Gelatinous

GO GO GODZILLA: Regular readers know that we closed out last week's blog by talking about making balloons out of gelatin. 

Guess what? We're still at it. 

What we were ultimately trying to accomplish, here, was making a clear globular helmet for an astronaut Godzilla. Our first batch was an abysmal failure - the orbs were too cloudy. So we made a second batch ... which we also weren't thrilled with. They were still too cloudy in our opinions.

So, it was on to version 3.0. We bloomed more platinum gelatin sheets ...

 We squeezed out the excess water and then slowly liquefied them over low heat. 

We carefully dipped balloons - just two coats this time, hoping thinner would be clearer. We also were super stingy with the oil applied to the balloon, wondering if perhaps that was part of the clouding issue. 

After the dipping and dripping, the wait was on again. ... 

Once they dried, we popped the balloons. They were definitely clearer than versions 1 and 2, but they were not crystal clear. 

There was one that was mostly OK, and we were going to go with that if need be, but I couldn't help but think about other ways to dome Godzilla's head.

I was returning some cake making supplies to a storage room when I spied an over-sized clear ornament that Annabelle received a present in this past Christmas. We'd saved it thinking it might be handy in a future craft project. I held it and thought, "Wow, if this were smaller, it would have made a perfect helmet!"

And then, I remembered that, in another storage closet, we had a container of smaller, clear plastic ornaments. Ding! Ding! Ding! 

Annabelle cut the stem and part of the top off with an Exacto knife. The hole was still too small, so Christian took it down to the garage and used his welding torch to warm up a knife, which he then used to shave the opening into a larger hole. 

Annabelle and I talked about which helmet to use. We decided that if it were for a cake competition, where everything had to be edible, our best clear gelatin one would have sufficed. However, this cake is about pleasing the birthday girl, and we thought she'd definitely be most pleased by being able to see Godzilla's head clearly. So plastic it is. 

Does it feel like we wasted a bunch of time and effort making gelatin balloons? Not really. They keep well (or so they say online), so we can store them for potential future use. Also, one of the things we like about these projects is that we learn new things every single time. And that's worthwhile!

A few more random Godzilla-in-the-making action shots.

BLISSFUL: Friday night, the kids attended opening night of the musical "Bliss" at The 5th Avenue Theatre. It was part of the Fridays at the 5th series for teens, which CJ and Annabelle both enjoy immensely. 

I'll have Annabelle tell you a bit about the show. ...

"Bliss" is a new musical production at the 5th Avenue Theatre in downtown Seattle. It’s a high-fantasy fairy tale styled musical that features 4 princesses, each with a different set of interests (astronomy, the outdoors, singing, and dragon slaying). They have been locked in a tower ever since their mom died years ago, and desperately want to escape so they can follow their dreams. The main themes in the play center around individuality and being yourself, and how sometimes perfect fairy tale princesses aren’t the ideal.

Without spoiling the plot, I’d say that while the show could use a bit of streamlining, it was easy for me to understand, and I found most of it quite entertaining and funny. The jokes in the show are well-timed and there aren’t so many that it over saturates the serious moments.

The show is running until February 23rd, so space is limited if you want to go and see it before time is up. If you are a fan of musicals, fantasy, and plenty of humorous inclusions, it might be worth going to see. However, it is still in development, and this shows at some times; certain scenes last just a bit too long or jokes fall flat. If you don’t mind a performance that’s still being worked on, I’d recommend it!

Interestingly, the kids weren't supposed to be at opening night, The play was supposed to premiere days before, however technical difficulties kept pushing the opening night back. 

Here's a video from The 5th about the show.


PUN FUN: We hit a couple of thrift stores on Saturday. While thrifting, we're always looking for new-to-us games. One of the ones we picked up this weekend was "Punderdome."

It's apparently based on a game a father and daughter used to host in a bar. For the home version, you draw two cards, and try to come up with a sentence or phrased based on the two that includes a pun. You have 90 seconds to do so. 

So, for instance, in one round the two cards read "Being a Hero" and "Celebrities." For that, I came up with "Bieber was Justin time to save the drowning Kardashian." (I thought it funny that CJ and I both used Kardashian in our answer.) 

