Making It

TEST KITCHEN: "Don't bring anything to Thanksgiving dinner," they said. 

Well, you know me. I'm not arriving empty-handed. Plus, you know the saying ... there's always room for Jell-o.

Annabelle and I decided to have a little fun in the kitchen trying to construct a multi-layered, retro (and horrific, might I add) Jell-o mold. Consider it a gag gift. Literally, in this case.

The first layer, alone, was enough to make us shudder. Those are egg whites, in case you're wondering.

And then came olives, carrots, and Spam. Lots and lots of Spam. Fancy Spam!

The process took hours, because you can only do one strata at a time. You put a thin layer of gelatin in, let it set, put stuff atop it and repeat. I honestly lost count of the number of layers we made. It was over a time span of about eight hours.

Did I mention the mold made us shudder? 

Did it work? We won't know until the unveiling, er, unmolding, tomorrow. Stay tuned. ... 

Oh, and while we were at it, we made a bonus item. We didn't want the cranberry log to be lonely on the Thanksgiving table, so we tried making it a friend. Hopefully, if the recipe is right, we'll have a 'lovely' gellied pineapple log to go with it!

We made a bit of a mess in the process. 

Will it work? We'll find out tomorrow.

I told Annabelle the thing I found most disturbing about the gelatinous pineapple in a can was that in the comments on the recipe I found, people were raving about how wonderful it is. Shudder.

PRETTIER: Fortunately, not everything we made in the last 24 hours is horrifying. 

We're getting a jump on holiday gifts, and whipped out a custom t-shirt this morning. There's a fashion trend right now that features four names on a shirt. I think the first time I ever saw it, it was "John & Paul & Ringo & George." (The Beatles, obviously).

CJ has a shirt like that that features the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' names (Leo & Don & Raph & Mikey).

We decided we wanted to make a Queen-themed shirt. We found a font that matched the typeset usually used on such shirts (Arial Nova in bold, if you're wondering) and Annabelle formatted it to the size it would fit on the shirt.

We'd chosen a bright red shirt and gold rainbow foil iron on.  Annabelle used her Cricut machine to make the magic happen.

Then, it was a matter of finding the proper placement on the shirt.

And then, we ironed it on. That's always a nerve-wracking process. Fortunately, it went just fine.

We hope the shirt's a hit with gift recipient!

It's Element-ary

      Image courtesy of Keith Enevoldsen /ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0)
PERIODICALLY: We at MPA haven't spent enough time with the periodic table of elements, so whenever I see an interesting graphic featuring it, I try to pay attention. One that caught my eye this morning was a table that illustrates how we interact with each element. 

It was created by Boeing software engineer Keith Enevoldsen. He has kindly made it available online to view or download it for free.

The table is color-coded to show the chemical groupings. Small symbols pack in additional information: solid/liquid/gas, color of element, common in the human body, common in the earth's crust, magnetic metals, noble metals, radioactive, and rare or never found in nature. 

There's also a companion graphic that is done in words.

I printed out both today. Hopefully we'll all spend plenty of time gazing at them. 

          Image courtesy of Keith Enevoldsen /ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0)

ENGINEERING: We're on the email list for Seattle's future National Hockey League team, and today's update included an interesting 60-second video about how the "new" arena is being constructed. It's really a massive remodel of old Key Arena (built back in the early 1960s, for the 1962 Seattle World's Fair.

The video is mostly about engineering - how to make the structure seismically safe, and how the roof is held up with a 'kickstand' of sorts.
You can check it out here: https://www.nhl.com/news/digging-deep/c-311773120?tid=304993632

FLY BY: It's been way too long since we watch an International Space Station fly over, so we righted that wrong this evening. About the only good thing about it getting dark at 4:30 p.m. is that you have more opportunities to see the ISS overhead.

Any time you want to know who's on board and what they're doing, you can visit NASA's ISS website. 

Here are the astronauts on board right now.

As an experiment, I whipped my phone out and tried to take a couple of photos of the fly over. I was surprised that it actually worked, to some degree. I'll have to try a video next time. 

The Extra Mile

KITCHEN ADVENTURE: Last week was a busy week. A REALLY busy week. I had decided that Sunday I was going to do next-to-nothing.

That next-to-nothing included making pasta from scratch for the first time. :)

I have been talking about making pasta for years. Specifically, ravioli. But it has been all talk until today. Not sure why I was so hesitant to actually do it. It turns out it's really quite simple to make.

