Book Review: Christmas at Timberwoods

Christmas At Timberwoods 
by Fern Michaels 

Starting off, this seems like a light-hearted Christmas romance. However, quickly, several characters enter the scene, including a maybe-bipolar physic who is "seeing" explosions and fire at the new mall. Enter a seriously depressed Santa, several police & security guards, and a mall CEO who refuses to shut down the mall for any reason - the Christmas profits are too much! Lots of stress, drama, and self-doubt. Surprisingly, the characters who we think will be our main romantic due never get very developed, as we focus more on the physic and her depressed friend. Angels, miracles, loneliness, and Christmas - this book keys into several major themes that appear during the holiday season.

Book Review: Raw Food Detox Diet

The Raw Food Detox Diet: The Five-Step Plan for Vibrant Health and Maximum Weight Loss 
by Natalia Rose 

This book was the first I'd read on Raw Food. I'm interested in health and nutrition and read a variety of books in that area. This book was well written, explaining the pros of raw food. As any diet book, it has menus and ideas, but this book has several stages to 'ease' you onto raw foods. I like how the health benefits are tied into how your body works. I've bought this book for others, and shared my copy of the book with friends. It even inspired me to go out and get a juicer, something I've been thinking about for years, but have never done.

Book Review: Your Inner Fish

Your Inner Fish: A Journey into the 3.5-Billion-Year History of the Human Body 
by Neil Shubin 

Awesome mainstream science nonfiction book. Easy to read and understand, yet covers interesting science content. This book covers the evolutionary history of man. It starts out with the story of the author fossil hunting and finding a "missing link" fish/amphibian - the fins/legs transition ancestor. Then, goes through various body systems and traces back to which animals these systems first appeared in. Makes great connections to genes, DNA, and fossil evidence. Also uses logic and science to show evolutionary relationships. Overall - great book to read to deepen your understanding of biology or just to learn more about your own body.

Book Review: Suburban Safari

Suburban Safari: A Year on the Lawn 
by Hannah Holmes 

This fun mainstream nonfiction book takes environmental awareness to a new level. Hannah Holmes resolves to spend one year examining, in minute detail, her yard. She brings in experts to help her learn about some areas of her yard (entomolgy anyone?) and does historical research into the past life of her yard. Hannah Holmes writes in a very down-to-earth style that is extremely easy to follow. She shares her personal thoughts intertwined with the stories of the "characters" found in the yard. You'll never look at your yard the same way again. My favorite take-away message - mowing infrequently and not worrying about weeds in the yard is an environmentally healthy behavior. Go green! :)

Book Review: Farewell, My Subaru

Farewell, My Subaru: An Epic Adventure in Local Living 
by Doug Fine 

Fun novel about getting back-to-your-roots in an ecologically friendly way. Lots of problems for our local hero as he moves from city to wilderness and decides to reduce his carbon footprint. Topics include changing over to a diesel engine to run on used frying oil (and thus the car smelling like fast food all the time), buying baby goats to eventually milk to make homemade ice cream (and becoming a goat daddy to babies scared to be alone), and several home improvement projects that just don't work right the first time around. Very humorous (although doubtful it would be if it was happening to you), this is a good story about a guy's perseverance and eventual success in making his goals come true. 

Book Review: Survival of the Sickest

Survival of the Sickest: A Medical Maverick Discovers Why We Need Disease 
by Sharon Moalem, Jonathan Prince

Very entertaining and makes you think! Sharon Moelem writes in a very public-friendly manner, but manages to xplain historical and scientific facts in ways that are both entertaining and informative. The basic idea of this book is the question: if diseases are so bad and can kill of huge amounts of the population, why do they persist? Shouldn't natural selection weed them out? Sharon Moelenm looks at several current health problems & diseases. He explains what is happening in the body, and explore the historical past to see if that particular mechanism was ever an advantage. He comes up with some extremely interesting parallels! I recommend this to anyone interested in medicine, evolutionary history, of who just wants to learn more about how their body works. Great book! (Even interesting to students!)

Fun Book Fact: Old Book Smell

Did you know?

"Lignin, the stuff that prevents all trees from adopting the weeping habit, is a polymer made up of units tahat are closely related to vanillin.  When made into paper and stored for years, it breaks down and smells good. Which his how divine providence has arranged for secondhand bookstores to smell like good quality vanilla absolute, subliminally stoking a hunger for knowledge in all of us."

~Perfumes:  The Guide

Book Review: Doggirl

Doggirl 
by Robin Brande 

 

Doggirl is a well-written coming of age story.  Riley Case is a freshman in a new town at a new high school.  That's enough to make anyone a bit self-concious.  But Riley is coming from a bad situation at her old school.  Riley was the odd-girl out because of her love and understanding for animals and her parent's hand-made values in a buy-more-stuff world.  Riley has always stood a bit back from the crowd, trying not to get involved, and her one attempt last year resulted in major bullying from the students at her middle school.  Cue the move to the new town and high school.  