I think I enjoyed the game more than the other three I played with. For me, it felt like I either came up with something immediately or not at all. I think we'll probably play this game again a time or two and then regift it.

FOOD JUSTICE FOR ALL: I recently saw a Seattle Parks & Recreation post on social media about a class for teens called "Ready Set Cook." It's a cooking class, but it's also about food justice (issues like access to affordable, nutritious food, for example).

I thought it would be cool for CJ and Annabelle to be involved, so I signed them up. They'll be attending on four Saturday nights in March. Today, I spied an article in The Seattle Times about the class. Check out this link if you'd like to learn more about it. ...
https://www.seattletimes.com/education-lab/seattle-teenagers-get-a-crash-course-in-new-chopping-skills-food-justice-issues-at-community-cooking-classes/

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

GOOD NEWS: We received a letter from South Seattle College in the mail yesterday. It was addressed to Christian, but since CJ attends the school, I figured it was actually for him. 

I handed it to him and he oh-so-carefully opened it. (Seriously, it took like five minutes.) I was thinking it was probably a bill of some sort. 

Fortunately, I was wrong. Instead, it was his first-ever, "You've made the dean's list" letter.

Good going, CJ!

BAD NEWS: The first news story I read this morning was terribly disappointing.  The headline on the CNN Business article read, Boeing's Starliner spacecraft, built to carry astronauts, faces new safety concerns."

Ruh-roh.

Sure, we knew about the 'anomaly' on the demonstration flight of the Boeing Starliner in December, when misfired due to the capsule's internal clock being 11 hours off, causing its thrusters to misfire and send it off course. (I'm still scratching my head at that one, to be honest.)

NASA has just announced they're launching a full-scale safety review on Starliner, due to "numerous instances where the Boeing software quality processes either should have or could have uncovered the defects."

Space News reported that a separate software problem was disclosed at a public meeting on Thursday. This deficiency could have caused a "catastrophic failure," they reported. While Boeing  identified and corrected the error before it impacted Starliner's behavior, it's still super concerning that it happened int he first place. 

There's was supposed to be a joint Boeing/NASA press conference today. We'll see what that news brings. We tried to tune in at 12:30 our time to listen, but it wasn't on any of NASA's channels. Not sure what's up with that. ...

At this point, it's looking almost certain that SpaceX is beating Boeing in the quest to return manned spaceflight to America's space program.

WORK IN PROGRESS: We've got another Birthday Dreams cake project in the works here. The recipient is a 12 year old girl who wants a galaxy cake ... and she loves Godzilla. "We have to do that," Annabelle declared upon reading the 'help wanted' post.

So we're in the midst of building an astronaut Godzilla. Yesterday, Annabelle made modeling chocolate and started sculpting his skeleton (which will be covered in fondant).

Another one of the elements we're going to need is a space suit helmet. 

We have a little experience with gelatin balloons from a previous Birthday Dreams project. This time, though, we need the balloons to be clear, and that's a little trickier. We did a fair amount of research and found that our best bet is likely using "platinum" gelatin sheets, to produce the most clear globe possible. 

A post on the gelatin-producer's website takes people through the process step-by-step.

One of the things we learned on their site is that transparent sheet gelatin is graded from lowest to highest gelling power and purity: titanium, bronze, silver, gold, and platinum. "The gelling power is also known as the gelatin’s 'bloom strength,' named after Oscar Bloom, who patented the first test for measuring the thickening properties of gelatin. The higher the bloom strength, the greater the gelling capacity of a given amount of gelatin in the same amount of liquid," the Kitchen Alchemy site interestingly informs. 

We went for platinum-grade sheets because it has the highest bloom strength and greatest gelling power. 

Another interesting gelatin factoid: The gelatin has to be hydrated in cold water before being dissolved in hot liquid. "This process of hydration is referred to as “blooming” the gelatin. However, blooming has no relation to Oscar Bloom or bloom strength. Yes, we agree, it’s a little confusing," notes Kitchen Alchemy. "But now you know."

They also have a video about topping cupcakes with gelatin snowglobes. If you're so inclined, you can watch it below.


So, having now actually followed the website's written and video instructions, all I can said is, "Are you kidding me?" It didn't work at all. It was a frickin' hot mess - literally. 

