a happy birthday

Yesterday was Drew's birthday, and I baked him a cake:

It is a triple layer chocolate and toasted pecan cake (which wasn't the best idea because now it won't fit under the cake dome) with apricot preserves between each layer. The frosting is a thick, fudgy ganache. I recently acquired a cake turntable, and now frosting a cake is a snap.

Happy Birthday, Drew!

cranberry-blueberry pie

I have a confession to make. When it comes to stocking up on seasonal foods, I tend to go overboard. And I'm not talking about just any seasonal food, I'm talking about fall foods: pumpkin and cranberries. There are currently 6 cans of pumpkin deep in the back of my baking cupboard. Every time Drew and I went grocery shopping last fall, I would buy another can of pumpkin, even if I had no immediate use for it. And even though he watched me add all these cans of pumpkin to our shopping cart, he has no idea that there are currently 6 cans in the cupboard. And that's not all. We have 3 bags of cubed pumpkin and 1 bag of pureed pumpkin in the freezer. And a bag of pureed pumpkin in the refrigerator, but that will soon become pumpkin & cranberry scones. I was more reasonable with stocking up on cranberries. We bought only 1 five pound bag, and there are about one and a half pounds remaining.

Last week I came across a recipe for Cranberry and Wild Blueberry Pie in Bon Appetit magazine. It could not have been better timed. I've been baking up more pies in the past couple of weeks, and I realized that I needed to do something with all those cranberries taking up space in the freezer.

This pie is gorgeous, and it tastes really good too. You cook the filling first, which does add an extra step, but it's worth it. The resulting pie then sets up quite nicely and isn't obnoxiously juicy and runny.

a january heat wave

I don't expect this post to generate any sympathy for me at all. I just checked the weather, and it is 78 degrees in Irvine, but I'm told that it feels like 79. It is 11 degrees in Rochester, but I'm told that it feels like 5 below. I don't know how this 67 degree difference in temperature is possible. It's like Irvine and Rochester aren't even in the same country.

I am wearing a skirt, short-sleeved shirt, and flip flops. I should be basking in the sun and chasing waves on the beach. I know that I should be enjoying the heat wave. But instead I'm going to complain. This isn't January weather. It's not winter weather. All I want is to live in a place where I have to wear more clothes in January. I want to live in a land with a real winter, with cold weather, none of this 70-some degrees in the middle of January shit. Oh, and 50 degrees isn't cold. Neither is 40 degrees, but I'd take it.

I'm not going to apologize for liking winter, cold weather, and snow. I miss all of it. A lot. And today, I'm going to call my parents and tell them about the nice weather out here. And then they'll tell me about the frigid temperatures there. And then we will be jealous of each other. It's the only way to get my cold fix these days, to live vicariously through them.

pie is the new cupcake

Well, I think I've finally done it. I think I've finally made a pie crust that reminds me of my grandma's. I tried out a new crust recipe and a new pie recipe. The crust was a mix of shortening and butter, and the pie was coconut cream. The crust was a little overdone, but it tasted really good. So good that I couldn't resist eating the crust first, which is how I would eat my grandma's pie. I should also confess that I made crust in the food processor for the first time. It worked much better than using a pastry blender. I hope this doesn't make me less of a baker.

My pie crust breakthrough could not have come at a better moment. According to this article in the LA Times, pie just might be the new cupcake. Pie sales are up, and cake sales are down. Move over cupcake, there's a new fad in town. I'll be ready. My next pie? Pumpkin, made from REAL pumpkin.

odd behavior, mental instability, and teachers

It seems that whenever there is a shooting these days, everyone points their fingers to a couple stock explanations. Maybe it's lax gun laws, or maybe it's politically motivated, or maybe the shooter is mentally ill. Apparently, there are no other alternative explanations. And whenever a shooting takes place in a school, people quickly point to the mentally ill explanation, and then sometimes point their fingers to teachers. Didn't they notice the students' strange behavior? Why didn't anyone refer the student to the counseling center? Why didn't teachers alert school administrators? And so on. I used to think all this finger pointing was reserved for school shootings, but apparently it is not.

As you probably know, Jared Lee Loughner opened fire last Saturday at Representative Gabrielle Gifford's "Congress on the Corner" event, an opportunity for her to meet with her constituents. A bullet went through Gifford's head, but she survived. Others were not so lucky. Six others died, and 14 were injured. Of course, people are pointing their fingers at the standard explanations: gun laws, tea partiers, and mental illness.

Loughner was a student at Pima Community College. He apparently displayed unusual behavior and professors reported him to school administrators. Police were called to the school and he was suspended. Readmission to school would be contingent upon certification from a mental health professional. Fortunately, Loughner's professors reported his strange behavior. I am glad that this time, teachers cannot be blamed for failing to report unusual behavior.

I find it strangely odd that teachers are somehow expected to detect mental instability, being held accountable in some respect for their students' actions both inside and outside the classroom. And being that I'm currently a teaching assistant with plans to hopefully become a professor, I think about this sometimes.

