White Chocolate and Raspberry Cookies

Chocolate and raspberries are two of my favorite things, so the chance to combine them into a cookie was not an opportunity I was going to let up.

I found a recipe online that called for raspberry chips. But I could not find any in the grocery store. So I figured fresh raspberries and white chocolate chips would be a good substitute.

The cookie making was slightly confusing because there were four of us making the cookies, and I didn't know how to edit the recipe to accommodate for fresh raspberries.

We ended up with twelve large cookies on two cookie sheets eventually.

We put them in the oven and waited.

Because we had edited the recipe, we did not know how long to cook them for. We did the 17 minutes they called for in the original recipe, but they were not done yet. We kept adding more and more minutes. 

Soon we just took them out, let them cool, and trusted that they were done. Even though the tooth pick trick did not work.

But Stephanie's intuition was right, they were done. A bit over done because the bottoms were a bit burnt, but still good never the less.

When one changes the recipe, a bit of trial and error is needed, and that's how I'm viewing these cookies. The flavors were all there, but the cookies needed to be smaller, so they would cook properly.

Nevertheless, I had lots of fun cooking these with a few of my friends here at SERC. Baking with friends makes baking, so much more amazing than it already is!

"Think of all of the beauty still left around you and be happy" - Anne Frank

Several of my friends at SERC are coming down to their last few weeks here. It's made me realize how fast the summer has gone by. It's true I have over four and a half weeks left here, but those weeks will fly by just like the past eight have. Therefore in that train of thought I have come to value the environment i have here, not only the academic and research environment, but also the acres of nature I am surrounded by.

So these past few days, I've been taking the scenic routes and stopping to enjoy the view as often as I can. As a race, humankind does not appreciate the beauty of nature enough. We are surrounded by nature all the time, so take a moment to enjoy what we have!
Unfortunately, nothing lasts forever!

A few very light pink flowers hiding amongst the grasses on the side of a trail.
You can even see that there's even a bug in one of them if you look close enough.

A few yellow and black butterflies on the purple flowers outside the admin building on SERC main campus this evening.

Hopefully I will have more pictures of the beauty around me to share with y'all soon!

Beautiful, but Abandoned Buildings

SERC owns a lot of the land around here, I think I've mentioned that previously. Most of the undeveloped land is SERC property, and some of the property with homes on it is SERC's too, they just rent it out to homeowners. 

Down the road from my main field site is a dirt track with a few abandoned buildings. Even in their demise, they are still beautiful to me. I find it relaxing to
see these old buildings. I like to imagine what these buildings were like in their prime. It would be easy enough to do a bit of research into their history, but I also like to enjoy my imagination and how I pretend they used to be . . . 
before this vulture took over!
And made it his home!
This vulture didn't like me taking his picture and stared at me in an unnerving way as I did it.

Looking for sites to do my phosphate below ground samplings, I came across this old SERC house just behind a row of perky summer homes. I'm not sure if the summer homes are on SERC property, but they might be. But this house certainly is. First there's a gate with the SERC private property sign on it. Followed by a well worn dirt track, leading to an open green space where this house resides next to a dock on the Rhode River. 
The house is all locked up with the windows boarded up, it reminds me of homes back home on the Gulf Coast abandoned in the anticipation of a large hurricane coming through. However, there is this one hole in the back door. Being curious, I peered through. It was quiet dark inside as one would imagine. Much of the inside had fallen into disrepair with pieces of the wall fallen down and wood everywhere. There was some wooden furniture, which was past its heyday. I find old buildings really nice, but also saddening as to who would let them fall into such a state and not upkeep them. Unfortunately these buildings are a part of life classified under change. As we and life and society changes, we force our environment to as well, leaving pieced from our past as reminders on the landscape.

Phragmites 'N' Chlorophyll

Last Thursday I took chlorophyll measurements of the Phragmites leaves in the chambers. I sampled one leaf per plant in every single chamber. That's over 150 plants! But it did not actually take too long. Just a few hours in the morning. I used this handy little chlorophyll meter. It doesn't have actual units, but it measures chlorophyll content relatively, so it's perfect for treatment comparisons!

And it was all worth it when I ran the data and found a trend!
Seeing results makes all the hours in the field totally worth it. There's a method to my madness of repeatedly getting sunburn, getting bitten by bugs, getting scratched by Phragmites, etc. Because it's in the name of science!