We followed a well-reviewed recipe, "Homemade Four Cheese Ravioli," very closely since it was our first foray. Like most any pasta recipe you'll find, it involved making a well (kind of volcano shaped)  on the countertop.

Then, you pour in your liquid (eggs, oil, a little water).

 You work the flour into the liquid a little at a time.

 Pretty soon you have a dough that you need to knead.

 Once that's done, the dough ball goes into the fridge to rest for a bit.

While the dough is resting, you're working. It's time to make the filling.

Also, in our case, it was time to make some sauce. The recipe called for a jar of marinara sauce. That struck me as so odd. Why would you make homemade pasta and then put store-bought marinara on it? Weird.

It's especially weird since marinara sauce is so easy and cheap to make. I chose to go with "Super Simple Marinara Sauce Recipe from Cookie + Kate. I followed it pretty closely, but added some red wine, of course. It made our house smell so wonderful, and it was delicious!

Before too long, it was time to get our rested dough ball rolled out on the countertop.

 We dolloped the filling onto the dough.

 And then we cut out our raviolis.

 After pressing the perimeter seams together, it was into the boiling water for them. The recipe said they were done when they rose to the top of the pot. That took about four minutes.

We fished them out and put them onto a greased cookie sheet and then into the oven for about five minutes.

Then, it was time to dish them up and enjoy.

Now that I'm an expert (ha ha) there are definitely things I would do differently next time.

For starters, the pasta was way too tough, IMHO. The recipe called for kneading the dough for 8-10 minutes. That was clearly way too long. Interestingly enough, Annabelle and I watched a random making-pasta video on YouTube before starting, and the dude in it kneaded for just 4-5 minutes.

Also, I'd roll the dough out a *lot* thinner. The recipe we used called for it as thick as a nickel. I think a dime would have been better.

All that said, I'm super happy we finally attempted making pasta, and am looking forward to making better pasta in the future.

ROCKIN' SPOKANE STYLE: Sunday morning we were up super early. I had to take CJ and Christian to the airport. Their destination was Spokane, and a rock show. They *had* to go there because CJ really wanted to see a metal band that is (allegedly) on their farewell tour. No idea why they decided to play Spokane instead of Seattle, but it was what it was. 

I'll have CJ tell you more about their experience. ...

Since their formation in 1981, thrash metal legends Slayer have inspired metal bands all over the world, continuing to release new music up to 2015's Repentless LP. Last year, Slayer announced that they were embarking on a farewell tour, bringing various other metal bands as openers. For the first time in their careers, Slayer got to headline arenas (as opposed to headlining clubs, or opening for more popular bands like Slipknot at arenas).

"The Final Campaign," the final leg of Slayer's farewell tour, featured three supporting bands: Philip H. Anselmo & the Illegals (AKA former Pantera vocalist Phil Anselmo's Pantera cover band), Ministry, and Primus.

Philip H. Anselmo & the Illegals were the first act to perform. Their set was near-exclusively composed of Pantera covers, unsurprising considering Phil Anselmo's best-known work. However, the concert made it clear (at least to those who didn't know yet, I certainly did) that Phil Anselmo's voice and stage presence are both long past their prime. He was often woefully off-pitch, and struggled to keep up with the tempo of the other musicians - even during the slower songs. While Phil Anselmo's set wasn't horrible, it certainly wasn't good.

At this point, I tried to sneak down to the floor, largely to get to the mosh pit. Even though I tried to get past distracted guards dealing with large crowds of people, I got caught, and was told that I would get kicked out if I tried to sneak in again.
Ministry's set was mostly good, and they had a sense of energy and interest in the show. I'm not familiar with Ministry's discography, so I can't really comment on whether or not they lived up to their Glory Days™.

Primus, the penultimate act of the night, was... an experience, to put it lightly. I'm not a very big fan of Primus' studio work, so I already didn't have a good feeling going in. Primus extensively utilized the video screen behind them during their set, playing clips of videos that (supposedly) went along with the songs. The nadir of Primus' set (and likely the entire concert) was when Les Claypool, a fifty-six-year-old man, described himself as "a throbbing penis." I am not making that up.

At 9 P.M., metal legends Slayer finally began their set. Their opener was the title track from Repentless, their latest album. Slayer's set covered their storied career, all the way from their 1983 debut Show No Mercy, up to the present. Those familiar with Slayer know that their songwriting is consistent, if not mildly formulaic. Even songs that I didn't know as well were great to rock out to. Throughout their entire set, Slayer maintained a great sense of energy - an impressive feat, considering that at least one member is nearing 60. Slayer did not perform an encore, but considering the quality of their performance that night, I don't think one was necessary.

