Olympic Level Cheese

Okay, this is a little different. Maybe a bit weird, but that's just how I roll. Life is funner that way (or if you prefer, "more fun").

I have never been very good at cutting nice even slices of cheese using just a knife. They were always really fat on one end and really thin on the other, or lots of quarter or half slices, etc.  Ever since the 2012 Summer Olympics, I have really improved.

I know the Olympics seem unrelated to cheese-slicing, but a little Olympic effort can go a long way. It started one day near the end of the Olympics. We were watching... something, maybe gymnastics or diving or something and I ran into the kitchen to make a sandwich. My first slice of cheese was a typically uneven off-the-edge half slice - "It's a 4.5!" ; my next was quite a bit better - "8.3!". You get the idea. I haven't stopped judging my cheese slicing ever since. Jeran even got in on it once or twice, producing a few good scores and a few bad scores. That is what makes it so fun - in our house at least, it takes real effort and a bit of luck to get a freehanded, perfect, thin slice of cheese.

There are many factors to take into account when rating a slice. Is the slice complete? Is it even in width all around? Are the corners sharp? Is it the ideal thickness? Did you use good cutting technique (pretty objective since I don't know a "proper" technique)? And so forth.  And as an added bonus, sandwiches and hamburgers and whatnot are easier to eat because I don't have one-inch pieces of cheese falling out all over.

Look at what a little incentive can do!

The Return of Orville Burnenbacher

Apparently Jeran has been holding out on me. Hiding his candle under a bushel. Withholding his secret talent.

I have long known that Jeran has claimed to be able to make popcorn in a pan on the stove, which is something I had never seen done (seems strange in retrospect). So the other day, he finally demonstrated his mad popcorn popping skills.

Pan + oil + heat + kernels + lid = Amazement! and Popcorn!

(As an aside, my reaction seeing this was just like when I learned that you can make syrup instead of buying it or the first time I ground up wheat! Wow!)

Jeran made a batch of very perfect stove popcorn with fewer kernels left than microwave popcorn usually has and none of it was burnt. He flavored it with some butter-flavored salt and it was pretty darn good. I think we'll make those yummy popcorn balls some time now.

As for the name, Jeran says "Orville Burnenbacher" is a funny nickname he once had but he definitely didn't live up to the Burnenbacher part this time!

Thanks for the demonstration and popcorn, Jeran!

State Fair

Photo is from Georgia National Fair - unfortunately I forgot my camera (again!)

We went to the North Carolina State Fair for the first time this year. It was a crazy place with hundreds of game stands where you can try to win life size stuffed dogs and inflatable baseball bats. There were also tons of food stands - everything from sausages to hush puppies to snow cones to cotton candy to almost every fried thing you could imagine. Some of the more popular fried items this year were the deep-fried Snickers and Reeses, but also available were deep-fried Ho-Hos, deep-fried pecan pie, deep-fried mac n' cheese, deep-fried cheeseburgers, deep-fried pickles, and the newest addition, deep-fried butter. The blood is curdling in my veins just thinking about the massive amounts of oil that must have been used at the fair this year. It was my goal to try a deep-fried pickle and it was mighty tasty. I liked it a lot.

We watched a BMX bike show. It was pretty amazing but very loud and gave us headaches near the end. They did some awesome stunts on those little bikes - from back and front flips to 360s and 720s and even more stuff that I don't know the names for.

Somewhat surprisingly, I was really eager to see all the farm animals. At the fair, I made sure that we didn't miss any of the key animal buildings. Inside each, I took deep breaths and marveled at how comfortable the smell was and how much it made me think of home and Cache Valley. I loved seeing the long rows of cows - down this row, all the nice honey and tan colored cows, here, the black and spotted cows. I loved the miniature donkeys and the prize winning steers, the silly goats and the neatly-shorn sheep.

Actually, I was shocked how much I enjoyed the entire atmosphere - the animals, the smell, the Wranglers and boots. Who knew I would feel so comfortable around all that! I think my thanks must go to many places: the county fair, Emily, having horses and goats, being around animals at other times, going to school next to a dairy, just growing up in Cache Valley, etc. I suppose this means I am a country girl at heart and never really acknowledged it.

Anyways, we had a great time at the fair. It is always fun to go out and do something different.

Hacer Tamales

Yesterday in Young Womens we had an awesome activity! One of the other YW leaders, Sister Silva, is from Venezuela and taught us how to make tamales, or as they call them in Venezuela, hallacas. Since we only had an hour for the activity, she had alrady prepped most of the ingredients and we assembled them and learned about them. We prepped big banana leaves and then made a cornmeal sort of outer layer and filled it with a meat mixture, vegetables, raisins, etc. Then she had some for us to try since they take an hour to cook. It was great! I had never had tamales before and they were really good and very filling.

Sister Silva said that getting all the ingredients ready for this is the first time she has ever made them on her own without tons of family all working together. They only make them in December and when they make them, they make at least 200 at a time.

Anyways, this ties back to our trip to Georgia last month. Kara and Sam took us to an International Farmer's Market where you could buy food and ingredients from all over the world that you can't find in regular grocery stores. I think there may be a little store down the street a a ways from our house but I have never been in it. To make real tamales, you have to go to someplace like that or else specifically Hispanic stores. I don't remember seeing frozen banana leaves in the Kroger recently...

In summation, I think I need to be a more adventurous cook and try some very new and different things. Thanks to Kara and Sam for exposing us to new foods and cultures! I'll keep y'all posted if Ihave any new developments in this area.