apple ginger scones

Growing up all through high school, my sister was the master baker of the family.

She would/does whip up cookies all the time for fun, and I remember Mrs. Clause once gave her a puzzle of a Christmas cookie kitchen scene and a handwritten note "for Mama's little elf" (which was, incidentally, in Mama's handwriting, and led to a sad realization for me indeed...)

I was the kitchen spazz, and always managed to screw up a key component of the intricate baking process, forgetting an ingredient, forgetting how many scoops of flour I had already added, etc. (I'm never making angelfood again).

Miraculously, all this changed after I spent a year of my life in college taking organic chemistry.

I don't remember much from that time because I have blocked it from my memory BUT I evidently did benefit from desperately panicky checking, double checking, measuring, remeasuring, and painstakingly combining chemicals in lab to do those crazy reactions that I don't remember the names of.  Because if you mixed the reagents in the wrong order or amounts, well let's just say that was not a good thing. 

Baking is now a piece of cake (haha seriously no pun intended), I guess because I have learned the vital habit of awareness.

And I don't cry if I mess things up, because no one is going to die.

I feel that scones are the most fool-proof thing to bake. And they are delicious and sound fancy.  Ellie sent me this recipe and it is amazing. You should try it, regardless of your own baking prowess :)

Apple Ginger Scones

recipe via Ella

-1 3/4 c. flour

-2 1/2 t. baking powder

-1 t. salt

-1/3 c. shortening (I used applesauce)

-1 apple, peeled and chopped

-3 T brown sugar

-1/2 t. ginger (or 1 t. grated fresh ginger)

-1/3 c. milk

-1 egg

-more milk and sugar

Heat oven to 425*. Grease cookie sheet or line with parchment paper. Mix ingredients until dough forms (knead if necessary). Pat dough into 8 inch circle on pan. Brush with milk, sprinkle with sugar, cut into 8 wedges with a big knive, and bake 14 minutes (took more like 20 in my oven). Eat with tea.

hazy shade of winter

I took these pictures the last time I saw the sun.  Which was...sometime last week? It is bad that I can't even remember.

Yup. Winter has returned!

Luckily we managed to avoid the main blast of this latest storm, but we did get more snow and crazy Siberia-esque winds. Or at least what I imagine Siberia is like; dark, freezing, with dry powder flying everywhere in the air.

Someday I will stop talking about the snow. I promise. In a few months.

This week was a bit more "low-key" for me since one of my seminars was cancelled for the week (I say low-key in a relative sense...) but I still have a lot of work to do this weekend! 

{I will share my thesis project eventually. I've just been too lazy to explain it to everyone !

It involves Lake Tahoe, forest reconstruction (simulating forest in the 1800s) and fire behavior.}

Even though weekends with Ben keep me sane and in love with life, I look forward to low-key weekends alone in my apartment with two whole days stretching in front of me in which to bake, relax, shop, and think about organizing and cleaning.

Tomorrow is a prospective student Open House in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences ("my" college, even though geography is hugely social science too) so I have to show and tell in the lab. 

It is ALSO "State Patty's Day," the ubiquitous unofficial Saint Patrick lets-get-drunk-in-the-streets celebration that every school seems to have. The police and school have been trying to quash this year. You know, so there are no more alcohol related deaths, destruction of public property, and hundreds of extra police calls.  The ensuing drama has made the school newspaper every single day this week. 

Oh, college. 

There ALWAYS seems to be a Visit Day on the biggest party events of the year.

Not going to lie, I did participate {in the much tamer version} back in the day...

and I kind of miss the days...or maybe just the friends :)

the Situation

So this is what the laundry-corner of my apartment looks like on a typical day...

Well, a productive typical day [note stacks of half-folded laundry!]

Seriously, one of the biggest dangers of living by myself and being lucky enough to have a washer and dryer is that there is NO ONE ELSE that ever needs it, i.e. NO ONE ELSE who can force me to fold my laundry or kick my clothes out of the machine.

And yes, the drying racks do seriously obstruct my way to the pantry.

And yes, that is my toaster oven you may spy sitting on the floor. That is its toaster oven spot. I've got counter space, but not THAT much counter space people!!

Soooo the clothing basically sits in the dryer until I run out of a "limiting factor" (usually sports bras these days, although it was definitely underwear back in college. Once freshman year I started to go through bikini bottoms and *maybe* even went commando in the face of a laundry shortage. Oh the days!) and am forced to empty it to make room for a new load. Like, every 2-3 weeks or so.

If I know there are clean clothes chillin in the dryer that I need, I will even start digging them out to wear.

It's like...an extension of my closet!

Aaaa is this wrong?