Well, Christmas is over, and the manic consumerism that is "Boxing Week" has begun.
After a lovely and relaxing (if slightly marred by the flu) Christmas with the family, I am looking forward to the New Year and all the new beginnings it offers. New beginnings come from endings, and I am currently mourning the ending of something special to me...
... my favorite butcher shop is closed.
That's right folks, Bashaw Meats and Sausage has closed it's doors.
Along with the other new opportunities 2012 will have to offer, I shall embark on a quest to find a local, small-town butcher shop to replace Bashaw. Specifically looking for one not too far away, that makes excellent pork breakfast sausages.
With a slogan like "You can't beat our meat", how could you go wrong?
End of an era. They just don't make 'em like that anymore.
It's Christmas Eve! School is (finally!) out for the year, and it's time for me to get into a more seasonal, festive spirit. It would help if all the snow hadn't melted, but what can you do?
Spending the night at my parents tonight (how else will Santa know where to find me?) which means today and tomorrow will be filled with good food, great friends, and lots of laughs.
It will also involve the annual reading of Clement Moore's 1823 classic "A Visit From St. Nicholas"...
'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse; The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there; The children were nestled all snug in their beds, While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads; And mamma in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap, Had just settled down for a long winter's nap, When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter, I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash, Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.
The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below, When, what to my wondering eyes should appear, But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer, With a little old driver, so lively and quick, I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came, And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name; "Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen! On, Comet! on Cupid! on, Donder and Blitzen! To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall! Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!"
As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly, When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky, So up to the house-top the coursers they flew, With the sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas too. And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my head, and was turning around, Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound. He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot, And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot; A bundle of toys he had flung on his back, And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.
His eyes -- how they twinkled! his dimples how merry! His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry! His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow, And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow; The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth, And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath; He had a broad face and a little round belly, That shook, when he laughed like a bowlful of jelly.
He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf, And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself; A wink of his eye and a twist of his head, Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread; He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work, And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk, And laying his finger aside of his nose, And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose; He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle, And away they all flew like the down of a thistle. But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,
"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night."
One more day until Christmas break! Teaching until the 23rd is just mean... the kids all checked out days ago, and in high school it means we are crunched for time when we get back to finish before the semester ends.
When things get this busy and hectic, it's nice to sit back and relax with a hot cup of tea. At this time of year though, I find myself craving apple cider. I loke to make my own, as I can make it to whatever taste I happen to be feeling at the time.
I don't really follow a recipe, but this is as close as it gets..
In a skillet, heat 1 L apple juice and 2 Tbsp maple syrup over medium high heat. I often add 2 C water to make it a bit less sweet (I find apple juice incredibly sweet as is).
If you are fancy, you can use cheesecloth. Since I never have cheesecloth, I contain my spices in loose leaf tea bags. Put about 2 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp allspice, 5 whole cloves, 5 black peppercorns and orange zest in a bag so it's easier to fish out later. If you are like me and also don't own a zester (for shame!) slices of orange rind work equally well.
Bring to a gentle boil, and turn heat to low for 10 minutes, stirring occaisonally. Remove spice bags and serve piping hot!
I love working in a big school - the large staff means there is always someone else who is interested in similar things as you. This past year, our lab technician and I have discovered a mutual love for baking - we will both bring in cookies (him) and cupcakes (me) for the rest of the department to nibble on and share recipes.
So I blame him for the events of the past week... in a moment of weakness I agreed to sign up for the Christmas Cookie Exchange... and then I discovered after that I was responsible for bringing 7 and a 1/2 dozen cookies to an after school event. On a Thursday. I don't have time for this!? Especially when I was in Jasper the previous weekend.
Plus, I am not one of those people who does things half-heartedly. Go big or go home. So of course I can't bring lame cookies to a cookie exchange... (I will not be the person who shows up with chocolate chip cookies! I won't!)
In wanting to bring something unique, something most people will not have tried or made before, I settled on rosettes. My grandmother made them every Christmas and they are definitely a family favorite. Because they are so light and delicate, my grandfather apparently used to eat several because they are nothing more than "wind, air and suction sauce". Whatever that means.
My parents came to the rescue, and loaned me there kitchen and their hands, since this recipe requires fair amount of work per cookie (but soooo worth it!).
Rosettes are a Scandinavian cookie that is made from a light batter (think pancakes) and then each cookie is deep fried in peanut oil on a cast iron form. You need a rosette iron for this, but they're really easy to find online or in specialty kitchen stores.
Rosettes
2 eggs
1 T sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 C flour
1 C whole milk
1 tsp vanilla
peanut oil for deep frying
1 C icing sugar
Beat eggs slightly. Add 1 T sugar and salt. Add flour and milk alternately, blending until smooth. Stir in the vanilla - batter should be about the consistency of pancake or crepe batter.
Heat at least 3 " of oil in a pan to 365 F. Place the rosette iron in the hot oil for 60 seconds to heat up.
