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Monday, January 28, 2013

THE GREAT BATTER DEBACLE OF 2013


Good morning!  This weekend my kitchen was the site of “The Great Batter Debacle of 2013”.    What’s that, you ask?  The Great Batter Debacle” will go down in family history as the day I baked completely alone for the very first time, and turned an epic fail into an epic recovery!

It started with a simple request—could Krumbs and I bake cookies, from scratch using a recipe, completely by ourselves?  After sharing some wild looks back and forth, my parents agreed and Krumbs and I made our way to the kitchen.

1.       Half a cup of butter?  Check!

2.      Two eggs?  Check!

3.      Blend with blender?  Hmm…note to selfwhen you use a mixer, DO NOT lift the beaters while they’re spinning.

 

When we finished wiping egg and butter off our faces and the cabinets and the counter top and the floor…AND, when we’d changed our clothes and put on aprons, we were ready to follow the next steps.

4.      Add milk.  Check!

5.      Add baking powder.  Check!

6.      Add salt. Check!

7.      Add chocolate chips. Check!

8.      Roll into balls and bake at 350 for ten minutes. Check!

Maybe we should have noticed the batter was very soft and runny.

Maybe we should have re-read the recipe just one more time…but we didn’t.

 Could have, should have, would have…it was too late once we put them in the oven.  Before long, we noticed the batter had melted into a huge liquid puddle that was slowly oozing to the edges of the cookie pan and onto the bottom of the oven—YIKES!

I raced to the oven and pulled out the pan…without tilting it.  A voice drifted from the living room.

“How’s it going in there?” Dad said.  “It sure smells good!”

“Fine,” I yelled, tilting the cookie sheet and pouring cookie batter ooze into the mixing bowl.  We’re just absolutely fine!”

While I was doing that, Krumbs was racing through the directions.  What did we do wrong?

Krumbs leaped up and pushed the recipe to me and that’s when I saw it.  We had forgotten a step.  Right after “add salt” and right before “chocolate chips” was another step—“add two cups flour”. 

Talk about epic failure…who forgets to add the flour to a cookie recipe?  We had to think fast and fix this mess—FAST!

We quickly added two cups of flour to our melted ooze.  By then, it really was melted because the hot stuff from the oven mixed with the leftover batter and everything melted to a warm, sticky liquid. 

Then, we mixed…using the beaters…without pulling them out of the batter when the beaters were moving.  Next, we mixed more chocolate chips into our now chocolate batter.  Last, we rolled the dough into balls and put the cookie sheets in the oven.

Eleven minutes later, we removed our now “Chocolate, chocolate chip cookies”.  We let them cool, put them on a plate and presented them to mom and dad. 

Guess what?  The cookies were delicious!  And that’s how we went from epic fail to epic recovery during the Great Batter Debacle of 2013.  Take a tip from me, next time you bake remember to check and re-check the recipe!
 
See you soon!
Cookie

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

WHO R U?


Do You Have the “RIGHT STUFF”?

Krumbs and I have been exploring at the Imagination-Café and we found a great quiz.  The quiz is part of the article called “Who R U?” and it helps you figure out who you are and how who you are affects your future career. 

Do you know what you’d like to do for your career someday?

If you’d like to take the “Who R U?” quiz, you have to a member of Klub Krumbs…so sign up by clicking here.  If you’re a Klub Krumbs member, you can join discussions, enter contests and take the quiz, so join us now!


Once you’ve taken the quiz, visit Job-A-Palooza to find information about tons of different careers!  You can find out all kinds of things about how people do what they do, how much money they can make and different things people do in each profession.  Check it out and then tell us “who u r” and what you want to do by joining a Klub Krumbs discussion.
 
Cookie

Friday, January 18, 2013

DO YOU SEE IT, HEAR IT, TOUCH IT OR TALK ABOUT IT?


How do you learn best?