Throughout the book, Riley does a lot of self-analysis, as she worries about whether she should try to make friends at the new school, whether her parents are really happy with new jobs and a new city home as opposed to the farm life they left behind, and how to train and work with her dogs.

The major plot of the book centers around a school play.  A group of students are entering a drama contest for an original play that has to be written, produced, and acted in 2 weeks.  As part of the plot, the director is looking for a dog that can maybe walk across the stage on cue.  Riley gathers her gumption to apply, and becomes the darling of the show with her 3 dogs that can be trained to do all sorts of tricks and even change the plot of the show.  It's no secret that they steal the show.  

In the midst of all of this postive attention for her and her dogs, Riley struggles with herself.  Should she accept the cast's friendship at face value and become part of their team, or will they only turn on her and make her more of an outcast than before?

This book is well-written, has a good plot, and definitly pulls you into the characters.  It also does a very good job of taking you through the thought process and steps of working with animals.  I highly recommend it.

The Mystery of Ball's Pyramid: Revealed

Welcome back to Ball's Pyramid.  Last week I shared this writing prompt with you and promised you that I'd reveal the rest of the story soon.  So, let's see what the rest of the story tells us. 

Ball's Pyramid is part of a very small archipelago (several underwater sea mounts and a few neighboring islands) off the coast of Australia.  It was named after Lieutenant Henry Lidgbird Ball, who discovered it in 1788.  Nearby is a bigger, perhaps more well known island called Lord Howe Island.

Ball's Pyramid is part of the submerged continent of Zealandia.  That's right - continent.  Did you know we have more than the standard 7 continents that currently adorn the map?  I love to learn about the geologic history of our planet, and learn about how the continents formed, moved into and out of each other, sunk, and rose above sea level.  Amazingly enough, our planet has looked very different through the course of history.  Most school children learn about Pangea, the supercontinent.  Actually, that's just the most recent continental configuration prior to our current continental placements.  About 250 million years ago Pangea began breaking apart and plate tectonics has shifted the current continents we know and love into the places we are familiar with today.  However, at times there has been much more or much less continental land above water.  At one time there was a supercontinent (Pannotia) where all the land was placed over the South Pole - and it caused a global ice age that even froze waters in the oceans for millions of years.  Pretty cool, huh? 

But, back to Zealandia.  Zealandia was the area of land between Australia and Antarctica.  About 250 million years ago the supercontinent Pangea broke into 2 smaller continents.  The southern continent was Gondwana, which included Africa, Antarctica, Australia, and India.  Australia broke away from Antarctica about 100 million years ago.  Then, part of Australia broke away from the mainland (Zealandia) about 70 million years ago.  Shortly after breaking away from Australia, Zealandia sunk.  Prior to sinking, Zealandia was a flourishing ecosystem of pine forests and animal life.  This animal life, after millions of years of pressure, provides a large gas field just offshore of New Zealand.

Now that you have some history of the area, onto the answer of the mystery (which has nothing to do with geology or ancient continents, but they are just so interesting!). 

It turns out that this entire mystery is about bugs.  Living bugs.  But, ancient bugs.  They've been around since ancient times, at least 22 million years ago.  These huge stick bugs, sometimes called tree lobsters, were once very common on Lord Howe Island (remember, the bigger island near to Ball's Pyramid).

These huge stick insects were endemic to Lord Howe Island.  That means, it was the only place that they were found.  These are giant insects - 12 centimeters long and one of the largest flightless insects in the world.  Fisherman regularly used these bugs as bait.  Back in the early 1900's a ship ran aground at Lord Howe Island.  During the few days it took to repair the ship, black rats from the ship somehow made their way to shore with some of the goods.  And, the rest is history.  Like many a tale involving an exotic species introduced to a new habitat, the black rats thrived at the expense of the natives.  Giant stick bugs were a delicacy to the rats, and within a short time they had wiped them off the island.  By 1920 there were no more sightings and by 1960 giant stick insects were officially labeled as extinct.  To read more details in a fun narrative style, visit this website: http://www.npr.org/blogs/krulwich/2012/02/24/147367644/six-legged-giant-finds-secret-hideaway-hides-for-80-years

So - the tie-in to Ball's Pyramid?  Take a guess. 

There's not much to Ball's Pyramid.  Not much soil, not many plants, and not much animal life.  Human's mostly visit to climb the steep mountain.  Rumors from past climbers indicated they had seen rather large stick insects (recently dead).  Expeditions visited Ball's Pyramid to look for the giant stick insects, but between the nocturnal behavior of the insects and the sheer cliff faces, they didn't have much luck. Until 2001.  An group of scientists came to the island specifically looking for the giant stick insects.  They used special equipment to climb at night, with spotlights, and finally found living specimens under one of the few bushes on the island.  All told, they found 24 insects living at this one shrub.  This was assumed to be the only living population of giant stick insects currently alive.

