Showing posts with label apples. Show all posts
Showing posts with label apples. Show all posts

10 November 2010

Tea parties are for little girls

October 30, 2010: a date of no significance whatsoever. It just happened to be the day of the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear on the National Mall.

(Yes, this post is way late, what of it. I have priorities.)

So my friends JoJo and Tom came to DC that weekend from Williamsburg and NYC, respectively, and we celebrated the joyful reunion with a little Carr-aft Night.

You see, I spent the spring semester of my junior year in a magical fairyland (with lots of boats) called Mystic, CT, and JoJo and Tom were two of my housemates there. It was easily the best semester of my life, and one of the many, many highlights was the weekly craft night we hosted at Carr House. Hence the name "Carr-aft Night." We're simple people, yo.

We made like super-cool kids, spending many a Friday night decorating T-shirts, making model ships, and baking marine policy-themed desserts.



Yeah. Some things just never change. Do you understand now why I love these guys so much?

This Carr-aft Night was to make T-shirts and signs for the rally. For the T-shirts, I cut out the stencil, and then JoJo masterfully applied the fabric paint to get the stamped look. It was far too crowded at the rally to take out our signs, so I don't have any pictures of them. Oh well.



The rally was super fun! It was my first time attending a rally of any sort, and I think it was a great first experience. Some very cool and unexpected guests showed up, among them my favorites Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage.

You know. The guys from Mythbusters. Also known as MY HEROES FOREVER.

If the med school thing doesn't pan out, I would so love to work for these guys. Jamie and Adam, are you looking to hire? I love science -- especially the kind involving FIRE and EXPLOSIONS and PROJECTILES -- I'm good with my hands, and I often bring baked goods to work!

Ahem. Unfortunately I was nowhere near enough the front to even be able to see the stage (sometimes it really sucks to be short), but I did spot some funny signs that people brought. I particularly enjoyed this one I espied on our way out:



There are more photos on the rally website and on Flickr, so go check them out!

...

You're still reading? I envy you your attention span, I really do.

Well. I did originally log on to post the apple crisp that I made for our class' potluck last week.

The cool thing about this recipe is that I made it up, and it turned out okay. Pretty good, even! My classmates cleared the pan in twenty minutes flat, which was impressive given the vast quantity of food at the potluck, especially of desserts.

04 July 2010

When life hands me lemons...

...I make zest! Honestly, I don't think there is a scent that I love more than that of freshly-grated lemon zest.

A continually overworked mouse-wench-about-to-turn-grad-student, I turn to baking as a way to relieve stress. It is somehow so therapeutic to prepare and combine the ingredients, then to trust the oven to do its job. The chemist in me likes to analyze how each ingredient contributes to the final product, but there is still something magical about the way a goopy mess turns into a delicious cake. Of course the best part about this chemistry experiment is that you can eat the final product!

For the 234th birthday of the United States, I made an apple pie and a blueberry-and-cherry buckle. I am not American, but I guess I won't turn down an excuse to bake something to go with the theme of the day. :)