To our eyes, it looked like the sugar never really dissolved all of the way in the gelatin. It was a cloudy mess (and got worse when we poked at it, not better). Thank god I said to Annabelle we were only going to make half a batch (because I wanted back up supplies in case it didn't work). 

After the total fail, we both hopped back online looking for alternative instructions. Fortunately, we found some on another website, Sugar Hero! She used gelatin sheets, but bloomed them for longer, and then put them and a little bit of water right into a saucepan (instead of using a double boiler). This melted nicely was was crystal clear. 

We dipped lightly-greased balloons into the gelatin - three coats for each one. And now, we wait. Sunday morning we'll find out if it worked, or it is a delayed disaster.

Sauerkraut and Stories

FERMENTING: On Tuesday evening, Annabelle and I attended a class about fermenting. I think I found out about it via a Facebook post from the City of Renton. We were actually lucky to get a seat in the class - there was only space for 25, and one of the organizers said the waiting list was another 25 long. I guess people are interested in fermenting.

The class announcement read, "Come learn to preserve food with only a little salt and water! This workshop will provide you with a basic working knowledge of how to brine ferment your own vegetables.

The kefir fermentation of dairy products will also be discussed and demonstrated. All participants will have the opportunity to prepare their own jar of brined veggies to take home and enjoy. Kefir grains will be available for those interested in fermenting their own dairy at home."

The class was held at Renton Technical College, about a 15 minute drive from our house during rush hour, which it was. It was dark, and the campus was pretty big, but we managed to find the building the class was in. Once in the building, though, we weren't sure where to go. Participants had been asked to bring their own knives, so I said to Annabelle, "Look for people with knives, and follow them!" That is not normally advice I'd give her.

All of the necessary ingredients were provided for us, which was nice. What was not quite as wonderful, is that we were all invited to come up to the front of the demonstration kitchen and grab what we wanted. I'm a little bit of a clean freak when it comes to prepping food, and I wasn't wild about everyone and their god-knows-where-those-have-been hands pawing all over everything.

A volunteer from Sustainable Renton led the class. It started off with an explanation of what kefir (pronounced key-fur) is (fermented milk) and samples were offered.

Now, I'm not much of a milk drinker to begin with, but I was willing to give it a go.

Annabelle, however, was not. Not after the look I got on my face after trying it, and what I said to go along with it. "Tastes like someone poured vinegar into milk," I described, grimacing.

So, we're not going to be kefir producers any time soon.

Sample number two was MUCH better. Some fermented green beans. They were snappy, spicy, and super garlic-y. Delicious! 

The host, who is apparently a chemist by trade, told us all sorts of things about fermenting. For instance, he claimed "Fermented food is medicine." He said he's a gleaner, and basically lives off of food other people throw away. 

He's also a bit of a mold advocate. "Mold isn't all bad," he insisted. He said the only kind that will kill you if you eat it is some bright pink strain from South America. I'm not sure I'd take that assertion  to the bank. 

Eventually, we were invited down to the demonstration kitchen to grab things to put into our jars. (All of the food and even the jars were provided, which was nice.)  Annabelle went for mostly cabbage, hoping to make a sauerkraut. In the photo below, she's adding brine to her jar.

I grabbed whatever I could. Each of our jars were topped with a lettuce leaf that acts like a cap, of sorts. Now, we wait for the fermentation process to work its magic.

If it turns out OK, we'll be making lots more fermented veggies! (We owe a big THANK YOU to Aunt Ruthie for giving us a bunch of big jars that will be perfect for it!)

WET WEATHER CONTINUES: Have I mentioned how dreary it has been around Seattle this winter? Yes, I thought so. I've mentioned it multiple times. But it's really just so oppressive. Another week of rain here, complete with flooding and landslides around. On Tuesday, we even had about three hours worth of snowfall. 

The t-rex didn't seem to mind, and it didn't bother Bexley, either (we're cat sitting).

Kirby and Laika weren't big fans, though.

MORE STORIES: Storytelling continues to be a theme in CJ's English class. As part of his homework this week, he was to listen to a short story by cousins James Ransom and Cherie Johnson, who were recalling their fearsome Sunday school teacher, Miss Lizzie Devine. We really enjoyed it.

