The "Other Nathaniel"

Chris showed me a photo on his i-phone that Davis doctored up. We saw the movie "Coraline" last Saturday which, no doubt, inspired this adaptation of Nathaniel's picture. It is pretty funny, but, if you've seen the movie, maybe you'd understand why I find it a little disturbing.

The "Other Nathaniel". Note the stitches in corners of his mouth. Davis has a pretty funny sense of humor. This is what happens during sacrament meeting when I am attending other ward conferences.

Yard Work

Here is a project we have been talking about doing for many years, and this winter we finally did it. Our front yard needed an overhaul, but it was going to be a lot of work with our meager tool supply. This is a "before" picture.
This is how it has looked since we moved in here. I bet the bushes were planted decades before and there just wasn't much in the way of design or function. The front yard was the ugliest one on the block by far. It had hedge-like bushes that blocked our view of the street from the porch so we couldn't watch the boys ride their bikes, made it difficult to see the sidewalk when we backed out, and harbored a little dust bowl in the middle - which the boys liked just fine because they used it for a jail when they played cops and robbers.
I started cutting down bushes in December. I have a bow saw, a lopper, and a camping hatchet. It took about three days to cut down all the bushes and drag them away to the trash area behind the house.

This left a bunch of ugly stumps, the cable company conduit that had just been run above ground under the bushes, and a couple of neglected gardenia bushes waiting to be transplanted. I soaked the ground for a couple days before we could start working on the stumps.

Stump digging is hard work and Chris got the biggest ones out for me. Then he buried the cable conduit and raked the ground level.

We broke one of our shovels trying to get these stumps out.

On Martin Luther King Day we cast the seeds - Marathon II for its low water requirements, year round growth (it doesn't turn brown in the winter) and its tolerance for shade - and covered it with lots of topper mulch. Then came the watering and waiting. The weather had been unseasonably warm in January which helped the seed germinate quickly. We saw tiny blades of grass within a week and a half. Then the weather cooled off about 20 degrees and rained every two or three days. That helped the baby grass so it didn't dry out and could set roots.

I transplanted the gardenias in the lower level of this flower box ( they are white flowers) in between three pink azalea bushes that should fill in when they actually get watered regularly. I transplanted two camelia trees, one pink and one white, from the side yard where they languished without water in complete shade. Without spending anything but sweat equity, we will end up with some very lovely, color-coordinated floral landscaping.

And here it is. The tender little shoots are going from one blade per seedling to two and three. We are pretty excited. The neighbors were a little baffled that we would do the work ourselves, but I just think of heavy yard work as "strength training".

What did you do on President's Day?

President's Day dawned in a drenching rain. I kept thinking I'd get up and run, but it was pouring buckets. Chris and I thought about what to do. We squandered our sunny day on Saturday by seeing a movie (well, squandered might be too strong. It was a fun movie. Coraline. But kind of scary for younger kids.) and were now faced with hiking in pouring rain or finding indoor entertainment. Bowling is more frustrating than fun for a family who expects to do well at something on the first try. So what to do on President's Day?

Presidential Library visit? Oh, yeah.

Now here in S. Cal. we have two to choose from: the Ronald Reagan Library in Simi Valley and the Richard Nixon Library in Yorba Linda. Nixon Library? You can't be serious about that one. The interesting stuff about Nixon wouldn't be featured in the library he set up. So, off to Simi Valley. We saw three accidents along the freeway as we drove (and I think two on the way home.) We didn't tell the boys where we were headed. I just said we were going to explore someplace new. Nathaniel tried to guess, "Getty Villa? A park? A museum?"

If you want to visit the Reagan Library, go early because they didn't plan for much parking, but they do have convenient shuttles that will stop for you as you get out of your car and take you right back when you are done. I can't say it's a super exciting place to visit. With Reagan's history as a movie star and his involvement with the demise of the Iron Curtain and tearing down the Berlin Wall, I imagine it's more exciting than some of the other presidential libraries (again, Nixon Library?!?) Here are some photos:

Davis is checking out a map of all the places Reagan visited as the President of the United States.

Air Force One is actually pretty cool. There are different compartments for different ranking officials and the press sit in the back (did you know the press have to ante up the price of a first class ticket for each flight on Air Force One? Can't let the President curry favor with the media.)

Helicopter One... or something.

(Edit Note - Information provided by Chris' brother Matt, stationed in Iraq, who flew helicopters for the army. "The presidential helicopter is called Marine One, but only when the president is on board. When we were in Virginia my unit worked with the Marine unit that flies the pres and they took us for a tour. The paint is aobut 3mm thick and each helicopter is about $100,000 to paint and they get painted a lot.")

