Greetings Readership!
Got plans for Saturday night? We do. Tomorrow evening, Saturday March 28th, from 8:30pm - 9:30pm local time, Hoos in Cambridge will be participating in Earth Hour 2009. This is a simple campaign to inspire the world the take action on global climate change and - more importantly - to demonstrate that individuals like you + me can have an impact on such a large issue.
*Soapbox Sidenote from Jackie: As someone who works in the environmental field, I am increasingly of the mindset that if humanity is to have any chance at mitigating (because we are beyond prevention at this stage) the effects of global climate change, then a paradigm shift in lifestyle choices at the individual level is required. Broad government policy - international or national - can only do so much if you + I do not make the little changes in our day-to-day lives. Ok, stepping down now...
Back to Saturday night! Turn off the lights, the computer, the cell phone, the ipod dock, etc etc and grab a bottle of your favorite local wine, light some beeswax candles, and settle down for a relaxing hour in the dark. Doesn't change* feel good?
(*of the personal responsibility kind, not the global climate variety.)
For further reference or pleasure reading:
Stern Review. The Economics of Climate Change.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Mitigation of Climate Change, Fourth Assessment Report, 2007..
Economist. Countdown to Copenhagen - Government, Business, and the Battle Against Climate Change.
Friday, March 27, 2009
Lights Out!
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Spring Fever!
In photos.
(Escaping Cambridge for a couple of hours on a lovely first day of spring.)
Saturday, March 14, 2009
SMB: The Return of a Childhood Classic
Avid readers of our blog (all 5 of you) might have noticed the abscence of Saturday Morning Breakfast (SMB) since our return from the U.S. This was a conscious decision on our part, in order to save money for other things. As a result, we have relegated SMB to one Saturday a month. This Saturday happens to be our SMB Saturday.
And it's a good one.
What did you eat for breakfast as a kid?
Will, like most kids we would suspect, ate milk and cereal. In fact, up until 2 months ago when he switched over to oatmeal (more filling = lasts longer = cheaper to buy), Will ate milk and cereal for breakfast almost every.single.morning of his life. Wow.
Jackie, on the other hand, had a slightly unconventional breakfast routine. As a kid, she went through phases with breakfast food. One year it was Quaker Oats Brown Sugar & Cinnamon Instant Oatmeal (and only that flavor). Another year it was Peter Pan Peanut Butter on 2 pieces of toast (smooth, never crunchy). Of course, like many kids of our generation, at some point there was the Reign of the Pop Tart. From roughly 1995-2000, Jackie ate nothing but Kellog's Pop Tarts for breakfast (interestingly enough, this period roughly coincided with Jackie's period of Academic Dominance). Initially, she ate only Iced Maple Syrup & Brown Sugar Pop Tarts, untoasted. Then, she ate only toasted Frosted Strawberry Pop Tarts with Rainbow Sprinkles.
For Will, Pop Tarts were an occasional special treat. It was not until late high school when running cross country that he really developed a taste, no, a passion for the Pop Tart. His flavor of choice? The almighty milk chocolate and marshmallow fluff stuffed Frosted S'Mores Pop Tart.
Neither of us would even consider eating the things now. Well, one of us definitely wouldn't. The other one might. Of course, just because we won't eat the artificial-chemically altered Pop Tarts from the box, doesn't mean we can't make our own!
Homemade Pop Tarts
Adapted from Chez Pim
Preheat oven to 400F/200C
Start with your favorite pie dough, homemade or purchased.
On work surface, roll out dough into a rectangle shape.
Use knife or pastry scraper to divide dough into smaller rectangles (roughly 4x6) and tidy edges (collect scraps and reuse to make more Pop Tarts).
Place filling of your choice onto bottom half of rectangle on the long side, leaving a 1/4 inch of space between filling and the edge.
Using a pastry brush or your fingertips, lightly wet the dough edge around the filling.
Fold over top half of rectangle, making sure to match the other edge perfectly.
Press down slightly at the edges to seal the dough pocket.
Take a fork and use the tines to press the dough together, creating a pattern around all edges except for the folding seam.
Trim off excess, uneven dough edges.
Brush the top with egg wash and sprinkle sugar on top.
Make a few vents in the top of the Pop Tart with a fork.
Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until crust is golden and filling oozes out.
Pop Tart Filling
Really, it can be whatever you want it to be. For fruity Pop Tarts, use a couple of tablespoons of your favorite jam. For sugar Pop Tarts, fill with brown sugar and cinnamon. For S'mores Pop Tarts, use milk chocolate, marshmallows, and crumbled crackers (or make graham dough). Whatever you use, it will melt into a delicious mess inside your Pop Tart.
*Notes
1. Don't use dark chocolate. It will completely overwhelm whatever else is in your filling, i.e. marshmallows and crumbled graham cracker.
2. The pie dough recipe I used (from this amazing cookbook) was a bit too good for Pop Tart making. As a result, our Pop Tarts reminded us more of pain du chocolat (in Will's case) or hand pies (mine). Not that this was a problem - the result was still delicious- but if you want that stale, tasteless Pop Tart base flavor, use a less buttery, flaky dough recipe.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
On Wednesdays We Wear Pink!
Actually, that's a lie. But I (Jackie) do work from home on Wednesdays. 'Work' is a relative term. During the fall, 'working from home' meant LSAT studying. At present, 'working from home' means Voluntary Internship stuff. Usually, anyway. I am a bit short on assignments at the moment. Not that there aren't things for me to do (far from it), I just have to wait on a few things to get sorted out at the higher levels before any more assignments can come my way. Considering that the sorting at the higher levels involves international bureaucracy, it could take awhile. So 'working from home' this Wednesday means baking cookies for a colleague's leaving party at Paid Job, writing letters, relishing the fact that I have 5 more days before LSAT studying round 2 begins, reading Dickens, and researching Scotland.
I must admit, I am a tad bored; but I'm trying to enjoy today's version of 'working from home' because I know it won't last. In fact, I have a sneaking suspicion that I will soon be inundated with Voluntary Internship stuff.
In the meantime, here are some photos I have taken around Cambridge in the past week. It's looking rather Spring-y over here, no? (Sorry the same can't be said about DC. )
*Edit: 7:00pm. Less than two hours after posting, I received an e-mail about meeting up in London next Wednesday.
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