The Incredible Edible Egg

Apparently this is a secret because I can tell you that I have never heard this information from any of the following people :my mother, grandmother, aunt, mother-in-law.... nope not a one of them have ever told me this secret!!

GASP!

Have you ever had a flat cake? A favorless cake? Not quite perfect cake? .... I think cookies even qualify for that matter.....

Guess what? You are supposed to let your eggs come to room temperature!! Who Knew? When I found this out today I thought of keeping this little rotten secret to myself, but - alas - I have decided to share this news with everyone. All 10 of you that are still reading this blog!! Yep, that is right - I'm such a sharing soul.

Here is the data on your room temperature eggs, If you'd like to learn more, I took this information from www.baking911.com :

WHAT ARE ROOM TEMPERATURE EGGS?: Some recipes call for adding eggs. Most of us use eggs right from the refrigerator. But, did you know they should be warmer than room temperature before being combined in a recipe? For these recipes, remove eggs from the refrigerator about 20 to 30 minutes before you use them or put them in a bowl of warm water while you assemble other ingredients. Dry them with a towel before cracking. (More).
WHY ARE ROOM TEMPERATURE EGGS SO IMPORTANT? A typical step in a buttercake recipe is to cream with fat and sugar and then add in the eggs, one at a time. This creates an emulsion. Fat and liquid by nature are unmixable, and the goal when mixing a recipe is to form a water-in-fat emulsion. A well emulsified cake batter, for example, should not be curdled or weeping liquid, which happens if cold eggs are introduced to a room temperature butter/sugar mixture. If the emulsion breaks, the batter will loose air cells. This results in a baked cake that is grainy or flat in texture, dry and flavorless, look uneven and may even sink.

So - Did you already know this? I have a feeling I am the only one who wasn't in on this little secret. Please don't be a rotten egg, share this information with everyone you know!

Muskrat Susie, Muskrat Sam

We get to hear all of the neighborhood happenings, now that Dave is El Presidente of HOA. (That is the Home Owner's Association for our neighborhood.)

I noticed as I was leaving for work today that we had a new message on our answering machine. It went something like this, "Hi Dave! This is Mr. Rogers I live over on Fruit Loop Cir. - I'm not sure if this is something the HOA would be concerned with, but we have a Muskrat that is building a condominium for him and some of his buddies on the pond behind our house. If you could give me a call back and let me know if this is something the HOA would be in charge of handling, that'd be great. Thanks!"

Since Dave didn't get this message before he headed to work, I wanted to be prompt and make sure that he knew about the neighborhood situation. So - I sent him an e-mail with the subject line, "Muskrat Love." Dave was enamored with my clever subject line..... but unfortunately I had to tell him that I didn't come up with it on my own -- it is actually a song title.

My first thoughts over this entire incident is that winter is coming!! I don't want them to tear down Muskrat Sam's condo! Where will he and Susie keep warm this winter?? I saw his condo, and it is coming along quite nicely....he has obviously put a lot of hard work into his condo. I will see if I can get a picture of the condo before (if) it gets condemned.

Without further adieu, you should really hear the "Muskrat Love" song: (I think the only reason I know this song is because Jesse & The Rippers sang it once on "Full House". Which is also why I know the completely made up and random "Dad" song. Do you know the dad song? [♫♫Dad, Dad, Dad, he's our Dad...♫♫] This is Captain & Tenille... isn't Tenille beautiful? Who knew?!? :

Once Upon a Time in Wonderland.....

So, before I tell you about this picture - first you need to know a little bit of background information.

When I met Dave.... on a beautiful, magical evening in July.... he was living with two guys: Dary & Brenton. Brenton is on the right in this picture. They had a wonderful time living together in the glorious days of bachelorhood. (♫♫Glory days, Well they'll pass you by, Glory Days in the wink of a young girl's eyes♫♫)

Dave was the first of the three of them to get married. When Dary and Brenton found out that they'd be Ushers in our wedding, their very first question was, "Can we wear "Dumb & Dumber" Tuxedos?" Ummm... no.

Brenton was next to be married -- this past summer in Des Moines. And last, but not least, Dary was married the second weekend in September. When he pulled out the Tuxedos at the rehearsal....which everyone assumed would be standard black tuxedos...well, you can see what they actually got! Dary thought this was fabulous fun, especially since he is the last in the group to get married... he knows nobody will be able to seek revenge for this joke!