The next part of the story involves politics of endangered species conservation.  To make a long story short, there was approval to take only 4 insects away from the island (a couple of years after the discovery) in order to try to breed them to increase the population.  The 4 insects were split into 2 pairs and separated to different scientific organizations.  One pair quickly died.  The second did not, although there were some tough times.  But, overall, it was successful, and they have managed to raise a lot of babies.  More currently, there is talk of trying to remove the rats from Lord Howe Island and reintroduce the giant stick bug back to its native habitat. 

But - back to the mystery of Ball's Pyramid.  Think about this.  Here were 24 insects, from a species presumed extinct over 50 years before.  The were also from an island that is quite a distance away for even a big bug like this.  Giant stick insects do not fly.  And they do not swim.  Could they have managed to migrate to a totally different island?  If so, how?  And could these insects be actual descendants of the Lord Howe giant stick bugs?  Ball's Pyramid is a very desolate place, so it would never be able to support very many insects.  Could such a small population size (centered around just one bush) be able to sustain itself for 50-100+ years?  These are the real mysteries.

In answer to one question - it does seem like these are the same species as the Lord Howe giant stick bugs.  This scientific study compared the DNA of several insects in the same Order as the giant stick insects (Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family Genus Species).  To read more on how they determined this, visit:  http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/276/1659/1055.full

But, as to the rest, who knows?  Perhaps birds managed to bring over insect eggs or larva in some way from Lord Howe Island to Ball's Pyramid.  Maybe there was a tropical storm that washed vegetation far enough to reach the other island.  Maybe floating mats of vegetation served as temporary migratory homes.  Apparently the giant stick bugs did manage to make the trip from Lord Howe Island to Ball's Pyramid.  As for how they stayed alive?  Probably a bit of luck, lack of predators, and adaptability.  Perhaps now that they've been reborn as a Lazarus species and come back under human consideration they will be helped to thrive. 

What are your thoughts?  Should humans help animal species facing extinction?  Does your opinion change if humans were the cause the endangerment? 

Missy Bree
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Book Review: Helen of Troy

Helen of Troy 

by Tess Collins (Goodreads Author) 

Helen of Troy is a drama set in small town South USA. The main character, Helen, is a middle-aged wife and runs the town general hardware store. Helen married her high school sweetheart, and they've had ups and downs through the years. The dialogue and their struggles are very realistic, and remind me of some of my friends and the drama that is in their life. Add in gossip and small-town backstabbing, and you've set the scene for some major drama and reaction. The basic plot involves Helen and her husband having a fight at the town celebration. He's jealous of the grocery store owner across the street that Helen's been eyeing, and takes this chance to go kiss one of Helen's good friends and gets caught in public. Then the fight is on, as the grocery store owner "rescues" Helen and takes her over to his store/apartment. The whole town chooses sides and gets involved in the fight. Then the blizzard hits. This book has a lot of self-introspective about life, your expectations, and how your actions affect the people around you.

9 Penguins, a Math Writing Prompt

Math Journals are fun.  They allow you to use a bit of creativity to explain your understanding of how numbers work.  This prompt is pretty vague, so it is easy to use with young children.  It can easily be used to show understanding of complex math concepts in the higher grades.  Here are my math problems:

1.)  +  =  9 penguins

2.)   +  =  9 penguins

3.)   +  =  9 penguins

4.) +  =  9 penguins

5.) -  =  9 penguins

6.)  =  9 penguins

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Fun Science Fact:  Polar Bears live in the North Pole and Penguins live in the Southern Hemisphere.  So, unless someone else helps with transportation, they do not have any natural interactions.  Regardless of what the Coke commercials have taught us.  

What were they thinking?

As she trudged along behind Jason, Anna was very conscious of the sheer drop-off to her right.  "What was I thinking to agree to this?" she thought to herself.  Jason's supreme indifference to the precariousness of the narrow ledge was evident in his loose shoulders and easy-going stride.  Anna could feel the ache in her back from keeping her spine straight.  She was focused on taking deliberate breaths - in and out - and keeping her eyes strictly trained on Jason's backpack up ahead.  It was all she could do to appear enthusiastic whenever Jason would pause and point out some natural wonder across the canyon.

So far they had been hiking for 3 days.  The beginning of the trail involved some hiking, but nothing that Anna hadn't encountered in her previous camping trips and day hikes.  For this vacation, Jason wanted to take her to his favorite vacation retreat.  Jason was part spider-monkey, and had spent years clambering over cliffs and up mountains with little more than a backpack and a hunk of rope.  Perhaps she should have taken that expertise into consideration when Jason assured her that this was not a difficult hike.

