Planning for Christmas Baking

I want to get started on my Christmas baking this weekend, since Andrew will be at a conference in town and I’ll have the house mostly to myself. Now this might seem like a trivial issue, but deciding which cookies and candy to make actually takes quite a bit of thought. First, I have to look at the types of cookies I’ve made before, and think about their pluses and minuses.

• Sugar cookies — this one is a no-brainer. I always make sugar cookies — the kind that you roll out and decorate. I collect cookie cutters, so I need an excuse to use them.
• Spritz cookies — I remember making these with my Mom when I was a kid. They are almost as fun as sugar cookies, especially if the cookie-shooter is working properly. They don’t have chocolate but can be make in various colors, which makes them pretty on a cookie platter.
• English toffee — this is a candy that I also remember making with my Mom as a child. It’s also a no-brainer, since it’s probably my favorite candy. Unfortunately I’ve had trouble getting the recipe right the last couple years…I don’t think I heat it enough, which makes it chewy instead of crisp. I’ll try again, though, this year.
• Fudge — another childhood favorite. I’m not sure about making it this year. It’s very good, but also very rich. Plus it doesn’t look all that pretty on a cookie platter.
• Cornflake wreaths — the first time I made this was at a family activity night at church when I was a kid. We had never made them before, but they were a lot of fun and look very pretty. They are a lot like rice crispie bars, but with corn flakes and green food-coloring. I’ve made them pretty much every year since that first time. These will most likely be on my final list this year.
• Noname candy — we got the recipe for this from some friends of my parents the year we visited Florida over Christmas vacation (1979-1980). It’s got mini marshmellows and peanuts in a fudge/peanut butter yummy-ness. I don’t usually make this one, though, because it competes with the fudge.
• Nanaimo bars — Andrew introduced me to this candy. I first made it several years ago when a recipe appeared in the Minneapolis Star Tribune while I was visiting one week. I started putting into the Christmas rotation a couple years ago because it’s one of his favorites.
• Cooky Candies — I discovered this one my first Christmas in Maryland while paging through The Cooky Book (Betty Crocker; the original one). They are chocolate frosted cookies decorated with choclate shots, rainbow sprinkles, nuts or anything you want to dip the cookie in after frosting it. They are quite yummy, and can look good on the plate if they’re decorated with holiday-type decorations (like red and green sprinkles).
• Candy cane cookies — mom had written “not worth the work” next to this recipe in her copy of The Cooky Book, which was just and invitation for me to try them. They are actually pretty good — standard cookies with candy cane dust. And these are pretty on a cookie plate — they look like candy canes. They are a lot of work, as mom said, but they might just be worth it.
• Russian tea cakes — another classic.
• Toffee squares — I loved making these as a kid because they required putting Hershey bars on the warm bars and watching them melt. These are the bar-verson of English toffee.
• Thumbprint cookies — I’ve added these to the list this year because Andrew likes “jam cookies”.

Whew! That’s a lot of choices. I try to make a couple different candies (hmmm…I didn’t add divinity to the list; I’ll have to consider that, too), and about four cookies plus the cornflake wreaths. I try to balance how much chocolate — I love chocolate, but it’s best to not be too chocolate-heavy with Christmas cookie platters.

So, what will I make this year? Here are the winners: sugar cookies, english toffee, Russian tea cakes, nanaimo bars, cornflake wreaths and thumbprint cookies. I reserve the right to pick one more…or delete one if it gets to be too much baking this weekend.

Finding Neverland

4/5 stars

Finding Neverland follow J. M. Barrie (played by Johnny Depp) as he develops the script for Peter Pan. This is not the story of Peter Pan, but the story of J. M. Barrie as he befriends four boys and their widowed mother, Sylvia Llewelyn Davies (Kate Winslet).

< spoilers >
The film does fall into a sentimental pit when it changes the real life story to have Davies dying just after the play opens to include it in the film. It frankly would have been just as good to show Davies falling ill, but not dying. Hollywood does enjoy a dramic death, I suppose.
</ spoilers >

Udvar-Hazy Center

Several years ago, I discovered that the best day of the year to visit the Smithsonian Museums is on Thanksgiving Day. Yup, they are open. In fact, the only day they are closed is Christmas Day. And, since everyone else is travelling or spending the day at Grandma’s house, the museums are relatively empty. No pushing, no shoving, minimal children running around unattended, and a great chance to see the exhibits.

This year we decided to go out to the Udvar-Hazy Center, an extension of the National Air and Space Museum near the Dulles Airport in Virginia. The Center is still somewhat under construction — there was a nice display of helicopters with no explanatory text for any of them. They opened the McDonnell Space Wing just a few weeks ago, so my Aunt and Uncle missed it (they went when they came up for the wedding in September).