This is a picture of Dary & Brenton entering the reception and "re-enacting" a scene from "Dumb & Dumber". It was very funny - and take a close look at Daves expression, he is really really getting into the part. Brenton appears scared.

Real or Not Real?

Real, or Not Real? I think it is real.... entertaining, nonetheless.

Weekend In Review

Friday: We hung out with some friends from Kellogg's in Kalamazoo! Good Times.

Saturday: 2nd Saturday -- Volunteer service through church. This week we volunteered with the Charitable Union to hand out coats to families with kids that couldn't afford new coats for this winter. It was SO cute to see the kids getting excited and wearing their new coats! A very rewarding way to spend your Saturday morning.

Then - some housework, and an afternoon $4 movie: Couples Retreat. It was very entertaining, we liked it. :) Vince Vaughn is one of Dave's favorites.

Sunday: Church, naps, magazines, work.

It was a nice weekend overall..... and now it is back to work!! If I weren't so sleepy this post would be full of more exciting details. But I apologize, this is all you're getting. :)

G'night Govnuhs!

Rescue

An adorable flying tree squirrel that one of my clinics RESCUEd.

NieNie

Have you heard of NieNie? I noticed on facebook that my Aunt Vera has been reading her blog for awhile, and that NieNie was going to be on Oprah. I have my DVR set to record Oprah...she usually has some pretty interesting topics/guests on - whether you agree/disagree with Oprah - you have to admit she has some interesting topics.

I was completely captivated by the story of NieNie...who is Actually StephaNIE NIElson, fairly famous blogger. I think she had been doing her blog for around two years when her and her husband were in a plane crash...barely survived, and spent months in intensive care. Her blog was well-known for her up-beat positive look on motherhood, marriage, being a full-time mom --- and how she creatively & inspiringly enjoyed that life. She's blogging again, and while LIFE has changed dramatically for her....she remains inspirational to the thousands that read her blog.

Blogging has really changed social culture --- it is possible to "know" someone, rather intimately... but not physically know them at all. I think it is a beautiful little culture. I'm captivated by real life.... I HAD to go to her blog. I wanted to know all about THEIR story. I wanted to read those entries --- the last four or five before everything completely changed for their family. One day life is normal, the next day it isn't. I wanted to know how is she doing now. How far have THEY come?

..... and think about the entries in our own lives and how far we have come.

Lessons On Germs

This is my mobile desktop. It sits in my passenger seat and keeps me company every single day. Very useful -- probably one of my best purchases. Just beyond the picture - in front of the console there is small vial of anti-bacterial hand gel. Lets face it, I have to face a LOT of germs in my day. I shake a lot of hands, I use a lot of public restrooms, I visit locations across the entire state where 1000's of people come and go on a weekly basis. I am watching out for the H3N8. Did you know YOU have an 80% chance of getting it. Yep, you - sitting right there reading this screen.

I may be a bit of a germ phobe. I'm always wondering when I'm in the public restroom, washing my hands.... I wonder, Did the person before me wash their hands? And if they didn't, what is wrong with them? And are my hand-washing efforts being "washed out" by all of the people before me that are not washing their hands.

Did you know that you should not leave your toothbrush out on the bathroom counter in the open air? WHY you ask? Did you know when you flush your toilet that germs can fly out of it as far as 10ft? It is seeminly true, I've heard it multiple times from reliable sources. Now - let's amplify that by those really really powerful toilets that they have at the McDonald's. Those are some fast flying germs. You want to know what I do? I get my stall door unlocked - I hit the flusher and run out of the stall as fast I can!! [I bet you're laughing at my germ-phobiness by now] Also - please, please, please NEVER use your hand to flush a public toilet. ALWAYS use your shoe. Everybody else is doing it, and if you are not --- you're really just touching the bottom of everybody's shoe.

Did you know the germiest room in your house is not your bathroom - but most likely your kitchen? Please go to your kitchen....right after you read this, and throw away your sponges! Germs just love that sponge environment.

