"Mexican" Corn Casserole

 This is from grandma's vegetable box and looks like it was clipped from a magazine. There's no evidence that Grandma E ever made this one, but she had a good eye; it's fantastic. I added the quotation marks around Mexican because there is nothing particularly Mexican about the dish. It creates a final product with a consistency of a savory custard or a spoonbread. The flavor is mildly sweet and deliciously corny. It is also absolutely loaded with fat, so this is less an everyday recipe and more a special event treat. 

Mexican Corn Casserole

• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/4 butter
• 1 1/2 cups milk (plant based works well)
• 1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen corn kernels
• 1 1/2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese
• 1 1/2 cups soft bread crumbs
• 6 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 red bell pepper chopped
• 1 Tbl sugar
• 1 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 325 degrees

Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in flour and stir constantly. Whisk in the milk. Stir and cook over low heat until the mixture thickens.

Remove from heat and stir in remaining ingrediencts. Mix well and put in a lightly greased 2-quart casserole. Set the casserole in a larger pan, place both pans in oven, and pour boiling water to a depth of 1 inch in the larger pan.

Bake for 1 hour, or until a knife inserted halfway between the edge and the center of the casserole comes out clean.

Finna by Nino Cipri

(January List)

Finna is the first of my TBR.co reads for the year. Originally, this was 19th on the list for January and I'm really nowhere near there in my reading. However, I realized that if I wanted to get all three in by March 12th, that I really needed to go ahead and bump one. I bumped Finna because it's more of a novella coming in at just 135 pages and I needed a nice short read after finishing Caliban's War.

The premise of this novel is that layout structure of a store called LitenVarld makes it prone to wormholes. Really, LitenVarld is obviously based off of Ikea and it's rather distinctive store layouts. If you've never been in one, they really are oddly disorientating. In the world of the novel, this disorientation makes it more likely that a wormhole to an alternate reality will open. This happens often enough that the corporation has a strategy in place for retrieving hapless shoppers who've accidently gotten themselves lost. However, due to budget cuts, when the elderly Ursula Noouri gets herself lost, there is no team to go retrieve her. Instead, the two employees with the least seniority are drafted to wield the Finna device and find the errant shopper. Unfortunately for Jules and Ava, that means that not only do they have to face dangers of the multiverse, they have to do it after having broken up only three days prior. Super awkward.

Conceptually fascinating, I felt like the relationship drama between Jules and Ava just really dragged the story down.  What saved it was the background concept of being lost in a morass of Ikea clones and it's short length. I take that back. If all that drama had been spread across 300 pages and the rest of it had more room to breath, this could have been an absolutely breath-taking book. It really felt like the interesting settings and multiversal elements were rushed through in favor of Ava having these introspective sessions.

I'm going to track down the sequel and see how the author is developing their craft. 

Saturday Post #4

It appears that I have successfully fallen into my old reading and writing patterns which is a great step in the right direction. The Board Games and activity goals are proving more of a challenge. Part of that is due to the disruptions we are having with the weather. Part of that is other things. My cat Helios has been fairly sick lately and he took a bad turn on Friday. He's doing better now, but things like that make it hard to work on new goals.

One thing that is going well is my cooking goals. I've been keeping up well with the recipe boxes but more than that, I've been cooking steadily since the new year began which means we are on track for some of the associated health goals.   

Board Games - (falling behind)

1. Bohnanza (1/1/2025)
2. Azul: Stained Glass of Sintra (1/3/2025)
3. Wingspan (1/4/2025)
4. Mahjong (1/11/2025)
5. Mahjong (1/19/2025)

Nonfiction - (Ahead of pace)

1. A View from The Stars by Cixin Liu
2. The Algorithm by Hilke Schellmann
3. Secrets of the Octopus by Sy Montgomory
4. Let's Make Ramen! by Hugh Amano and Sarah Becan

Active Days & Walks - (on track) 

1. January 1st - Zoo Atlanta
2. January 2nd - 2 mile walk around the neighborhood

Steps (officially way behind)

ok. So I'm not even going to go into it. With all the snow days I essentially didn't move much at all. January is a bit of a wash. So the new plan is to try to get in 10,000 steps four out of 7 days for the next week and get at least 8,000 for the other three. I might even bring back the AM treadmill jogging in aide of this. (not sure I'm quite ready to commit to the running though)

Caliban's War by James S.A. Corey

(January List)

Book 2 of the "The Expanse." This one is about 600 pages and took me about a week and a half to get through which is honestly not too bad considering that there were a couple of days in there when I just wasn't doing much reading at all. It would appear that I can average about 100 pages a day pretty comfortably. I have a tendency to have a few days where I don't read at all and a few where I binge and can get in as many as 400 pages. If you assume that books average around 250 pages that get's me to about 12 books per month which is actually about what I manage when I'm having my best years for reading challenges.

