims

• 14 pints of applesauce and counting. Next up: butternut squash chutney, and some more pickled beets.  
• Figure out where the mice are getting into my house. I know it's "that time of year" but we've disposed of two so far. Enough is enough!

Magnet Monday: No Whine for You

Cheesy Refrigerator Magnet for Monday, November 24, 2014
"Little Italy New York", wood wine shelf, plastic wine bottles, circa 2001

Thanksgiving is this week Thursday, and for many of us a big dinner also means wine. Depending on the gathering, perhaps lots of wine. Or lots of whine. I prefer the former. 

Purchased in the Little Italy neighborhood of NYC on one of many trips there to visit family. One of my favorite magnets for its sheer realisticness (is that a word?), it's also an enormous pain to keep clean. Then again, you could argue that dust adds to the realism. What wine cellar doesn't gather a little dust - am I right?

If you're observant, you'll notice that all the wine labels are French. Shhh - don't tell the Italians!



Magnet Monday features a selection from our semi-vast and ever growing collection of cheesy refrigerator magnets. Without doubt the perfect souvenir. Only slightly less cheesy than collecting snow globes but maybe a lot easier to smuggle in your bra. If need be. Which I hope it never is. Unless it's really worth it.

Winter Robins

Robins are by far my favorite bird. They were my Grandma Gladys' favorite too, but as I child I found them plain. I had no appreciation for the subtlety of their charm. As an adult who regular plays in garden dirt, my perspective is entirely different. They sing well, eat lots of bugs, and usually signal the return of Spring. Usually. I say that because for the second winter in a row, we have a flock of resident robins. Today in the rain they are hunting bugs and worms venturing out in the mild weather. Last winter they gorged themselves on every last fruit left on our cherry tree.

According to Jim Bucholz's Wild Wisconsin Web, about 2% of robins don't bother to migrate south. Another site mentions that winter robins are usually males hoping to get a jump on grabbing prime nesting territory in the spring. In fact robin migration is far more complex. 

I don't much mind what their reasons are, they are a welcome and cheerful sight. 


Image courtesy of HD WallpapersCool. Although the birds in our cherry tree looked pretty much like that. 

Weekly Randomness for November 21, 2014

News that made me stop what I was doing to look it up.

• Sometimes a fossil image really makes it personal. 
• Everything you know is wrong. Unless you already know what's on this chart. 
• Follow Shackleton from in your snuggie. 

Weekly Shits n' Giggles

• Rescue bugs. Put away your swatters. 
• No HOA rules in this neighborhood. 
• My Pinteresting Randomness

Weekend Aims

• A trip to the apple orchard: time to make some applesauce! 
• A trip to the mushroom farm: time to pickle some mushrooms!

Warm-up with Baked Oatmeal

Mornings lately here in Wisconsin have felt a lot more like January and a lot less like mid-November. The result is that I've been craving something warm and comforting beyond the usual morning coffee. I'm not much of a morning-meal person - not a morning person in general, and I'm just not hungry right away. Sometimes, when I do wake up hungry, if there's time, we like to do a big brunch. But if the agenda is full and impatient, grab-and-go is better. We often have muffins of eggy goodness around, but when baby it's cold outside, I want something that feels a bit more like comfort food. 

Enter stage right: Baked Oatmeal.

It's rather like a warm bowl of fresh-from-the-oven oatmeal raisin cookie that's been dunked in warm milk. The recipe is super flexible. I've tried different dried fruits, walnuts or pecans in it or on top, adding ground flax seed, vanilla yogurt when we're out of plain. I also like that it's low in added sugars, thanks largely to the applesauce (use the good stuff!) and the cinnamon & vanilla. For the version in the photos, I used our homemade Spiced Pear Sauce instead of applesauce. Once I tried dried apricots and pecans - very, very tasty. Next up I'm going to try craisins and walnuts and include a bit of orange zest for a deep fall flavor. Bonus: it's gluten-free (just make sure to use certified gluten-free oats if you're super-sensitive).

I like to bake a batch and freeze it in servings. Perfect for busy mornings or a quick snack. It heats up quick in the microwave, and tastes so good with a splash of milk (or heavy cream, or in this case half & half - use what ya' got!). Easy peasy comfort. 


Baked Oatmeal
Adapted from Gourmet magazine, December 2007


Dry Ingredients                                   

• 3 cups rolled oats
• 1 cup raisins*                                           
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1-1/4 teaspoons cinnamon
• 3/4 teaspoon salt

Wet Ingredients

• 1/2 cup applesauce
• 1/2 cup plain yogurt
• 1/2 cup milk**
• 1/4 cup canola or vegetable oil
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Topping Ingredients

• 2 packed tablespoons light brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly oil/butter/spray an 8-inch square glass baking pan. Combine the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Whisk together wet ingredients in a separate bowl until smooth; add to dry and mix well. Pour into baking dish and distribute evenly. Combine topping ingredients and sprinkle over. Bake for 30-40 minutes until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Cool slightly before cutting into serving pieces. Serve with milk. Or heavy cream. Or half & half. Whatever you've got. 