The thing is, we are trained to assess students' knowledge and understanding of the course material we are teaching them, not to assess their mental health. We are simply unqualified to do so. Plus, I'm sure that it is quite difficult to do so in a classroom setting. For one thing, we just don't know our students well enough to determine their mental stability. No matter how big or small the class size, it is difficult to get to know students. My discussion sections may have about 20 people each, but it is difficult to get to know students when I see them only once a week and all at once. I am available via email, office hours, and appointments, but I can't make anyone come see me.

Second, strange and unusual behavior does not mean that a student is mentally unstable. An article in the LA Times reports Loughner "laughed and muttered to himself" and was incoherent and nonsensical when he spoke. He also made some bizarre outbursts in class. His classmates and professors thought that he was on drugs. I might assume the same. But even if a drug problem is suspected, I'm not certain that it's a professor's place or responsibility to confront the student. I really can't see that going too well, that a student would be receptive to a professor reaching out like that.

Other apparent evidence of Loughner's mental instability was his response to a test question. On an algebra test, Loughner wrote that "eat + sleep + brush teeth = math." So now I'm supposed to suspect that wrong, unusual, and irrelevant responses are somehow an indication of mental illness? This is only my 5th year as a TA, but I have seen quite a few unusual, creative, and flat out wrong responses to test questions. Do you mean to tell me that all these students are mentally unstable?

The Times reports other unusual behavior about Loughner, but I will spare you the details (follow my links for the article). When is strange behavior an indicator of mental illness, when is it a result of drugs, and when is it simply just strange behavior? While I'm no expert, Loughner's unusual behaviors could collectively indicate mental illness, but I just don't know, seeing as how I'm getting a Ph.D. in political science, not clinical psychology.

michael vick, dog fighting, and forgiveness

As I promised you the other day, here is my post about Michael Vick. Vick is a quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles, and if you've heard of him, you probably know that he plead guilty in 2007 for running a dogfighting ring. He served 19 months in prison and was suspended by the NFL. In 2009, when he was released, the Eagles signed Vick to a one year contract. This season, they have decided to exercise an option.

The Vick controversy has re-surfaced most recently because of some comments by President Obama. Obama praised the Eagles for giving Vick a second chance, saying that "individuals who have paid for their crimes should have an opportunity to contribute to society again." Not surprisingly, Obama's comments have generated quite a bit of controversy.

I don't condone Vick's actions, but I'd like to point out that it's unfortunate that he abused dogs and not women. Sadly for him, he tortured dogs and they died. Had he assaulted or raped a woman, I'm convinced that we would be much quicker to forgive and forget. After all, maybe they asked for it, right? Maybe it's really they're fault? Unfortunately for Vick, we can't try to hold dogs accountable in the same way that we attempt to with women. Nobody can say "well, what did they expect to happen?" or "what were they wearing?" or "they asked for it" about dogs. It is impossible to suggest that dogs are somehow responsible for their abuse in the same way that we try to with women.

Had Vick exploited a woman and not a dog, we wouldn't hold him completely accountable, and instead we'd judge him solely by how well he throws a football. You see, when celebrities hit and rape women, we have a short term memory. As soon as Kobe Bryant's rape victim refused to press charges, Lakers fans were cheering him on to a national championship. After beating up his girlfriend Rihanna, Chris Brown was worried about the future of his music career. He didn't have to worry for long; his latest single is currently climbing the charts.

At this point, you may be thinking that I'm being too sympathetic to Vick. Dogs died, and he is a felon. Sure, this is different from rape or getting beaten up. You might also say that Bryant and Brown deserve our forgiveness because they were never convicted (but this still doesn't mean that they aren't guilty, only that their victims didn't press charges). I'm not going to engage in a debate about what's worse, killing dogs or assaulting women.

What I will say is that at its core, what all of these atrocities have in common is exploitation, abuse, and forgiveness. Why are we so quick to forgive celebrities like Bryant and Brown, but not Vick? Guilty in the courtroom or not, they are all guilty of violence and abuse. If we are willing to forgive other celebrities, we owe it to Michael Vick to judge him solely on how well he throws a football and nothing else.

(see here for other blog posts on the link between athletes and violence against women and Chris Brown)

drink water

If I could impart a piece of advice right now (and hey, looks like I am!), it would be to drink water. Seeing as it's 4 days into the new year, perhaps you could add it to your list of resolutions, if you're into that sort of thing. But seriously, drink water. Lots of studies extol the virtues of drinking water. You're probably thinking that I'm hardly in a position to be imparting advice. I know. I'm young. I have little life experience. And I'm hardly a water expert.

But here's why I think I'm a bit of an authority on drinking water: When I was home in Minnesota, I got my eyebrows waxed. And the esthetician told me that I had the best skin out of anyone she'd seen that day (it was well into the afternoon, in case you're wondering). This is not the first time that I've been told this. I had always chalked up my youthful appearance to good genes and being Asian. But when I told the esthetician that I don't have a fancy skin care routine, she asked if I drank water. And I said yes. So there you have it: water is truly the fountain of youth. I'm sure that it doesn't hurt that I've never been smoker. Or that I've never set foot in a tanning bed. But apparently, the importance of drinking water cannot be overlooked.

It's been quiet here since we've returned from our trip to Minnesota. What I've really been thinking about and what I really want to blog about is Michael Vick, but I didn't want to start the new month and new year by complaining. And so instead, I decided to be much more optimistic and sing the praises of water.