How Is This His Job??

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President-elect Barack Obama said his plans to rebuild infrastructure, modernize schools and develop alternate energy are long-term investments in the economy, not quick fixes.

Looking At What I Read....

I thought it would be fun to look at all the sites that I tend to frequent, and check out their reading levels. Now, I really don't know how accurate this test is, and I can't seem to find any extra information on the way this one looks at the reading level. But, it's fun, and right now I'm feeling smart.

Real Effect High School
Real Debate Wisconsin High School
Fuzz Martin Junior High School
Boots and Sabers High School
The World According To Nick Junior High School
Silent E Speaks Junior High School
Rocks In My Dryer Elementary School
Orthogonal Thought High School
Cooking For Engineers Genius (Sometimes shows up as College Post Grad)
Papa Z's Views and Comments Junior High School
Rachel Lucas Elementary School
Vox Day High School

Now, some of these I'm not terribly surprised about, there's nothing massively outstanding about most of them, at least in the realm of higher thinking. A few that I am surprised about, Vox for one, seems to have an extremely intelligent group of followers, and I like his writing style. Rachel Lucas I also expected to be a little higher, what with her chemistry and all. Cooking For Engineers, now that one really threw me. I am on that site all the time, and while I understand a lot about cooking, I never felt that there was anything too far above my level of expertise in that area. I thought it was all pretty simple. Makes me wonder about what I read now.....

Wow, I Didn't Realize....

Movie Reviews

I really have to wonder how this thing works. What does it check to determine the readability? It's neat though. I didn't expect to get such a high readability level.

Especially after seeing Elliot's post over at From Where I Sit. Check him out. He's got some good stuff over there. At least, he does when I remember to check :)


After a bit of snooping, I decided to enter a few other blogs I do frequent, just to see what they were. I was expecting most of them to be doing better than I was, especially Fred. But, apparently not. That's just a little weird....

These Look So Cute!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFy7vKf0LbA

I want to make some of these now. Such easy little tiny stars, and little strips of paper. These look like a good use for shredded paper :)

More instructions here: http://www.dltk-kids.com/world/japan/morigami_star.htm

Stash Contest

I just found a cute little site today that is giving away a stitcher's dream stash. Some beautiful threads, and a stitching book. I love embroidery, and this just looks like it would be such a fun little package to get. Go check it out!

The Best Lasagna Ever?

I am a person who can cook just about anything. Chicken Kiev, cutsie cupcakes, homemade marshmallows, just about anything you could want, I can bake it. Except lasagna. Lasagna is the bain of my culinary existence. How could something as easy as noodles, cheese and sauce be so difficult to make properly? Apparently for me, very difficult.

Until now. I believe that I have actually found the best lasagna ever, and it's even actually called The Best Lasagna Ever. Go figure. I looked at the recipe, and thought hey, even I might be able to make this. And oh look, my husband might even eat it! He's a little picky. But that's alright. Anyway, I decided that this recipe looked easy enough even for my lasagna challenged skills, so I thought I'd give it a try.

Before I go any further, for the longest time I thought that my husband's mother's lasagna was the best ever. Lots of sauce, cheese, noodles, and tons of layers. It was really, really good, and after a while, I even gave up trying to make it because even when she helped me, my pan would turn out terrible, and hers would turn out great. It was creepy, because we'd make it exactly the same way. So I decided that I must be lasagna challenged, and turned my attention to things like pate-a-choux, because it was easier. However, I digress.

After making this recipe, so kindly put onto the internet by my new favorite person Pioneer Woman, I thought I was doomed to avoid lasagna forever. Until now. This is truly, The Best Lasagna Ever, and even my husband, who is picky and loves his mother's lasagna, agreed. I was in shock. I made lasagna, and everyone loved it? What has the world come to?

Here is the recipe. You really must try it. I will warn you, this is not an inexpensive dish. After a bit I will work on ways to make it more cheaply, perhaps getting the cheese from the deli, getting the sausage on sale, that sort of thing. But man, it's worth it. Our family of eating age adults and kids, 8 in total (we had a guest too), made it through about 1/3 of the lasagna. It was very filling and rich and good. The littles don't eat a lot, and they're even pickier than my husband some days. So we have plenty of leftovers for a while. I will have to see how this reheats, but I'm sure it won't be an issue.

I did make a change though, since I have picky eaters. I pureed the whole tomatoes along with the tomato paste until I had a nice smooth sauce. None of my boys really like the chunks of tomatoes, so I did have to make that change. It still turned out amazing though, and now, I can cook lasagna knowing that it will actually taste good. I would probably cook it a little longer than I did too, and let it sit longer to cool so that it's not so melty when I go to serve it.

Thank you Pioneer Woman, this is definitely The Best Lasagna Ever!

Before baking: Look at all the pretty layers!


After baking: Mmmm... all melted and good.

Dinner time!

More Apple Pie

I didn't take pictures this time, but I thought I'd share the recipe, since the pie turned out so good. Maybe I'll get a pic of one of the leftover little bits of the pie later one. We'll see.

Anway, this is about the easiest recipe you could get. But, I changed it a bit, and it turned out better than I expected.

Apple Pie

3 lbs. Golden Delicious apples (about 6-8 medium, I usually shoot for 8)
3 Tbs. Butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon apple pie spice
1/2 to 1 teaspoon Vietnamese Cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
Pie crust
Cinnamon sugar


In a large skillet with high sides, melt the butter over high heat until sizzling and fragrant. Add the apples and toss with the butter to coat. Turn the heat down to medium and cover, cooking 5-7 minutes or until softened but still slightly crunchy on the inside. Add the sugar, spice, cinnamon and salt, and cook over high heat until the juices are thick and syrupy, about 3 minutes. (**I personally have never really been able to get it thick at this step, so here are my instructions) Remove the apples with a slotted spoon, and cool on a cookie sheet. Continue boiling the syrup for another minute or so, until it starts to thicken, and turn off the heat.

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees F. and place your baking rack in the bottom third of the oven.

Prepare your pie crust. If you are using the refrigerated kind, lay it out on a piece of waxed paper, and roll it out so that it is a little more rounded, and a lot thinner. This will allow for a crisper crust that won't get as soggy. Place it in the bottom of your pie plate and fit it in there good. Leave the edges overhanging for now. Place your cooled pie filling into the bottom crust. Roll out the top crust the same as you did for your bottom crust, making it nice and thin (though not too thin to handle. If you wish to use a mini cookie cutter to cut out pretty little shapes, now is the time to do it. Transfer to the top of the pie, and crimp or flute or do as you wish. You might want to brush the bottom crust with a little cold water, but that's not ever something I seem to be able to remember. Sprinkle the top with cinnamon sugar. If you didn't use the cookie cutter to make cutouts, make some steam vents now.

Now, you are ready to bake. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, or until the crust is richly browned and the filling is bubbly. As insurance, you may want to put a tinfoil lined baking sheet on the rack under the pie in case anything drips. When you are done baking, allow the pie to cool for 3 to 4 hours, or as long as you can stand waiting. Serve it with vanilla ice cream.

One thing I noticed this time, is that the brown sugar seems to help the juices thicken easier. You may not even need to boil the juices separately, but I did it automatically this time, and it still turned out really good. I also don't actually measure my spices, so measurements are approximate. You can adjust according to your family's tastes.