Designing For My Sister The Diva....

O.k., first of all I haven't blogged for a minute because the heat wave we are having has been a nightmare! Our central air went out and it took FOREVER...but we ending up getting a new unit rather than fixing the old one. COOL AT LAST!!!

While sitting motionless for days on end, wishing for cool weather..I had a lot of time on my hands to think. I watched my baby sister...who is nearly four change her outfits every two point five minutes.... This isn't an unusual occurrence at our home, but while watching her maim the closet...EUREKA! I had a great idea! I have been begging my mother for months to let me get a job..she laughs of course and states that child labor laws prohibit thirteen-year-olds from working. I know the lady on the corner who runs a mom and pop store and begged my mom to let me work there for an hour or two every few days. What's a girl got to do for some extra cash these days??? Anyway, back to my sister.

When my sister was born, she had the small word "DIVA" tattooed in very tiny letters on her lower back. My mother didn't notice at first, until the pediatrician pointed it out. She was instantly concerned. Who had done this...? Is it genetic?? Will she turn out right? Is it PERMANENT??? She rattled off every imaginable question with one breath, then gasped and continued on about how it must have been her obsession with watermelon during the pregnancy. The pediatrician assured her that it was only the womb fairies taking revenge for the six boys who had relentlessly trampled their homes and family members with little remorse or care. (Note to Readers: It is proof that to say you do not believe in fairies could have dire consequences on your health, and your children, and your childrens' children...etc.) The pediatrician stated that she had seen it many times before in various forms..."Be glad you got "Diva"...others...well you don't want to know what I have seen."
"Like What?!", my mother squeaked barely able to speak.
"Let me just say, one mother got the worst of it. There was even a film made about it. You may have heard of "Rosemary's Baby"...the pediatrician half whispered.
My mothers face paled and then sighed with some relief. My younger brother, who had so looked forward to becoming a big brother for the first time frowned and whispered to me..."I'll bet she came from aliens." I rolled my eyes...he doesn't know the facts of life and what can you expect from a six year old. "She's not an alien." I said with sarcasm..."She just takes after you", I quipped.
His eyes widened as he eagerly lifted up his shirt and craned his neck around as far as he could. "What does my back say?", he asked..
It says "Your gullible"...I laughed.."Now put your shirt down".

"It does?"...his eyes gleamed proudly.. "Hey, Mom, I'm like the guy in that book you read to us "Gullible's Travels"...

"Yeah, you're more like a Lilliputian"...I whispered under my breath.

"Enough teasing!...This is serious! my mother sniffed...almost ready to cry. "And no son, you do not have anything on your back....Thank Goodness!"

That is how it all started, my sister the "Diva" was born that way, and lives up to her name. She loves to shop. She loves shoes. She LOVES accessories including but not limited to jewelry, hair bows and especially hand bags and HATS, HATS, HATS, including various hair scarves.. She loves pink frillies and frou frou..(can anyone say....make me puke?) She loves kitty cats and butterflies. Her first sentence came while we were shopping for school clothes one August shortly after her first birthday...while pointing and wild eyed, she squealed with delight saying... "DAT"S SOOOOOO CUUUUTTEE". We all turned and looked at one another with disbelief. It was at that moment, we knew she was marked for life.

Needless to say, the cost of her lifestyle is not always cheap. My mother, is creative and crafty. In an effort to meet my sister's "Diva Demands" she has begun recycling old clothing into Kiddie Couture..for my sister. She says that buying it would be easier but recycling makes her feel less wasteful and she can make the designs that she likes. So, I thought I could do the same, but sell it. (of course I would use new fabric and not old pieces from other clothes) She agreed that if I designed the clothes, she would buy the fabric for me. I could sew it and start an online store (probably eBay or something) and then I could keep the profits after I pay her back for the supplies. I am really excited about it, and in fact have never really cared a whit about fashion. Suddenly, I have ideas from every direction...It is like an untapped river suddenly overflowing. Every writer has a fall back, or so I am told. Anyway, I am still in the designing phase but hope to make my first outfit next week. I will post pictures for you all when I am finished. If you know anyone who would like a custom made outfit, please let me know and I will design something unique and adorable...with the "Diva Seal of Approval" stamped on the tag.