Anna felt her foot skid on a pebble and quickly looked down.  It was just a loose piece of gravel, and the path still looked as solid as it had before.  Another deep breath, and she continued on with barely a hitch in her stride.  Up ahead, Anna could see a patch of sunlight.  As they followed the meandering cliff path, Anna was able to look up.  She started smiling.  The sun was almost overhead, which meant that they were close to the end of this wretched cliff path.  Jason had promised they would be past this path and back on a flat plain by lunchtime.  After that, it was just a few more hours to the campsite to spend the rest of their vacation.  

Happy Father's Day

I like this graphic - it reminds me of my dad.  My dad's the original hippy.  Back in the day he sported long hair and he still has a full beard.  His dream involves building a house in  the "woods" and each year he tills up 3/4 of his backyard for a vegetable garden.  He believes in organic produce and the ability of your body to heal itself.  He told me just the other day he couldn't sleep, so at 3 in the morning he was trying to check out some yoga program on the television....

  

As a grown daughter, I appreciate all the help and support from my dad that has led me to the person I am today.  Thanks to Dad and our projects together - I can build things from wood and use power tools; I am becoming a master at home repair; I've learned more about my car than I ever wanted to; and just last year I learned how to strip down the lawn mower and reassemble it.  My dad's the original Mr. Fix-It, and through his tutelage I can now confidently replace the mysterious inner workings found in the back of the toilet tank or replace a ceiling fan - on my own.  

  

My dad and I are a lot alike.  We both love to talk and are happy to talk for hours (in person or on the phone) about our newest interests and passions.  We regularly talk about our garden, health, books we've read, TV shows we watch, computer technology, the education system, and science and/or history documentaries.  We do occasionally go weeks without chatting or visiting, but usually every week or two we get together to do a project at one of our houses or just hang out to watch TV together and catch up.

Father's Day prompts me to slow down and think about all the great memories I have with my dad, and all the reasons I love him.  He helped provide a wonderful home for me to grow up in, and has remained a big part of my life after I've moved out.  To my dad and all the other dads out there - have a Happy Father's Day and thanks for being a dad!

What great memories do you have of the Dads in your lives?

Missy Bree
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The Mystery of Ball's Pyramid

This writing prompt brings out the scientist in me.  I can't look at "how did it get there" without thinking about the volcano itself.  Volcanic islands occur because of a weak area in the crust on the ocean floor.  Maybe there is a channel deep in the crust or maybe pressure from the mantle builds, but magma from the mantle escapes up through the crust and erupts into the bottom of the ocean.  The magma touches the frigid ocean water at the ocean depths, cools, and solidifies.  Over millions of years the liquid magma bubbles up over the gradually rising hill, cools, and adds another layer of crust.  If this volcano stays active, eventually it rises above the water, forming a volcanic island. 

Now, the ocean floor is constantly moving due to plate tectonics.  Over geologic time spans, the volcano is slowly moved away from the weak area where magma can escape the crust.  At this point, the volcano becomes extinct.  The weak spot in the ocean floor is now under a new piece of ocean crust, and so a new volcano starts forming.  This process forms chains of volcanoes called archipelagos.  Examples of these island chains include Hawaii and the Galapagos islands.

After even more time has passed, erosion from wind and water slowly wears away at the volcano.  The volcano gets smaller, and the island disappears as all the above-water land is eroded away.  If you look at an archipelago chain, you will find the younger, shorter volcanoes close to the weak area of the mantle.  That is where the active vulcanism is occurring.  As you move down the archipelago, you will find taller extinct volcanoes.  Even further down the archipelago, if you look underwater, you will find even older volcanoes that have eroded so far that they have lost their island (these are sea mounts), and are basically underwater mountains.

Looking back Ball's Pyramid, the volcano pictured above, I just see one volcanic island.  The picture is close-cropped, so there may be other volcanic islands out of view.  It may be that that this is the first volcano from this new weak spot over the crust, and that a new volcanic island is slowly being built under the water.  Or it may be that this island is further down an archipelago and that there are younger islands that we cannot see.  The caption relates that this island is 7 million years old, and it does not appear to be currently active, as evidenced by the tall, sharp peak. (Volcanoes that have recently erupted tend to have a sunken caldera bowl at the top of the mountain, not a tall thin spear).

Now, on to the mystery.  In general, volcanic islands are fairly desolate places.  They do not even have soil for plants to grow.  It is only after erosion starts to wear out the rock, and small algae & lichens start to grow then decompose, does soil start to appear.  Since the island is surrounded by salt water, most of the plants and animal life do not have a way to get to the island.  Birds can fly to the island.  Animals strong enough to swim long distances through the ocean, perhaps like a crocodile, could make it to the island.  Sometimes insects can fly or be carried through the wind long distances.  Other small animals might be able to be adrift on vegetation and get washed on to the island.  But, overall, it takes a very long time to life to get started on a volcanic island. 