You can hear it here: https://youtu.be/KQF79ch6mA8

The story is part of StoryCorps, which has been working since 2003 to help preserve the stories of more than half a million people of all backgrounds and beliefs. 

Up to the Challenge

DEFIANT: Last week, one of CJ's English assignments was to write about a place that makes him uncomfortable. And so, we went to the gym. 

Generally speaking, this gym is a place CJ enjoys. But there are a couple aspects of it that make him uncomfortable. I'll have him tell you the story.

For the past few months, I have been going to a local gym named Defy. You won’t find any treadmills or weights here, though. Defy’s central attractions are the elaborate trampoline setups, including a very large grid of trampolines in the center of the area. The gym also proudly features an obstacle course on par with American Ninja Warrior. The entire back half of the gym is an expansive grid of trampolines. I've long since become familiar with the primary trampoline array, and it’s where I spend most of my time. However, it’s not the only attraction Defy has to offer its guests.

In the northwest corner of the gym are the “Supertramps,” named after the iconic British band from the 1970s. The Supertramps are equipped with more springs than standard trampolines, and they are next to walls that visitors can bounce on to. During numerous visits, I tried and tried to get up on the wall, but each attempt was fruitless. Even at the most recent visit, it was a struggle for me to get up the eight-foot wall. I sweatily jumped, fruitlessly bouncing on the trampoline in hopes of getting the height necessary to ascend the wall. After several desperate attempts, I finally reached the top. But it gets worse.

The real uneasiness for me came from coming down. Again, there are only about eight feet from the Supertramp on the floor to the top of the wall. But since I’m six feet tall, it looked like over a story from my perspective. At age sixteen, I pitifully called for my middle-aged mother to come rescue me. She awkwardly assisted me back down. It wasn’t exactly my proudest moment. At this point, my choices were never going up on the wall again, or managing to descend independently. On my most recent visit to Defy, I was determined to go alone. I scaled the wall on my first attempt, and then clumsily lowered myself back down. This wasn’t very graceful either, but it was a step up (no pun intended) from my mommy coming to save me. After two or three trips up and down the wall, I was able to get off and on it without hesitation.

Near the front of Defy is the “Tower.” Above a massive, inflatable pillow are three ledges, each three feet up from the one below. The first ledge is about four feet off the pillow. Jumpers are told to land on either their butts or their backs. Kids half my age taking the plunge off the Tower, even at its highest, is a common sight. The ledges may not appear very intimidating to onlookers, but it was quite a bit different to me, as the jumper. At previous visits to Defy, I frequently climbed up the Tower’s staircase, but I always chickened out and shamefully slogged down the stairs. However, at this visit, I nearly leaped off the middle ledge about seven times before finally making the rear-first plunge. Fortunately, after my first dive down, I quickly got the hang of it, though it was still a little uncomfortable. (Here's some video of that: https://youtu.be/9EMtYazpFb4)

However, I was not yet satisfied. The third and highest ledge still awaited. Thankfully, Defy wasn’t busy that day, so I had plenty of shots at making the leap during my brief visit.

I was trembling with fear at the topmost ledge. My family cheered me on from the floor, but I shamefully walked down the stairs multiple times. We were about to leave, but I chose to attempt a leap one more time. After shakily ascending the stairs leading to the top ledge, I made a hop of faith, down on my butt, to the pillow. I survived, and I overcame my fear. (Video of the bigger jump https://youtu.be/587BIJCOcMI .)

But I wasn’t done yet. I made a point to take a short ride on Defy’s zipline attraction. When a staff member is manning the station, visitors are encouraged to take a ride on the zipline, over a sea of foam blocks. The last time I tried to use the zipline, I almost instantly dropped like a sack of concrete, before crawling from the pit with bloodied hands. This time, I zipped over the field of foam, and crawled out stronger for it.

All in all, it was a good day at Defy. I literally overcame obstacles, and I probably won’t have difficulty with them in the future. My future visits are going to be more fun, because there aren’t as many barriers for me.  (Here's his zipline trip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cq2ImQnVLW0&feature=youtu.be

Meanwhile, Annabelle keeps working away on her to do list. She continues to make progress traversing the climbing wall. 

