Potato Casserole Recipe

Sarah decided that she would prepare dinner for us this evening and she came up with a lovely little dish. She calls her creation Potato Casserole a la Sarah. We all gave it a thumbs up. In case you would like to try it yourself, here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

• 32 ounce bag of tator tots
• 4 tablespoons of butter
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
• 1/2 pound diced ham
• 1/4 cup flour
• 3 cups milk
• 3 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
• Bake tots for 1/2 hour until golden brown then remove dish from oven.
• Reduce oven to 375 degrees F.
• In sauce pan, melt butter.
• Add onion, salt and pepper and cook until soft. (4 minutes)
• Add ham.
• Add flour.
• Add milk and bring to boil.
• Remove sauce pan from heat.
• Add 2 cups cheese and stir.
• Pour the milk mixture over the tots and sprinkle with remaining cheese.
• Bake in oven until bubbly and golden brown. (About 35 minutes)
• Enjoy!

Credit: This recipe is from Chef Emeril Lagasse's There's a Chef In My Soup: Recipes for the Kid in Everyone. This is a great cook book with easy to make but tasty recipes that your child can make with minimal supervision. Thanks Emeril!

Cooking for Dummies

OK, for the record, Scribbles is a very smart young woman. She is intelligent, a straight A student, a talented musician, nice to old people and small children, etc. But to be just a bit candid, she is a menace in the kitchen.

Oh yes, I can hear the responses from my loyal readers now. Probably some accusation that this is just another embellished yarn from the old Jakester. But lest you doubt me, let me tell you of tonight's ordeal. Jake, Sarah and Scribbles being left to their own devices decided to prepare a small repast. Nothing too elaborate mind you. Just some hot dogs and mashed potatoes. (Yes, I know that is an odd combination, but it is Saint Patrick's Day after all.) As Jake and Sarah set about preparing the frankfurters, Scribbles was assigned the task of preparing the mashed potatoes. Did I mention that they were instant mashed potatoes? Jake figured that there was no way that an honor student could possibly mess up cooking instant mashed potatoes. But alas gentle readers, it is indeed possible. Apparently if you add the mashed potatoes prior to bringing the water to a boil, the potatoes can actually explode in volcano-like fashion out of the pot. Who knew? Well, that is one lesson we chalked up to the school of hard knocks as we began to wash mashed potatoes off of the stove, walls, floor, counters, windows, and ceiling.

Now, Scribbles' lack of culinary competence wouldn't ordinarily be cause for concern, but she is starting to receive applications for college. Jake is actually a little afraid that the poor girl will either starve to death or will in some fit of hunger induced desperation burn down her apartment building. Jake figures that there are three options: 1) teach Scribbles to cook, 2) send her armed with the book Cooking For Dummies, or 3) Just get her a meal plan at the school's dining facility. Hmmmmm.... Yep, it does indeed seem prudent to get her the meal plan. In the mean time however, we will continue to work with her on the cooking basics. Wish us luck! And keep the fire extinguisher handy!

Space Humor

Molly needs a few space related jokes for her new job at the US space and rocket center. Here are a few that Jake came up with. If you have any good ones that are suitable for a young audience, please post them.

• Two astronauts went to a restaurant on the moon, but they left after a few minutes. You see, the food was OK, but it had no atmosphere !
• What do you call a spaceship with a faulty air-conditioning unit? A frying saucer
• What holds the moon up ?Moon beams !
• Why don't aliens celebrate Christmas?
  Because they don't like to give away their presence.
• How do we know that Saturn was married more than once? Because it has a lot of rings.
  
• What do moon people do when they get married? They go off on their honeyearth!
• What did the astronaut cook for lunch? An unidentified frying object!
• If athletes suffer from athlete's foot, what do astronauts suffer from? Missile-toe!
  

OK, so some of those were pretty bad. If you can do better please let us know.

Space Camp

This week, Sarah's school class attended Space Camp at the US Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama. During the week long event, Sarah and her classmates were organized into teams of approximately 15 team members each. The teams conducted various activities, attended classes and participated in simulated space missions. Sarah's team was called Team Pollux. Pollux is the brightest star in the constellation Gemini and one of the brightest in the nighttime sky. Team Pollux won the award for the best performance during a simulated space mission.

Jake who was at the graduation ceremony was very jealous, because he has wanted to attend Space Camp every since he saw the movie Space Camp. At least while he was at the graduation ceremony, he got the chance to explore the facilities at the US Space and Rocket Center and even got to ride several of the simulators. If you would like to see a few more pictures of Sarah at the US Space and Rocket Center, Click Here. You may even recognize one of the Rocket Center employees.

Google Maps Leprechaun Easter Egg

Never say that the creative folks at Google don't have a sense of humor. Or perhaps they have been into the green beer a little early in preparation for Saint Patty's Day. Today, while driving around in Google Maps in Street View Mode, I discovered an unusual addition. There was a little leprechaun close to my search target. You can click on the leprechaun and it shows you additional leprechaun information. Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

If you would like to learn how to unlock some of the inner secrets of Google Maps, here are a couple of good resources.