Places like Hawaii that are a lush tropical paradise have two things going for them:  they have been around for a long time, so this succession process has occurred and the original islands were much closer to the continent which allowed for animal migration.  The early Hawaiian islands were closer to the southern coast of Asia, so some reptiles, small mammals, and birds were able to migrate over to the new islands.  Then, as newer islands formed further out to sea, the animals only had to migrate a short distance to the new island.  Over time, the original islands close to the continent eroded away, and the animals became trapped on the Hawaiian islands that are now too far out to sea to allow the land-bound animals to leave.

Ball Pyramid does not appear to be a lush tropical paradise.  I see bare rocks, without evidence of many plants or animals.  This volcanic island is either too young to have developed much of an ecosystem or formed too far away from other islands or a continent to allow plants and animals to easily colonize the island.  The caption claims that the island is about 7 million years old.  That sounds pretty old for us, but on a geological timescale that is a young island.

The mystery clue states that 2 climbers found something in the soil, hidden by a bush.  Something that was totally surprising and did not fit in with the expectations of this volcanic island.  Looking at such a young island that has not been well colonized, I would not imagine there is a very deep layer of soil.  Something that surprising that you might find in volcanoes, if you didn't know about geology, are diamonds!  Diamonds are formed from the heat of a volcanic eruption.  Some of the most well-known diamonds in the world are found in Africa, and are the site of ancient volcanic eruptions! 

What else would be surprising?  Well, obviously there could be any number of things that were found on the island that wouldn't be expected to be there.  For example - I wouldn't expect to find dinosaur fossils on this islands for a couple of reasons.  First of all, if the island really is 7 million years old, it is too young.  Most dinosaurs were at least 65 million years ago (if not hundreds of millions of years before that), and this island wouldn't have been around long enough to have dinosaurs live, die, and become fossilized on it.  In general, you wouldn't expect to find any kind of fossil on this island.  Without considering the timing factors, this is a volcanic island.  As it was formed, molten lava was pouring over it's surface.  Bones would be burned up.  And again, since it is so young, it's likely there is not a very deep sedimentary soil layer on this island (most fossils are found in sedimentary rocks).

What else would be a surprise?  A deep cave that lead to a freshwater lagoon?  Caves are probably not too hard to imagine on a volcanic island.  As magma bubbles and lava pours, it does not pour evenly.  Add in plate tectonics, and cracks can occur.  Rainwater running down from the mountains could also help carve out caves.  It is possible that over the 7 million years (or whatever portion of that time it was an island above the water) that caves were carved out of the solidified lava.  And it is conceivable that the freshwater from rain could run down into these caves and collect into some sort of underground lake.  I wouldn't expect it to have a fresh source from groundwater, since it is out in the ocean and groundwater is usually found in aquifers on continents.  But, over such a long period of time, the fresh rain water could have collected into quite a big lake at the bottom of a cave.

And we can go on and on.  So - what do you think the answer to the mystery could be?  Write your thoughts in the comments.  No cheating and looking it up!  I'll check back in with you in a couple of days and tell you the answer!

Missy Bree

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Gourmet S'mores Table

Ohy my yummy goodness!  Just last night I was thinking, now that it's getting warmer, it's the perfect time to start thinking about s'mores.  Crispy gooey marshmallows melting a square of chocolate on a graham cracker. 

Then today I was looking around on www.pinterest.com and found this photo:

It looked interesting, so I had to head over to http://www.ohparty.net/party-recipes-gourmet-smores-table.php to check it out.  The article had tips for setting up a Gourmet S'mores table for a summer picnic.  On their table, they have flavored marshmallows (raspberry, vanilla, chocolate, and lime), several different types of chocolates, and bowls of extras like chopped nuts or shredded coconut to add to your treat.

While this all sounds very yummy, it got me thinking about the idea of flavored marshmallows.  I don't know if I've been living under a rock, but the only marshmallows I'm familiar with are the ones in the grocery store that look like 2" round cylinders, or the mini version.  Mostly white, although some bags do come in pastel colors.  But, to my knowledge, they all taste about the same.  Personally, I'm not a huge marshmallow fan myself.  I like to have s'mores a couple of times a year, and perhaps a marshmallow in hot chocolate (not a big hot chocolate drinker), but I've been known to have a bag of marshmallows that has grown rock-hard from sitting in the pantry too long.  Still, I might be game to try a raspberry-chocolate smore. 

Luckily, Oh Party also shares a grouping of links to some candy-makers on Etsy who sell homemade flavored marshmallows.  The first one I went to visit was Mia Mallows:  http://www.etsy.com/shop/miaMallows

Mia Mallows is run by Mimi Candanoza-Gamez in San Antonia, TX.  Each package is made fresh, and is sold in 6, 12, or 18 marshmallows, ranging from $6-18.  Her shop provides 35 different flavors of gourmet marshmallows!  Wow! 