            Brooke Leedlum asks that in the Imagination-Café.com’s newest article.  I guess I never really thought about how I learn best, but the author has some great tips on how to figure that out.  So, are you a visual learner, an aural learner, kinesthetic learner or social learner?
Here’s a challenge from Krumbs and I….can you guess each of our learning styles?  I’ll describe them for you and then you can take a guess.  (Okay, I’ll put the link to the article up, so you can read it.  Click here to read Brooke Leedlum’s article, “How Do You Learn Best?” and then try to figure out our learning style…and your own!)
I love to write notes and read them.  I like to look at lots of different things, especially paintings, but I really don’t enjoy listening to music.  I like to picture words in my head too.   What kind of learner am I?
Krumbs loves to run, especially when he’s chasing chipmunks!  (So sad, they’re all hidden away right now!)  He likes to go on long, long walks and figure things out.  Well, what kind of learner is Krumbs?

Check out the article on learning styles.  Find out how you learn best and things you can do to help learn things faster, easier and better!

 

Cookie

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

RECIPE FOR A PERFECT SNOW DAY


Snow day, snow day, snow day!  Well, meteorologists gave us accurate weather forecasts today…the creeping fog disappeared and the atmosphere dumped seven inches of snow on us.  Krumbs and I have had a fantastic morning flopping through snow drifts, constructing snow ramps and throwing snowballs—ahh! 

Don’t you just love a SNOW DAY!?!?!

Krumbs and I love snow and we love hot chocolate and we love playing in the snow.  Snow days are just plain fun days…with a little chocolate thrown in the mix!  Sure, we have hot chocolate, but we also make fabulous chocolate cookies using a chocolate cake mix.  We found the recipe on the Duncan Hines website quite a while ago.  It is easy and you only need three ingredients. Check it out, but ask for permission from and adult and for help using the oven before you start:

Easy, Easy Cake Mix Cookies

1 Box Duncan Hines Cake Mix (You choose the flavor or you can use whatever flavor is in your kitchen cabinets)

2 eggs

½ cup oil

Mix everything together and drop spoonfuls of dough onto cookie sheets.  Bake them for 9-11 minutes in a 350 degree oven.

You can mix anything sweet into your cookie dough.  We’ve used dried cranberries, walnuts, chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, caramel crunchies, and squashed peppermint candies.  They were all just yummy!!!!

 

That’s it!  A little hot chocolate, a plate of warm cookies and a visit to the Cafe will make this day perfect.  Have a great day!  Hope to see you at the Imagination Cafe!

 

Cookie

Monday, January 14, 2013

MISTY MONSTER GOBBLES EVERYTHING IN ITS PATH!


The fog crept through the morning, stretching its misty fingers and slowly swallowing everything in its path...

Krumbs and I couldn’t believe how thick the fog was this morning.  It felt downright spooky when we went out for our morning walk.  There’s just something weird in the air when everything is covered in a mist so thick you lose each other—it’s a weird feeling that sends shivers right up your spine!  Does fog “creep you out” the way it “creeps us out”?   YIKES!!!!

Of course, if I were a scientist, I would see fog differently.  I would know it was very, very cold last night and, in the early hours of the morning, warm air began to blow in.  When the warm air hit the cold, snow covered ground in our neighborhood, fog was created.  It makes sense, right?  It is not the creepy, spine-tingling fun Krumbs and I felt this morning, but it is the truth.

Krumbs and I have been thinking about weather ever since we went outside this morning.  We read about weather scientists called meteorologists on the Café.  An article on Meteorologists  by Suzanne Jackson is posted on the Café’s “JOB-A-PALOOZA” section.  The article gave us a lot of information about these special scientists and the amazing things they can do with their jobs.

Are you a scientist, a creative type or a mix of both?  Would thick, creeping fog give you the shivers or start you thinking about an outside collision of warm and cold air?   I am a great mix of both types—I love getting the shivers and creating wild and wonderful words about weather, but I also love getting down to “just the facts” and learning why and how things like fog happen.  How about you?