I am optimistic, so no stealing my thunder with all of you pessimists out there...and you know who you are!

Looking forward to your "constructive" criticisms once the designs are finished.


Until then...just call me Nora.

Cooking and Chemistry...kind of scary don't you think?

OK, so I am thirteen now, I guess I have breached the threshold of adolescence. I don't know if I should shout for joy or cry like a baby. Sometimes I do a little of each. I guess with growing up comes more responsibilities. At least that is what my mom and dad tell me. For a while now, my mother has been trying to encourage my "culinary skills"...unfortunately I would rather write a cookbook than read one. (If I ever do please, Buyer beware! I can't guarantee good results).

I don't know how my mother does it. She can look into the looming refrigerator and pull out a variety of seemingly odd ingredients only to throw it into a pot and make a scrumptious meal. On the other hand, I have had too many cooking disasters to count. From over inflated muffins, to rock hard biscuits.(and those were from a can)...Oh the shame of it all. I once made spaghetti soup...it was completely accidental. (No one mentioned I was supposed to drain the pasta BEFORE adding the sauce.) Never assume a beginning cook knows what they are doing. To put it simply, I think cooking is completely overrated...and it just adds to the mess of things. It's like two jobs in one (cooking and cleaning), three times a day...sigh....Rachel Ray...I know I have watched hours of your cooking show, and never once have they worked out for me. I guess I can now join the club of "the domestically challenged". I am the type of girl who likes to know "why" something happens. This annoys my mother to death, because it is like having a three year old (which she already has). Knowing this about me, she decided that perhaps if I knew the "whys' and "hows" of cooking, I might take more of an interest. It was intriguing, but it didn't work. I still hate cooking, though I will make an occasional grilled cheese sandwich if I absolutely have to. I actually had to write a paper about what I learned. I thought I would share it with you all, because quite frankly, I have nothing very exciting to share with you this week, except this. I guess you could say, it is Cooking with Chemistry...That sounds freakishly alarming in the same sentence. Chemical reactions in our food? Well, it happens. Chemistry is all around us. So here is the paper I wrote after a Saturday morning of "culinary chemistry".

COOKING WITH CHEMISTRY

Saturday Breakfast with Nora Gunter

Chemistry is all around us. Sometimes we use it without even knowing. For example, have you ever been making pancakes in the morning and wonder why they turn out so light and fluffy? Well, today I am going to explain why.

Okay, Here are our ingredients:

We need flour, baking powder, salt, eggs, cooking oil and milk.

These ingredients all have a purpose, but mostly they are used to give the pancakes flavor, ad are inactive ingredients used as a binding base for the "chemistry magic", to work it's wonders. Store bought pancake mix is easy to use, but if you have none on hand and are making pancakes from scratch it is important to add the ingredients in the amount the recipe calls for, Unless you want to win the weirdest pancake award. For example, if you add too much flour, you are going to end up with hard, stiff pancakes. (Trust me. I know.) People expect pancakes to melt in their mouths, not break their bicuspids. (Thankfully, no bicuspids were injured in the making of this project. Whew!) If you add too little flour, well, you could end up with crepes...which are delicious...but flat and rubbery, NOT light and fluffy. Then there is the baking powder, which is the most important ingredient of all. Too much, and you will have a mushroom cloud instead of a pancake, with a hint of bitterness...again...personal experience too painful to speak of, but I will talk more about baking powder a little later.

OK, now we get to the fun part!Do I hear any interjections of "HOORAY", "YEEHAW", or "YIPPEEEEEE!!!!? Hmmm...I didn't think so. Oh well, on with the show.

When making pancakes first, you will want to mix the dry ingredients together:

(Hint: in chemistry, this is called a mixture because, theoretically we could still separate the ingredients from one another and they would be unchanged.) (I'll bet you didn't know I knew that right? )

First, we have the two cups of flour, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and four teaspoons of baking powder. Then, we whisk it slightly until the ingredients are combined. See any "chemistry magic" yet? Yeah, I don't either. Be patient it is coming soon.

