Cooking

     Last month, I told my students that I love recipes, but I hate to cook. Of course, they gave me this odd stare. I'm sure they were wondering how anyone could like recipes but hate to cook. Now that I think about it, it does seem odd, even to me. However, it is true. I don't really care to cook unless the dish is very easy to make.

     Today, I baked an oatmeal crumble topping because I've been craving it lately. I did quite a bit of research on what ingredients were in it (besides oatmeal) and what process I had to do to complete the recipe. I was looking for a recipe that would tell me how to bake the topping without first putting it on top of a fruit pie. Most of the recipes in both recipe websites and cookbooks listed the same basic ingredients: rolled oats (quick or traditional), brown sugar, flour, and butter (or margarine). I wanted to make the topping so that I could have it on hand to sprinkle over microwaved fruit. This craving started when I bought and tried Dole's Fruit Crisps (peach). The package contains two individual servings (plastic cups) of glazed fruit with separate topping containers. Each fruit cup is covered with a plastic sheet that is glued around the edges so that it doesn't spill all over the place (typical packaging by manufacturers). Each topping container is hard plastic and covered with foil (also glued around the edges). The topping container serves as a lid when turned upside-down.

 

     The topping container is made of a clear, hard plastic. Naturally, this means I will use it as a lid. I simply cannot throw it away when I can use it for something else. Below is a picture of the empty fruit cup, the topping lid (also empty), and a piece of foil (not the original packaging foil you see in the above picture).

     By itself, the topping lid is a bit too loose for the empty fruit cup, but with a sheet of foil on it, it's a nice fit. I could probably just put a strip of foil around the inside edge of the topping lid, and it would still fit well on the container. If I just want to keep a lid on the container but the lid doesn't need to fit securely on it, I could omit the foil.

     Below is the recipe with my comments in the directions because I added comments before, during, and after baking the topping.

Oatmeal Crumble Topping

Ingredients: [Exact measurements were taken from the Dehydrator bible]

½ C. quick-cooking rolled oats

½ C. packed brown sugar

¼ C. all-purpose flour

¼ tsp. ground cinnamon

¼ C. cold butter, cut into pieces

Process: Preheat oven to 375°F

In a bowl, combine oats, brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon. With clean hands, mix the ingredients together (yes, mix it up with your hands). Pour the topping mixture into a pie pan (aluminum or glass, I used a large aluminum pie pan) and spread out the mixture so that it covers the bottom of the pan. Bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes. After those first 10 minutes, pull pan out of oven and toss the mixture around. Put the pan back in the oven and bake for another 10 minutes. Pull pan from oven and let the topping cool for about 10 minutes before using it. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. The mixture makes about one and a half cups baked. 

My homemade oatmeal crumble topping added to a Dole Peach Fruit cup

     Just before microwaving the Dole Fruit cup, I add a little bit of cinnamon-sugar and an even smaller amount of sea salt (about 2 shakes from the salt shaker). I've noticed that without the extras, the peach flavor is a bit on the bland side for me. I stir the cinnamon-sugar and salt into the fruit mix and put the fruit cup in the microwave for about 25 seconds on high (my microwave oven is a 1300-watt one). Dole's instructions for heating the fruit cup is 20-30 seconds. Then, I add my oatmeal crumble topping. 

     Just so you know, everything was absolutely delicious! I put the oatmeal crumble topping in a 2-cup plastic container (a generic version of Ziploc's containers with screw-top lids) and put it in the refrigerator. The next time I want a sweet, crunchy topping on some fruit, I will have it on hand. Since making this topping, I've put glazed fruit on my shopping list.

Journal-Writing

     I was going to write a comparison-contrast post on Blogger and WordPress, but after I researched the topic, I decided the world has enough articles on it. Hands down, Blogger is my favorite site for writing down my thoughts and showing the world of readers what's going on in my life. I will, from time to time, add a post to WordPress, but I probably won't share many pictures because I've learned that once I use up the limited amount of space on WP, I will have to pay to expand. At this point in my life, spending money on blogging is out of the picture.
     I am used to Blogger as I've been writing entries in here for several years. Only recently have I started to write on a more regular basis. When I first started journal-writing, I didn't know what I wanted to write about, or maybe I didn't think anyone wanted to read anything I wanted to write about. Therefore, I slacked off on my writing.
     I keep a hard-copy journal, and I write in it occasionally. I have to say, however, that I haven't written in that journal for several months, and every time I start an entry in it, I write promises that I'll write more often (perhaps, tomorrow, I will actually write in that journal). I think I haven't been writing in the journal notebook because I don't have a couch. This is where my readers are thinking, "What are you talking about? You don't need a couch to write in a journal." Perhaps, an explanation is due.
      When I lived at my old place, I had a couch. I kept my journal notebook in a cubbyhole in the coffee table so that I could have easy access to it. Now, in my new place, I don't have a couch (yet), and my journal notebook is in my travel bag in my bedroom. I spend my waking hours at my desk, which is downstairs. This is another reason I need a couch: I'm spending too much time at my desk.
     I guess, tomorrow, I'll put the journal on a shelf under my desk (after I write an entry in it, of course). I have an adhesive whiteboard-like sheet on the wall next to my desk, and to remind myself to write in the hard-copy journal, I'll write a note on that wall-sheet. The picture below is half of the adhesive sheet on my wall. It has a quotation from Francis Bacon on the top and the spring 2013 semester checklist on the right-hand side of the sheet. Above the sheet is a calendar (that one is July); I have four of those on the wall above the sheet (currently reading from left to right and down: April, May, June, July). Directly above my pc monitor is a larger calendar (August).

