Monday, November 07, 2011

Oh' Rome Moscato d'Asti

N.V. Oh' Rome Moscato d'Asti (Italy, Piedmont, Asti, Moscato d'Asti)

Vintage Type Producer Variety Designation Vineyard Country Region SubRegion Appellation

N.V. White - Sweet/Dessert Oh' Rome Moscato Blanco n/a n/a Italy Piedmont Asti Moscato d'Asti

light, low alcohol, lightly frizzante, sticky sweet moscato. The lady at HEB said it is perfect mixed with sprite.

Italy

Piedmont

Vignaioli Piemontesi (Italian only)

Moscato d'Asti

Consorzio per la Tutela dell'Asti

Thursday, August 04, 2011

Great Commencement Speech:

Ellen DeGeneres: Define Your Own Success

Tulane, 2009: My idea of success is different today. And as you grow, you’ll realize the definition of success changes. For many of you, today, success is being able to hold down 20 shots of tequila. For me, the most important thing in your life is to live your life with integrity, and not to give in to peer pressure. To try to be something that you’re not. To live your life as an honest and compassionate person. To contribute in some way.

So to conclude my conclusion: Follow your passion, stay true to yourself. Never follow anyone else’s path, unless you’re in the woods and you’re lost and you see a path, and by all means you should follow that. Don’t give advice, it will come back and bite you in the ass. Don’t take anyone’s advice. So my advice to you is to be true to yourself and everything will be fine.


Tom Brokaw: Know That Less Can Be More

University of Montana, 2011: We may not have given you a perfect world, but we have given you dynamic opportunities for leaving a lasting legacy as a generation fearless and imaginative, tireless and selfless in pursuit of solutions to these monumental problems, a generation that emerged from this financial tsunami and rebuilt the landscape of their lives with an underpinning of sound values and an eye for proportion, knowing, in fact, that less can be more. It will not be easy, but I can promise you it will be rewarding in ways that a Wall Street bonus or a shot on American Idol cannot compete.

So where to begin? … It will be the most rewarding if it is rooted in personal passion and carried out with purpose, even when the first steps are small. You have an assortment of nimble and powerful tools that can assist you, and the Internet, with its vast universe of information and a capacity for research and communications playing out on ever-smaller devices across an ever-widening spectrum of choices. But those are tools; they're not oracles. They complement your mind and your heart, but they do not replace them.

5th Grade Supplemental Math - Week 4

Week 4 Algebra
Introduction to matrices
Matrix multiplication (part 1)
Matrix multiplication (part 2)
Inverse Matrix (part 1)
Inverting matrices (part 2)
Inverting Matrices (part 3)
Matrices to solve a system of equations
Matrices to solve a vector combination problem
Singular Matrices
3-variable linear equations (part 1)
Solving 3 Equations with 3 Unknowns
Linear Algebra: Introduction to Vectors
Linear Algebra: Vector Examples
LinLinear Algebra: Parametric Representations of Lines
Linear Combinations and Span

Friday, July 29, 2011

Are you Kidding me?

okay, the scales are officially broken. they can not be right.

starting to hyperventilate? yes, I do that daily. it is okay, it is just a way your body deals with stress and too much information. Information overload is something that I get weekly. I know how much I learned in school, I went to Elementary, High School, and college for 20 years, and now that I am educating my own children, tutoring two in college with skype and two in elementary / intermediate school is if nothing else OVERWHELMING for me. the first year I was scared that I might fail, that we would try it out, the kids didn't believe in me, because I didn't believe in me, the second year we were frustrated and agitated, it was not going the way I wanted. Quarterly I would have a talk with my husband, and he was always ready to send them back, but I was resolved that this was the path even if I felt like Lewis and Clark and the journey was bound to fail. I finally got to a point 18 months into the journey. FAILURE IS NOT AN OPTION, and I informed my family.
Suck it up, Walk it off, this is our path: EVERY DAY, ALL DAY. It is better now, I know that I am not alone. I am not without resources and I am fully in charge to make changes on the fly as I see fit to tweak the program, I share my changes and surprisingly many are implemented throughout not just TXVA but all of K12, so we are truly a grassroots movement that is making a difference every single day not just in our children lives, but in the lives of those children that live down the street, across town, or in the next county. Do not be silent and alone at home, reach out and say what is working, it is not working, what you think would make it work better. k12 is listening, TXVA is listening, your teachers are listening, and most importantly, other parents are learning from you, even if you are Brand Spanking New at this, you have a head on your shoulders and a lifetime of experience to bring to the table. Oh and by the way, do not forget your needed in BOOSTERS at the next meeting.

however, I seem to be glued to this desk and my butt is spreading out to the size of the gulf of mexico, that can not be good. I know that it is hot, but I have decided that I have two flights of stairs in the house, I should go up and down them like 10 times per hour. yep, that should do it.

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

words to live by


RESPECT for ourselves, guide our MORALS
RESPECT for others, guide our MANNERS

Friday, July 15, 2011

Mom's Night In

The 2007 Fratelli Moscato d'Asti is 100% Moscato. Fruit comes from the Asti region in Piedmont. 600 cases of this wine were produced and is available from HEB price is $9.99.

This sparkling Moscato has intense aromas of fruit and honey. Throughout the palate honey, tropical fruit and an undercurrent of almond are present. There is a pleasant, inherent sweetness that glides along the tongue and coats the back of the tongue. Those sweet notes are perfectly balanced by enough acidity to keep this sparkler from every becoming cloying. On its own I would serve with appetizers such as goat cheese puffs or with a fruit tart for dessert.