This is a replica of the oval office. Jelly beans are about the most exciting thing in here for the boys (no samples). But honestly, I think the story about the desk in the oval office is interesting. It was made from oak timbers from an English vessel, the Resolute. Check it out here - http://www.whitehousemuseum.org/furnishings/resolute-desk.htm.

And it wouldn't be President's Day without an impersonator. Didn't you think Abraham Lincoln would be taller.

Oh Fudge!

Here is my Valentine entry. I want to apologize for the near-vulgarities expressed in this blog and title. I am so disappointed. I decided to make fudge for Valentine's Day. We've made this recipe many times and it is the best, smoothest fudge ever. Since we discovered this recipe, we now eschew fudge from the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Company because it is gummy. Quick fudge recipes tend to be dry and overly sweet. So my plan was to make the fudge, cut out a few heart shapes with cookies cutters for teachers and visiting teachees, and have the rest for our family. Good plan? My first mistake was that I was in a hurry. The next mistake was that I grabbed the "Pound Plus" chocolate bar at Trader Joes with Almonds instead of plain bittersweet. Fatal mistake? I don't know. Here's the recipe. It's from Sunset Magazine and if you follow the tips and are patient, it should turn out great!

Creamy Chocolate Fudge
Sunset Magazine
Notes: You will need a candy thermometer to make this fudge. Be sure to read "Candy Basics" and "Fudge Pointers" below before beginning.
4 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups whipping cream
1/4 cup light corn syrup
6 ounces unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped
6 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
1/4 cup (1/8 lb.) butter, cut into chunks
2 teaspoons vanilla
1. In a 3- to 4-quart heavy-bottomed pan over medium-low heat, stir sugar, cream, and corn syrup, continually scraping the bottom of the pan with a heatproof flexible spatula, until sugar is completely dissolved, about 15 minutes. Stir in unsweetened and bittersweet chocolate until melted. Increase heat to medium and bring mixture to a simmer.
2. Cook, occasionally stirring mixture and brushing down sides of pan with a wet pastry brush, until mixture reaches 235° on a candy thermometer. Remove from heat and pour into the bowl of a standing mixer or another large bowl. Add butter and vanilla but do not stir; insert candy thermometer and let mixture stand undisturbed until cooled to 110°, 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
3. Line a 9-inch square pan with foil; lightly butter foil. With the paddle attachment of standing mixer or a sturdy wooden spoon, beat the chocolate mixture vigorously (on high speed if using mixer; reduce speed if motor starts to labor) until mixture thickens and loses its glossy sheen, about 5 minutes with a mixer, about 10 minutes by hand. Scrape into pan, smooth top, and chill until firm to the touch, at least 2 hours, or up to 1 day.
4. Lift foil to remove fudge from pan; cut fudge into 1-inch squares. Store cut fudge airtight in the refrigerator up to 1 week. To keep longer (up to 1 month), wrap uncut fudge airtight and chill; cut into squares as you want to use it. Serve at room temperature.

Candy basics: Before you begin, read the recipe all the way through and assemble all the tools and ingredients you will need. Many candy recipes require that you act quickly once the sugar syrup reaches the desired temperature. Use care when working with hot sugar syrup, as it can cause severe burns.
Choose the right pans. Heavy-bottomed stainless steel pans are best for cooking sugar mixtures. Thin, lightweight pans tend to conduct heat--and cook sugar syrup--unevenly.
Use a candy thermometer when called for. They measure temperatures up to 400°. You'll find them in the kitchen-gadget section of many supermarkets, priced between $10 and $20.
Submerge the bottom of the thermometer completely in the sugar syrup to get an accurate reading. Using a narrow pan with tall sides makes the mixture deeper, but, if necessary, you can gently tilt a shallower pan to submerge the thermometer bottom.
Melt chocolate gently for best results. If chocolate gets too hot, it may not set properly and will develop "bloom" (white streaks) on the surface when stored. Stirring chopped chocolate in a pan or bowl over hot, not simmering, water maintains an even, low temperature, resulting in glossy, firmly set chocolate.
Fudge pointers: Dissolve the sugar completely over low heat (step 1) before bringing the mixture to a simmer. Using superfine sugar, also sold as "baker's sugar," makes this easier (or just make your own by “pureeing” granulated sugar in your blender 1-2 cups at a time). To check whether the sugar has dissolved, scrape the pan bottom with a heatproof spatula, pull the spatula up, let the syrup on it cool for a few seconds, then rub a drop between your fingers. If you can feel grains of sugar, it hasn't dissolved yet.
Prevent sugar crystals from forming on the sides of the pan in step 2 by brushing down the sides with a wet pastry brush a few times.
Let the mixture cool to lukewarm (exactly 110°) before beating it (step 3); otherwise, the fudge may stiffen and become grainy. Pouring it into a large, shallow bowl helps it cool faster, but don't stir it too early. But don’t let it cool down too much either. We found that when it gets too cool it will be grainy too.
Beat the fudge well once it has cooled to 110°. Chocolate fudge thickens more than maple fudge at this stage, but both dull slightly and take on a lighter color after beating; that's when they're ready to pour into the pan. If the fudge becomes grainy, put the whole thing back into a clean pan and cook, while stirring, to 135 degrees again. Then cool as directed and beat as before. It works and doesn’t ruin the fudge.

