Oh Christmas tree...

We just finished decorating our Christmas tree!

 It has popcorn garland and mini-ornaments (it's hard to see them in this photo). 

It reminded me of Charlie Brown's Christmas tree .  I love that movie! 

Is there any resemblance?

Betty Crocker?

Sometimes my mom calls me Kia Crocker (like Betty Crocker). I know I'm not anywhere close to being a good cook but you have to start somewhere. I love sitting down to eat something I've made. It is really satisfying to take something that started out as a pile of ingredients and transform it into a delicious dish.

This semester I'm in a class called Baking Science. Every week in lab we get hands on experience making all types of breads and baked goods. From whole wheat, sourdough, white bread to fococcia, pizza crust, pie crust and cakes. Of course, it isn't just a baking class because we talk about ingredient functionality, flour quality, and the chemical reactions occurring during baking and how to change formulations and problem solve in the baking industry. It is so interesting and useful!

Here are some of my whole wheat loaves. We have to score them on their crust color, grain, crumb, symmetry and texture. It's hard work to get them to look like this but they make such good sandwich bread. Sam and I have hardly bought any bread from the store because I bring home so much. It's one of the perks of majoring in grain science. 

We learned how to make the perfect, flaky pie crust and then got to make our own pies. 

If you want to make a flaky pie crust the key is very cold ingredients to make sure your fat doesn't melt into your flour and don't over-mix. 

Here are some tips:

-refrigerate your mixing bowl and paddle 

-cut up your fat (shortening or lard) and refrigerate it 

-refrigerate your flour

-use ice water

-when you cut your fat into your flour make sure you don't make the fat pieces too small (the smaller the fat pieces the less flaky the crust will be)

Old to new

When Sam and I got married, we bought a set of 4 kitchen chairs from a second hand store, thinking that they had potential. 

Before

But with our busy schedules we haven't had time to fix them up until this week. We took off the ugly green vinyl seating that reminded of us crocodile skin and upholstered the seats with much cuter fabric. It was easier than I expected, probably because Sam was the one using the staple gun. 

After

Florida: The Sunshine State

A part of research is also presenting your results. For me this meant getting on a plane to Hollywood, Florida and presenting a poster at the 2012 AACC (American Association of Cereal Chemists) National Meeting. The weeks before this trip were composed of long days of stress, anxiety and tears. Thankfully I have the kindest and most supportive husband. I don't know what I would do without him.

This was my first trip to Florida! There are so many beach resorts, taxi cabs and palm trees. It was really beautiful though. 

 This is the outside of the hotel I stayed at. Vibrant and exciting. 

 The time finally came for me to present.Here is my poster that I made. It's surprising how much time and effort it takes just to make a decent-looking poster.  I was so nervous to present but after it was done I went to the beach and relaxed. 

 I could have stayed here, just watching and listening to the waves roll up on the beach. 

It was so peaceful. 

And when I came back home I was given the sweetest welcome. 

Konza

One of my favorite things to do with Sam is taking walks. It combines two great things: talking with Sam and being outside. We went to the Konza Prairie just before sunset and it was so beautiful out there. A light breeze, a setting sun, cicadas "singing" all around. What a wonderful evening.

Ties

I was unpacking boxes today and discovered all of Sam's ties. It seemed like a bottomless box--there were just more and more to take out. I was curious how many he actually had so I started counting--he has 42! He could wear a different tie almost every Sunday for the whole year and not repeat ties. Impressive.

Silver lining to every cloud

Last week Sam and I were enjoying our Sunday afternoon when a knock at the door informs us that our little car (we call it Neville) parked on the street was in need of  some major repair. The people that backed into us were very helpful and responsible, and their truck didn't even get a ding.

While Neville is in the shop being fixed, Sam and I have a chevy malibu as a rental car.  It's pretty high class. We even drove to school with the sunroof open!

The Sideline

Who knew that Sam's frisbee team had so much musical talent? Along with bringing their cleats, frisbees and water bottles, they bring musical instruments.

Whoever is on the sidelines joins in to encourage the rest of the team. They creatively created some cheers which were accompanied by dancing and interpretive dance. 

Pictures from the happiest day

We have our wedding pictures! Sam's dad has a photography business (alan honey photography) and he took our pictures for us. He did such a great job!

Here are a few of my favorites

Lab party

My lab at school threw Sam and I a wedding bbq. It was really sweet of them. Our lab is very diverse and so was the food we had. Hyma is from India, Moses is from Uganda, Harleen is from India, Paul is from the US, Dr. Aun is from China, and my advisor is from Turkey.  

They are all really nice and helpful. They've taught me a  lot. It's always nice to be able to ask for help or get their opinion instead of searching the web or reading an article to find the answer.

Here are some of the things I've been doing at work lately.  

I've been preparing samples to run in SDS-PAGE. 

After weighing, pipetting, mixing and heating for five hours, this gel is the end result. 

Look how pretty it is!

I've also been using the Mixolab. I wonder who gets to name these machines...

 You add your flour, water, hydrocolloid, etc and it measures the torque, mixing time, and protein stability as the dough is being mixed and simultaneously heated. This kind of stuff makes me excited!

Ultimate

One of my favorite things to do during the week is going to Sam's ultimate frisbee games. Frisbee is really fun to watch. Here is his team. Go stachio!

It's really challenging to take any action pictures on a phone because everyone is moving so fast and they throw the disk even faster. But this is my favorite so far. You can see Sam in action. He is amazing out there!

Whether being guarded by one person or four he manages to stays chilly. 

Not to mention how fast he runs.

Ultimate is a great sport to watch, especially when my husband is playing.