n^n

Today is my n=3 birthday.

n^n is a special day.

I will cherish this year of mathematical perfection.

Congratulations to my nephew Alex who is n=2.

Jane Austen's Fight Club

I must admit I am currently reading Fight Club. I've never seen the movie. I did watch the preview on youtube though--a must see if you are going to fully appreciate the "movie" preview I've embedded below. It is definitely a strange read and pretty deranged. It reminds me of Clockwork Orange (the book) in the way that you don't know what's going on half the time and everybody is crazy.

DH found this clip and sent it to me--apparently filmed by a young single adult LDS ward. Ha! Good for a laugh.

the glory of rice pudding

I worship rice pudding. It is true. I don't recall ever eating rice pudding before moving to California (Going on 5 years!). It might have been one of those buffet dessert items at Chuck-A-Rama, but I don't remember trying it (or if I did, it was not worth remembering!) BUT then I started to shop for myself (after leaving home) and there was that one magic day in Safeway when I saw Kozy Shack brand rice pudding next to the sour cream...and I bought it. My life would never be the same.

Then came the many attempts at making rice pudding. There was the baked puddings, the stovetop puddings, the one time disaster of a crockpot pudding, and finally more precise puddings that used a thermometer. Some would curdle*. Some would be fantastic. But nothing could match the consistency of Kozy.

*Curdling is a thing of the past. The blessings of living at sea level combined with the delicate egg yolk conspired against me for too long, but now I have outsmarted them. I just keep the heat down:) (Custards are supposed to stay between 185 and 190 F during cooking time to prevent curdling.)

Then came the time when I bought Kozy pudding and it was awful. Yes. It tasted totally off. Then I was afraid to buy it for a while. Suddenly I wondered if Kozy pudding was really the ultimate.

Now after being in El Barrio going on 2 years, I have discovered Salvadoran rice pudding. There is a couple in our ward who like to make it to serve after baptisms (and sometimes go crazy and give it out after church--like last week!). They use a combination of sweetened condensed milk, regular milk, cinnamon sticks, and a lime--rind and all! No eggs! Fancy that. It is quick to make, none of the hours of reducing milk or anything laborious in that vein. Lucky is the one who chokes on a piece of cinnamon and finds part of a lime in their cup. Eat with caution. Oh, but the delight of rice pudding!

Incomplete LIST of rice pudding recipes attempted:

1. The baked rice pudding recipe I used comes from Betty Crocker Cookbook.

2. Simply Recipes: http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/rice_pudding/

This one I made notes. They go like this:

Turned out great--much more creamy than baked rice pudding. I kept the heat below boiling like she said, and the egg did not curdle. I think I will try sweetening with honey next time (less than 1/4 cup).
SO good. Try with 1/4 cup arborio next time, it was VERY thick. I put raspberries in it and it was so divine.

(I should point out that I used arborio rice instead of the short grain white the recipe called for. Had I used short grain white, it would not have turned out so thick.)

3) Crockpot: http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2009/03/crockpot-rice-pudding-recipe.html

Notes:

it curdled. Using high heat after putting the egg in was a mistake--it might work on low, but I'm not sure I want to try it again when I have another rice pudding recipe that is great. (simply recipes)

4) Temperature measured: http://www.ehow.com/how_4830558_kozy-shack-rice-pudding.html

I can't exactly recall how this turned out. I think it worked ok, but by this point I had been trying to cut back on rice pudding (since I inhaled it at ludicrous speed) and only made this recipe one time.

5) This one is untested, but highly recommended by some people in a chowhound thread: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Raisin-Rice-Pudding-762

I need to make this one.

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As a final note, I must remark how much I adore puddings and custards of all kinds. DH doesn't care as much about pudding as I do, but we try not to let that be an issue in our marriage. But he can surely attest to the fact that more often than not when I'm feeling like dessert I'll say, "I want a pudding."

sprinting

My Vibram FiveFinger shoes sold on ebay recently. I was glad they could find a new home. It was actually the first time I've ever sold something on ebay. I think I've sold textbooks on half.com, but nothing on ebay. Now I can say I've truly lived.