Ok, enough navel gazing.

Caliban's War was a reread. It was the last book in the series that I managed to read before starting grad school. The rest of the series will be new ground. In Leviathan Wakes, the reader is locked into two primary points of view: James Holden and Detective Miller. In Caliban's War, there are four primary POV's: James Holden, Avasarala, Bobbie, and Prax. Holden and Miller were kind of two sides of the same coin which held the first book together despite its massive size and narrative scope. The four POV's in Caliban's War are much more diverse.

Holden is Holden and will always be Holden. He spends a large chunk of this volume in a sort of identity crisis as he processes living through the events of Leviathan Wakes but get's back snapped into himself by about the mid point of the book. He serves as a sort of point of continuity.

Avasarala is a delightfully foul mouthed under-secretary for the Earth based UN. She's a schemer and a manipulator. She is the sort of politician who is officially in a minor role yet wields a monstrous amount of power from behind the scene. Her POV is full of intrigue and power plays which I personally love. I also freely admit I love the sort of frisson of having a little old grandma type be so foul-mouthed and so powerful. She is so much more dynamic in the book than she is in the series although Agdashloo does a fantastic job bringing her to life. Her role in the story is an illustration of a massive bureaucracy with all of its factions in constant competition. She's a restraining force on the Earth government who opposes the more militant conflict driven factions. She gets betrayed which sends her off planet and on a course of intersection with Holden.

Bobbie is a Martian marine who is the sole survivor of the UN and Mars marine squads stationed on Ganymede. All the other marines are wiped out by a mysterious blue-glowing creature that can exist in a vacuum without a suit and has enormous strength. She becomes a political pawn that her Martian government wants to use in their negotiations with the Earth government. Unfortunately, Bobbie's insightful assessment that her government is lying to her throws her into the path of Avasarala which leads to an unlikely but fascinating collaboration between two characters who should be enemies. Her POV is full of direct action oriented scenes and quick decisions. She's naturally impatient with any kind of political game which provides a nice counter-point to Avasarala.

Prax is a botanist from Ganymede. In this novel full of action heroes, Prax is just a guy. He's a guy who's mixed up in everything because his daughter was kidnapped before the conflict on Ganymede through his home into chaos. He's brilliant and focused, but he's just a guy. His function in the narrative is to provide a contrast to the other characters and to be a plausible source to what are deeply technical insights into the protomolecule. This is the same protomolecule that drove the events of the first book and is is still and the center of the events swirling around the solar system.

Because of these vastly different POVs, this book has a much different feel to it than Leviathan Wakes. It ends up reading more like a court intrigue than an action story. I'm very much looking forward to the next volume of the series: Abbadon's Gate.

Sherried Beef

 I like casseroles. I've always liked casseroles. They are easy to make and they reheat well. This recipe came off of a card written out by my great aunt Joan. I picked this one to try because of the sherry in all honesty. Sherry is one of those alcohols that I wouldn't want to drink. Even good sherry is oddly cloying, but put it in a dish with other flavors and sometimes something magical happens. I happened to have part of a bottle of sherry in the cupboard and this seemed like an interesting way to use it. 

The recipe is dead easy and basically comes down to mix all the ingredients and bake for a really long time. The result is a thick creamy stew that is perfect served with noodles. It's so easy that I can guarantee that I will make it again, although I think I'll sub in fresh mushrooms for the canned variety. For one thing, they are cheaper which actually dates the recipe a bit. While the card is dated 1988, I suspect that the actual recipe is from the 70's or even 60's.

Sherried Beef

• 3 lbs beef stew meat, cut into 1 inch chunks
• 2 cans cream of mushroom soup
• 2 6oz cans mushrooms (I'm going to use 1 lb fresh in the future, cleaned and sliced)
• 1/2 pkg onion soup mix (I used Knorr)
• 3/4 cup dry sherry

1. Mix all ingredients (you don't have to brown the meat)
2. Braise, covered for 3 hours at 325 degrees. (I ended skimming off some oil that came to the top)
3. Serve over noodles or rice

Serves - a lot (at least 10)

This is great as is, but the recipe could be upgraded by browning the beef and using fresh mushrooms. Adding in some sauteed onions would also punch up the flavor a bit too.

