Time To Make the Beignets

Do you remember the Dunkin Donuts "Time to Make the Donuts" commercials from the 1980s? Here is an example in case you have forgotten. Well the other day, Scribbles was having food day for French Class. French food is never easy for some reason. (I submit the eclair making into evidence your honor.) Anyway, this time, Scribbles had to make Beignets. You might be asking, "Exactly what is a Beignet"? You wouldn't be alone in asking this, because this is exactly what Jake asked when Scribbles announced that she need about 8 dozen of them by the next day. A Beignet is french for a fried donut. To be more precise, a Beignet refers to a pastry made from deep-fried dough and sprinkled with confectioner's sugar. It just so happens that Jake is a pretty fair hand when it comes to fried food. Pretty much if you can fry it, he's likely to have tried it. Jake took one look at the complicated french recipe and said, "Not No But Heck No!" If they want fried donuts, we are going to make them the way God intended. Take your can of refrigerated buttermilk biscuits. Roll the dough into balls. Pop them in the deep fryer for a minute or so. Roll in sugar and voila (That's French), you got yourself some mighty fine fried donuts (or should I say Beignets).

Christmas Cactus

Molly is seen here with one of her Christmas Cacti which have begun to bloom.

The Christmas Cactus
(Thanksgiving Cactus, Christmas Cactus, Easter Cactus) are composed of several closely related species in the genus Schlumbergera and the species Hatiora gaertneri, (often called "Zygocactus" in older works). They are originally forest cacti, growing as epiphytes at elevations between 1000 and 1700 meters above sea level (3280 to 5575 feet above sea level) in the Organ Mountains north of Rio de Janeiro in southeast Brazil, South America (not to be confused with the Organ Mountains of New Mexico in the United States of America). They are called "Flor de maio" (May Flower) in Brazil.

Many modern holiday cactus cultivars are hybrids between Schlumbergera truncata and Schlumbergera russelliana, first bred about 150 years ago in England.

Propagation

All of Molly's Christmas Cacti started from a single plant. Holiday cacti can be propagated quite easily by removing a single segment and planting it a quarter of its length deep in a pot filled with slightly sandy soil (it also helps to put some kind of rooting hormone on the base of the cutting). Place the pot in a well lit area (but not direct sunlight) and keep the soil moist. The cutting should begin showing signs of growth after two or three weeks.

Care

Watering

The soil should be evenly moist for best growth, but they are intolerant to constantly wet soil and poor aeration. If outdoors, an established plant may only need to be watered every two or three days in warm, sunny weather; or every week in cool, cloudy weather.

Lighting

Christmas cactus will do best in bright indirect light. Long term direct sunlight can burn the leaves and stunt growth. If taken care of properly, a single planting can last for hundreds of years.

Flowering

Christmas cactus will create flower buds when subjected to cooler temperatures (10–14°C/50–58°F) for 6-8 weeks.

Pohick High School Christmas Concert 2008

A couple of days ago we attended the Sarah Ray's Middle School Concert. Last night, we attended Scribble's High School Band Concert. It was very nice. The band played for about an hour. The video above is a selection of three of the songs that were played. The songs included:

• Jingle Bells - "Jingle Bells", also known as "One Horse Open Sleigh", is one of the best known and commonly sung secular Christmas songs in the world. It was written by James Lord Pierpont (1822–1893) and copyrighted under the title 'One Horse Open Sleigh' on September 16, 1857. The song has been translated into many languages, was made in thanks giving by the composer.
• Ukrainian Bell Carol - "Carol of the Bells" (also known as the "Ukrainian Bell Carol") is a choral miniature work originally composed by the Ukrainian composer Mykola Dmytrovych Leontovych. Throughout the piece, a 4 note motif is used as an ostinato and was taken from an ancient pagan Ukrainian New Year's chant known in Ukrainian as "Shchedryk". The original work was intended to be sung a cappella.
  
• Sleigh Ride - Sleigh Ride is a popular light orchestral piece, composed by Leroy Anderson. The composer had the original idea for the piece during a heat wave in July, 1946; he finished the work in February, 1948. Lyrics were written by Mitchell Parish in 1950. It was first recorded in 1949 by Arthur Fiedler & The Boston Pops Orchestra.
  

Lion Middle School Beginner Band

This was Sarah Ray's first year in band and last night was her very first performance. Sarah and the rest of the Lion Middle School Beginner Band did a pretty good job at their first performance. Way to go Lions!

Happy Mileversary Sally Racer

Congratulations Sally! What a milestone! Today Jake's Car Sally Racer had her 100,000 mileversary. Sally is a 1998 Mercury Tracer Wagon.

