Chocolate Chip Coconut Cookie!

Sarah Kramer is the author of La Dolce Vegan! and co-author of How It All Vegan! and The Garden of Vegan!. In addition to creating her vegan masterpieces and maintaining her popular website GoVegan.net she also ownes and operates Tatto Zoo with her husband Gerry in Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Chocolate Chip Coconut Cookies

When I am in need of a good sugar fix, I make a batch of these. They are simple and taste heavenly. Even omnivores agree!
-Adina, Trinidad, Colorado

2 tbsp ground flax seed
3 tbsp water
1/2 cup vegan margarine (edit, 1/4 cup)
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
3/4 cup vegan chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350°F. In a small dish, mix together the ground flax and water. In a food processor or large bowl, blend or mix together the flax mixture, margarine, sugar, and vanilla until smooth and set aside.


In a large bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, coconut and chocolate chips. Add the margarine mixture and stir until well incorporated. (little bit more water for blending) Roll dough into balls, lay on cookie sheet and bake for 10 to 12 minutes(edit, 9 minutes). Let cookies cool 5 minutes before removing from sheet.

Makes 18 to 24 cookies

Recipe adapted from VEGAN A GO-GO!, by Sarah Kramer, 2008, Arsenal Pulp Press

Ice

And now, and now you go

into the snow, into the storm of snow.

And now, and now you say

we end today, we end our love today.

But I won’t let you leave me

out here, in the cold, winter night

where tears, running down, turn to ice.

Hiding, me away, from your sight,

you say, we’re to high, of a price

And the best for us depends on you

taking the warmth away,

And leaving only cold behind

to remind me of your stay

And now, and now I cry.

Please tell me why, you never told me why.

And now, and now I know.

Died long ago, our love died long ago.

But I won’t let you hurt me.

I must, must have known, all along.

Its time, I move on, make a vow,

And learn, learn to heal, to be strong.

No one, will I let, hurt me now.

And the best for my life depends on

thawing the pain away,

and letting Flowers grow from Ice,

making the most of the day.

(Flickr CMM Photostream)

Español: La Primera Semana

Creo que de practicar español, debo escribir en español todos las semanas. Por eso, voy a escribir un mensaje cada semana y decir que es hacer en mi vida. ¡Comenzamos!

Hoy, escribé el examen en español. Fue no malo. Espero que recibir una nota buena. (Sé que los mensajes que escribo van a estar aburrado, pero escribo por practicar.) Después el examen, regreso mi casa, fui de autobús. Casi pierdo el autobús. ¡Corrí en el nieve y la puerta de autobús cerró!, pero entré en el autobús y vuelvo mi casa rápidamente. ¿Fue excitante, mi cuento? ¡Ja, ja ja! Ahora mismo, estoy escribiendo el cuento. Luego, voy a escribir mi documento para INTEG 220 por la comprensión popular con los ejemplos de antropología. ¡Me esperas buen suerte!

¿Cómo fue ése?

Want a book to read?

http://newadultreads.wordpress.com/
http://www.wpl.ca/site/4teens/read_for_english.asp
http://www.thewritingtutor.biz/suggested_reading/APliteraturebytitle.php
http://www.collegeboard.com/student/plan/boost-your-skills/23628.html
http://www.whichbook.net/

The Moon is Down - John Steinbeck

This is a haunting novella by Steinbeck about a small town in the midst of WWII. There are the brave conquerors and the simple miners. But, the conquered become the conquering or at the very least, they cannot be said to be defeated because they have the power to fight back in every little way, they are the free people. Free people can never be conquered. There is bitterness and hatred of the town people to the soldiers and there is fear and longing and the illusion of power of the soldiers to the town people. "The fly has conquered the flypaper."

"Free men cannot start a war, but once it is started, they can fight on in defeat. Herd men, followers of a leader, cannot do that, and so it is always the herd men who win battles and the free men who win wars."

How has a group of people ever been incorporated within a new government against their will? It seems impossible.

STAT 202 Review

Edit

Light

     The lights in the city are bright at night. This has the advantage of illuminating interior spaces, but the distinct disadvantage of turning windows into mirrors when the peaceful, bright-eyed residence looked out into the night. The mirrors have some holes, where a street lamp creates a ball of light on the pavement, or when the headlights of a speeding car slam against the glass, but in general, the night beyond the walls is black to all those inside.

     Years and years ago, back and back and back, the sea covered this land. The light sparkled across the waters, playing in the waves, diving down to tickle the fish. It was much warmer then than it is now, tropical with life scrambling over each other, sleeping on top of one another, abundant. The great fish ate the small fish who ate the small crawling creatures who ate the creatures the size of specs who lived by being tickled by the sun.

     Imagine the solace, the silence, and the serenity of the shallow sea. A group of jellyfish flitting about the water column, allowing the waves and current to disperse them. Imagine something like a sea snail slowly pushing its foot out of its shell, slowly gliding across the sand in search of food. Imagine a colony of colourful coral swaying with the current, soaking up the sun and growing towards the light. Peaceful, purposeful, and playful.