(1)Banana, (2)Bavarian Cream, (3)Blueberry, (4)Caramel, (5)Cherry, (6)Chocolate, (7)Chocolate Chip, (8)Chocolate Mexican Style, (9)Chocolate Mint, (10)Red Hot Cinnamon, (11)Coconut, (12)Coffee, (13)Cotton Candy, (14)Dulce De Leche, (15)Eggnog, (16)Keylime Pie, (17)Lavender, (18)Lemon, (19)Lime (20)Mango, (21)Maple, (22)Mixed Berries, (23)Orange, (24)Peach, (25)Peanut Butter, (26)Peppermint, (27)Pina Colada, (28) Pineapple, (29)Pomegranate, (30)Praline with Pecans, (31)Pumpkin Pie with Shortbread cookie crumbs, (32)Raspberry (33)Saltwater Taffy, (34)Strawberry, and (35)Vanilla!!!!

The second shop I visited was Calabasas Candy at http://www.etsy.com/shop/calabasascandyco?section_id=6511775

This shop is run by Cheri, from Calabasas, CA.  Her shop specializes in using organic cocoa beans that are ethically grown, and besides making gourmet marshmallows, she makes several different varieties of gourmet caramels.  He shop offers some shipping discounts for multiple purchages.  Packages come with 15 marshmallows for $7.50, and come in these flavors:  coffee, lavendar, cinnamon sugar, blueberry, strawberry, Madagascar vanilla, Maraschino cherry, and banana.

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Amazing!  Who knew that marshmallows could come in so many fun flavors....and then, more importantly - be used to make such fun s'mores.   All of this got me thinking - wondering, how do you even make marshmallows?  Is it an easy cook-at-home recipe?  Or is it very labor intensive with lots of thermometers, special tools, and precision?  Looks like a bit of both.

Curious now, I looked around to try to learn what was involved with making marshmallows in general, and how do you go about flavoring them.  I found a very good tutorial, complete with step-by-step pictures and instructions at http://www.instructables.com/id/Homemade-Flavored-Marshmallows/

According to the author, most marshmallows can be made in a home kitchen with general kitchen appliances (maybe a few candy-making specialities, like the candy thermometer).  The ingrediants are not too exotic: 

3 packages of unflavored gelatin (.75 oz total)
1 cup of ice water
1 cup of light corn syrup
1.5 cups of white sugar
a pinch of salt (1/4 teaspoon if you are the measuring type)
1/3 cup powdered sugar (confectioner's sugar)
1/3 cup cornstarch
non-stick cooking spray
extracts and flavors ( for these, I used vanilla extract, rum flavoring, imitation butter, and peppermint extract)
coating chocolate (optional)
food coloring (optional)


The basic idea involves using ice cold water to mix with gelatin.  Then boiling a sugary-syrapy mixture.  Carefully combining these two extreme temperature mixtures and blending them for a long time (maybe 15-20 minutes).  Then, the mixture will be poured into a heavily floured pan and allowed to sit for 4 or more hours.  At that point, the marshmallows are set and you can cut them into pieces.  They are done, but this is the stage you could drizzle them with chocolate, dip them into a fondue, or put a coating on the outside.

So - who knows?  Maybe an interesting summer project at some point, but I don't think I'll be rushing out to start making marshmallows this week.  It does look like it could be a fun activity to do with kids or to create a little something special for an event. 

What are your favorite summer desserts? 

Missy Bree
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Where would you live?

Very quickly when I look at this prompt, I pick Library.  Although museums and zoos are places that I like to visit, I think a library is more in line with my daily life.  I am a reader.  Perhaps it wouldn't be untrue to claim to be a voracious reader.  I've been known to read multi-100's of pages in an afternoon, and have to ability to finish large books in a day or two (when the time is right and the book is interesting)  Living in a library would ensure that I had access to many many books.  Libraries are store-houses of books, so there would be a collection of my old familiar favorites that I could re-read over and over.  There would also be a steady stream of newly published books that would available each month.  With new library trends, there are also electronic books available for sharing, so I could even bring my Kindle (although, I'm not a book snob like some people who have forsworn print books in favor of the new Kindles - I still enjoy having a paper book in my hand but can still have fun reading on my Kindle).  Most libraries also have computers with internet access, so that would be another plus.

Interestingly enough, I have actually worked in a library, museum, and a zoo.  In that order.

During high school I had a part time job at a small branch library in our city.  My main job was to take books recently checked in and put them back on the shelf.  That usually took a couple of hours and then I was free to help out in other ways - helping patrons find books, working at the desk, ordering books from other libraries from patrons.  It was a pretty enjoyable job, if a bit boring.  During that time, I definitely enjoyed the ready access to many different books and the ability to be one of the first to read a new book.

