Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Ongoing Projects...

Emily is working a different puzzle each day with the goal of being able to complete a 100 piece puzzle in less than 30 minutes by the end of three weeks.


Gabriel is composing a musical score for the screenplay Cody is writing.


Josh is drawing three sets of President and First Lady portraits.


Sue is finding out about how the local government mirrors the federal government, then figuring out how to present that information.



Austin is building a detailed diaroma of a Native American Village.


Earl is creating a painting of the Capitol Building. Here is is working on enlarging and getting his spacing right.

Saturday, October 27, 2007

Fieldtrip to Derby Dinner


A sinister con man, Roat, and two ex-convicts, Mike and Carlino, are about to meet their match. They have traced the location of a mysterious doll, which they are much interested in, to the Greenwich Village apartment of Sam Hendrix and his blind wife, Susy. Sam had apparently been persuaded by a strange woman to transport the doll across the Canadian border, not knowing that sewn inside were several grams of heroin. When the woman is murdered the situation becomes more urgent. The con man and his ex-convicts, through a cleverly constructed deception, convince Susy that the police have implicated Sam in the woman's murder, and the doll, which she believes is the key to his innocence, is evidence. She refuses to reveal its location, and with the help of a young neighbor, figures out she is the victim of a bizarre charade. But when Roat kills his associates, a deadly game of cat and mouse ensues between the two. Susy knows the only way to play fair is by her rules, so when darkness falls she turns off all the lights leaving both of them to maneuver in the dark until the game ends. (from the back of the playbook)

We doen't have a group picture because it was raining to hard to get one outside the theatre. Eight of us went to Derby Dinner to enjoy this 'crime drama.' Asia and Emily thought it was the best play we have ever seen at Derby Dinner. The guys thought it was pretty good, much better than they expected. It is a different kind of mystry because the audience knows most of the 'who done it' details right up front. The suspense comes in to play because you want the main character, a blind woman, to figure out she is in grave danger before it is too late. As a viewer you start to put yourself in her shoes, what you do if you were blind and in a tough spot. The lady is smart, and with the help of a child she thought she didn't like, she stays safe and defeats those who hurt her. It was a great example of how not to let handicaps change how you live your life.

Sweet Potato Rum Cake

This cake is so soft and moist, it is almost and English pudding.


For the batter:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups steamed sweet potato meat (about 2 sweet potatoes)
3 eggs
3/4 cup warm water
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon spiced rum
1 cup golden raisins
1 cup toasted walnuts, crushed

For the glaze:
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 to 3 tablespoons spiced rum
2 cups confectioners' sugar

Special equipment: bundt pan

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Lightly grease a 10-cup bundt pan.

In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Set the mixture aside. In a separate large mixing bowl, mash the sweet potato, leaving only a slight meaty texture. Whisk together the sweet potato and the eggs. Whisk in the warm water, then the sugar, then the oil followed by the vanilla extract and rum. Stir in the dry ingredients until homogenous then fold in raisins and walnuts. Spoon the batter into the prepared bundt pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, about 1 hour. Let the cake cool in the tin for 15 minutes and invert onto a serving platter or cake stand.

Meanwhile, make the glaze:
Melt the butter in a medium saucepan with the rum. Pull from the heat and whisk in the confectioners' sugar until smooth.

Pour the glaze over the cooled cake. Slice and serve.

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Louisville Orchestra and Molly Malone's Field Trip

Hopefully, there will be student reviews of this concert posted here in the next day or two. Everyone enjoyed it quite a bit.

Any excuse to dress up :)
What do you do while 'waiting for Mr Dirk'?
More waiting!
And even more waiting.....
Ordering at Molly Malone's...
Waiting for food.....
Mixed reviews on lunch, four hated their food, four thought it was ok, and four thought is was wonderful. It seemed to depend on what you ordered too. It didn't help that we got a very grumpy waitress.

Saturday, October 13, 2007

Thursday, October 11, 2007

Falls of the Ohio Trip Part IV



















Falls of the Ohio Trip Part II






Everyone had fun playing on the Jungle Gym.

Falls of the Ohio Trip Part I

It started with lunch on the river. The day was beautiful, but finally a little nippy.
Everyone was so hungry that they didn't even sit to eat, they just stood around the table and dove into the wonderful food!
As it got a bit warmer, they decided to dance int he parking lot.
The view was amazing, the sky was beautiful, the sun was out and there was a breeze off the river.