Seems like it would be pretty easy to convert to a slow cooker as well. 

Let's Make Ramen! by Hugh Amano and Sarah Becan (Nonfiction #4 - 2025)

(January List)

I'm not really doing this intentionally, really. However, here's my fourth nonfiction out eight total books. I'm still at 50% nonfiction so far this year. I'm not sure where this new found love of nonfiction is coming from. Ryan has pointed out that none of these nonfiction are pedagogy books, which is true. Our observation is that 95% of pedagogy books are legitimately awful. They tend to suffer from a small common sense idea being stretched out to fill 180 pages which makes them tedious to say the least. That other 5% can be pretty transcendent, though. In any case, I'm going to try to keep up the streak.

This one is a graphic novel format cookbook. Let's Make Ramen! is, at it's core, just a solid exploration of ramen in it's traditional forms with some solid advice from various icons in the ramen world. Content-wise there's nothing terribly earth shattering here. The delivery is what makes it brilliant.

A visual process like cooking lends itself well to the visual graphic novel treatment. The background history was well supported by the drawings and it was fun seeing the various ramen masters rendered in drawing s that allowed them to address the reader directly. The recipes are clear and the drawings are helpful for understanding the steps and processes. 

I suppose it all could be done with high quality photographs but it wouldn't be as much fun, and I've always found photos more difficult to follow than a well done drawing. 

It turns out that this is part of a series of cookbooks. There's a dumpling cookbook and a bread one as well. I'm looking forward to checking them out.

A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers

 My local library has been working hard in the last few years to get the community in and reading. Among many initiatives, one that I enjoy is their Staff Recommendations. They do this in two ways. First each branch has a little display of books and media that rotates frequently. There's usually not a ton of explanation but the materials are generally unified by some kind of theme. The second set of staff recommendations is published online. There are 3 every month and they are always good. A Psalm For the Wild-Built came to me from the December 2024 recommendations.

Because it features a robot and because it's set on a moon there seems to be a tendency to call this science fiction. It even won a Hugo award. However, to me this is fantasy if it's anything. The whole book is more philosophical than it is anything else and it's exploration on the nature of consciousness and purpose is central to the narrative. The fact that a tea monk is having these conversations with a robot is a little irrelevant. The setting is a little irrelevant to the story as a whole. 

The main character Dex is a monk who is having a crisis of purpose. In their world, people strive to choose and fulfill a purpose. Dex's is being a tea monk which is a kind of itinerant therapist and tea connoisseur. Their function is to give the people of Penga a moment's respite from their cares and an ear for their worries. However, who heals the healer? Dex is ground down by the routine of their life and even though they are good at their job, they find less and less satisfaction. Eventually, Dex decides to leave the path and head into the wilderness where they encounter a wild-built robot named Mosscap. 

Mosscap has sought out people in order to answer the question "what do people need?" But that's not an easy question to answer. Mosscap ends up traveling with Dex while both characters look for the answers to their questions.

The interesting think about this book is how cerebral it is while still being accessible. Dex's quest to find meaning in their life is the the quest we all take at some point and Mosscap's question is equally relavent. The question of need and purpose is at the core of most people's life whether they are looking at it or not. So, I think this is more a book of philosophy dressed up in a sci-fi costume. 

This slim volume is worth a read.

Saturday Post #3 - Day 18 of 2025

Ok guys. I'm exhausted. I'm working at a sleep deficit, so this is going to be brief. I'm doing well on both my reading and writing goals. I actually managed five posts this week and I only missed one day in my journal. I'm beyond thrilled.

Struggling with the board games and activity. I actually thought those would be the harder goals to meet to begin with. Reading and writing is more bringing back habits that I used to have. Board games and activity is building new habits. It's going to take some time. 