Surrounded by Phragmites and Covered in Foul-Smelling Marsh

I've been with Phragmites all week! Lots of one-on-one Phrag time! I've found myself in the middle of dense Phrag patches several times. It is a weird feeling to be surrounded by Phrag and not be able to see anything else, especially the narrow boardwalk I am supposed to be following.

I've fallen off the narrow path several times in the past few days.  I wear rubber boots when I'm out in the field and not at the chambers, so when I fall off the path and sink into the muddy marsh, my boot fills up. This sock was white when I put it on. It is now covered in marsh, as is the rest of my leg! I drove back to SERC barefoot because of it. And the government truck smells very marshy now!

But Phragmites is beautiful too! 
Look at that pretty Spartina cynosuroides flower surrounded by Phragmites against the blue sky with small puffy clouds in the background. Spartina cynosuroides is a another plant that grows in marshes, its a relative of Phragmites.
I will miss the marsh after this summer is over.
But I plan on returning during the school semester to continue a few research projects. 

White Chocolate Cake Batter Fudge

This weekend I decided my baking activity would be making fudge! I love fudge, it's delicious.
So creamy and sweet!
I found a recipe online for a White Chocolate Cake Batter Fudge. Chocolate, cake, and fudge!
Three of the best desserts all together in one sampling is simply perfection!
Deliciousness!

The recipe is quite simple.
There's only four ingredients:
Condensed milk
White chocolate
Vanilla extract
And sprinkles

I used chocolate filled rainbow candy-coated sprinkles instead of normal sprinkles.
And I cut my pieces rather large.
For my first time making fudge I'm quite happy with the result. I'm excited to try different types of fudge in the future especially because it is so easy to make.

Before this summer, I was one of the last people expected to learn to cook and bake. But look at me now. Cooking every day. Baking every weekend. Making delicious treats! When one is put in a situation where they have to survive, they are are forced to adapt. I was thrown into this summer, expected to cook every meal for myself. So I had to learn. And learn I have. And each day I continue to learn more techniques and try new recipes.

It's a Love-Hate Relationship

It's not with a person, it's with a machine!
I love and hate my LiCor 6400 photosynthesis meter!

It's a fabulous machine when it works, but this past week it hasn't been working too well. To the extent that the LiCor technical support on the phone know me by name now and I have the personal extension of one extremely helpful technician. 

Almost everyday this week I've loaded up my wagon and headed out to the Phragmites CO2xN chambers along the boardwalk. Some days I get some data but not very much, other days I don't get any data because the machine decides to be very temperamental. And I must admit when the machine decides to be temperamental, I get very frustrated! 

It's a very spoilt machine that demands a cool and non humid atmosphere, thus it gets a fancy umbrella. Considering it has been above 90F and about 70% every single day this week, even with a sun-brella it's quite hard to keep this machine happy. Even though its standard in America to use Farenheit, in science we frequentky use Celcius. Its been about 34 to 36C outside this week, but I have to cool the leaves down to 30C. Cooling the air causes condensation in the chamber, causing the humidty to skyrocket, and the machine to stop working. Causing my work day to end whether I'm done or not!

The Washington National Cathedral

Situated in the middle of our nation's capital, the Washington National Cathedral is a beautiful piece of architecture and culture. Construction began in 1907, and was not completed until 1990 making the the longest running construction project in DC. Although the first services were held in 1912, and since that point this monument has been a focus point for our nation. It was the site for President Teddy Roosevelt's 1907 speech, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King's last sermon, and President Ronald Regan's state funeral. And even today services, lectures, and exhibits still occur within its stone walls.

Just like the Washington Monument, the National Cathedral suffered some damage from the August 23rd 2011 5.8 magnitude earthquake. Most of the damage to the building occurred at the top including the pinnacles of the tower, several of the flying buttresses, and one of the gargoyles, as well as some minor interior damage. Evaluations of the structure were made in the immediate aftermath, and repairs are on going.

The inside of the National Cathedral is absolutely stunning. Gorgeous stained glass windows, intricately designed pillars holding up the structure with its high majestic ceilings. One can definitely understand why it took 83 years to fully complete this masterpiece!

There are several different wings within the main cathedral building for prayer and worship, each one is uniquely designed and filled with delicately formed pieces of art, giving it a peaceful air of serenity.