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Wednesday

I went non stop today, parent support for TXVA, Cub Scout field trip to petco, we had 17 kids under 11 attend. then school supplies (did you know that Office Max has folders for $.01? and then Target for everything under the sun, and then art class at the museum (free) and then chess club at the library and then the boys made dinner (scout requirement) and then one boy had boy scouts and the other piano practice, after showers tonight I was exhausted.

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Almond Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies:

Recipe adapted from www.comfybelly.com

2 1/2 cups of blanched almond flour
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1/4 teaspoon of baking soda
8 tablespoons of butter (if you want the cookies a little chewier add 1-2 TBS additional butter)
1 tablespoon of vanilla
1/2 cup of honey (I use sugar-free honey from Nature’s Hollow)
1 cup of chocolate chips (I use sugar-free chocolate chips)

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl and blend well.
3. Add the wet ingredients and blend well again.
4. Prepare baking sheets with parchment paper, and drop a spoon full of cookie dough on the parchment paper, spacing the cookies about 2 inches apart.
5. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until they start to brown on the edges.

Friday, June 24, 2011

Who's YOUR momma?





It started with an Amish Friendship Sour Dough in a bag from Cub Scouts.
it Evolved into a day of reckoning
The 10 day to get to this point are an excersize in patience.
Note: Do not Refridgerate starter. It is normal for the batter to rise and ferment. if air gets in the bag, let it out.
Day 1: do Nothing
Day 2, 3, 4, 5: Mash the bag
Day 6: Add to the bag: 1 cup of flour, 1 cup of sugar, 1 cup of milk, mash the bag.
Day 7, 8, 9: Mash the bag
Day 10: follow the directions below:
pour the entire bag into a nonmetal bowl
add 1.5 cups four, 1.5 cups sugar, 1 cup milk
measure out 4 separate batters of 1 cup each into 4 1-gallon ziploc bags, label the current date.
keep one for yourself, and give the other bags to 3 friends along with the recipe.
Remember: if you keep a starter for yourself, you will be baking in 10 days.
Baking instructions:
1. preheat oven to 325'F
2. measure out 1 cup of remaining starter in a non metal bowl
3. add 2.5 cups of flour (could be white, wheat, or a blend)
4. add 2 tsp of yeast, fold and toss until flour is incoporated.
5. in a pint jar, add 1.5 cups of water, 3 Tbl sugar, 3 Tbl butter, microwave for 1 minute until butter is nearly melted
6. stir in jar, and add to starter / flour / yeast mixture until mixed well.
7. measure out 2.5 cups of flour (could be white, wheat, or a blend), add 1/2 tsp of baking soda, 1 tsp of sea salt
8. mix gingerly with rubber paddle or fingers until all evenly, kneed to smooth finish, cover and let rise about an hour, kneed again. each batch makes one 2 lb or 2 one lb loaves
bake until golden brown.
one starter can make up to two or three large dough's


Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Squash Patties

squashmainpic1

The recipe for these delicious patties was given to me by my friend Ellen. She’s always been one of my favorites. Written on the recipe is the following blurb, “This is the only way I can get Russ to eat squash.” If you have somebody in your family who thinks they don’t like squash, give this recipe a try.

Ingredients:

* 1 cup cooked, drained and mashed yellow squash
* 1 egg
* 1 tablespoon sugar
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 c. self-rising flour
* 1/4 c. sauteed chopped onions
* 1/4 c. sauteed peppers (red or green), optional
* freshly ground pepper

squashmasherDirections:

Combine all ingredients.

Drop by large spoonfuls into hot skillet coated with vegetable oil spray or 2 t. vegetable oil. When browned on one side, flip and cook until brown on reverse side (just like you would make regular pancakes).

on my list to do today

CHEAP AND YUMMY BROWNIE RECIPE!
6 TBSP cocoa, 1/4 C butter, 1 C sugar, 1/2 tsp vanilla, 1/3 C flour, 2 eggs,
Cook 350 - 25 mins.

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Science my Favorite

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

The Plan

next two weeks: prepare for taks, week after that: take a break

going forward: put joy back into learning

today we are spending 6 hours going through the Texas Pearson's Guides

http://perspective.pearsonaccess.com/perspective/appmanager/tx/family/

Once that is done, we will be wrapping up our Work Samples by Friday.

Study Islands and nearly complete, and then we will have completed our commitment to the school

and will start HAVING FUN with EDUCATION. I am thinking http://www.jason.org/public/whatis/start.aspx for some SERIOUSLY GOOD FUN!!!

We are registered for Swim Team, that is 1 hour a day 6 days a week at the pool.

http://scfsharks.org/

We are registering for Triathlon, that is 2 Saturdays a month all over Houston

http://www.kiwanishoustonsunrise.org/default.aspx/MenuItemID/171/MenuGroup/Kidstriathlon.htm

We are going to California in May for 10 days and learn about Oceans

http://www.ocean-institute.org/

We will be participating in TXVA Houston Field Day to be Location to be Determined

We will be conducting the Arrow of Light Ceremony for Scouts with an group from the Order of Arrow

We will be participating in Soaring Eagle Scout Day Camp for four days

http://www.soaringeagledaycamp.org/

We are going to Glacier National park for 10 days this summer

http://www.nps.gov/glac/index.htm

We are going to Lewiston and Clarkston and learn about the Lewis and Clark Trail,

http://www.lewisandclarktrail.com/

We are going to Nez Perce Indian Reservation for a Pow Wow

http://www.powwowtime.com/calendar/powwows-idaho/chief-looking-glass-powwow

We are going to Greenough Montana for a wedding in August

in our spare time, we will be relaxing and having FUN, FUN I tell ya... FUN!