Board Games - (falling behind)

1. Bohnanza (1/1/2025)
2. Azul: Stained Glass of Sintra (1/3/2025)
3. Wingspan (1/4/2025)
4. Mahjong (1/11/2025)

Nonfiction - (Ahead of pace)

1. A View from The Stars by Cixin Liu
2. The Algorithm by Hilke Schellmann
3. Secrets of the Octopus by Sy Montgomory

Active Days & Walks - (on track) 

1. January 1st - Zoo Atlanta
2. January 2nd - 2 mile walk around the neighborhood

Steps (officially way behind)

Made my 8,000 step goal 1 out of the 7 days. 38,843 total steps for the week which averages to 5,549 steps per day. Actually, it's not that much worse than last week and I've managed to be more consistently active more days.... I'm just not hitting my goal. It's been a very busy and full week. A couple of 10 minute walks isn't an impossible ask - I just need to figure how to fit them in. I'll figure it out.

Sweet Potato-Apple Crisp

This came off of a recipe card that is much stained and smudged which probably means it got used at least a couple of times. I'm a big fan of apple crisps, so the idea of adding sweet potatoes to the mix was intriguing. Additionally, the card came from one of my grandmother's sisters - my Great Aunt June.

The original recipe makes use of canned sweet potato and canned apple which I didn't have on hand. I made the dish with fresh apples and sweet potatoes which certainly changed the cooking time and probably changed the texture of the final dish. That being said, the dish was a success. The final product had an interesting blend of sweet potato and apple tastes. The overall sweetness of the dish was less than a standard dish, but it was still plenty sweet enough to satisfy as a dessert.

I want to fiddle a little with methodology, and it makes me wonder if a straight sweet potato crisp would be a success.

Sweet Potato-Apple Crisp (serves 6-8)

From the kitchen of June M.

• 1 can (16oz) apple slices (or two medium apples cored and sliced)
• 2 cups thin sliced sweet potatoes (2 medium sweet potatoes peeled or from a 16 oz can) 
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 Tbs lemon juice
• 1/2 cup un-sifted flour
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 5 Tbs butter

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. If using canned apples, drain and reserve the liquid. 
3. Grease a 1.5 quart shallow baking dish. Alternate layers of apples and sweet potatoes. It should be between 2/3 and 3/4 of the way full. Measure the reserved apple liquid if using the canned and add water to equal 6 Tablespoons, or just use all water. Add the lemon juice to the water mixture and pour the whole over the apple-sweet potato mixture. 
4. Mix cinnamon and salt. Sprinkle the top layer with the mixture and set aside.
5. Combine flour and sugar in a bowl. Cut in the butter until the mixture resembles a a course meal. Sprinkle evenly over the top layer in the baking dish.
6. Cover the baking dish with a lid or tin foil and back for 45 minutes (fresh ingredients) or 30 minutes (using canned ingredients)
7. Uncover and bake for 15 minutes more.

Aunt June noted that it doesn't tend to take the full amount of time to bake through when constructed with canned ingredients which I have not tried. She also noted that she had never tried starting from raw ingredients.

I suspect that this could be easily doubled to fit in a standard 9 x 13. While it might need a little more time to bake through, I don't think it would affect the time too much.

Secrets of the Octopus by Sy Montgomery (Nonfiction #3 - 2025)

 Apparently this is the year of nonfiction. Of the six books I've read so far in 2025, three of them have been nonfiction which puts me at a 50% nonfiction ratio for the moment. Somehow I doubt that it will continue, however it is interesting to note that outside of when I've been in school (and often when I was), I've never had such a high percentage of nonfiction. My goal is 10% over all. I think it is safe to say I'm making that goal for January.

Secrets of the Octopus is science nonfiction aimed at a broader audience. There are many, many full color pictures and the text is written for someone with only a middle school or high school level of science background. Nevertheless, it describes the various qualities of octopuses (and by extension squid, cuttlefish, and nautiluses)  with a fair amount of detail.

Focused research on octopuses is a relatively recent thing. Apparently, scientists working with and writing about octopuses in the 60's and 70's had a hard time getting their work published partially because editors felt there was no interest on work on what was previously characterized as monsters. If you ask me, that would make it more likely that people would be interested in the research but I guess I don't think like a science editor. The other problem earlier researchers had getting their work published was that many of their observations of octopuses flew counter to what people thought they knew about animal life in general and mollusks specifically. Much of it was in a "you have to see it to believe it" kind of vein and underwater pictures and film were difficult to produce.  

