By Julie on 11/17/2008 8:45 PM

Tumeric

I read an article today about the great health benefits of tumeric. Apparently researchers are finding that compounds in tumeric aid in cancer fighting.
Here is a copy of an article about this from the American Cancer Society.
So this evening I worked tumeric into our dinner plans and it turned out quite well. This is my recipe:

Baked Butternut Squash

1 butternut squash peeled and cubed
2 teaspoons tumeric
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a bowl, mix the tumeric, olive oil, and black pepper. Add the butternut squash and toss well with the tumeric mix. Spread the squash on a baking sheet. Scrape any remaining tumeric ... Read More »

By Julie on 11/16/2008 4:15 PM

I am back in Texas and we spent yesterday at the Texas Renaissance Festival in Plantersville. It is normally a two hour drive from our home. But yesterday, when we were about 12 miles from the festival, the traffic slowed down to a crawl. And it crawled very slowly. It took a hour for us to drive the remaining 12 miles. Total driving time: 3 hours.

Parking was remarkably easy considering the large volume of traffic and people. There were thousands of people there. I have never seen it so crowded. I looked up the media fact sheet for the festival and they average about 23,000 people per day through the gates. It is the largest Renaissance fair in the world.

It honestly would have been so much more enjoyable if it hadn't been so incredibly crowded. The weather was cool and perfect.  The theme for the festival this weekend was Highland Fling and I was hoping for lots of great bagpipe music. Unfortunately, we only heard bagpipes once. And for heavens sake, ... Read More »

By Julie on 11/12/2008 10:15 PM

I am in Las Vegas for a geeks and nerds convention (a.k.a. computer programming convention). I have done some serious walking while here. Everything is a fair distance apart. Even the convention which is in Mandalay Bay hotel. I take the tram there each morning but then I still have to walk the 1/4 mile hike through the casino and long passageways until I reach the south convention center where we gather for breakfast. One guy was actually wearing a pedometer and he had already logged 5 miles by lunchtime just walking from his nearby hotel to the convention center and then between classes in the building.

I am tired and still functioning on the Texas time zone. And I am tired from a full day of classes and tons of walking so I leave you with my picture of Lady Liberty, Vegas-style. This photo was snapped last night outside New York New York H ... Read More »

By Julie on 11/10/2008 8:14 AM

Sometimes you just need a weekend at home. A weekend that is not filled to bursting with activities and things to do, places to go, people to see.

We just had such a weekend. We stayed home! I worked on sewing a costume for my daughter to wear to the Texas Renaissance Festival. We are planning to go there next weekend. Many people dress up for the festival and since my daughter is such a diva, I knew that she would want a princess dress.
Also, this weekend, we made a large pot of homemade chili and spent a good bit of time reading. I usually ... Read More »

By Julie on 11/8/2008 6:57 PM

This week we have been on the Doug Kaufmann diet. It is basically a diet that beileves many illnesses are caused by fungus in our bodies and this diet seeks to kill off the fungus.

During the first two weeks of the diet, you don't eat any grains or sugars. That means no breads, no sweets. You eat lots of vegetables, meat, nuts, berries, etc. I had a very hard time the first couple of days of the diet without chocolate or my daily latte but I have adjusted. The lack of beer and wine on the diet has been a little trying at times also. But I love vegetables anyway so I have been eating lots of those.

The first phase of the diet should go on 2 weeks but I won't be able to keep that up. I have to be in Las Vegas most of next week for work and let's face it, who wants to be on a restrictive diet while in Vegas? I will do the best I can and pick up the diet again when I return. But then ... Read More »

By Julie on 11/6/2008 7:31 PM

Since Hurricane Ike traipsed through our little kingdom here on the gulf coast, the local fence builders have been crazy busy, along with roofers, tree removal companies, and other businesses which help clean up and fix up after a storm.

Our town is fairly new, having been established only in the 1940's when Dow Chemical decided to build one of their largest operations here on the gulf coast. So the town is laid out with many neighborhoods and very delineated business districts. In the neighborhoods, everyone's back yards are mostly isolated behind wooden fences.

But then the hurricane came plowing through and tore many fences down. The upside to that: we all got to know our neighbors better. We could stroll into each other's yards without going around through the front gates. We could help each other out with the massive cleanup from the storm. We could commiserate over the lack of electricity for weeks.

Sadly though, the fence bui ... Read More »

By Julie on 11/3/2008 4:44 PM

This past weekend we drove to San Marcos, Texas to the huge outlet mall. We go there a few times a year since they have such outstanding deals. It is a great place to take care of some our Christmas shopping a little early.
While we were there, we had lunch at Johnny Rockets which was very crowded. They have traditional American soda shop food like burgers, onion rings, and homemade chocolate malts. We like their little juke boxes on each table where you pay a nickle and pick a song. Sometimes, if the waitstaff gets happy, they will sing and dance for the diners.

By Julie on 10/31/2008 12:02 PM

Today is Halloween, and being that I am parent to an 8 year old, I am planning to be fairly busy this evening. We have foresworn trick-or-treating this year in favor of attending the annual Halloween party thrown by our friends. This also saves us quite a chunk of cash since we won't be home to dispense free candy to the hordes of kids, big and small, who storm our neighborhood each year.

And I mean HORDES. Car and vanloads of kids are dropped off at the end of the streets and they run in huge packs from door to door. I have never seen anything like it. And what is so distressing is that they are so impolite. Pushing, shoving, and forgetting their manners. A simple "thank you for the candy" is mostly lost from their vocabulary.

So with that, I leave you with a recipe for a Barking Spider:

1 oz Vodka
1 1/2 oz Tequila
1 dash Triple Sec
1 1/2 oz Blue Curacao
1 splash orange juice< ... Read More »

By Julie on 10/30/2008 1:58 PM

The weather here is decidedly cooler and feeling like autumn. I actually walked around the neighborhood this morning. It is very hard to bring myself to walk during the spring, summer, and early fall months here since the heat and humidity of south Texas are rather off-putting.

This time of year I am in the mood to cook chili and make homemade breads. Apple pie doesn't sound too bad either! Funny how the memories and associations of life center around food so much. When the weather changes, we simply want certain comfort foods. I would rarely consider making a pot of chili in July.

By Julie on 10/29/2008 11:49 AM

I have been busy rebuilding our company website (veloc-it.com) and attending to my other work-related duties.

As for home: I am busy sewing costumes this week. S needs a costume for All Saints day at school. She originally wanted to be Saint Matilda but then changed her mind and decided to be an angel. Then I am making her a dress to wear to the Texas Renaissance Festival in a couple of weeks. The Renaissance costume is quite a bit more complicated and elaborate than the angel costume.