SOLEMN STOP: Saturday afternoon we were headed up Airport Way with me in the driver's seat. When we were passing The Museum of Flight, I pulled into a parking lot on the west side of the main building. Christian and the kids asked me what I was doing, and I reminded them that it was February 1, the anniversary of the loss of space shuttle Columbia in 2003. The museum has a wonderful statue of Michael P. Anderson, a Washington resident and NASA astronaut, who was lost in the disaster.  

We paused for a moment to pay our respects.

SUPER SUNDAY: The Super Bowl was Sunday. Even though we had just one guest over for the game, we still marked the big game with some themed food. We made clam chowder from scratch and served it with sourdough bread as a nod to San Francisco, the NFC team in the game. We made Kansas City style ribs as a nod to the Kansas City Chiefs. Kennedy brought bierocks, a Missouri staple, per the Internet. Annabelle and I worked together on a key lime cheesecake (since the big game was being played in Miami).

We (unfortunately) chose to use the recipe from a video I found on YouTube. It claims the cheesecake a "1st Place Winner!!!"

I claim it's not fit for a consolation prize. 

We are pretty experienced makers and bakers, and followed the instructions to a t. 

What a mess. The sides of the cheesecake stuck terribly to the pan (yes, we greased it), and the cheesecake was "curdy," for lack of a better descriptor. It tasted mostly OK, but it was super disappointing, overall.

MAKER: Monday morning Annabelle awoke and declared she was going to build a piano.

And that's what she did, using dozens and dozens of parts from a Nintendo Labo kit. 

She worked away, quietly and independently. It took her a little over an hour to finish the build. Then, she had to put it to the test. 

As you can see and hear, it worked quite well!

POST SCRIPT:  I had this (rather lengthy) blog all done last night. And upon clicking "Publish,"  the whole darn post disappeared, including saved drafts. Sigh.

Procedure

WAITING ROOM: Thursday morning came early, with a 5 a.m. alarm.

That's Christian's normal four days a week, so it wasn't unusual for him. And while I'm usually awake before 5, when the alarm goes off (thanks, insomnia!), I'm not usually up at that time.

Today was different, however, as we had to head to the hospital. Christian had a date with a surgeon to get a pesky, painful bump removed from his right hand.

Valley Medical Center is a pretty facility on a hillside in Renton, WA. I found it ironic that signs tell people to be quiet, but in the lobby there's a BIG water feature that pumps vast quantities of gallons per minute, making it pretty loud. 

Also in the middle of the lobby were a team of construction workers replacing enormous windows, and making hella noise while doing so.

The nursing personnel were friendly and efficient, and the anesthesiologist looked like he was about 20. (Funny how people start looking younger and younger as you get older and older.)

The patient is at home, resting comfortably, and is looking forward to getting that splint off - hopefully on Tuesday.

WINTER OF OUR DISCONTENT: This winter, coupled with the end of fall, has been one for the books so far, and I don't mean that in a good way. Most everyone has heard the phrase "Sleepless in Seattle," but our weather for months now has made it "sunless in Seattle."

Now, I know what you're thinking. It rains in Seattle. Duh. And that's true, of course, but the total amount of rainfall isn't the problem at the present. What is a problem is the fact that Seattle hasn't had an official sunny day since November. Really. It's true.

t's sunless in Seattle as city weathers one of the gloomiest stretches in recent history
By Pedram Javaheri, CNN MeteorologistIn fact,

To be a bonafide sunny day, it means the sky has to have one-eighth or less cloud cover. And our weather hasn't managed to muster that in months now.

According to CNN meteorologist Pedram Javaheri, "Just two days in December were even considered partly sunny and those days still managed to have an average of 70% cloud cover in the sky's above."

That has made for waaaaaay too many gloomy days 'round these parts.

January has also been dreary. As I sit typing on the 31st, every single day has been significantly cloudy.

Here's hoping for a brighter February.

Plane Spotting

BIG BIRD: A couple of days ago, there was big aviation news in the skies above Seattle; Boeing's enormous new passenger jet, the 777-9, took its maiden flight.

The big bird took off from Payne Field  at 10:09 a.m. From there, it flew over the Evergreen State for about four hours before landing at Boeing Field.