Because of this, reports of interesting octopus behavior weren't available to the greater community and researchers were often rediscovering things that had already been noted by someone else. In recent years, the number of defined octopus species has exploded and continues to grow. Octopuses regularly show that they have a level of intelligence on par with many of the more intelligent mammals and avians. However, their neurological structure is wildly different than mammals, avians, or reptiles. The brain structure of an octopus is ring shaped and most of their neurons are actually in their tentacles. In fact, an octopus has more neurons in a single tenticle than humans have in their brains. This suggests some interesting things about the way an octopus perceives it's surroundings. It seems like for everything that the scientists have discovered with these creatures, mysteries still abound. For instance, octopuses have the ability to rapidly change the color and texture of their skin. They can go from a stark white to brilliantly pattern designed to blend in with nearby coral. Researchers are convinced it is a conscious decision on the part of the octopus. Yet their eyes are completely incapable of perceiving color. So how are they matching their surroundings so perfectly including colors.

It's fascinating.

Interspersed with technical descriptions of octopus anatomy are narratives of various scientists and their experiences over lifetimes of working with the creatures. The author shares several of her own experiences working with live octopuses. Many scientist have reported experiences that suggest that octopuses recognize individual humans and display something like affection for certain individuals.  

Cool stuff. I'm going to be tracking down Sy Montgomery's other book: The Soul of an Octopus. I can easily recommend this volume to just about anyone. It's less than 200 pages and full of pictures, so give it a try.

I'm leaving with a link to a video below. Scientists have put a lot of work into studying the octopuses camouflage abilities. Much of it comes down to specialized cells called chromatophores. The scientists in the video ran an experiment where they connected the skin nerves of a dead squid to a modified ipod playing a Cypress Hill track. The chromatophores of the skin respond to the electrical pulses of the music in rhythmic patters. It's pretty cool

My Plain Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, & Jodi Meadows

 ok, for all that I said I was going to abide by the random numbering I've run into two situations that have made me shift a little. First, after finishing a 550 page sci-fi tome, I realized that the next book was a second 500+ page sci-fi tome beginning a different series. It felt too same-y and too big so I skipped it for My Plain Jane. I just didn't think I'd be able to give the new series a fair reading with my head full of The Expanse. Second, when I was renewing my library books I realized that I had a book checked out with no renews. It's currently slated for book 10 in the month but I think I'll bump it up to get it read. I also realized that all my TBR books are slated for the end of the list which isn't going to work, I'm going to need to think about bumping them up as well. Oh well, it's all part of a learning process.

I had high hopes for My Plain Jane which is technically the second book of "The Lady Jaines" series. The first book has been made into a series that is viewable on prime and I thoroughly enjoyed reading the source material. The books themselves, however, are actually stand alone stories. There is only one minor call back to the first book in My Plain Jane.  All of these novels are alternate histories or stories for well known figures of history and literature. This one is an alternate telling of Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre. 

Actually, calling it an alternate version isn't entirely accurate. The premise of this is that both Jane Eyre and Charlotte Bronte are young woman in the same miserable boarding school. In theory, the novel we all know as Jane Eyre is the product of Charlotte's fictionalized experiences in this novel. In the world of the novel, Jane Eyre has an unusual ability to see and communicate with ghosts which is something she's hidden her entire life. When she takes a job with Mr. Rochester she gets dragged into a larger conspiracy concerning England's supernatural underworld. 

It sounds a bit ridiculous on the surface of it. However, it was actually pretty impressive  the way the authors managed to blend details of the original work with events in this new story. The snarky tone added a fair bit of levity and it was fun spotting allusions to various works. I'm fairly well read and, while I spotted a large number allusions, I'm sure there are many that I missed. I thoroughly enjoyed myself and managed to blast through the 450 page novels in just a little over 24 hours.

I highly recommend the read, however it would really help to be familiar with the original work.

Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey

 This is a reread. I started the series a couple of years ago, but then I started grad school and I really didn't have either time or focus to read a series of 500+ page novels. However, I promised myself that when grad school was over that I would restart the series. 

The book holds up to a re-read. Even though it took me the better part of a week to get through, I found myself pushing bed times to read more which is always a good sign. I'm one of the group of readers that came to this series late. I actually watched the first season of "The Expanse" on Prime before I ever laid hands on the book. The series and the books differ in several places, yet I wouldn't be able to say that I prefer one over the other.

Leviathan Wakes is the first book in a richly developed sci-fi odyssey. In the future, humans have settled the moon and colonized Mars. To support the settlements, a third group has settled the belt of asteroids between Mars and Jupiter. The inhabitants of the moon are largely identified with the citizens of Earth, so these three main groups of people (Earth, Mars, and the Belt) have different goals and identities. The peace is tense.

