Kid Eats - Part Deux

Well, the kiddo sort of agreed to work on a blog together. She is editing my writing. She's a) keeping me from being too geeky and (b) she's helping me to keep it teen-friendly.  That is, after all, the stated purpose of the site.

The site is about to go live.  I'm putting a few finishing touches on the site. I want to get a related blog and/or Twitter site going as well. The site will launch with only a few informational pages up, but I'll keep adding to it until it's fully fledged and functional.

If you are interested in a sneak peek, let me know in a comment below, or at Facebook.

Kid Eats

My daughter has taking up my baking bug. On the whole, most of the goods she turns out are pretty good. Especially her snickerdoodles. But, there's a problem with consistency. The chocolate chip cookies she makes one day might turn out perfect, the next time we get hockey pucks (sorry kiddo)

The problem is that she comes to baking the same way I did when I started baking at her age. Open cookbook. Pick a recipe. Check on and grab ingredients. Start reading recipe and follow the instructions.

There are several problems with this method of baking. Not the least of which is producing an inconsistent product each time you bake. But how do you teach your child the foundations of good baking?

I'm a geek by trade. After I bake I tend to critique the outcome. If it's not "just right" I start looking at where I failed. What did I do wrong, and where? I try to notate my cookbooks for zingers and gotchas. I like to pencil in thots such as tricks I've learned that might make something work better as well or even ideas to try out the next time.

I tried throwing Alton Brown's "I'm Just Here for More Food" at her (no, not literally). That book is the quintessential textbook for the beginning baker. And I do mean "textbook". It's not the most friendly recipe book, but, if you want to understand the hows and whys of baking, this is my go-to book. It's chock full of science and  technique and all around food geekery.  The problem is, most of the information is aimed at the adult baker.

I'm all for cooking and baking with your kids. But a teenager does not need quite the same amount of supervision (if any at all). Baking allows for self-expression and provides some autonomy for them. But, how do you teach the foundational skills for producing consistent baked goods when they "just want to bake" and don't want to get into all that "geek" stuff?

As mentioned above, I LOVE Alton Brown's book, "I'm Just Here for More Food" as well as his TV show on the Food Network, "Good Eats". I'm also a big fan of Shirley Corriher's "Cookwise" and "Bakewise" books, as well as Harold McGee's "On Food and Cooking" and Baking Illustrated. Tons of science and knowledge for the baker.

So, my thought is to create a brand-new blog dedicated to boiling down all that knowledge to the teen level. Start out by explaining the fundamentals of the KITCHEN, PANTRY, UTENSIL DRAWER and BOOKSHELF (yup, see, planning tags already). While I haven't discussed it with her, yet, I'd love to bring my daughter on board as well. Like, me, she loves to write. Getting her perspective would be great.

I haven't quite decided on a format. Perhaps me writing and her asking questions where she might not understand an analogy or explanation? A work in progress? I just don't know. And, I'm not even sure if it's worth it. Would anyone be interested in something like this?

I Google

I've had an iGoogle profile for a while. But I really haven't used it much. At least, not till the last few weeks.

I was perfectly happy with the standard Google search page. I just wanted to search for something. But, the more I move away from Micro$oft's apps, I'm finding Google has apps that are pretty useful and all located in one place.

Other search sites have tried to do this but not as well as Google. I can have a home page with useful apps or live data (news, weather, rss feeds, etc...), a game page and other pages with useful apps.

Speaking of useful apps, I've added the Blogger app which allows me to update my blog from my iGoogle homepage (which I'm now using to create this post).

I want to explore some other plugins to see how useful and powerful iGoogle can be.

Tell em' where you're going, go there then tell 'em where you've been...

Yup, standard instructions for writing a good speech. It's also a good description of the new software I just downloaded for my phone. It's called GPS Cycle Computer. And it it awesome.

Recently I've taken up cycling around Lake City with my 11 year old. When we get home, he wants to load up Google Maps and see where we've been and figure out how far we traveled. It can be a chore to map that out as the bike paths around here don't often follow the roads.

The software shows you how lenthg of time you were cycling, current speed, average and max speed, distance traveled, altitude and direction as well as your current longitude and lattitude.

The software allows you to go to cycling sites (say THAT 3 times fast) and download maps for established routes. You can load them up on the application and then, using the GPS enabled phone (which I have) follow the path.