Notes
Double the recipe for a 9x13inch pan version.
I've not tried egg substitutes, but you might try 2 tablespoons of ground chia seeds in 1/2 cup water. 
*Raisins: we've used both golden and dark and both are fine. I like to rehydrate and plump them up a bit by warming gently in some apple cider. Drain well before using. 
**Milk: the original recipe called for whole milk. That works. So does 2%, skim, lactose-free 2%, and both original or vanilla almond milk (haven't tried chocolate). For us, soy milk didn't quite have the right flavor. 

Magnet Monday: Healing Hand

Cheesy Refrigerator Magnet for Monday, November 17, 2014
"Untitled", petroglyph-style hand with palm spiral, painted metal, circa 20??

Hands, and hands with spirals, are a common theme in petroglyphs. Their meaning is really known only to the artists themselves; there's no shortage of theories, very few facts. Even so, I like the idea that the hand with a spiral in the palm symbolizes healing, or a person with healing abilities. 

I'm embarrassed to admit I don't recall where we bought this one, other than it was somewhere in Arizona. This known fact of the unknown is a solid reminder about recording this info before I forget any more. 


Magnet Monday features a selection from our semi-vast and ever growing collection of cheesy refrigerator magnets. Without doubt the perfect souvenir. Only slightly less cheesy than collecting snow globes but maybe a lot easier to smuggle in your bra. If need be. Which I hope it never is. Unless it's really worth it.

Weekly Randomness for November 14, 2014

News that made me stop what I was doing to look it up.

• Landing on a comet is like the first moon landing. Philae is an incredible achievement. 
• Does Vitamin D supplementation really help us living at 43 degrees north?
• Music innovation: human creativity at its best.

Weekly Shits n' Giggles

• Teddy Bear Po'Pine loves his pumpkin
• I find watching this process oddly soothing. 
• My Pinteresting Randomness

Weekend Aims

• The Laramie Project in blackbox at the SoMilPAC. Bold choice, not to be missed.  
• Wisconsin Wine & Dine: my husband got us tickets for my birthday, and I can hardly wait! We even splurged on tickets for the Critic's Choice food tasting from 30 top restaurants; we've eaten at 6 of them before, and wanted to try many of the others.
• Recovery!

Magnet Monday: Keep On Truckin'

Cheesy Refrigerator Magnet for Monday, November 10, 2014
"World's Largest Truckstop!" die-cut colored rubbery plastic stuff, circa 2011

In honor of the lowest gas prices in years. The Iowa 80 Truckstop is a great example of mid-America kitsch, however I've not been there myself. Yet. This magnet came via a friend who moved to Iowa with her husband after wrapping things up for her PhD. 

Economists are sending mixed messages about whether these really low gas prices are good or bad in the long run. For the people I've talked to, it's good: less money into the gas tank means more money for donuts. If donuts are your thing. If not, then maybe bagels. Or deep-fried cheese curds. Mmmm.... cheese....



Magnet Monday features a selection from our semi-vast and ever growing collection of cheesy refrigerator magnets. Without doubt the perfect souvenir. Only slightly less cheesy than collecting snow globes but maybe a lot easier to smuggle in your bra. If need be. Which I hope it never is. Unless it's really worth it.

Weekly Randomness for Friday, November 7, 2014

News that made me stop what I was doing to look it up.

• The finding of the Huis de Kreuningen after almost 340 years. 
• Fecal transplants get less shitty. We discussed this Nature article at the lab where I work; it's a nice study. And now we watch the media take it and RUN!
• Conservation efforts always sound encouraging, but they only work if animals don't get poached or trees don't get logged. Still, ya gotta try. 

Weekly Shits n' Giggles

• Useless Machine Kit: because we all need one.
• Beauty in decay. 
• My Pinteresting Randomness

Weekend Aims

• We're getting our carpets cleaned. It's a little like moving without the boxes but with most of the inconvenience. Then starts the vigilance: shoes OFF at the door please!!
• Family day: my mom's 89th birthday (I know, right?!)

Magnet Monday: GOTV

Cheesy Refrigerator Magnet for Monday, November 3, 2014
"Women's Rights National Historical Park, Seneca Falls, New York", suffrage banner, circa 2014

It's Election Day in most parts of the country tomorrow, and I have a simple message: 

GO VOTE!!! 

It drives me angry annoyed when people complain about the state of affairs but won't participate in the process. GOTV means Get Out The Vote if you were curious.

A colleague visiting family in upstate New York stopped in at the Women's Rights National Historical Park and picked this up for me. According to the website:

Women’s Rights National Historical Park tells the story of the first Women’s Rights Convention held in Seneca Falls, NY on July 19-20,1848. 

In 1878, a Woman Suffrage Amendment was introduced in Congress, but it took until 1920 for the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. 

The suffrage banner was created to celebrate American women having the right to vote.The 3 colors used in the banner are purple for justice, white for purity of intent, and gold for courage.

So I will repeat myself: 

GO VOTE!!! 

Magnet Monday features a selection from our semi-vast and ever growing collection of cheesy refrigerator magnets. Without doubt the perfect souvenir. Only slightly less cheesy than collecting snow globes but maybe a lot easier to smuggle in your bra. If need be. Which I hope it never is. Unless it's really worth it.