In the first chapters of the book, Corey establishes two main POV characters: James Holden and Detective Miller. James Holden is the XO on the Canterbury, an ice mining vessel in the belt. He's originally from Earth and has a military background in the Earth navy, complete with a dishonorable discharge. Even so, Holden is a kind naive idealist puppy-dog with romantic tendencies. Detective Miller, by contrast, is a belter born and raised. He's a security officer on Ceres working for an Earth company. Miller is a kind of throwback to the grizzled protagonists of classic crime noir novels. He's a cynic and an inherently broken cog in a corrupt system, yet still fundamentally sympathetic.

Within the first 50 pages, Holden has seen the Canterbury blown up by a mysterious ship and uncovered pieces of a vast conspiracy. Miller has been put on the trail of a missing rich girl daughter of a major Earth corporation. From the beginning it's clear that his superiors don't really want her found, but Miller becomes obsessed with this rich girl who turned her back on her wealth to join a revolutionary group agitating for the freedom of the belt: the OPA. 

It's a great read. Despite its size, it feels like a quick read.

Saturday Post #2 - Day 11 of 2025

 Well this last week was a bit of a mixed result in terms of goals. I was doing quite well with my step goal until my son got norovirus and the snow descended on the city. Given that I suspect both Ryan and I were struggling with the bug ourselves, I guess I can cut myself a little slack on that one. Maybe I can make it up over time. 

My reading looks bad; I only finished a single book over the course of the week. However that one book was a 550 page doorstop of a book, so it's a little misleading. However, that impacted my writing. If you count this post - which is debatable - I only managed 2 posts. I need to get into a better rhythm. I did better than I feared with my journal. I only missed one day - the day I felt the sickest. I'll take it as an over all win.

It was a good week taken in all. There were some challenges, of course, but we always knew there would be. I'm ready to get back on track.

Board Games - (on track)

1. Bohnanza (1/1/2025)
2. Azul: Stained Glass of Sintra (1/3/2025)
3. Wingspan (1/4/2025)
4. Mahjong (1/11/2025)

Thomas and Ryan played a game of chess 1/5 which counts for the household even if I wasn't involved. I was busy cooking at the time.

Nonfiction - (on Track)

1. A View from The Stars by Cixin Liu
2. The Algorithm by Hilke Schellmann

Active Days & Walks - (on track) 

1. January 1st - Zoo Atlanta
2. January 2nd - 2 mile walk around the neighborhood

Steps (falling behind)

Made my 8,000 step goal 2 out of the 7 days. 39,077 total steps for the week which averages to 5,582 steps per day. It is important to keep in mind that I was sick one of those days and concerned with taking care of Thomas while he was sick. I could have done better, but this is a process.

Dump Cake

 A dump cake is one of the more unappealing names for a dessert that I've come across. However, it's named for methodology. Basically, a dump cake recipe is a list of ingredients that are dumped in a bowl, mixed together, and baked. Super simple in theory. Grandma E has several of these recipes in her boxes but I've always been a little leery of trying them. Awful sounding name aside, I have a hard time believing baking a cake could be so easy. 

Joke's on me; it really is that easy. This recipe produces a dense but thoroughly yummy sponge and the cream cheese frosting recipe is a nice accompaniment

Dump Cake

• 2 cups flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 cup chopped nuts
• 1 can crushed pineapple, undrained (the recipe calls for a 1 lb can, but all the cans I could find were 20 oz and it worked fine)

1. Dump all ingredients in a bowl, mix, and bake in a greased 9x13 pan in a 350 degree oven for 30-35 minutes
2. Toothpick will come out clean when it's done and the top gets a nice toasty brown.

Frosting

• 8 oz cream cheese (at room temperature)
• 1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1 stick (8 Tbs) butter (at room temperature)
• 1 tsp vanilla

1. mix together until smooth (you'll want to use a hand mixer)

The only tricky thing in all of this is figuring out when the cake is baked through without it scorching. Just keep your eye on it starting at around 25 minutes and you'll be fine. 

The Algorithm by Hilke Schellmann (Nonfiction #2)

 I've been slogging through this book since August. It was one of four that my coworker/friend purchased for me when I decided to teach the AI class. I don't usually stick with a book that long unless it's for a class. I tend to get antsy when I'm still reading the same book over a week. The slow read wasn't the book's fault. Nonfiction is just a slower read for me and I was tied up reading a lot of nonfiction in my classes. So I picked at it over four months. 