When the lights were turned off and the sun turned on and day followed night, the city found a cold body laying on a fossilized bed of coral, sleeping past the break of day and never to wake again. And with all the light in the night, no one saw a thing.

Apple Pie

Ingredients

• 8 Granny Smith apples - peeled, cored and sliced

Pie Crust

• 1-1/3 cups all purpose flour
• ½ cup unsalted butter cold, sliced
• ½ tsp. salt
• 3-5 tbs ice water

Sauce

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup water
  (add 1 tbs lemon juice if using a less tart apple)
  (add cinnamon to taste if desired)

Directions

1. Slice 1/2 cup of butter like slicing cheese and put back in fridge until needed.
2. Blend 1-1/3 cup flour with ½ tbs salt and mix with pastry cutter in a large bowl.
3. Add 1/3 cup of cold sliced butter (about 2/3rds of the unsalted sliced cold butter) until a meal-like texture using pastry cutter.
4. Add remaining cold sliced butter until the size of small peas.
5. Drizzle ice water, starting with 3 tbs and toss with fork until all dough is covered, add tbs at a time of water if still dry, do not add too much water. If too wet, add more flour.
6. Knead lightly together in bowl.
7. Put dough on table and knead with heal of hands, make into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap and flatten into a disk.
8. Put dough into a refrigerator for 45min-1 hour.
9. Meanwhile, peel, core, and slice the apples, set aside.
10. Preheat oven to 425 F, and do the next two steps simultaneously (if two people available). (If only one person available, make the sauce first and then roll out the dough.)
11. Melt butter in a sauce pan. Stir in flour to form a roué (paste). Add water, white sugar, and brown sugar; bring to a boil. Reduce temperature, and simmer 5 minutes.
12. Roll out dough to 1/4 inch thick and place in pie pan. Cut off excess dough around edges. Fill with sliced apples to make a mound.
13. Roll the excess dough into a ball.
14. Roll out dough to 1/4 inch thick and cut into strips ½ inch wide and place on top of filling mound to create lattice (looks like #).
15. Use a fork to flatten dough around edges of the pie, connecting the lattice to the main dough. Cut off extra dough from the lattice.
16. Gently pour sugar and butter sauce over lattice, filling between the lattice holes. Careful to not spill over the edges of the pan.
17. Bake 15 minute at 425 F, reduce temperature to 350 F, rotate the pie pan and continue baking 25 to 45 minutes.

Grandma's Apple Strudel

Ingredients

• 4 cups flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 cups lukewarm water
• 1 Tbs vinegar
• 1/2 Tbs oil
• 3/4 cup salted butter
• 2 cups breadcrumbs
• 5 lbs tart and crisp apples
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• ¼ cup sugar
• 1-2 cups raisons

Directions - Dough
1. Mix flour and salt in large bowl
2. Mix vinegar and lukewarm water together
a. Optional, add 1 egg in liquid mixture
3. Slowly stir water solution into dough so it doesn’t get too wet, add more flour if dough becomes too wet
4. Knead dough on table until it is of a firm, elastic consistency adding flour as needed if still sticky
5. Separate dough into 2 softball size loaves, each loaf will make two strudels, and let sit covered in bowl until everything else is ready

Directions – Breadcrumb
1. Put ½ cup butter in frying pan, add oil and let melt
2. Add all breadcrumbs on medium high until they brown
3. Add cinnamon and sugar and stir

Directions – apple
1. Peel and slice apples into loony size and thickness pieces

Directions
1. Cover table with cloth and sprinkle with flour
2. Roll one of the loafs of dough flat and circular, flip and roll again, stretch out with hand in air, one hand supporting the dough on back of knuckles to not make a hole and the other hand stretching the dough
a. Good dough will have blisters
b. Patch holes as necessary
3. Slice off edges of dough because they are too thick and save this dough for extra loaf later
4. Sprinkle and spread breadcrumbs over dough, spread apples out on dough, sprinkle raisons, cinnamon and sugar, sprinkle melted butter (1/4 cup in microwave) on top of filling ingredients
5. Roll dough
a. First roll with hands until dough catches
b. Then use cloth to roll dough tightly
c. Pull ends of dough around roll to stick
d. Cut in half and stretch dough over open ends to seal
6. Place dough onto parchment on cookie sheets and brush over with melted butter
7. Repeat with second loaf and create small strudel with leftover edge dough
8. Bake at 350 F for 40 minutes to an hour or until brown
a. When you can smell strudel in oven and it is just starting to brown, glaze with another layer of butter
9. Sprinkle powdered sugar on top and let cool

Mysterious (to me at least) frog identity found.....

The mysterious green frog that climbed my window last September is a Gray Tree Frog! Hyla versicolor! What threw me in attempted identification was the colour. It took me a three-month interaction with specimens at the Natural History Museum to finally make the discovery. The main problem that I had in identification was the gray bit. I didn't know they could be green, nor that they could be metachrosis, or change colour to match their environment.

Here's the breakdown of the species: http://amphibiaweb.org/cgi/amphib_query?where-genus=Hyla&where-species=versicolor&account=amphibiaweb