The view is stunning from the top of the cathedral, in the Pilgrim Observation Gallery up on the seventh floor of the Cathedral in the west end tower. After the elevator ascent, the doors open into a circular gallery with windows all around offering a 360 degrees view of the city of DC and the surrounding area. If you look closely you can see the Capital and the Washington Monument from this picture. These two building stand out because the majority of the city is lowly built due to regulations from the 1899 Act of Congress.

I'm Still Young at Heart

Even though SERC is in a very rural area, it is only an hour away from our nation's capital of Washington DC! So when my PIC was in DC, I had to find a way to get into the city because we only live once, so let's make the most of it!

Wandering about the city, near Adams Morgan, we found a park with a playground.
No matter how old I've gotten, I've always found playgrounds fun.

They had a set of monkey bars!
Of course, I had to try them to see if I could still get all the way across. And even though it had just rained and the bars were wet, I did get all the way around! I may be 20 years old, but I can still do the monkey bars, which I think is a pretty fabulous thing to be able to do!  

 Just like at most playgrounds, there was a slide. The rain made the slide hard to slide down, but that doesn't mean I didn't try. It was a slow and squeaky trip down, but I made my way down eventually.

Vanessa decided to give the squeaky slide a try too! I had to duck to get under the little arch at the top, but it was just the perfect height for her. Although being shorter didn't make the slide any more efficient for her, it was still a slow decent!

 The metal slide on the other side tuned out to be much better! There was a few bumps in it too which made it even more fun to swoosh down. And judging from this series of pictures, I'm definitely not the only one enjoying the playground!

As we made our way out of the little park, we came across a sunflower patch with a few flowers. I'd forgotten how large sunflower heads can get. This one was bigger than my head! And slightly fragrant too!

This quote is the epitome of what growing up is to me:
“When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty, I read them openly. When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up.” - C.S. Lewis
Growing up is about not fearing what others think of you. And that truly is advice to live off of in this world where everyone is so concerned as to what everyone else thinks about what they are doing. Just do your own thing, while in turn appreciating and respecting others for doing the same.

Celebrating Christmas in July

I had never heard of celebrating Christmas in July before. But it was a lot of fun. There isn't really a holiday in the US between Independence Day (July 4th) and Labor Day (the first Monday in September). So Christmas in July is a funky little side holiday. Just an excuse to eat delicious food, set up Christmas decorations, sing Christmas songs, and just have a good time with friends!

To have food at our Christmas in July celebration, we organized a pot luck. I decided to make a desert because I love sweet things and truthfully I find baking much more fun than cooking. I decided to make a stone fruit and lemon mousse trifle! 

First I had to bake the stone fruit.
I decided to use nectarines because they are in season right now! So I sliced them all up. It's hard to slice nectarines because of the stone in the middle.
Apparently if you twist them then stone breaks in half, but it didn't work for me! No matter how many times and different ways I tried to twist the fruit. There must be a special technique that I do not know.
When I baked the nectarines, they smelt so good, the whole floor smelt delicious. It was wonderful!

Then I made the lemon mousse.
Mousse is one of my favourite desserts. It is so versatile. Not only can it be made from many different base ingredients, but it can go with lots of different things too. I had fun whipping it to peaks using the electric hand whisk. It took a while to get to peaks, so I was confused, then suddenly I saw peaks in the bowl and understood exactly what they were.

Next it was layering time.
A layer of pound cake, a layer of lemon mousse, a layer of nectarines. And repeat thrice.
Not too hard at all.
It had to go into the fridge overnight so the mousse would firm up a bit more and so that the pound cake would absorb the flavours of the nectarines and the lemon mousse.

Finally out of the fridge.
And the last step was decorating the top with lemon zest and lemon peel. Just to make it look prettier. It looks quite nice!
And I thought it tasted quite nice too!
There was very little left at the end of the night, so it must have been good. 

There was lots of other food at the party since we had a potluck style affair. Most people brought things alone or collaborated with others to bring something together. Here's just a few of the foods we had:

Some peppermint and plain chocolate brownies.
And some bruschetta.
And some peanut noodle salad.
I was quite full by the end of the night!

In keeping with the spirit of Christmas we decorated the whole living room with paper snowflakes, wreathes, and other festive decorations. We even had a Christmas tree with lights and baubles thanks to the SERC administration who let us borrow the tree they use each year to decorate the administration building. We even did a Secret Santa gift exchange, can you see all of our gifts to each other under the tree? There was definitely Christmas spirit in Green Village that night.