     Now, perhaps, you might be wondering why August is on the larger calendar. Okay, I'll tell you why. The larger calendar (also adhesive) is for January and August of each year because they are starting months for the spring and fall semesters. August has been written on the calendar now. When this month (July) is over, I will erase April, May, June, and July from the smaller wall calendars and re-label/re-number them September, October, November, and December. I need to have the January to May and August to December calendars within easy view so that I can plan my lessons, homework assignments, tests, projects, and meetings.
     I hope you don't mind the links I've provided for you. I figure you might want to know where I bought these items, so I added links to them (in Amazon). The links should take you directly to the item's page. If they don't, please let me know.
     Whether I write here in Blogger (or WP) or in my journal notebook, I am writing my thoughts, and there are myriad benefits to "journaling." If you don't believe me, here's a website that may convince you to journal more: http://www.appleseeds.org/100_journaling.htm.

Cat Stuff

     I’m sitting here, at my desk, pecking the keys, slowly but steadily (not surely as some of you may have thought I would write), on the On-Screen Keyboard because my 14-year-old cat is stretched out across the front of the desk, blocking my access to the tangible keyboard. Obviously, using the unreachable keyboard would make typing this post so much easier; however, I will not disturb Moky just so I can jot down a few thoughts. Just as soon as I finished this first paragraph, Moky left the desktop. Now, I can use the real keyboard to type my entry.

     I have three cats: Moky (14 years old), Gypsy (13 years old), and Stormy (5 years old). I used to have four cats. The fourth cat was Bella. She died last November from the feline leukemia virus. She was not yet two years old when she died.

Bella

 

     The three cats I have now have their own quirks. Those are what make my cats unique. My cats make my life enjoyable. They also make my life healthier. [For further reading, try this website on the benefits of having cats: http://mritechnicianschools.net/2010/17-health-benefits-of-owning-a-cat.]

     Cats, generally, are healthy for humans. A purring cat creates a contented atmosphere, for both the cat and the human. I love when Gypsy lies on my lap because she purrs from the moment she steps onto my lap to the moment she falls asleep. Of the three cats I have, Gypsy has the loudest and most prevailing purrs. 

Gypsy

      Cats have a healing power to them. Gypsy’s warmth is especially comforting to me when she lies down next to me while I’m trying to fall asleep. I call her my feline heating pad because while I’m lying on my side, Gypsy will snuggle next to me, purring and emitting a profound warmth.

     When I am feeling blue or stressed, Stormy comes to my aid. She is the one who senses my sadness the most. When Bella died, Stormy often came to me, as if to see how I was doing or feeling. She would come up to me and look me in the eye. This was her way of seeking acknowledgement from me. I would look at her and say, “Hi, Stormy!” Then, she would rub her face against my hand and lick my arm. Stormy is my hugger. When she needs me, I usually also need her. She walks on my lap, and I say, “Stormy! Give me a hug!” Then, she stands so that her left side is facing me, and I wrap my arms around her and give her a hug. She does not squirm or run away when I do this. She is a big cat, which is why I love giving her hugs (weighing in at 12 pounds at the last vet visit in November 2012).

Stormy

      I am a patient and optimistic person. I think my cats have helped me with those two traits. Moky can be the most annoying because of his constant “talking,” but he has taught me patience, ten-fold. His idiosyncrasies include talking, kneading everything except scratching posts (including sneakers if I let him), batting cardboard box flaps (and vertical blinds), and trying to get into my drinking glass (I keep a lid on my drinking glass to keep Moky out of it).

     Moky loves to be groomed, and his favorite “tool” is the lint roller. I think he’s attracted to the sticky part of the lint sheets on the roller. He’s also a nut for the packaging tape on boxes. I do my best to keep him from getting to that kind of adhesive because I don’t know if it’s good for him (erring on the side of caution). When I groom the cats, Moky’s the first in line. I usually start grooming him with a brush, and then, I move to a grooming glove (bristled just for pet grooming). The last tool I use is the lint roller. I don’t let Moky sniff the roller because I know he’s trying to get at the adhesive on the lint roller sheets. Moky would prefer I groom only him as he tries to worm his way into my grooming of Stormy and Gypsy. I guess that is another quirk Moky has.

Moky

 

     My three cats have their own personalities. I am quite amused by their actions and behaviors, and I have no idea what I would do without them in my life.