Monthly Archives: February 2015

Ice Day

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I am apparently counting on having an ice day tomorrow, as I put the cake pops in the fridge and haven’t graded the papers I need to grade before tomorrow morning.

Instead I’ve been surfing the net and learning that my dad’s family is descended from Swiss-Germans (or at least we both share common ancestors) and that my maiden name is fairly common in West Lothian, Scotland. Since my greatx5 grandfather’s middle name was McComiskey, it seems more likely that we are related to the Swiss-Germans through a more remote ancestor… I can’t imagine how a Swiss-German child would have McComiskey as a middle name else wise.

Joined the family “I am X” board on Facebook. Most of the rest are Scots, though there’s an Alabaman, too.

Need to watch student videos and work on abstracts for presentations/submissions.

Dad’s surgery

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Dad had eye surgery today. It was on his good eye. I was terrified, thinking he would be totally blind if it didn’t work.

Apparently blind in the eye was so unlikely it wasn’t even on the paperwork–good.

Took 3x as long as they said, started 1 hr later. However, it is over and he seems to be doing well.

Took the 5 prescriptions to the pharmacy. Was given a new medicine from the doctor instead of the one dad has been taking. (Not the eye doctor–the stupid/favorite doctor.)

I’ve got class tonight and so does R, so M is coming over for pizza and to be with Dad.

Dad has an appt in the morning to get the patch off. He’ll still have to wear an eye cover for a week whenever he is sleeping. That will be tricky, as he gets up at random times and goes to sleep at other random times.

Glad I was able to cover my Monday and Tuesday classes. Hope Wednesday is relatively painless.

Too Nice

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For a class I am teaching for the first time this semester, I think I have tried to be too nice. The students are pushing and pushing and I finally had to step back and say, “No. You can’t do that.”

I assigned two books. The total cost for those books is $14 plus tax. This is not an onerous sum, but I offered students the option to come read one book (fairly short and an easy read) in my office during office hours.

This is the week the other book is due. Several people asked for other books to read instead of those on the syllabus.

“I have this one I need to read.”
“I own one I haven’t had time to read.”
“I can’t afford to buy this book.”

During class, I said, “Okay, you can read that book you have.” I also said, “Go to this source for free books.”

However, after class I realized that one person already cheated on last week’s homework, which was to watch a movie they’d never seen. Instead he watched his favorite movie. (He’s the second quote up there.)

I also remembered, as I was getting frustrated about that, that the point of this class was to look at overt presentations of a topic in the texts. I have no idea whether their books are overt, but I know not all the free books are.

So I just sent a note saying, you can read the books on the list or you can read this free book. If you want to read anything else at all, you must send an email about it–even though I may have given approval during class.

Hopefully people will just go with the books I’ve approved.

Raquel’s Sandies

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NOT DRY AT ALL.

This is Raquel’s (from TCK) recipe.

Sandies

Ingredients

1 cup butter, softened

2 1/4 cups flour, divided

1/3 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup pecans,chopped

1 tbsp water/milk

1 cup powdered sugar

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Farenheit (180 degrees Celcius.

Cream butter for about 1 minute, just until whipped.

Add 1 cup of the flour, the sugar and the vanilla extract. Beat until completely combined.

Add the remaining flour, the water and the pecans. Mix thoroughly.

With your hands, form 1-inch balls and place on cookie sheet about 1/2 inch apart.

Bake for 20 minutes.

*When just warm enough to touch, remove from the cookie sheet and roll in the powdered sugar.

Let cool completely, then roll in sugar again.

*or just let cool completely and roll once.

Jenny’s Pomegranate Salad

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I got this recipe from a friend at church after tasting her amazing salad.

Wild Berry Pistachio Salad

3 heads Romaine lettuce
1 ½ cups blackberries, rinsed
1 cup pomegranate seeds
¾ cup pistachios
12 oz feta cheese

Sweet Pomegranate Dressing

1 ½ cups vegetable oil ½ tsp. salt
¾ cup pomegranate vinegar ½ tsp coarse black pepper
1 ¼ cup sugar 2 tbsp. dried chives
½ cup water 2 tsp. Dijon mustard

Combine all ingredients in a blender and mix well. Chill. Toss with salad just before serving.

ENJOY!!

Note: I used pumpkin seed instead of pistachios. This is a huge salad. The small pitcher of dressing was 1/3 the recipe.

I got the pomegranate vinegar at United.