Sadukie.com

Millions of peaches, peaches for me…
- Presidents of the USA, “Peaches”

Since I finally have some quiet at home (but only for two nights this week and one next week), I decided to do something away from the computer for a little. Being this happy, I was in a mood to bake something, and since Kev’s mom sent over peaches, I figured I’d make a cobbler. I’ve done peach cobbler before, and it’s always so delicious! Nothing like warm peach cobbler and ice cream or even just a dollop of whipped cream… mmm! But that recipe called for half-and-half or cream - neither of which I keep in stock. So I looked a little more and found a recipe for peach pie.

Now I’ve never made a real pie. Sure, there are those graham cracker crust pies. But I’m talking real pie with a butter/margarine/shortening crust. I had heard horror stories about how the crust has to be made just right or it’d fail. After setting the dough in the fridge to chill, I made the filling. Peeling a few pounds of peaches on a ceramic tile floor = bad idea. Thankfully I only had to clean up peach messes a few times to prevent any serious disasters. But I learned how to use my peeler to make removing the pit from a peach a bit easier. The dough was chilled enough by the time that I finished my filling, so I attempted to put together a pie.

Since I couldn’t find a pie plate, I ended up using one of my 8-inch round cake pans. Thankfully it was large enough to hold the pie. Then came rolling out the dough… when counter space just isn’t there, it gets tricky. I was able to get the bottom crust in, but I ran into tearing whenever I rolled the top crust. Rather than give up, I decided to cut lattice strips and attempt the lattice top. Yes, newbie pie maker attempts the lattice top while attempting the pie in general… so we’ll see how that goes.

Here’s what I started with:

And here we are at 20 minutes in:

And now I’m waiting another 45 minutes for my pie to be done baking… then an hour to cool.

I’m bravely going where I haven’t before… into the land of making pie with butter/margarine/shortening.

For all of my pie pics, check out the peach pie gallery.

Many people had heard that I had a secret to tell.
So, I’m holding a press conference:

As many of you know, for the past few years, I’ve been growing my hair out. I wanted to see how long I could grow it before I finally couldn’t take it. After many nights of waking up to move my hair in my sleep or just braiding my hair to keep it from getting in the way, the days of super long hair are over for now. I’m sending a 20-inch ponytail to Locks of Love, and I now look like this:

Special thanks to those who kept this secret quiet. I’ve enjoyed the reactions so far, and I’m really enjoying the new cut.

As I get ready for my upcoming trip, I’m starting to feel a little homesick. I haven’t even left yet and this feeling has crept up on me. It did this to me on my last trip, and I can’t explain why.

It’s not like I’m going away for a long time - just a few days. And it’s not like I’m traveling totally alone - I’m carpooling to the bus stop with some of my cohorts here, catching the bus where I will see more of my friends, and then we’ll meet up with more friends as the bus progresses down.

Once I get down there, I will still be running around with my friends. The group keeps me on my toes and definitely does a great job of keeping me distracted.

*sigh*

I went through this on my last trip, and I came home talking ten billion words a minute (ok… maybe that’s a slight exaggeration). The homesickness disappeared once I hit the road, even though I was alone then.

So I’m hoping that this time around it disappears once the guys show up here.

I’m really enjoying being involved in the community again, but this homesickness confuses me. I thought it was supposed to only hit while on the road. Mine hits only before my trip, but then once I’m on the road I’m fine.

I never did like mixing milk and cereal together - soggy cereal just never appealed to me. But I did like drinking milk - particularly chocolate milk - when I was a kid. This morning, I’m actually enjoying a nice cold glass of milk with my breakfast. Why is this blogworthy? Keep reading…

The Milk Conversation

We had a discussion in the past couple weeks about milk. I grew up drinking whole milk, so for me, I understand the difference between whole, skim, 2%, and 1% just by taste alone. Kev grew up drinking pretty much everything but whole milk, so if I had to, I could compromise and give up the whole milk. But fate would have it otherwise…

Sarah’s Fate with Milk

In my junior year of college, I started having problems whenever I ate dairy products. This is a bad thing, as I love things like ice cream, cheese, milk chocolate, and chocolate milk. I was fine eating things that use milk as an ingredient, but if food had enough lactose, I would start experiencing problems.

I’ve learned to carry lactose pills with me that let me eat some of the foods that would typically hurt me. Sometimes, I have good days and remember to take them. Sometimes, I have bad days, where I know that even the lactose pills won’t help, and then I typically avoid dairy.

