FROM THE DESK OF: New Mexico

FROM THE DESK OF: New Mexico
[NEW MEXICO, THAT PLACE YOU'RE NOT AT, REMEMBER?]

Dear Ashley,

This is New Mexico. We took a vote and decided that you need to come back or there will be serious s**t.
We were going to send you a "we miss you" card on a cow, but Bill Richardson was like, "no". Hater.

Aaaanyways, since we don't have anything better to do, we might have to build a ship out of cactus, sail to England, and steal you. We don't really know where your house is, but we're sure the British won't care if 2 million New Mexicans on a ship made of cactus float into their harbor unannounced and ask where you are. We bet s**t like that happens in England all the time.

Or you could just come back.

That would be better, to be honest; but if you want to force us to cactus-ship-building, we will do so.

Seriously.

Love,

New Mexico.

P.S. No, really.

P.S.S. If we accidentally land in France or Spain, we're gonna be freaking pissed, so hold up a sign or something so we know where you are.


(Myspace comment sent from Beka to Ashley, 3-26-08. Oh no! Beware of the Cacti boat!)

Magical Recipes that Kids Want!

I have a big post coming as soon as Ash gets me pictures... but in the meantime I have been pressed for copies of these recipes. These were the goodies that I took to the kids and staff at the school that I was doing a placement at, and since I have been typing it up for 50 bazillion emails to them, I figured I might as well share with you too. This is the British-ised version. I'll highlight the American translation. (Warning... this is the Amy-translated British-ised version. It probably is a very poor quality translation into British English. They, poor souls, are probably staring at these recipes completely lost and confused. Oh well. I did my best.)

Multi-grain Snickerdoodles

Yield: 38 cookies
Baking temperature: 177 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit)
Baking time: 12 to 14 minutes

Dough:
6 oz (3/4 cup) unsalted butter
10 1/2 oz (1 1/2 cup) demerara sugar (raw sugar)
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon orange juice
2 large eggs
4 5/8 oz (1 1/3 cup) whole rolled oats (not porridge oats) ground in a food processor
4 oz (1 cup) whole barley flour
3 oz (3/4 cup) strong wholemeal flour (stoneground 100 % whole wheat flour)

Coating:
2 3/8 oz (1/3 cup) caster sugar (regular white sugar)
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 177 degrees Celsius . Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment (or use a baking stone.) Cream the butter, demerara sugar, baking powder, salt, and vanilla in a large bowl. Beat in the orange juice and eggs, scraping the bowl, then add the oats, barley flour, and wholemeal flour, beating until well combined. Refrigerate the dough, covered, overnight.

To prepare the coating, combine the caster sugar and the cinnamon in a large plastic bag.

Roll the very cold dough, by the tablespoon, into balls. Drop the balls, 6 or so at a time, into the plastic bag. Gather the bag closed at the top, trapping some air inside. Shake gently to coat the balls with sugar. Place them on the prepared cookie sheets and flatter to about 1/2 inch thick, using the bottom of a clean, dry glass. Repeat until you have used all the dough.

Bake the cookies, reversing the pans midway through (top to bottom and bottom to top) until they are beginning to brown around the edges, about 12 to 14 minutes. Remove the cookies from the oven and transfer them to a rack to cool.

NUTRITION INFORMATION (1 cookie, 27 grams):
9 g whole grains, 109 calories, 4 g fat, 2 g protein, 6 g complex carbohydrates, 11 g sugar, 1 g dietary fiber, 21 mg cholesterol, 66 mg sodium, 33 mg potassium, 34RE vitamin A, 26 mg calcium, 57 mg phosphorus.

Multi-grain Sailor Jacks

Yield: 1 dozen muffins
Baking temperature: 191 degrees Celsius (375 degrees Fahrenheit)
Baking time: 20 to 23 minutes

Raisin and spice mixture:
3 1/2 oz (1/2 cup) demerara sugar (raw sugar)
3 3/4 oz (1/2 cup) packed muscovado sugar (brown sugar)
4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground ginger
3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
8 oz (1 cup) water
3 oz (1/2 cup ) currents (raisins)
1 1/2 oz (2 tablespoons) treacle (black strap molasses)

Muffin Batter:
4 oz (1 cup) strong wholemeal flour (stoneground 100% whole wheat flour)
1 5/8 oz (1/2 cup) oat flour
1 3/4 oz (1/2 cup) whole rolled oats (not porridge oats)
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
2 3/8 oz (1/8 cup) olive oil
1 large egg

Glaze:
2 oz(1/2 cup ) icing sugar (powdered sugar)
2 teaspoons fresh lemon or sour orange juice
1 teaspoon milk

Preheat the oven to 191 degrees Celsius. Lightly grease a muffin tin or line it with papers. Coat the papers with nonstick baking spray.

TO MAKE THE RAISIN AND SPICE MIXTURE
Place the ingredients in a medium saucepan and cook, stirring occasionally, over medium heat, until the mixture comes to a boil. Simmer for 5 minutes, then remove from the heat and let cool, overnight if desired.