Take a look at Suzanne Jackson’s article to learn more about meteorologists by clicking here.  Have a great day and check back soon!

Cookie

Friday, January 11, 2013

ARE YOU A MONOTREME?


So...are you a monotreme?

Krumbs has been playing on the Internet again, but you probably assumed that when you read my question.  I woke up this morning to that question…monotreme!?!  REALLY?  (I guess you can’t answer the question, either.)

Krumbs took me to the Café, where we dug into the “Doggy Bag” and found an Australian animal called an echidna.  Are you curious?  The author, Clara Batton Smith, wrote about this strange looking creature and she explains the word “monotreme” too in an article called, “Australia's Echidna”. 

I know you’ll want to check out the article, so just click here to see it.  In case you can’t get there right away…there are only two animals in the world that are “monotremes”—a platypus and an echidna.  Can you name the characteristic that makes an animal a “monotreme?  A monotreme is a mammal that hatched from an egg.  (Mammals never lay eggs, but the platypus and the echidna are the only mammals that lay eggs.)

Amazing, right?  Ask around and see how many of your friends, family, or even teachers have heard of monotremes.  Have a great day and check back soon!

COOKIE

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

PEANUT BUTTER POWER


PEANUTPEANUT BUTTER!!!  Is peanut butter nutty, buttery, spreadable goodness or nasty, sticky, gooey glop?  Funny, but when I talk to my friends, they are completely on one side of the peanut or completely on the other.  People either love them or hate them, but regardless of your personal peanut preference, WOW (!) everyone agrees they a really, really “good for you” food!
It all started with my peanut butter, banana and honey sandwich yesterday.  Let’s face it…I love a little peanut butter and banana, but my friends were horrified!

“Really,” one friend exclaimed.  “You’re going to sit here spreading the stink of peanut butter?”
HUH?!?  WHAT?  First of all, I love the smell of peanut butter and I love the taste of peanut butter and I love the look of peanut butter—I just love PEANUT BUTTER!  So, no, I did not care that the warm aroma of peanut butter was wafting across the lunchroom, but others, really did.

 So peanut butter…peanut butter….peanut butter—here’s where I make the “Plea for Peanut Butter”.  This is the time and place I talk “Peanut Butter Basics” and “Peanut Butter Power”:

·         Let’s start with “Brain Booster Breakfasts” on the Café.  The article tells me peanut butter contains selenium, a mineral that helps balance your moods and keep you thinking—go peanut butter power!

·         Let’s keep going with “Nuts for Peanut Butter: The Best Spread on Bread”.  I found out peanuts are actually not nuts, they are members of the pea family.  They are legumes!!!  They have a high level of protein, for building your body and maintaining energy—go peanut butter power.

·         People in South America have been eating peanut butter for thousands of years.  That means that peanut butter has super staying power—go peanut butter power.


So that’s it.  You can love it or you can hate it, but you have to agree, peanut butter has been around for thousands of years, it is great for you, and its taste just can’t be beat.  (Well, maybe you don’t agree with the taste part, but I do!!)  How do you feel about peanut butter?  Tell us!

Check out the Café to find more information on my favorite legume, the peanut, by clicking here.

Talk to you soon!
Cookie

Monday, January 7, 2013

MY VERY OWN DRAGON!?!?!?


Here’s Krumb’s crazy question of the daywhat unusual pet walks through its water dish, tramples its food, waves its arms when its happy and looks you right in the eye when you talk to it?  This fascinating animal is a dragon!  Yes, you read that right…a living, breathing dragon—an Australian bearded dragon, and this “dragon” is a fantastically unusual, fun and fascinating pet. 
            Bearded dragons are not really dragons they are lizards that live primarily in Australia.  Krumbs and I learned all about them in a Café article titled, “The Care and Feeding of Your Pet Dragon” by Sharonda McPhee.  The author tells you everything you need to know in order to keep these triangle-headed omnivores as a pet, including some cool and unusual facts.  Krumbs and I have started a campaign to get our own bearded dragon…but I’m not sure we’re winning the battle.
 