So, basically at this point you can follow an established trail or make one yourself. When you return, you can then upload the logfile (which the app makes for you when you start you trip) and then open it up in Google Earth or the latest iteration of Google Maps and view your trip (something my son loves to do). If you are into blazing your own trail, you can upload your trip to various biking sites so that others can follow in your tire tracks.

Hopefully I'll get my bike back this week and I'll be able to test it out. All I need now is a good stereo bluetooth headset and I'm set for solo rides.

I can see clearly now my Windows changed...

Cooked up a new ROM for my phone. I'm now running Windows Mobile 6.5. With a couple of configurators installed and some nifty little widgets I can almost forget any attachment to SPB MobileShell. I still love that little app. All the info I really want on the home screen without have to scroll around for it. Easy access to the tools and apps I use on a daily basis and the ease of customizing a toolbar of favourites leaves me wishing I had the app.

I found a way to add HTC Photo Album, Audio Manager and Total Commander (file explorer) to the home screen. These are all FAR superior to Micro$oft's apps that come as part of the OS. The new ROM is a better at managing memory and appears to be a little more battery friendly.

I'm not a big fan of the honeycomb structure of the settings/programs page. Also, I need to play a bit more to see if the honeycomb is configurable so that I can put the things I really want up near the top. I see the visual appeal of not having everything in straight rows/columns. It's more visually appealing but not necessarily easier to get the app you actually want to use.

I have not had a real need to use any Voice Command dialing in the past, but, now that I've started biking, I've started to use my phone to listen to tunes as well. The ease of making a call to home while biking is an appealing idea so, I need to look into that.

I'll probably cook up a new ROM later this week. I know I'll be removing items that I have found somewhat useless. I may need to add a registry editor. I haven't decided if I truly need that or not.

No fan of the current occupant...

...of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. But, I have become a fan of his press secretary. He took two cellphones away from the presscorp this last Wednesday. Dude! You RAWK!

You are only limited by your imagination...and other such nonsense.

Yes. Nonsense.

I cannot STAND motivational sayings. They bother me. A lot. They are meant for the masses who are easily swayed into action and in dire need for a scooby snack. But at their core they are just a mass of nonsense and gibberish. Let me give you some examples:

"Positive attitudes = positive results". Give me a pile of horse manure and a shovel.  If I start at the top and dig down to the bottom, no matter how positive I am that at the bottom there will be a pony, the results will be somewhat less than positive.

"Life is not how many breaths you take, but how many moments take your breath away." I understand the sentiment behind this. But, by definition life IS how many breaths you take.  You stop breathing, you stop living.

"I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something. And because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something that I can do." Put down the crack pipe and step away from the keyboard. Folks, this is why drugs are bad. I am at a loss of words to describe how incredibly stupid and nonsensical this statement is.

"There is no 'I' in team." Wow.  Glad you can spell. There are two "I's" in "individual", tho, making that two times better.

"Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land amongst the stars." Um...if you were aiming for the moon and missed, you'll be floating adrift in space...until your oxygen runs out.

"To climb steep hills requires a slow pace at first." Or a really fast running start.

"Limitations live only in our minds. But, if we use our imaginations, our possibilities become limitless." No. Limitations are often imposed by physical, natural or other laws. No matter your imagination, somethings are still not possible. One can still not break the speed of light, no matter how imaginative we may be. Einstein's theory of relativity, expressed as E=mc^2, basically states that, as an object's velocity moves closer to the speed of light, it acquires more mass.  This, in turn, requires more energy to keep it moving. There comes a point where the energy required to keep an object accelerating towards light speed... oh hang it all. Just accept that somethings, no matter how much we imagine them to be possible, are not possible. Period. Deal with it.

"Fate is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice; it is not something to be waiting for, it is something to be achieved." The dictionary defines fate as: that which is inevitably predetermined. Therefore, it is, in fact, a matter of chance or happenstance and not of choice. 

Basically, most of these little pity sayings are matters of mixed metaphors and pie-in-the-sky-type thinking that energizes and rouses the rabble. But, if one ponders these little "gems", they are just plain stupid.

Yes, I realize this posting is somewhat disjointed.  It's just a pet peeve of mine.  These little sayings irritate me.  And I'm confronted with them daily, so I just needed to get them off my chest.