I haven’t fully parted ways with some things. Cheese is one of my weaknesses - a nice smoked gouda or even a simple cheddar make great snacks. Ice cream is the other dairy weakness that I have had a hard time giving up.

But I have had to say good bye to some of my favorite alcoholic drinks, as mixing alcohol with dairy is a very very bad idea for me now. No more Celtic Creamsicles from Bennigan’s, Hansel & Gretels from Dave & Buster’s, Orange Dream from TGI Friday’s, or mudslides in general. Those were some of my favorite drinks too, but I’m getting smarter about this and realizing that giving these up is necessary.
This also means that if I’m out with the guys and drinking beer, I can’t eat things with cheese - no cheese in salads, no cheeseburgers, and no mozz sticks. This also means that a girls night out like in Miss Congeniality wouldn’t work too well - couldn’t mix alcohol with pizza.

Milk Conversation Revisited

So while we were talking of milk, I realized just how much I missed it. But my awesome husband surprised me the next day with two cartons of milk - original and vanilla. He knew that I liked the chocolate milk, but he figured he’d bring home the others to try. I finished the carton of vanilla almond milk last week, and I really liked it. This morning, I started the carton of original, and it’s okay, but I definitely like the flavored versions better.

I’m not a fan of soy milk; it tastes too watered-down. Rice milk is ok, but almond milk is definitely my preferred milk at the moment. I’m glad I was able to start my morning with a cold glass of milk - so good!

As many of you know, I’ve been carrying a crazy schedule lately, and it’s just gotten crazier. None of my travels are for work - they’re all for my personal interests in programming. Thankfully, Kev has been very supportive of me getting as involved as I’ve been, and he’s there for me as I get deeper in my involvement in the community.

In addition to dealing with programming stuff and hanging out with friends and family when I can, I’ve also had to take some “me time” and slow down a bit - I fractured a rib with the bronchitis I had early this spring and it’s been a slow, painful recovery. I ended up missing my work conference, which I was sad about since I was really looking forward to being there. But I had a friend in town who I ended up getting a group dinner together for on one of those days, and seeing him definitely made my day go a little better.

So a few weeks ago, Kev and I sat down and looked at our schedules and determined that this weekend would be our weekend to do nothing. Our crazy schedules pick back up next weekend, with more conferences and other events coming up - including our 10 year high school reunion.

It’s been a great weekend so far of doing nothing. Last night, we ended up watching some anime, since I caught part of it and really wanted to see where it went. (Long story short, I wasn’t into anime but then Kev had Robotech and after I found a love story and other drama, I was hooked…) This morning, I actually cooked breakfast, something I rarely do due to timing. It was great to be back in the kitchen. We had to run out for a bit, and then we did dinner with my dad, his parents, and his sister at Sokolowski’s. The chicken paprikash there is scrumptious, and the conversation - as always - was just a lot of fun. Tom Ballog, the piano player, and his music really add to the atmosphere there. Tomorrow, we still have “do nothing” planned, so we’ll see what happens.

I love weekends for doing nothing in particular. It’s nice to be able to rest every now and then.

This Sunday, I spent time with Kev’s family, starting with Chinese brunch. I love yum cha, as it’s great conversation, great food, and always an adventure. Kev’s mom pointed out the jellyfish, but thankfully we were stuffed from the dim sum and two noodle dishes - beef chow fun and a pork chow mein - and didn’t have the jellyfish adventure.

As usual, after yum cha, we went over to Tink Holl, one of the Chinese groceries downtown. I get funny looks, as I’m one of the few non-Asian people in there, but I’m used to going into the Asian grocery places and getting weird looks. I love the looks I get if I dare throw out one of the foods’ Chinese names or an mmm-goi (spelled phonetically, Chinese for “excuse me”, amongst other meanings).

I’m so glad that I got my phone, as I’ve found it quite handy in the most random places. While we were looking at the produce, Khyle and I looked at the pitaya (”dragon fruit”). Its vibrant colors really caught our attention, and we were a little curious. At first, we were going to walk away and just call it a pretty-looking fruit. But then I looked up “dragon fruit” and found the Wikipedia entry, which had enough information in it for us to be brave and buy a couple to try.

After cutting it in half, we ate it like kiwi. It has a melon-y taste, but its insides are definitely like kiwi in texture. I’d definitely get it again, now that I know what it is.

The other thing that Khyle and I wanted to try were the sugarcane juice boxes. We love black currant, lychee, and chrysanthemum tea juice boxes, but neither of us were really brave enough to tackle on the sugarcane… until this past Sunday. I took the first taste, and they waited for my reaction. “It tastes very green.” Yes, I used a color to describe a taste, but if you know how greenery tastes in general, you have a good idea of what I mean. It definitely was sweet, but even my sweet tooth would be able to handle maybe one a week at most.