Click here to check out a photo of an awesome bearded dragon.

Don’t you think Krumbs and I should have one of our very own?  We certainly think it’s the best idea we’ve had yet…now I just have to convince my mom and dad.  What do you think?  Have you ever REALLY, REALLY, REALLY wanted a pet?  What did you do to convince your parents?  HELP US OUT!!!!

Friday, January 4, 2013

MY BREAK IS OVER AND I'M ON THE ROAD!!!


Holiday Break is Definitely Over!  I’m back in school mode and ready to get back to work (and it only took two days!).  I feel really good about school and I’m going to work really hard on getting really good grades again this semester.  Krumbs has vowed to help me reach my goal (which is why he is the best friend ever!!).

I realize I need to get organized and stay organized.  I already used Susan Sundwall’s article called, It’s All About Homework”.  I was able to create my own little area for studying and, I’ll admit it, Krumbs created a workstation, too…just for fun.  We have baskets with music (me), dog bones (Krumbs), cereal bars (me), pens, pencils and paper (me), a laptop (both of us).  I do homework, Krumbs visits the Café and we’re both happy. 

What else am I doing? I’ve learned to set goals for the year.  Krumbs and I read “The Power of Goals” by Caroline Pignat.  We learned how to set goals and carry through on them.  (See, I’m following the author’s advice right now by “taking a look at my actions”.)

We also read “Tortoise Victorious” by Jean Soohoo.  Have you hear the story of the tortoise and the hare?  Well, Jean Soohoo’s article is based on how you can use tips from the tortoise to “win” at schoolwork.  Check it out—it 's working for me!

That’s it!  I am on the road to great grades…how about you???  What do you do to stay on track at school and at home?  Tell us all about it!

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

MY POST HIBERNATION HORROR


It is January 2, 2013 and here I lieclumsy, grumpy, sleepy…and desperate to stay warm and cozy in my cave (bed).  No, I am not a grizzly bear, but I feel like one right now.  After two weeks of staying up late and sleeping even later, I have emerged from my post holiday sleep  to the jarring clang of my alarm and outside temperatures of 10 degrees Fahrenheit!  Isn’t it bad enough that I must leave my hibernation and return to early bedtimes and even earlier wake times?  Apparently, not!  Now I must also deal with the post hibernation horror of temperatures so cold the drips from my nose freeze my nostrils shut.

 I want to be a grizzly bear! Don’t be confused—I don’t want to be grumpy, sleepy or hungry…I just want to hibernate in my warm, cozy cave until the temperatures outside are as warm as the temperatures inside.  I want to be cute, cozy and carefree—take a look below.  This is how I'd like to see myself:
 

Unfortunately, the photo above is not me.  I am not feeling like a cozy, cute, fun-loving grizzly bear.  WHAT? Huh?  Really, Krumbs?   Krumbs is telling me that grizzly bears are not all fun, cozy cuteness…and hmmm, something tells me, maybe he’s right. 

He’s taking me to an Imagination Café article called “Happy Campers”.  The article, by Lisa Freeman, tells all about grizzly bears.  Razor sharp claws as long as a man’s fingers?  Seven HUNDRED pounds of body that moves as fast as a car?!?  Yikes!
 
Maybe I'm more teddy bear than grizzly bear after all.  But you can check out the article and learn some new facts about these amazing animals. 

HOW ABOUT YOU??? Are you feeling like an angry bear, forced out of your peaceful hibernation?.   Are you just hoping, wishing, praying for a few more precious minutes cuddled up in your cave, catching a few extra Zzzzzzz's?  Me too, but it is time to jump into 2013 with both  of my very cold feet so I'm throwing back the covers, turning off the alarm and going back to the real world. 
So, I'm signing off for now...check back on Friday to see how I survived the (dun, dun, duhhhh...) first days back!