I went to Fleet Feet in Menlo Park to buy new running shoes. The staff do a great job at helping you pick the right shoe. Oddly enough, I ended up buying the exact same shoe that I already had (except a newer version). I went from Saucony Hurricane version 8 to 11. And now my feet are happy again.

I finally convinced DH to get real running shoes as well. The shoes he used to run in when we got married were dismal at best. Over the past two years of our married lives, with each new shoe purchase I have managed to persuade him to get higher quality shoes. And now he has graduated. Congrats DH. Your knees will be grateful.

We've been trying to do weekly sprints around the neighborhood so he can increase his speed for ultimate frisbee. It is a 1.5 mile loop. I try to maintain full speed the whole time but it is just not happening. It is even harder that the first half is slightly uphill. I can keep up with DH for about a third of the way and then start lagging behind. How is it that he can run faster/longer than me when I have been running regularly for over a year and he has barely run at all?

Alas.

hangman

Hangman is a favorite game in my primary class. There is one five year old girl that speaks so quietly I must strain my ears to make out what she says. Then there are usually five rowdy boys that are six or seven years old who have all manner of noisy things to say. But on one front they are all united. Hangman.

The construction of the hangman platform has become nearly as important as solving the puzzle. First, I draw the hangman platform. Next, I add wavy lines underneath to indicate hot lava. The hot lava was the first modification requested by my morbidly creative charges. It has become a regular addition.

Today, instead of guessing a letter, several kids wanted to come up to the board and further imperil the hangman. One boy came up and drew a shark with lots of teeth jumping onto the platform. Next, another came up and drew an electrical storm. One very large cloud overhead with several zigzag lightning bolts reaching downward. But he did not stop there. He added spikes to the base of the entire platform except for a tiny area large enough for him to slip through into the hot lava.

I can't wait for next week.

wind in my hair

Short hair has serious advantages.

First, it looks awesome on me. Lets not mince words here.

Second, my husband has a thing for short hair. This is a delightful coincidence, considering that I will Never Have Long Hair Again. Ever.

Third, when I'm on a bike, the wind whips through my hair and it flies out like a fairy's wings catching the spring air on the way to meet its sweetheart. (The spring air is meeting the sweetheart here, not the fairy. There is only one sweetheart of spring air. It is called San Francisco Bay.)

Fourth, my hair has volume. This long sought after effect has been the result of a lifelong struggle.

Fifth, everyone (female) tells you that the secret desire of her heart is to have short hair but she thinks she will look ugly. Then I say, Psha. Whatever. Take the Plunge. (Although I must confess I did cry a little before going to the chopping block six years ago when my hair was freakishly long.)

Sixth, when you get a hair cut, people actually notice.

so, yeah.

pralines are the thing

Intro:

This blog post is about my favorite ice cream flavor. In this post I will lament certain things. And then it will be over.

Main text:

My favorite ice cream flavor is Caramel Praline. Sometimes known as Pralines and Caramel. Also sometimes known as Pralines and Cream. It is readily available in Utah. But is it available in California, the state in which I have resided these 5 years? NO. It is not. You can't buy it at the store. You can buy it for 5 dollars per scoop at Haagen-Daz. Does Haagen-Daz make this flavor to sell at the grocery store? No. Grrrr. That is my grrr sound. Like GRRRR you know. It is a mad noise.

I thought my troubles were over when I discovered what is known as Caramel Praline Crunch frozen yogurt made by Dreyers. But it is much inferior, I am telling you there is a serious lack of pralines. Also it is frozen yogurt so there is a failing already. Also, the pralines that do exist are not even crunchy. Grrrrrr.

Conclusion:

I want crunchy pralines. Utah is so Farr away (hehe).