In college, I managed to get a work-study position at our college Natural History museum.  Being a science buff, this was a cool place to work.  My favorite area was the Hall of Ancient Life - where there were dinosaur bones and many other ancient fossils.  My job involved working in the hands-on room for children (the "Discovery" room).  During the week I would lead classes for students in field trip groups, and on the weekends we invited the public in.  I enjoyed the academic thrill of this job.  Children would come into the room with such excitement and be thrilled to learn all the fun science facts that went along with all the artifacts.  One of my favorite activities was being invited to help the staff create activities and exhibits to create a hand's-on learning environment for the room.

And lastly, the zoo.  What can I say - this is one that has now marked me for life.  Years later, I still get introduced to newcomers as a zookeeper.  I've accepted it will be one of my titles for life.  I've always enjoyed visiting zoos and seeing all the beautiful animals.  When I was younger, we managed to visit zoos in just about any state we happened to pass through.  Being accepted to work at a zoo was an interesting adventure.  It is almost unreal to get to go back behind the scenes and interact with the animals in the daily zookeeper routines.  Doing so, you get to learn about the animals individual quirks and personalities.  Also, you get to participate in something bigger than yourself - the conservation and preservation of endangered species.  My time at the zoo was filled with hard work in all sorts of weather, but was tempered by the animal interactions, designing naturalistic exhibits, and helping to incubate and raise  young animals.

But, back to the prompt - of all the places to be forced to be confined in. I'm still sticking with a library.  Books have been my friends for a lot longer than these other places, and have been a true and constant companion throughout my life.  I think museums and zoos are very interesting places to visit, but a library will be the enduring constant.

Missy Bree
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What do you see outside your window today?

My post for today was inspired by Jessica Stank in My Journey as an Aspiring Author... and other Ramblings.  Go visit her blog at:  http://jessiestank.blogspot.com/2012/06/writing-assignment-for-today.html

Her daily blog had a "Writing Assignment for Today" where she asked all her readers to write a descriptive paragraph in the comments of her blog.  Specifically, she wanted her readers to look at the window and describe what they saw.  This sounds like a fun writing assignment, and so I'd like to do the same writing exercise here on my blog, and invite my readers to comment below.  Feel free to spread this idea to your blog, and leave a link in the comments section below.  :)

On to my window...

Here it is a warm, humid day in early June in the central region of the United States.  Early today when running errands, I saw that it was a mild 85 degrees Fahrenheit. It's humid enough that if you stand outside for very long, you'll end up sticky.  And while this isn't weather I like to stand outside in, I'm not going to complain.  We have already had temperatures with highs over 100 degrees this year.  And last year we had a couple of weeks of extreme highs over 115 degrees.  So, 85, while warm to the touch, is a very mild summer day in Oklahoma.  In fact, we are on the lookout for rain - to help replenish some of the water in the soil that was baked so dry last summer.

I'm currently looking towards my living room window.  Yes, I'm stretched out in a recliner, with the laptop on my lap.  The joys of summer vacation and working at home.  :)  The house is calm and rather peaceful for the moment - pups asleep on the floor, birds mostly quiet, with the quiet whir of the air conditioner in the hall running.  I'm enjoying my peace for about 30 more minutes before it's time to jump up and start working on dinner.

From my chair, I can turn my head and look out the large picture windows at the front of the house.  The sky is blocked from view by a large metal awning that hangs over the windows all along the front of the house.  They are old - perhaps from before I was even born.  They work well to shade the windows from the southern sun and create a fun pitter-patter of music during the rains.  Under the awning, the rest of my view is taken up with large round green leaves.  I can see splashes of color and light between the leaves, and I will be able to see the moving shadows if a car drives down the street.  But, unless I get close to the window and look between the leaves, I do not have a clear view of the neighborhood.

Suppose I do walk up to the window and peer through the branches, or step out onto the porch.  My view then falls on a typical Tulsan middle class neighborhood.  Tulsa is the second-largest city in Oklahoma.  Ask any resident, and they will claim to be urban over rural or suburban every time.  However, compared to many of the big cities of the world, I'm sure the entire city of Tulsa seems more like a suburb than a city.  The reason?  Space.  When I look out in front of my house, I see a large green expanse of lawn - mine.  And then more yards of closely manicured grass, brightly colored flowerbeds, and well-established trees.  All of the houses on my street have one or more cars.  There are people in Tulsa who rely on the city bus to get around, but it is widespread and not as convenient to get around town as it is in a larger city.