Dip the iron into the batter, making sure not to allow the batter to run over the top (or you'll never get the darn things off). Immerse the coated iron in the hot oil and fry for around 25 seconds (until light brown).
Using a fork, slip the rosette off onto a paper towel and repeat.
Coat rosettes in icing sugar when they are cool and store in an air tight container. One recipe makes about 3 dozen cookies.
This past weekend, a group of friends went out to Jasper to celebrate my friend Dominique's birthday. Ohhh the times we had...
Since I don't downhill ski, I spent the weekend exploring Jasper. I hadn't been there in years, and it was a delight to discover! Still much less commercial than Banff, and everything within walking distance of our hotel.
Last post I mentioned that I was taking my students to West Edmonton Mall to do some real-life amusement park Physics.
We had a great day - the students had a blast (in and out of the park... some of my boys got bra fittings at Victoria's Secret... "Guess what!? I'm a 40-double A!") and it was great to get out of the school and apply the theory from the classroom.
Not such a high point was when I accidentally dropped my phone into a toilet. It survived... but definitely not one of my better moments.
Swing of the Century... Making teenagers sick one field trip at a time.
One of my favorite things about teaching science is watching students realize how neat the world actually is. Teenagers, especially, like to think they know everything, and are prone to acting nonchalant about new information. "Duh. Everyone knows that...." Sometimes accompanied by an eye roll.
But every now and then I can surprise them with something they've never had to think about before. It happens a few times in physics. Good ol' cognitive dissonance. People often think that the math in physics is what's challenging, but it's really not. If you can do algebra, you can do all the math you need to for high school physics. The theory is what's tricky... any one can put a number into a formula and get an answer... but ask them to explain why the water in the bucket over my head doesn't fall out when I swing it?
One of the more challenging concepts for students is the idea of "weight". How much matter is in my body is called my mass, and I measure it in kilograms. We are brought up believing that this is our weight, but it's really not.
Weight is the force exerted on you by the Earth's gravity. When you step on a weigh scale, the scale is calibrated so that it takes the acceleration due to gravity into effect and tells you your mass, not your weight.
Fair enough, you might think. So what's the tricky part?
The tricky part comes when you ask a student why they feel like they have mass. (I once made the mistake of rhetorically asking a group of grade eleven's why I feel heavy, and one of them shouted out "'Cause you're fat!" much to the shock and horror of his classmates. I laughed.) What causes you to feel like you have "weight"? Most people will answer with gravity. But if I ask what they would feel if I threw them off a cliff, they all know that they would feel "weightless".
Feeling like you have mass is a condition of being in contact with a surface, namely the ground. My mass pushes down on the Earth, and in accordance with Newton's Third Law (for every action there is a equal and opposite reaction) the Earth pushes back. In physics this is called the normal force, or your apparent weight. The Earth pushing back on me is what I feel, what gives me the illusion of having weight. The force of gravity is still pulling on me when I fall off a cliff; what is missing is the normal force.
My apparent weight can change under different circumstances as well. Accelerate me up in an elevator and I feel heavier. Start going down and I will momentarily feel lighter as the floor falls out from underneath me and supplies less normal force. It's a mind-baffling concept, because it is quite different from our every day perceptions about the world around us.
Tomorrow, I am taking my Physics 20 class to Galaxyland at West Edmonton Mall to make calculations and observations about different amusement park rides. I'm looking forward to having them challenge their existing beliefs and experience some of these concepts first hand!
The following is the video I used to illustrate how we can artificially create a "zero gravity environment" (really, there is still gravity... just no normal force, because the plane is falling at the same rate you are!). I hope you enjoy it as much as my students did!
I was having a rough week last week (just some of those days, you know?) and two things made me feel heaps better....
1. I bought myself flowers. Flowers just make me so happy! (I love my plants... but none of them are flowering right now...)
2. We decorated the house for Christmas!
Our Christmas tree is so tall and skinny and silly looking because it was meant for an apartment building. Nothing says Christmas like saving space!
Because our tree came pre-decorated with pine cones and holly berries (which I found out Saturday night at 10 pm) we decided to keep the decorations simple and minimal. My parents gave us the old decorations from our childhood tree (which were old then) and we put up the cute little wooden ones. ... and a few other gems.
Because nothing says 'festive' like the Christmas Steam Boat.
Or the Christmas Winnie the Pooh...
I think my grandmother knit a whole trees worth of these one year... We had to put up at least one.
One of my favorite holiday traditions is watching Jim Henson's Muppet Family Christmas while I bake. If you haven't seen it, I highly suggest you do so. Now would be okay.
I have seen it so many times (several times a year pretty much since I was born) that I know all the words by heart. It has inflitrated my life to the point that, whenever any one says "Look what I've got!" my brain immediately follows it up with... "Christmas cookies!".
Sometimes I even say it out loud. And obviously in this way... (now is where you watch the YouTube clip, starting at 2:13...)
