A Life of Crime and Chocolate

DocBrown said:

Semi-Tangent: I am always amused by this delusion people have that fruits and veggies are good for them. Like anything, it is about moderation.

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Moderation does make all the difference. With restaurant portion sizes being what they are, however, expectations tend to skew toward the unmoderated.

heyjude said:

Also, found out yesterday that someone accidentally threw away all my curriculum at the church. Threw it away. I am sick to my stomach. I have no curriculum for my teachers.

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I'll help you! What we need to do is get all the teachers together in a room and lock the door. That's step 1. Let me know when you're ready for step 2.

Namatu said:

Curiously, a grocery store near me has some pre-made, put-in-the-oven-to-bake bread rolls. The ingredients include parabens. Now, parabens are in a lot of things, but I have never seen them in food before. I'm not eating that.

It is the making of proper food! Far fewer calories, no preservatives, no artificial flavoring...

It's interesting to read labels. I needed to buy some bread crumbs for a recipe. I had no bread so couldn't make them myself. The little container with bread crumbs in them had such a long list of ingredients, with long and interesting words. The container for panko bread crumbs had four ingredients, all of which I could identify and pronounce. I bought that one.

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Always go with what you can pronounce. I use only Extra Virgin Olive Oil for cooking. If I need a sauce, I do it from scratch, even my tomato sauce. (Fresh basil, roma tomatoes, clove garlic, and a few other choice spices.) And Namatu, Panko are the only bread crumbs to use if you can't make your own. IMO

(Yes, I'm a Foodie.)

heyjude said:

Done. I'm ready for step 2. (Don't forget that the teachers are innocent. Not that I have an issue with hurting the innocent. )

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Step 2: Assign them each a part of the curriculum to create. Drawings are allowed (some people may be visual learners). If anyone balks, start quoting from Jonathan Edwards's "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry HJGod."
"There is nothing that keeps wicked men at any one moment out of hell, but the mere pleasure of me."

Maybe Edwards didn't originally say "me." But will they know that?

Ken Hoss said:

(Yes, I'm a Foodie.)

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I don't know that I'm a Foodie, but I have distinct food preferences. I fully support people making the food that works for them. What works for me is all fresh, all the time, and usually organic (it looks nicer). I also make my own dressings. I do not, however, make my own ice cream or chocolate.

heyjude said:

Good plan. Do I get a whip?

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Yes!

heyjude said:

I am SO in on this plan. Someone ordered me new curriculum today, but I'm just going to send it back. This is so much better.

When I get arrested, I'm calling you to bail me out, you know that don't you?

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Of course!

Namatu said:

I don't know that I'm a Foodie, but I have distinct food preferences. I fully support people making the food that works for them. What works for me is all fresh, all the time, and usually organic (it looks nicer). I also make my own dressings. I do not, however, make my own ice cream or chocolate.

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Well, I am definitely a "Foodie". I've had foods from all around the world. Granted, some was so bad it would gag a goat, but I at least had the guts to try it. All in all though, I've had some good experiences and wouldn't trade them for anything. If I can find them, I always get fresh veggies, fruits, meats and fish. Love fish!

Sorry, I forgot to mention chocolate.

HJ I hope you get the curriculum sorted soonest.

Cooking cookies is an art. I spent last year teaching food technology and stopped the kids from bringing in cookie kits. That is a box with all the ingredients and you add an egg/water/margarine mix it etc.. Most of them were a complete disaster - and one was so funny! Three girls each had a kit and told me they needed no help. They followed the instructions carefully and then put the mixture on the baking tray and put it in the oven. Twenty minutes later one of them asked for help. I opened the oven, fanned the smoke away and removed the tray. On the tray was a heaving, mucky coloured mess - it looked like magma! It carried on bubbling for a while. When it was cool enough they tried to remove the mixture. They could not! The technician soaked the tray in her special mixture and eventually we threw the tray out. The other two trays were almost as bad. One lot was edible but, according to the pupil tasted rank.

heyjude said:

Good heavens Shakesbear! I thought I was a lousy baker!

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LOL! I am sure that we all have disasters. I know I have. The one I described was a spectacular one. I would not have been surprised to see an Orc rise out of the heaving mixture. The only thing I regret is that I did not get a pic of the Technicians face.

When I was in the 8th grade Home Economics class (we're talking waayyy back - when dinosaurs stll walked the earth) one of the girls didn't realise that you're supposed to drain the water from the macaroni when making macaroni cheese.

It was the only time I ever saw a teacher cry.

Nothing Like Chocolate...and a good book

It's cool, rainy here today. So I made myself a cup of hot chocolate. I'm working on a manuscript about murder that I plan to publish in a few weeks. Murder story, rainy fall days, hot chocolate--just makes me want to settle in for the day!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-15577305

GailD said:

When I was in the 8th grade Home Economics class (we're talking waayyy back - when dinosaurs stll walked the earth) one of the girls didn't realise that you're supposed to drain the water from the macaroni when making macaroni cheese.

It was the only time I ever saw a teacher cry.

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Oh my! That really is
mmmm hot chocolate .... must go and make myself a mug of hot chocolate
StoneWheller .. thanks for the inspiration.

I've eaten waaaay too much chocolate this week, courtesy of Halloween and a son with a peanut allergy (we have to cull everyone's bags after trick or treat - anything with peanuts goes to the office and the peanut butter cups go into my desk for snack time). Right now the pumpkin ice cream is calling me from the other room, and I'm trying very hard to ignore it. I'd blame being pregnant, but I'd eat just about anything if it had pumpkin in it.

Welcome, StoneWheller!

heyjude said:

That's hilarious!

I suddenly feel better about the burned cookies from the other day...

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I made scones once. Not sure what I did wrong but my children used them as frizbees, ;-(

I read today that dark chocolate is suppose to help focus the mind and improves concentration. So technically it's medicinal.

Today I have eaten about my own body weight in chocolate, on account of this being a lousy day. Though I have my first proper tour of the castle tomorrow, so tomorrow will probably be a big chocolate eating day as well.

heyjude said:

So my day never really feels complete unless I've hauled a turtle out of the middle of the road. Well today I'm super pissed because not only did some idiot come within about an inch of running over the poor turtle, he nearly ran me over, too. Why are people mean? ::cue Taylor Swift song::

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A turtle? How did he get in the road? Drivers can be so very, very clueless. It's scary. I'm glad you and the turtle are okay, hj.

Namatu said:

A turtle? How did he get in the road? Drivers can be so very, very clueless. It's scary. I'm glad you and the turtle are okay, hj.

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Good for you, heyjude.

Namatu, we see box turtles in the road pretty frequently here. The last time my husband stopped to save one, the driver behind him clapped. He saved a snapping turtle once. Not surprising, it tried to take off his hand for the favor. Sad to say, I think I'd leave the snappers to take their chances.

Chocolate covered pumpkin seeds. I can see how that would sound better in theory than execution.