Looking around my neighborhood, I see different styles of houses and decor.  This is an older neighborhood, built in the 1950's.  At that time, people bought up lots of land and built whatever they fancied.  This gives my neighborhood a bit of character.  There are smaller houses nestled in with medium houses (we don't have any truly big houses).  Lot size varies as well.  My house sits on a corner lot that is long and narrow.  The long end of my property runs along the front of the house, facing the street, which means I have a very big, long, front yard of grass.  However, if you go around the house to the backyard, you'll find a shallow narrow backyard the stretches the length of the house.  Most of the houses in my neighborhood have bigger, more square backyards, so mine is a little different.

When I look to my right, I see my traditional, 2-car driveway leading up to a 2-car garage.  But, past that, curving around the corner to the opposing street, I see a curved circular branch off the driveway.  This is a relic from past times.  I lived in this house during high school, and my parents put in this extra driveway to add more parking for my sister and I to park our cars during those teenage years.  Now this driveway is rarely used unless I have visitors coming over to my house.

When I look to my left, I see a semi-wild forested area edging the freshly cut grass lawn.  Along the front of my house and in a large bed on the left end of my property are shrubs, small trees, and monkey grass (and some rogue wild blackberry vines that I try to kill each year!).  There are pink-and-white striped crepe myrtles currently in bloom, some wild sapling trees that I cut back each year, small ornamental blooming trees like redbud and Bradford pears, and an arbor over the gate to the backyard that has beautiful purple whisteria and grapevines that have been trained up and over the archway.

All and all, it's a pretty nice place to call home.  :)

So, what do you see when you look out your window today?

Missy Bree
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What do you know?

We journalists make it a point to know very little about an extremely wide variety of topics; this is how we stay objective.

~Dave Barry

I like Dave Barry, and I like this quote.  I'm not a journalist, but I think this idea describes my knowledge base.  Being well-read helps, I'm sure, as it gives you a bigger pool of background knowledge to pull all that useless knowledge from.  As does playing trivia games or watching Jeopardy on TV.  I've found that in areas that I'm interested in, I tend to do things to gain more information about that subject.  I may read more books, talk to others about the topics, or watch documentaries about the topic.  That being the case, I can probably say I do know very little about an extremely wide variety of topics....but I know very much about certain, random, odd areas of knowledge.  For example - some of my deeper areas of knowledge include a random assortment of knowledge of:

Ancient Greek mythology - I've been a fan of these fun stories since elemntary school, and have studied them in school, painted an oil picture of one of the myths, dressed in costume, watched documentaries and movies on the topic, and general by now have forgotton most of the finer points of most of the stories.

Classical literature - this brings to mind a cultured educational background.  Certainly in school I took some of the odd-ball classes like Greek Tragedy.  And in my Humanities class we read the Aeneid (Roman epic poem), as well as the Illiad and the Oddyssey (Greek epic poems).  But, also, I remember going through "the classics" reading lists in school, which included things like Jules Verne's sci-fi books (20,000 Leagues under the Sea and Journey to the Center of the Earth come to mind), Call of the Wild, Little House on the Prairie, Frankenstein, The Three Musketeers, Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, the Jungle Book, the Secret Garden, and many more that I can't even remember.

Robin Hood - I've read many different versions of this story, and stories adapted off of it, as well as seen many movies on this theme.  My favorite - Robin Hood, Men in Tights.

Spanish culture  - particularly Don Quixote, which we studied off and on for 3 years in Spanish class

Some Shakespeare - from constant exposure.  Seems to be the rule in school that you had to hit another play each year in English class.  Also, through school plays (watching, not acting in) I've seen several, and somehow I know the plots and main characters of many more.  Enough that I was able to do fairly respectable in my at-home-guessing on today's Jeopardy character of Shakespeare's Women.

Maya, Aztec, & Inca civilizations - random knowledge from an elective class I took in college, added on to my 4 years of AP Spanish cultural stories....  Plus some extra info from life.  Since I know about this, I do tend to gravitate towards the documentary shows on the History channel that discuss these cultures (from the end of the world prophesies -NOT- to basic historical culture).


Science - my knowledge tends towards life sciences, especially biological and geological.  Way too many classroom hours on these topics, plus book, documentaries, and the like.  I have much more knowledge in this area than your basica lay person.


And one to end on - Knitting - this seems to be an odd one for the modern women to be interested in.  I spend much of my life being oblivious to knitting, although I've had exposure and experience in a variety of crafty endeavors all my life.  In recent years knitting has become on interest of mine, and I've taken to it with a vengeance.  Many many hours later, I can safely say I have a pretty deep background knowledge on how to knit, what a pattern means with all those abbreviations, what yarn is good versus cheap, and how to create some interesting handknit items.


So - enough about my oddball interests and deep pools of knowledge.  What are some of your favorite things?  Are you like Dave Barry and a generalist who has knowledge in many fields, or do you tend to specialize to become an expert consultant?  Share your thoughts.


Missy Bree
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