And lastly on my germ lesson for the day: When you get home from your vacation - do NOT place your carry-on luggage on top of your nice clean bed. Did you roll that carry-on luggage all through the airport --- through the airport bathroom? Yuck.

Now, now lets not get out of hand on all of this, I know some germs are very good for your body to have some natural resistance when you encounter new bugs. But, that doesn't mean I'm going to hand them an open invite to have a party in my immune system --- they will have to be extra sneaky to party here.

Fly Me To the Moon

Did you hear?
They plan to blow up the moon?
BOOM BOOM!
They are looking for water and/or ice.
I hear water will be the next depleted resource.
For a mere $79M you too can blow up the moon.

Meanwhile, here on Mother Earth.... I drove through a small town today -- these 2 little boys were desperately trying to get the trucker in front of me to blow his horn. How did he not see them?? One of them was hanging out of the sun roof -- doing the universal symbol for "trucker, please honk your horn!" --- yet, he somehow missed them.

Well... I laid on my horn for them, and received two cute little grins! I do remember how exciting it was when you could get someone to honk their horn for you! .... granted, my horn was certainly not as exciting as the one the trucker could have given them.

It's the little things in life....

Roses are Red, Violets are Blue

These were waiting for me when I arrived home from Impact this evening. Impact is the junior high group that I help with at church on Monday evenings. These beautiful roses are just because! :) Just because he is awesome!! And the cereal - I had to put the cereal in the picture...it is a brand new Kashi creation that I cannot wait to try in the morning. :)

Dilemma of the day for me? Take a chance on running out of gas or stop at a gas station in the boonies - the kind where you have to go inside to pay. The kind where you pay an extra six cents per gallon for the pleasure of walking inside their gas station/mini mart/liquor store/video rental....... SO - I pulled over and filled up. Ultimately isn't it better to pump gas in an unpleasurable location rather than be stuck without gas in that location? YES, I think so! I begin pumping gas and I try to switch the little lever down - you know the lever that holds the handle open for you - so that you do not have to squeeze the lever on the pump the entire time.... well, it is broken. Unfunctional. Somewhere between "Full Service" and fully functional "Self Service" this gas station was left behind.

Ah Well - It could have been snowing! ;)

We've Been Busy...and noticeably absent!

I'm tired of the fluff.
I'm ready for a change -
How about something simpler?
What do you think?

It has been a cold, rainy weekend here in Michigan... very fall-like! We have done a lot of catching up on work-work, house-work, and shopping-work.

Okay...so shopping isn't really work, depending on how you like or dislike shopping. Really, there wasn't a lot of shopping going on.... but, I decided it was time to get out my "fall" decorations. We recently bought a new coffee table for our living room - and I certainly didn't want to scratch it, so I needed to buy a "fall time" table runner to put my decorations on! It was on sale at Pier 1 - $15.96. What a steal! Wish I had a picture to show you... but I spent way to much time changing the blog layout and header to something simpler and aesthetically pleasing - so yes, I spent way too much time on that to download a picture for you. Apologies.

Dave and I have had dueling laptops in the dining room all afternoon working on work needs. It is budgeting season for Dave. You wouldn't believe the number of budgets, and re-budgeting this man does! ...and it is a new quarter for me! I'm happy about that - it is not quite so stressful at the beginning of a new quarter. If you are thinking I should "be busier" at the beginning of the new quarter, and then maybe the end of my quarter wouldn't be so stressful -- if this thought crossed your mind, let me guess -you've never been in sales. No matter how busy you are the last month, last week, last day of the quarter....always something YOU have to get done or face DEATH. Okay, just kidding - that is a little dramatic.

We've been busy with house work. Dave vacuumed for me! I can get the entire house cleaned, and dusted in the amount of time it takes to vaccum every room... so, it works out perfectly. The pool was sadly closed this weekend, and even more sad it hasn't been warm enough in the last 45 days to even slip a toe into the icy water. Most Michigan residents feel this was the year of no summer.

This is about all for our weekend excitement --- oh yes, we did go see a $4 matinee yesterday. "The Invention of Lying" We do not recommend spending your time or money on this movie. We'll pick better next time. :)

I do promise to blog more often.
I do promise to blog more often.
I do promise to blog more often.
I do promise to blog more often.
G'night Govnuh!