TO MAKE THE BATTER
Which together the flours, oats, bicarbonate of soda and baking powder in a medium mixing bowl. Add the cooled raisin and spice mixture, oil, and egg. Stir just to combine. (Don't beat the batter or it will turn tough.)

TO BAKE THE MUFFINS
Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin pan, filling each cup about 3/4 full. Bake the muffins until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, about 20 to 23 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow the muffins to cool in the pan for about 15 minutes, then turn them out onto a cooling rack to finish cooling.

FOR THE GLAZE
Mix all ingredients until smooth, and drizzle over the cooled muffins.

Nutrition Information: (1 glazed muffin, 85 grams):
18 g whole grains, 245 calories, 7 g fat, 3 g protein, 19 g complex carbohydrates, 3 g dietary fiber, 18 mg cholesterol, 329 mg sodium, 183 mg potassium, 9RE vitamin A, 1 mg vitamin C, 2 mg iron, 64 mg calcium, 131 mg phosphorus.

Another ni(e)ce video, and the requested come-to-visit-bring-stuff list.

Hmm... where to start today. How about this:

Angel sings to Mamie... in Spanish!

Now, I am not entirely sure that I am comfortable with this, but Christie did ask for me to please post my list-of-things-I-can't-get-here-and-really-wish-that-I-could. And since she asked me so nicely, I suppose I will. Just note, thais is in no way a solisitation. I am not begging you to send me things. This is my shopping list for when I visit home in the summer. So Christie and Dan, you DO NOT have to bring anything with you at all. Except you. Because if you came and forgot yourself... well, that would just be wierd.

Amy's US Shopping List

• Paper stick Q-tips (I dont care what kind, so long as they have a paper stick. The ones here are all plastic and they bend and my ears are SO itchy!)
• Green Chile and anything containing green chile, all heat levels, including superfireeatitanddie
• Campbells Golden Mushroom Condensed Soup
• Hot Cheetos (for Ashley)
• Malt-o-Meal or Cream of Wheat (I no longer care which)
• Hatch green enchilada sauce, medium
• masa harina preparada (for corn tortillas)
  
• Bear Creek Minestrone soup mix (again, for Ashley)
• Lucas Mexican tamarind candies (Oh, I miss those!)
• Kraft Spirals macaroni and cheese
• light corn syrup
• wax paper
• Hidden Valley Ranch powder packets (easier to transport, etc... I can mix it up myself.)
  

That is all that I can think of that might be reasonable to bring in. But again, this is not a solisitation.

On a completely different note, I have begun adding a list of my family and friends blogs on the sidebar. If you want your blog added, let me know. If you have a blog I dont know about, and dont want me to add it, let me know that too. (That way I can read it myself.) If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands.

Now... time for lesson planning. Nighty-night!

The Grand Ol' Potty...

Kelli sent me the most wonderful gift... video. And they are just so cute that I want to share them with you. Kelli, THANK YOU for the videos. Each one feels a little more like I'm involved in their lives. I can't wait to spend time with them in the summer.

Kiera talks to Mamie... (that's me!)

Katy reads "Goodnight Moon" to Mamie...

On a completely different note, This Sunday last was Mother's Day here in the UK. No, don't worry, you didn't miss it in the US. That day comes in May. So I officially get 2 days in 1 year to commemorate being a mother... and let me just say that I worked hard enough for it, thank you!

Dan the Man, in case any of you are wondering, will be in London in a little under 3 weeks. He will be the first person that I will see from home. I keep wondering if I should ask him to smuggle things in for me... a big pack of paper-stick Q-tips, perhaps, or a box of malt-o-meal. Or corn masa preparada. Or green chile. Or anything. But it is rude to just ask randomly. I'll be sending treats home with him. I am already hording things to send back with him . (teateateateatea) The goal is to convince him that he and Christie need NEED NEED to move here. And soon too.

What else, what else... I haven't done laundry in 2 weeks, but my lesson plans and all my grading are caught up. Complements on my behaviour management at school today (I was so disappointed; they were terrible. But apparantly terrible is better than they behave with their EVERYDAY teacher. Yay, me!) but those don't make me stop wishing that I were done. I don't like this school. I have been thinking a lot about that, actually... as much as I disagree with the concept of a private school, I am not sure that I am going to be able (or want to) teach the way the schools want. It is all to the tests. So maybe I need to keep an open mind about teaching in a private school. I have hooked myself up with some addresses. Perhaps I'll fill you in on /that/ story another time.

Stephen is happy at his job. He is SO busy all the time. People to help, model airplanes to test drive. Last week I went to his work with the intention of less distractions to get more done. What actually occured was lots of watching British TV commercials, and led directly into the last blog. Did Amy get stuff done? I don't think so.

Ash is doing much better in school. Her science GCSE classes are going fabulously. She has been getting A's and B's in her mock tests, and today she came home with an A* (absolutely highest score) in her mock exam. Wednesday is the next set of REAL tests, and I think she is ready. Every good mark boosts her confidence. Good prep for her A levels. She has tentatively decided to take an A level in Biology (and Stephen-the-Biologist is so proud.) and possibly another A level in Geography or something else. She just needed time to adjust.