So there you have it.

Despite CJ not wanting to be in a seat, it looks like they had really good seats. Per their website, the arena seats 11,661 in this set up.

Week End

CLASSY: Friday was part two of a writing and drawing comics class Annabelle is taking at MoPop (the Museum of Pop Culture), at Seattle Center.

One of the topics we touched upon Friday was the importance of lettering in comics. This worksheet was very helpful to that end.

In the afternoon, we made our way to the sci-fi gallery for some inspiration. There are so many super cool artifacts there from sci-fi movies, but for some reason, I found myself spending the most time in front of this display. Maybe it was because of its kind of comic-book like appearance.

 My eyes were drawn to the old Polaroid photos in the display. Turns out they are photos of renowned sci-fi artist Jack Gaughan and his wife, Phoebe. He would take these photos and then use them to help them in his paintings. 

 I'd not heard of Jack Gaughan by name before Friday, but I'm sure I've seen his work.

Of course, I did spend some time checking out sci-fi collectibles like Mork from Ork's gloves. I stood there for awhile and thought about Robin Williams and his manic comic genius. 

Of course, I had to say 'hi' to Gredo of Star Wars fame. Pretty neat to be able to see the actual costume of the character from my favorite childhood movie.

I found the Blade Runner artifacts a little depressing. That movie seemed so futuristic when it came out. And, unfortunately, its prediction for the year 2019 often feels like it's not too far off ("Earth is a polluted, used-up mess"). 

Completely random and non-related shot ... when we came back from a lunch break, there was a couple out in front of MoPop doing a photo shoot (and engagement shoot, I was guessing). It was SO COLD. That woman must have been freezing!

SWEET STUFF: At times, it feels like this has become a baking blog. Maybe that's because we bake A LOT.

A project this week was three kinds of cupcakes for a family member's "Little Pumpkin" themed baby shower. We submitted a list of flavor options, and they chose red wine, pumpkin spice and carrot cake as their flavors.

Friday, after class, we stopped at a couple of stores for supplies for cupcakes and Teen Feed (that's right, Empty Bowls, cupcakes and Teen Feed all in the span of four days - woo hoo!).

We got home about 3:30 and got busy. Fortunately, the kids are really great bakers and we whipped out all three kinds of cupcakes by 4:30, I kid you not. Oh, and cooked 16 pounds of chicken, too (for Teen Feed). 

Saturday morning, I got up early and made three kids of icing (marshmallow fondant, brown sugar butter cream and browned-butter and cream cheese). Once I iced the cupcakes, Annabelle and I decorated them.  

The red wine cupcakes were topped with discs of marshmallow fondant, which Annabelle hand painted to make it look like parchment paper. I tinted the fondant a red wine grape color and made grapes while Annabelle cut out leaves from green fruit leather.

The carrot cake cupcakes got the brown-butter cream cheese icing. Annabelle made a mix of gold, orange and green sprinkles to pretty those up with.

The pumpkin spice cakes got topped with ribbons of brown sugar butter cream. Yum!

Annabelle used her Cricut to make this banner. The flags are burlap. We weren't sure how we'd hang it on site, but we got creative and used paint-safe green masking tape, cut into leaf shapes. It worked out quite well!

SCIENCE SPECIMEN:  We've donated one of our dogs to science.

Kind of.

I recently stumbled across an article about the Dog Aging Project, a longitudinal observational study with ties to the University of Washington and Texas A&M. It's the type of study that follows the same research subjects over time, and measures - but not manipulates - the same variables over time. One of the myriad of things they'll be looking at is factors that will increase our dogs’ quality of life as they age. 

According to their website, the goal of the Dog Aging Project "is to understand how genes, lifestyle, and environment influence aging. We want to use that information to help pets and people increase healthspan, the period of life spent free from disease."

To date, over 65,000 people have nominated their dogs for inclusion in the project. (Enrollment is still open, by the way.) Interestingly, organizers were hoping for 10,000 test subjects initially. 

I'm a fan of 'citizen scientist' opportunities, so I opted our family, and our dog Laika, in.

The Dog Again Project is funded by a grant from the National Institute on Aging, a part of the National Institutes of Health, and by private donations. If you want to know more about the observational study, check out this link: here.

Study participants should soon receive a link to set up a personal portal account. After that, we'll start sharing info about our dog's health and life experiences.