I wish we'd had our act together, we likely could have seen its approach for landing. Or, we could have gone to Boeing Field to watch it land. Instead, we have to settle for this video, from C-NET.

One notable design feature of the 777-9 is that plane's wing tips fold up so that it can fit at airport gates. Fully extended, they're 235 feet, 5 inches wide. When folded up, they're 212.75 feet. The plan is 251 feet, 9-inches long. 

The mammoth 777-9 has seating for 426 passengers and a range of over 7,285 nautical miles.
In a press release, Boeing says the plane is the world's "largest and most fuel efficient twin-engine commercial jet."  

Annabelle and I were driving south of Seattle on I-5 yesterday, approaching Boeing Field and I told her to be on the lookout for the 777-9, thinking it might still bet there. Sure, enough, before long we spied the big bird, its nose toward the freeway. 

Later that afternoon, we were headed to South Seattle College and I told the kids we were going to take an alternative route, closer to Boeing Field, to try to get a better look.

The plane had actually been moved in that time span, but we did find it, nose toward the west this time. 

Here's a terrible photo Annabelle took of it through the car window. Can you make out the "9" on its tail?

I told the kids they were one of just a tiny percentage of people on Earth who had seen a plane like that to date, and that's one of the cool things about living in "Jet City."

Feeding Teens

SMASHING SATURDAY: Saturday, a fair amount of our activity centered on getting ready for Teen Feed. That's our once-a-month gig in the U District where we, along with several other volunteers, get together and provide a big ol' hot meal to teens and young adults living on the street. 

This month's menu inspiration was the IKEA cafeteria, ha ha. It was actually billed as a Swedish Smörgåsbord. On the menu was meatballs (and non meatballs for our vegetarian/vegan guests), mashed potatoes, gravy, mixed veggies, and then cinnamon rolls and cupcakes for dessert. 

We'd signed up for two dozen cinnamon rolls and mega mashed potatoes, among other things. While baking from scratch would have been nice, I'm not gonna lie - we bought those tubes of dough. The price was right, and I knew we'd be making 18 pounds of mashed potatoes from scratch that day, so we had our hands full. 

The rolls actually smelled great when they were done cooking. Annabelle squeezed the ready-made icing atop them.

With the rolls out of the way, we turned our attention to the potatoes. CJ was busy with school work, and Christian was working on a project, so that left Annabelle and me to peel and slice and cook 18 pounds of potatoes. 

I was actually surprised at how quickly we peeled those taters. And then we filled up a couple of pressure cookers to the brim with them. When the time for cooking was up, I declared we'd release the pressure outside, rather than in our kitchen, because I didn't want our place covered in a mist of mashed potato steam. It was a good decision. 

Annabelle and I added a bunch of sour cream, some butter, some garlic powder, white pepper and salt and then mashed the potatoes by hand. About 4:30, we headed north to prep the service kitchen for dinner.

Eventually, other people arrived, bring their donations. As you can see below, we had no shortage of cinnamon rolls. We also served cupcakes.  I brought along some Swedish fish and lingonberry game to put on the rolls or cupcakes if the diners preferred. 

 We had drinks ready, and gallons of gravy.

And meatballs. So. Many. Meatballs. About 50 pounds in total, I kid you not. (Have I mentioned these kids are HUNGRY and craving protein?)

The Smorgasbord was a hit, no surprise. Now, it's time to start thinking about next month's menu.

BEE-WARE: We've had a day or two here and there recently where it was a little unseasonably warm. On one such occasion, Christian took a peek into our to hives. 

Bees sometimes winter over OK in these parts. Often, they don't. At this point, it looks like one of our hives might be lost. The newer of the two hives still has some bees doing their things inside. 

Meanwhile, we just received our renewal notice to register our apiaries with the state. In the bill, there was an information flyer about the dreaded Asian giant hornet invasion. 

They are big, bad news. I've included photos of the flyer's front and back FYI.

They're about 1.5 inches long, with a yellow head. If you see one of these, you should report it, ASAP. And stay away from the bugger. They pack a powerful sting. 

Here's a National Geographic video about the fearsome insect. Just a little fodder for future nightmares. Sorry.