In the Midst of Studying Hebrew ....

... I've been able to fit in some fun.

Today, I baked 5 dozen cookies and an apple pie. First apple pie of my life! I used my Grandma Stuckey's recipe.

Before baking ....



And after...



Most of the cookies and the whole pie will be sold at the bake / yard sale my church is having tomorrow.

Usually, me baking = havoc wreaked on the kitchen.



There you have it. Havoc. Here's a close-up.



So much fun!
Earlier in the week, I had another kind of fun:



Though it was less fun when the Braves lost 3-12. But nonetheless, my companions Katie, Ingrid, Jamie and I kept things hopping with our operatic singing and discolike moves in the stands. It was Katie's birthday! She is in the foreground, below.



Oh,and I do believe I had promised you some more Ohio pics:



There was farming. I mostly observed.



There was a birthday dinner. Mmmmmmm. My mom's mashed potatoes with hamburger gravy. Plus homemade applesauce. Corn, frozen from last year's garden, and kohlrabi fresh from this year's.

Then there were the cakes. Can you read the message hidden in the candles?



It was good eats.



My great-nephew Aiden especially liked knawing on the kohlrabi.



Ah, evening drives along straight-as-a-ruler Ohio country roads!

I also enjoyed a great 24 hours in the fun city Columbus with my good friend Frank. We ate Turkish food, we ate Polish food, we ate Western European food, we ate the best ice cream in Columbus. (Their signature flavor "salty caramel" is to die for!) We bought used books. We chatted far into the night. Who could ask for anything more? Well, I guess you could ask for a picture, but I forgot to take one.

I do have a picture from the family get-together at the historic Wyse homestead: my dad with three of his siblings, on the farm where they grew up.

Lots Happening

1. Welcome to the world, little baby Joshua! Today you are one day old! I can't wait to meet you.

2. I ate Sushi in this restaurant a couple of nights ago to celebrate my friend Leslie's birthday. Wouldn't ya know it: I love Sushi! Who knew anything could be so fun to eat? Each bite is a self-contained precarious little party on two sticks. It's like cookies, but healthy (and with sticks). I had some with asparagus and some with softshell crab (that was an adventure, with the edible legs all breaded and sticking out the ends) and some with everything but the kitchen sink. No kitchen sink, and no fish eggs either. I wasn't brave enough to try the fish eggs.

3. I have an almost empty living room at the moment. Just a couch, a futon, a lamp, a TV stand and a TV. The futon is being moved out tomorrow. I plan to spend the weekend stretched out on the floor. Maybe I'll do some cartwheels. This empty-living-room-syndrome is the result of the ever adventurous and annually inevitable housemate transition period. N moved out (miss you dear!), taking furniture with her. J and J have only just begun to move in. And M is away for the summer (miss you too!). So, right now, it's just me, the aforementioned items, and some newly steamed wall-to-wall carpet. I'll have to find someone to poke (facebook friends?): there is static electricity to be mustered!

4. For my French take-home final, I translated a really entertaining, fictionalized passage about Judas. Yes, the Judas, the guy who gave 30 pieces of anything glittery a bad name. I'll post it below, and tomorrow, when I get the corrected version back, I shall let you know how I did. Okay then, one psychological profile of Judas Iscariot, comin' right up! Personally, I think this translation is kinda quirky. Hopefully not quirky enough to disturb the one grading it.

excerpt from The Death of Judas by Paul Claudel
translated from the French by polderpalooza herself

It was something of absolute seriousness, a deep interest. I wanted to have a clean heart; I wanted to know where He was going. At his side, when He called me, I was really compelled to suppose that He clearly knew what He was doing. In order to follow without hesitation, I sacrificed my family, my friends, my wealth, my position. I have always had a kind of scientific or psychological curiosity, call it what you want, and at the same time a taste for adventure and for speculation…. I took the bait. Moreover, I am not the only one to let myself be taken. I dare say that among the Twelve, it was I who was by far the most well-educated and the most distinguished. I was a credit to the group. Needless to say, there was Simon Peter – one would not have had the heart to dismiss him or to deny him first place. One had only to look at his lovely eyes like those of an affectionate dog, and this grimace like that of a child who will cry when addressed with the reproaches that came for him quite often when it was his turn. As for myself, I was always correct. I did my duty, there was no more wondering about that. Otherwise, it was a mess. All the same, my judgment, my manners, my knowledge of the world and the Scriptures, and my know-how with the customers were appreciated. I was one of the first to achieve the rank of Apostle, one of those around whose neck a cord was placed, what you now call a stole.

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Best Brownies-in-a-Box Ever, and Mr. Bento

Those who know me well know that I am not a cake snob. Although there's nothing like cake (or brownies) made from scratch, some of their boxed siblings are not to be sneered at. My most recent discovery? These brownies. Put two tablespoons of the mix into a small bowl and add a tablespoon of vanilla yoghurt, stir well, microwave on high for one minute and ~ abracadabra! ~ a single serving of chocolate-y fugde-y pudding-like brownie goodness. And, wonder of wonders, if you go here you'll see that this mix is even available in my little hometown of Archbold, Ohio! Who knew?

On a related note: I recently invested in a Mr. Bento lunch jar, and it is rocking my lunchtime world. Put warmed up leftovers in the two larger containers, and they stay warm for 4-6 hours! Put fruit or veg or dessert in the two smaller containers, and they stay at room temp, even though they are stored within the lunch jar in very close proximity to the warmed-up items. Oh, the wonders of insulation! Today I made a single-serving brownie in one of the smaller containers (I let it cool before packing my lunch jar so as not to disrupt the delicate temperature balance). The other containers held a cut-up apple, leftover casserole and leftover noodles. Yummy and much more fiscally responsible than spending upwards of $8 at the student union.

PS -- if you think I'm excited about my Mr. Bento, just take a look at these folks!

Things I'll Miss About Holland 2

These cookies. These too.

Things I'll Miss About Holland 1

These candies. Not the salmiak flavor, but most of the other varieties.