It was definitely a fun trip at the Asian grocery store, and Khyle and I learned more culinary tips on the pitaya. I’m glad I had my phone to help us make the decision to try it - great decision! And I love that I’ve got other people around me who are just as adventurous as me, especially when it comes to food!

Disclaimer: This is my personal blog, and these are my personal feelings. I am not speaking on behalf of my company, and as you read, you’ll see that this is just simply me, who happens to be an ordinary library patron.

Growing up, I read a lot of books - those things with words on paper that are usually bound somehow. From The Little Golden Books through whatever piqued my interest, I always enjoyed curling up to a good book. Since I read so quickly, I spent a lot of time at the library.

For being into computers, you’d think that I’d have checked out library stuff online a long time ago. The only thing I was doing on my library’s site for the longest time was renewing books and ordering books from other libraries. Our library system had electronic media that could be checked out, but honestly, they didn’t advertise it well enough to capture my attention.

I started working for my current company in April 2007, and before I started the job, I figured I better get familiar with the technology. So I checked out my local library’s electronic media just to see what it’s all about. It was a slow start, but I’ve adapted to the technology fairly well.

Some days, I write programs while listening to music on my iPod. But other days, I listen to audiobooks on my computer. I’ve found that James Patterson and Janet Evanovich both write books that keep me working at a good pace.

I recently got a message that my library now supports a new format of audiobooks, which is compatible with my iPod (and other people’s iPods and even Microsoft Zunes). I’ve been eager to try it out, and now that it’s finally available to my library, I went to their site to see what they had available.

I have to admit that I’m a bit impressed to see the new collection. When I first started checking out the new MP3 audiobooks, I went to the other site, since their other media collections were more diverse. But after seeing “Princess Bride” as narrated by Rob Reiner (huge fan of the movie, so I can’t wait to listen to this), I’ll give my home library another chance.

So if you have a portable audio device and like to read, check out your local library’s website and see if they have audiobooks. If so, you may find an enjoyable way to get your literary fix for the day.

Thanks to Nivex for showing me this site. As Surviving the World’s tagline says, it is lessons in science, literature, love, and life.

Since I’m stuck at home resting while letting my fractured rib heal, I figured I’d start at the beginning to see what he had to say. I can totally relate to many of these lessons. Here are a few that I really enjoyed…

• Grammar
• Anti-Drugs
• Little Girls
• Definitions

He has a series that really tickles my inner foodie:

• Tossed Salad
• Baked Alaska
• Peach Cobbler

I’m looking forward to seeing what else this guy will come up with.

my parents got married. Ok, maybe not that long, but they definitely have a few decades in with many more to come!

Happy Anniversary, Mom & Dad!

Before going to Kev’s picnic, we did some geocaching in some of the cemeteries in Lorain County with his boss and his boss’s wife.

Now caching in cemeteries used to creep me out. But that was before I took off on my own for some solo caching.

One day, I was home alone but bored inside, so I set a course back to my old stomping grounds in Parma to tackle some caches. The caches I loaded were in cemeteries but this time, I was determined to get past my fear. I learned a lot about the cemeteries in Parma that day, and the stories alone were enough to break my fear of caching in cemeteries.

This morning’s caches led us to trees, rocks, and bridges. I took some pictures, which you can see here. (And yes, I know they look blue. Once we got home, Kev fixed my camera phone so that it wouldn’t do that again.)

Lunch was at Cedar Point, where the company picnic was held. People had been asking about me, as I used to work with them. So it was nice to see them again. Since Kev and his boss don’t ride the rides, we tend to skip the park and geocache instead.

After lunch, we hit the road and did more caching. Lots of parks, cemeteries, and random spots… in the end, we found 21 caches in the Norwalk-Sandusky area.

Dinner at the Casa Fiesta in Norwalk was enjoyable. We had found it last year, when I led everyone in circles for a bunch of caches. Authentic Mexican was quite delicioso, and if you’re ever craving Mexican while in the Sandusky-ish area, I highly recommend this place.

Overall, it’s been an excellent day. From seeing former co-workers to hanging out with my former boss and his wife, I stayed quite busy.

I hope we go caching with Ron and Shirley (geocaching team name Cachetown) again sometime soon. It’s always fun exploring places with them, as we’ve done Sandusky with them before and hit up Erie, PA a bit as well.

And to any of you who read this and are interested in caching with us, let me know and we’ll get something together!