Garden of the Gods, Colorado Springs

Jake violated two of his most basic rules today. His rules are; 1) Never venture out to see the sights while on a business trip and 2) Never exercise unless someone is chasing after you.

While on a business trip to Colorado Springs, Colorado, Jake's boss Mr. Peabody badgered him into going for a "short run". The weather is so nice Mr. Peabody stated. Jake finally acquiesced and figured that a short run couldn't possibly do too much damage. After all, Mr. Peabody is 10 years older than Jake. So they loaded into the car to drive to a nice little running path that Mr. Peabody knew about.

Mr. Peabody ended up driving to the Garden of the Gods which is a public park in Colorado Springs, Colorado. It contains numerous trails for hiking, walking, biking and horseback riding. As soon as they started running, Jake knew that he had made a rather large mistake. Apparently, Colorado Springs is at a slightly higher elevation than Alabama where Jake is from. And apparently, the air is just a little thinner as you go up in elevation. Jake discovered these laws of physics the hard way. They hadn't been running for more than two minutes when Jake discovered that his hands were all tingly and he was having a harder than normal time breathing. Jake's first thought was to use the old, "Ouch, I twisted my ankle" trick. Mr. Peabody was watching him pretty closely though, so Jake had no choice but to keep running.

Did I mention that the multi-use trails are also used for horseback riding? Apparently horse owners are not held to the same standard as dog owners and several incidents occurred during the trail running. An hour later when the run was nearly finished, it was all that Jake could do to crawl on his hands and knees back to the car. As he slowly made his way back to the car, Jake did however take a moment to notice the beauty of the Garden of the Gods. The beauty and wonder of the moment was only somewhat dulled by the incessant encouragement that Mr. Peabody shouted at Jake to continue running. Yes, Jake has learned his lesson and will go back to following his normal rules. Sometimes we just need a gentle little reminder of why we made the rules in the first place.

If you would like to visit the Garden of the Gods (Hopefully at a leisurely pace), here is the official website.

Check out the location of the Garden of the Gods on this map of places we've been.

Other Colorado Springs Attractions

• Mount Manitou Scenic Incline Railway (Colorado Springs)
• Garden Of The Gods (Colorado Springs)
  
• Manitou Springs (Manitou Springs)
  
• Mount Cutler Hiking Trail (Colorado Springs)
• Pikes Peak (Colorado Springs)
• Ghost Town Museum (Colorado Springs)
  
• Helen Hunt Falls (Colorado Springs)
• Cheyenne Mountain Zoo (Colorado Springs)
  

Snow Storm of the Century (Disaster Preparation)

For the last several days, the folks in Northern Alabama have geared up for bad weather as the snow storm of the century was preparing to moved into the area. Residents of the city prepared for the impending crisis by purchasing every last bottle of bottled water, every last loaf of bread and every last bottle of milk off the shelves of the local grocery stores. Do you think there won't be any more water after the snow comes? Lines at the gas stations were at least a mile long. This really annoyed Jake because his gas tank was empty and he didn't have any choice but to wait in line with all of the folks in panic mode.
The morning after the big snow, Jake looked out the window and indeed, the area had received a dusting of snow. It didn't stick to the roads mind you, but it was quite lovely none the less. Upon turning on the TV and tuning in to WAFF the local news channel, Jake learned that the entire region had come to a halt. Roads were closed, schools were shut down and activities were canceled. Jake and Molly both grew up in the North East and have experienced bad winter weather before. This certainly wasn't it. Northern Alabama appears to have dodged the bullet, but if your area is preparing for a impending disaster, here are a few resources that may help you out.

Destination Imagination Anne Boleyn

Scribbles and her Destination Imagination team conducted a dress rehearsal of their event in preparation for the Destination Imagination District Competition.

Destination ImagiNation (DI) is a creativity and problem solving program for children from elementary age to college age. Teams of up to seven members compete in various challenges that require complex thinking, problem solving, teamwork and creativity. The goal of the program is to teach creative and critical thinking, presentation skills, problem solving, and teamwork skills.

The group's topic for the competition was proving the existence or not of ghosts. And the focus of their performance is on Anne Boleyn. Anne Boleyn (1501/1507–19 May 1536) was the second wife of Henry the VIII and the mother of Elizabeth I of England. Henry's marriage to Anne, and her subsequent execution, were part of the complex beginning of the considerable political and religious upheaval which was the English Reformation, with Anne herself actively promoting the cause of Church reform. She has been called "the most influential and important queen consort England has ever had."

Helen Keller Photo

Related Articles

• 8 October 2007 - Helen Keller's Birth Place.
• 24 March 2008 - Important events in Helen Keller's Life.
  

The Kansas City Star has reported that researchers have uncovered a rare photograph of a young Helen Keller with her teacher Anne Sullivan, nearly 120 years after it was taken on Cape Cod and tucked inside a family album. See the full article.

