December 2008 Archives

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Berry Bombs

For some reason, they gravitated to my favorite part of the yard. I helped the three kids, ages 8, 8, and 6 climb our old climbing tree. When my older nephew noticed the little thick-skinned black berries, he asked if he could eat them. I told him no, they're not good for you. His brother then asked what they're good for, if you can't eat them. I hesitated. Should I tell them? I decided to be vague. I informed him that when their mom and I were kids, we called them berry bombs.

"Berry bombs? What does that mean?"

I continued truthfully but not disclosing every detail: "We collected them in baskets while we climbed the tree, then threw them as far as we could." I didn't need to explain further. One nephew darted indoors and returned with three baskets. I helped them find short strong branches to hang their strategically placed berry-bomb-receptacles, so they had free hands to climb as they collected their little black thick-skinned bombs. One nephew asked if he could collect the green ones. I instructed him to leave them on the tree - they'll soon turn black. I told them if they leave the green ones, there will be more berry bombs to pick later. As time passed and they worked their way energetically about the tree, they began to help one another climb. Teamwork. When the sun began to cast the orange glow of near-sunset, I told the kids it was time to stop collecting.

When my sister came home, she saw the kids running to her with baskets filled with berries. She recognized the scene immediately: "Oh no! You taught them about berry bombs?!" Our childhood berry bomb experiences invovled our older brother collecting and hoarding all of the berries - then throwing them at my sister and I as we tried to play with our dolls in the playhouse across a narrow strip of lawn from the climbing tree. She and I would occasionally gang up on our brother by climbing together and collecting a few bombs for retaliation. Berry bombs in our childhood meant an all-out war.

"Yes, sis," I smiled as I told her the facts. "I taught them how to collect berry bombs with baskets." Sis opened her mouth to interrupt, but I raised my pointer finger, asking for a moment. I continued, "And now we're going to have a competition to see who can throw their bombs the furthest." She looked relieved.

Her oldest son piped in, "We're not going to eat them!"

My sister laughed. "Well, I suppose it's all right then." She and I chatted as we lined the kids up in a row. We observed and giggled as they tried to outdo one another by throwing the furthest, the highest, and the most straight shot. Since the berries are about 1/4" in diameter, it's pretty difficult to see where they actually travel. Because of this fact, each child was able to spin stories about how far their berry had gone - which made their siblings want to throw one further or straighter. They eventually used up their berry stash - just before dark. When they went indoors, they each left with a sense of accomplishment and pride.

Berry Bombs 2008: Teamwork style. A wild, successful twist on an old favorite.

Christina
posted December 30, 2008 11:59 AM
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Under-appreciated Root Vegetables

I love root vegetables. Since my nephew has an allergy to pumpkin, squash, and several other curcubits, I decided to go a bit creative on my contribution to our family's Thanksgiving feast. I made up a dish of baked root vegetables including sweet potatoes, yams, daikon radishes, turnips, parsnips, and carrots. We had a wonderful time with the unique flavors each root vegetable offers. I ran into a bit of a problem at the grocery store, though. When I went to the checkout with a basketfull of roots, my checker was a bit confused. She admitted that she had never encountered Daikon radishes or parsnips. This experience motivated me to write about a few of our under-appreciated root vegetables.

Some delicious root veggies you may not have tried:

Daikon Radishes - flavorful and hot, these make a great soup, or if grated raw they'll add a kick to your spring rolls.

Turnips - come on, who doesn't love turnips? Earthy, fun flavor.

Parsnips - These look like a giant white carrot, and taste somewhat similar - but more potent.

Celery root - A nutty flavor twist on celery

Finocchio - aka fennel bulb or anise. Sweeter than one might expect.

Jicama - my husband's favorite snack. Enjoy it chopped into sticks or grate it into your salad.

Photos came from these sites:
http://www.foodsubs.com
http://www.whatscookingamerica.net
http://www.latimes.com
http://www.hort.purdue.edu
http://www.banana-tree.com

Christina
posted December 5, 2008 11:16 PM
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Since Berkeley

Focus in recent months:

Time with family.
Running through the morning mist.
Staring at plants I never noticed.
Painting landscapes.
Smiling at the funny things.
Learning to crack jokes and laugh when others do.
Smile every moment I remember. Makes my mind light.

Dreaming, oh dear I've been dreaming:

Husband plays flute, bagpipes, guitar, trombone, didgeridoo, others. Never trained, but he sings a brutal bass. I sing and have done some tinkering with piano and mandolin. Haven't been composing as much as previous years. Not sure if my fingers remember.

Berkeley studies sucked the life out of me. All hobbies fell to the side as studies dominated every waking and sleeping thought. Evaluating what we will make of our lives. Unsure of what time constraints we will face in future years. Only hope the workload will be lighter than the previous two years.

Christina
posted December 1, 2008 7:37 PM
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Prozac Synthesis

I made Prozac today in Organic Chemistry Lab. Thought it would be fun to share a few snapshots.

Starting material for this week - product from last week's synthesis.