Next, we will combine (in a separate bowl from the dry ingredients) the two eggs, oil, and milk. (A.K.A. the WET ingredients).

After that, add the bowl of wet ingredients to the bowl of dry ingredients. NOTICE ANYTHING???

If you look closely you will notice that as soon as the dry and wet ingredients meet there are a lot of bubbles that form on the top. This is because of the Guest of Honor....Drum roll....Yep, you guessed it. It is baking powder.

We asked Baking Powder, "Just how do you do it?"

He replied, "I must admit I have always had and effervescent personality. I can't help myself. Whenever H2O and I get together, it's like a party every time. Some people just have that chemistry...You know!"

We couldn't get him to tell us the secret behind his bubbly, however he did leave us with this parting message..."Eat your heart out baking soda!".

What that means..? We may never know.

What our sources did find out is that baking powder is the combinations of sodium bicarbonate (a base) and a combination of sodium aluminum sulfate and calcium acid phosphate. (Both weak, solid acids). When baking powder comes into contact with water, (or in the case of our pancakes, milk) and acid-base reaction occurs causing the release of carbon dioxide gas...resulting in bubbles suspended within the batter. (Once this chemical reaction occurs this "mixture" is now defined as a "compound" because the components in it cannot be separated without another chemical reaction to do so)...fascinating...if you are a zealous chemistry buff...(I'm not).

Once the wet and dry ingredients are in the same bowl, you must stir it. When stirring it the batter it is important not to over stir it, because with every stroke you release the carbon dioxide gas inside the batter. The more bubbles that remain in the batter, the better. Small lumps are a pretty good sign that you have not over mixed.

We also found out that most baking powder is "double acting". This means that one acid is used to release hydrogen ions while resting at room temperature and then another acid is used to release even larger amounts of hydrogen ions when the compound is heated... (In this case by our HOT griddle).

With the mixing and measuring out of the way you can now start cooking your creation. Get a frying pan or a griddle and let it sit on the stove burner for a few minutes to preheat. You can put a little oil on the pan if you don't have a nonstick pan. Note: It is probably better to let an adult do this if you are not and experienced cook. We would not want anyone to burn their fingers...(I know about burned fingers also by personal experience. NOT FUN!!)

When the oil starts to fizzle or when a drop of water dances on the griddle it is ready. Pour the pancake batter slowly onto the griddle.

The sizzling sound is like music to the ears. After a time you will notice the second acid releasing its bubbles from the heat. (Lives up to it's name "double acting".)

When the edges begin to turn gold brown and you see bubbles on the surface you know it is time to flip the flapjacks..

Voila!!!

Breakfast is served, with syrup, milk and a side of chemistry. It is a perfect Saturday Morning breakfast.

**Note** A special thanks to my research staff, and also to my unfortunate taste testing brothers. They were lucky...this time....

Also, please disregard the date on these photos...my mothers is still trying to figure out how to set the correct date on the camcorder/digital camera...She insists she can figure it out herself...Parents...eye roll... Love 'em tons.

Well, there it is. In case anyone is wondering the original paper had pictures along the way, but I haven't figured out the ins and outs of the blog world yet, and I am not sure how to post the pictures I wanted to. I suppose that to perserver with my journey of cooking would be the right thing to do. One must not lose hope...even over something like cooking.

I love Emily Dickinson's poem

Hope is the Thing with Feathers
by Emily Dickinson


Hope is the thing with feathers

That perches in the soul,

And sings the tune without the words,

And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;

And sore must be the storm

That could abash the little bird

That kept so many warm.

I've heard it in the chilliest land

And on the strangest sea;

Yet, never, in extremity,

It asked a crumb of me.

I hope you all keep your fingers crossed for me and a little prayer in your hearts for me. If ever we invite you over, I promise I will not cook on that occasion. If ever you see a cookbook entitled the Jewels of A Juvenile Junkfood Junkie...Buyer beware...you have been warned.

Peace to all of you in blog land,

Until next time...just call me Nora.