Normally...... OK, so in trying to determine the fatal flaw, I'll go through the grisly details. I didn't use superfine sugar, and I'll usually make my own by "pureeing" 2 cups of granulated sugar at a time in my blender until it's powdery. (Don't use powdered sugar because it has corn starch in it to keep it from clumping up.) I also usually run my chocolate through the food processor so it is chopped fine and melts quickly. Instead, I waited until the sugar/cream/corn syrup mixture was all dissolved (I probably didn't do this slowly and carefully enough either) and then pounded the chocolate bar with a rolling pin to break it up. Then I wondered if the almonds were taking up too much volume in the bar and I'd actually be adding less chocolate. So I added a bit more than called for, and then when I was adding the unsweetened chocolate, a big chunk fell in that I didn't intend to add. So, too much chocolate? Not complete dissolving of the sugar? Nuts during cooking process acting like nucleation points for crystal formation? My next mistake was to try to rush the cooling process. I placed the bowl on the porch covered with a towel. It was breezy and in the high 50's. It did cool down faster, but when the thermometer said 110 degrees and I started to beat it, the bottom and sides were like concrete.

I really have rescued fudge that had sugared before by putting it back into the pot (butter and all) bringing it back up to soft ball stage (135 degrees) and re-cooling and beating. But, the following pictures show what happened this time.

So I carefully start warming it up. The butter melts first and separates out, but then as it continues to melt it comes back together in an emulsion. It was so thick that I thought I should moisten it with a little more cream. I had done this to a batch before - but then I added the cream when the seized fudge was cool.Adding cream to hot fudge instantly denatured the proteins in the cream and the water furiously boiled off leaving - yup- the fat. This tipped the emulsion balance and all the butter came sloshing back out and heated up so I could deep-fry the fudge in butter. Watch the video below.

It was totaly sad. My kids kept coming in the room, "Mmmm, smells good. When will it be done?" I gave up when I tested the temperature and it was up past hard ball and nearing hard crack stage. I knew it was done-for. So what do I do with a super heated pot of fat and chocolate cement? Not the disposal, and I didn't want it oozing out of the garbage bag into my can. The only place I knew was appropriate for it was out in my compost bin. Because after all, compost happens.

February in My Yard

February in my yard is a hurry and wait sort of month. I have a lot of heavy work to do in the yard, but with the rain I don't get my pick of days to do it, and I don't want to do the work too early and have it undone by waiting too long because of more rain for the next step.

I know its not easy to see, but in the top of this tree are our annual visitors - the Cedar Waxwings. This is what a Cedar Waxwing would look like close up. They come through here every year about this time. They are very skittish so they sit in the tops of the trees and twitter together. They are very pretty. Davis thinks we need a giant lens for our camera so we can photograph birds from afar.

Well, here I am contemplating what needs to be done in the garden. I want to put a pathway in the hill above the garden so we don't use plantable area as a pathway. I have to get rid of these weeds and move this giant stump and hack out an enormous lilly to get space for the path. Then I need to do some weed control before Chris can rototill and I can plant in March. We need to get this done in between rain storms and then get planted before more rain. If we get delayed after the rototilling then more weeds will grow before I can get the vegetables in and that will just be more work. Stay tuned.

One last thing. This is a snapshot of a pencil drawing my niece Brittany drew. It won first place in her high school division and goes on to Utah state wide competition. I think its reallly fun perspective.

Art Museum with Nathaniel

Saturday was a crazy busy day with only a few hours at home from 7:15am to 9:00pm. One thing we did was visit the Norton Simon Museum with the scouts for their art merit badge.
Nathaniel selected some of his favorite works of art and we took pictures with my phone (not great photography.)
This is Degas' sculpture of the ballerina.

Nathaniel in front of a Van Gogh tree painting. And Nathaniel painted the dinosaur on his tshirt in 1st grade.

Nathaniel tends to like still life. He wished he had a sketch pad and pencil with him. He wondered if the museum provided them because he saw so many people sketching. He is fun to go to a museum with because he talks about why he does or doesn't like something.