A few pictures:

Outside the museum — a sculpture and “wall of honor”	Lockheed Blackbird (Andrew’s favorite)
The model used for the Close Encounters of the Third Kind mother ship. This picture turned out really well — it’s actually not very well lit, especially considering the plaque invites visitors to look for the fun objects the makers put in, like an R2-D2, VW Beetle and submarie.	Me by the space shuttle Enterprise. This one was not actually flown in space, but designed to be tested in the upper atmosphere. It doesn’t have the heat tiles that the space-bound shuttles have, but still impressive.

Minnesota Reception Picutures are Up!

I’ve finally posted the pictures from the Minnesota reception — not the ones from the table cameras (Dad still needs to send those to me), but the ones from my camera, Dad’s camera (taken by Brock at the reception itself), and Dick’s camera.

Yay!

I also finally posted my blog entries for the reception: Recpetion Prep, Minnesota Reception, and Bridezilla in the Museum.

Swift launched!

The repairs were made to the rocket, and Swift launched today at 12:16 EST! The BBC has a story, complete with a link to a video of their coverage.

Congratulations Swift team!

Kinsey

4/5 stars

This is a film based on the life of Alfred Kinsey, the man behind The Kinsey Institute for sex research. This is the Kinsey who published the book Sexual Behavior of the Human Male in the 1940s among much controversy.

The film was surprisingly entertaining — quite funny at times, especially during the first half. Liam Neeson did an excellent job playing Kinsey and portraying the excitement involved in scientific research. I also liked that, unlike De-Lovely did with Cole Porter, this film did not go into the potentially overly sentimental territory of Kinsey’s death.

Getting to know me

Got another one of these “getting to know you” e-mails from a friend, but with different questions than the last one I posted.

1. If you could build a second house anywhere, where would it be?
   My own private island someplace tropical
2. What’s your favorite article of clothing?
   My fleece pullover (I’m wearing it now!)
3. The last CD you bought?
   Peachtree Road by Elton John
4. What time do you wake up in the mornings?
   5:30 AM on work days, anywhere between 7 and 10 AM on weekends
5. What’s your favorite kitchen appliance?
   The breadmaker…yum!
6. If you could play an instrument, what would it be?
   Duh! Saxophone
7. Favorite color?
   Blue in most any of its shades
8. Which do you prefer, sports car or SUV?
   Are those the only choices?
9. Do you believe in afterlive?
   Yes
10. Favorite children’s book?
    Math Curse by Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith
11. What is your favorite season?
    Summer
12. If you could have one super power, what would it be?
    Talking to animals
13. If you have a tatto, what is it?
    A crescent moon with a shooting star
14. Can you juggle?
    Yup
15. Name one person from your past you wish you could go back and talk to.
    Mike (not fair to ask today, of all days)
16. What’s your favorite day?
    Of the week? Saturday; of the year? Christmas; of all time? September 19, 2004
17. What’s in the trunk of your car?
    Jumper cables, wiper fluid, window wipes, and the un-installed cargo net that came with my car
18. Which do you prefer: sushi or hamburger?
    Um, I’ll go hungry, thank you
19. Who did you receive this from?
    Kirsten
20. What is your favorite flower?
    Lilacs
21. What is your favorite meal?
    Mexican Haystacks

Google Scholar

I’m not sure this will replace the NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS) as my primary journal article search engine, but Google has a beta of Google Scholar, a tool for searching scientific papers.

A search for “B. J. Mattson” +NASA turns up my earlier paper and conference proceedings, but does not turn up the two articles I have in the Astrophysical Journal from this year….maybe that’s why it’s still in beta. Next time I’m doing a literature search for my thesis, I’ll give it a try and compare the results to ADS.

[found via Pharyngula]

Mona Lisa Smile

2.5/5 stars

This is one of those movies that you watch because you know exactly what it’s going to be: fluffy, sentimental, and feel-good. It’s a little reminiscent of Dead Poets Society in the story — a teacher comes to a very conservative school and challenges students to break out of conformity — but without the edge. Not bad, though.

Swift Launch

The Swift satellite, which will study gamma-ray bursts and their afterglows in three wavelengths was supposed to launch today from Kennedy Space Center. However, the launch was scrubbed due some technical difficulties and has been rescheduled for tomorrow.

This mission is headed by Goddard Space Flight Center, and I have assisted the Principal Investigator in some Swift-related materials, like a display on-site and an ApJ paper. I’ll be in the Goddard Visitor Center tomorrow to watch the launch through a live broadcast. If you get a chance, you can check out a live web-cast of the launch either at Kennedy Space Center’s Video Feed page or NASA TV. More information about the status of the launch can be found at Spaceflight Now.

I’m keeping my fingers crossed for a successful launch tomorrow!

Update: The launch has been rescheduled for Saturday at 12:10 PM EST. There was a voltage irregularity on the rocket, and some of the rocket’s safety system parts need to be replaced. Still keeping my fingers crossed!