We visited the birth place of Helen Keller during our travels last year.

Helen Keller's Life was popularized in the classic movie Miracle Worker. In the movie, 7-year old Helen Locked in a frightening, lonely world of silence and darkness since infancy. She has never seen the sky, heard her mother's voice or expressed her innermost feelings. Then Annie Sullivan, a 20-year-old teacher from Boston, arrives. Having just recently regained her own sight, the no-nonsense Annie reaches out to Helen through the power of touch the only tool they have in common and leads her bold pupil on a miraculous journey from fear and isolation to happiness and light.

Honey Do

Molly started her new job this week. She enjoys the job, but the rest of the Pohick Clan is going through a period of adjustment. We had grown used to having her at our beck and call. Now we are all having to fend for ourselves a little bit. Check out the video of what happened at the Pohick house during her first day at work.

District Band Concert

Scribbles was selected to represent her school in the District Band. Luckily Yellow Hair video taped the concert, because Jake was unable to attend. (See Previous Entry) The attached video is a medley of the songs that the band performed. I'm sure you will recognize a few of the tunes.

Alone In The Wild

You're in rural Alabama on a Saturday evening thirty miles from your home. Your daughter has to get to a district honor band in thirty minutes. You're car gets a flat tire. Not just a leak or a nail, but a big old slash in the side wall. You change the tire using the stupid little doughnut tire that serves as a spare . Skinning your knuckles in the process. Then you discover that the spare tire isn't holding air either. The valve stem is broken. Did I mention that it's Saturday evening in rural Alabama. Triple AAA asks, "What would you like to do." You respond, "I would like you to take my daughter to her concert and then fix my flat tire." There is silence on the phone. Then the triple A rep asks, "Do you know that you're in rural Alabama?" I don't think you are going to find someone to fix your tire on a Saturday evening down there. When the tow truck driver showed up, he asked, "What would you like to do?" Well, can we take my daughter to her concert and then get my tire fixed?" Silence..... "Did you know that this is rural Alabama?", the driver asked.

Scribbles got one of her friends to drive her to the concert. The tow truck driver called in a favor and got a buddy to stay open late at the Sears Automotive store. Jake spent lots of money getting the tire fixed. But alls well that ends well.

First Lego League

Robots are cool! This weekend, Yellow Hair along with the rest of her robotics team, "The Electro-Bots", competed in a competition with 43 other schools as part of the First Lego League. The First Lego League introduces children around the world to the fun and experience of solving real-world problems by applying math, science, and technology. The Electro-Bots did well taking first place in the teamwork portion of the competition. They have already begun designing their robot for next year's competition with their sights set on taking the overall first place trophy. Click here to see some additional photos from this year's competition.

Georgia Aquarium

After Christmas, the Pohick Gang drove to Atlanta, GA and visited the Georgia Aquarium. The aquarium was pretty awesome and well worth the drive. The Georgia Aquarium, located in Atlanta, Georgia at Pemberton Place, is billed as the "world's largest aquarium" with more than 8.1 million US gallons (30,662 m³; 30,661,835 liters) of marine and fresh water housing more than 100,000 animals of 500 different species. To see a few more pictures from this adventure, check out this link.

Great Granny Pohick

The Pohick gang had a great Christmas this year. Jake's mother squeaky visited. We also had a visit from Molly's sister JD and Great Granny Pohick.

Hiking in the Pohick Swamp

The Pohick gang all went hiking in the Pohick Swamp this weekend. We saw lots of wildlife and the weather was just perfect for hiking. Not too hot...Not too cold....Not raining. Just a lovely afternoon.

Spooky

Despite Jake's insistence that he was not going to decorate for Halloween this year, he changed his mind at the last minute. After arriving home from work at 5PM, he quickly located all of the Halloween decorations and managed to pull the whole thing together in under an hour. The entire ensemble included the graveyard with electric lights, spiderwebs on the house also with lights, a murderer with strobe light in the upstairs window, spooky music, carved pumpkins and a fog machine. Not bad for one hours worth of work. We had about 70 trick or treaters and they all seemed to enjoy the ambiance. To see a few more pictures, check out this link.

SciQuest

Step One - Enter Teleportation Chamber
Step Two - Close Chamber Door
Step Three - Enter Teleportation Coordinates
Step Four - Energize Teleportation Chamber
* Warning - Ensure that no other biological entities are in chamber prior to energizing.

Dog Gone - I guess we should have read all of the instructions prior to pushing the go button. Oh well, It's really not that noticeable is it?

To see some additional photos from our trip to the science museum click here.

Tate Farms

The Pohicks headed to Tate Farms in Meridianville, Alabama today. We all had a great time. While there we jumped in hay, jumped in cotton, took a hay ride, picked pumpkins, petted goats, petted pigs, petted bunnies and got lost in a hay maze. To see some more great pictures from the day, click on this link.

Disco Fever

Just a little video from the good old days.