So how far is 100,000 miles? To put it in perspective, the distance around the Earth at the equator is about 25,000 miles. That means that Sally has driven all the way around the Earth about 4 times.

In all that distance, she has only had a minor failure or two like the Lost in the Wild Incident. She has been a steady performer during her 11 years of service to the Pohick family. It is especially noteworthy given the fact that recently she has been helping a student driver learn how to drive.

So what is the birthday girl going to do for her mileversary? First she is going to get a nice oil change and lube job. Then she is going to get a thorough washing inside and out and a nice coat of wax. We've got to keep her looking nice as she begins her second 100,000 miles.

Animated Christmas Lights

Motivated by the great Christmas Light Displays at the Huntsville Botanical Gardens Galaxy of Lights, Jake decided to get his very own light display put together. Though not as fancy as the Galaxy of Lights displays, Jake's display is still pretty cool. The trees and lighted border all change colors controlled by a computer controlled light controller from the Animated Lighting company. Next year Jake is planning to add a few more lights and set the whole thing to music.

Momma Mia That's a Good Pizza

Tonight Jake decided to cook his world famous home made pizza for dinner. Usually, he would just run out to a pizza joint and pick up a pie, but it was cold out tonight that he decided it was actually easier to just make it himself. It must have been pretty good because everyone came back for seconds and thirds. The dough was mixed in the Bread Machine, but you could probably make the same recipe by hand.

Here is the Recipe

Ingredients:

• 4 Cups Flour
• 2 tsp. active dry yeast
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 3/4 tsp sugar
  
• 1-3/8 Cups water
• 3 Tbsp. Margarine
• Sauce
• Cheese
• Pepperoni
• Oregano
• Garlic Salt

Directions:

Mix the Flour, yeast, salt, sugar, water and margarine and let rise for two hours. Knead several times and allow to rise. Spread dough on pizza platter. Add toppings and cook for 15 minutes at 450 degrees. Enjoy!

We Haven't Moved Far Enough South Yet

This week we had a few cold days and even a little bit of snow. The snow didn't last very long, but it was just enough to get Molly all out of sorts. She is fairly against winter as general principle. To her family and friends she is known as the Heat Miser. She claims to have the magical ability to ward off cold weather. Well apparently her powers were exhausted this week.

I'm Mrs. Green Christmas
I'm Mrs. Sun
I'm Mrs. Heat Blister
I'm Mrs. Hundred and One
They call me Heat Miser,
What ever I touch
Starts to melt in my clutch
I'm too much!

She's Mrs. Green Christmas
She's Mrs. Sun
She's Mrs. Heat Blister
She's Mrs. Hundred and One

They call me Heat Miser,
What ever I touch
Starts to melt in my clutch

She's too much!

Thank you!
I never want to see a day
That's under sixty degrees
I'd rather have it eighty,
Ninety, one hundred degrees!
(spoken)
Oh, some like it hot, but I like it
REALLY hot! Hee hee!

She's Mrs. Green Christmas
She's Mrs. Sun

Sing it!

She's Mrs. Heat Blister
She's Mrs. Hundred and One

They call me Heat Miser,
What ever I touch
Starts to melt in my clutch
I'm too much!

Too Much!

Galaxy of Lights

Last night the Pohick family visited the Galaxy of Lights at the Huntsville Botanical Gardens. This exhibit consists of countless animated light displays. It took us about 30 minutes to slowly drive through the various displays. The displays included nursery rhymes, a holiday village, dinosaurs, wild animals, a magical twinkling icicle forest, garden scenes, a patriotic display featuring red, white, and blue ‘fireworks’, and a hilarious host of animated snowmen. This was the first year that the Pohick family attended the display which is open nightly from Thanksgiving until New Year's day. We will definitely go back again next year.

See the Galaxy of Lights on the map of places we've been.

2008 Hicky Awards

Hello Folks. It's time for the 2008 Hicky Awards. Entries on the Pohick Website that made us laugh and cry. Entries that we just couldn't get enough of. Ladies and Gentlemen of the Academy, you voted and here are the results.

In the category of People's Choice (most viewed blog entry):

• Belle of Georgia Semi-Dwarf Peach Tree
• A Bug In Your Ear
• How to safely remove a bug from your ear
• Helen Keller Birthplace
• Mythbusters Lunar Landing Hoax

In the Category of Comic Video

• Alone In The Wild
• Honey Do
• The Eclairs Are Finished

In the Category of Editor's Choice

• Black Racer Snake
• Snarly Kraut
• Procion MX Tie Dye T-Shirts
• Mount Manitou Scenic Incline Railway