The Algorithm isn't about AIs in general or the underlying theories of how they work. The Algorithm is specifically focused on how AIs are being used in the realm of business and human resources. The first parts of the book exposes how AIs function, how they are trained, and the limitations of the technology as it currently stands. Right now, the technology doesn't work very well at all. Any one with any kind of computer science understands the basics of AIs and complex algorithms. They are supremely cool but they are inherently buggy. An AI needs masses of data in order to learn, and the quality of the patterns it learns are reliant on the quality of that data, which introduces some issues when applied to the business world.

One of the big enticing ideas behind AI-assisted hiring is the thought that computers cannot be biased - which is true. A computer can't have an emotional reaction to an individual based on gender, race, religion, or disability.  Everyone is aware that there has been a partially unconscious but wholly systemic bias towards various groups when hiring. Many tech firms are pushing AI assistance products saying that they will be more fair, and they really could be. However, what these tech companies neglect to mention is that the AI's are all being trained on data from the current work force. A work force that has been hired and promoted under an acknowledged-to-be-biased system. In examining this biased data set, the AI will, with all the things we want it to learn, also learn the biases and will perpetuate them. Of course, that assumes that the AI draws the conclusions we expect from the data. It often doesn't. So a running theme through the whole book is that as smart as AIs are, they are pretty stupid. 

This is something that any one with a comp sci background already knows.

The problem is that most of the people in the business realm don't have a computer science background. Culturally, we love technology and the younger generations tend to trust it more inherently than they do other people. So they are buying into using these AI tools before the tools are really ready. In doing so they exacerbate an already problematic situation. 

That's really the theme of the entire book: no matter how promising these tools may be, they just aren't ready yet.

Schellmann moves from hiring to internal and external monitoring. One of the most chilling things she notes is that there is absolutely no oversight or regulation on AI tools. It's all the wild west right now. Tech companies don't have to prove that their tools work or even submit to examination. It's a free for all and there is a lot of snake oil floating around. 

As disturbing a picture as Schellmann presents about the current use of AI in business, the future of AI is hopeful. Properly regulated and tested, an AI assist can help us with many societal problems. But not yet. 

Saturday Post #1 - Day 4 of 2025

Let us begin the first Saturday Post - it's a weird one because there's only really been four days of the new year. That being said, the first few days of any plan or goal are often important for motivation. Because it is an accounting of my week, these are the only posts that will be posted in the evening so that I can count Saturday as well. 

For the most part, I've started off strong. I'm already three books in by day four on my reading goals. (I won't keep it up, lol) In a complete weird fluke, two of those three are non-fiction. We've played two board games and gone to the zoo. 

I am struggling a little on the step goal, I missed a day. Part of it is that I'm tracking steps on my phone which is not terribly accurate. Most of it though is that I tend to sit on weekends and long school breaks. When I'm teaching I tend to be up on my feet and moving all day, so I think I've gotten in the habit of sitting on weekends and breaks which isn't what I want.... I'll work on it. However, I might want to contemplate a skip day every week. Something to think about.

Overall, good week!

Board Games - (on track)

1. Bohnanza (1/1/2025)
2. Azul: Stained Glass of Sintra (1/3/2025)
3. Wingspan (1/4/2025)

Nonfiction - (on Track)

1. A View from The Stars by Cixin Liu
2. The Algorithm by Hilke Schellmann

Active Days & Walks - (on track) 

1. January 1st - Zoo Atlanta
2. January 2nd - 2 mile walk around the neighborhood

Steps (almost made it)

Made my 8,000 step goal 3 out of the 4 days. 26,430 total steps for the four days which averages to 6,607 steps per day

A View From the Stars by Cixin Liu (Nonfiction #1 - 2025)

 This was not intended to be my first nonfiction book. I picked it up almost a month ago off of my local library's new book shelf thinking it was a collection of Cixin Liu's short fiction with a few of his essays sprinkled in. Really it's a collection of Liu's essays with a couple of his stories sprinkled in. Out of 19 total pieces, only six of them are short stories. The other 13 pieces are a mix of essays. Because of this, I've decided to count it as my first nonfiction read of 2025. 

I have mixed feelings about this book as a whole. Many of the essays are talking about authors, stories, and books that I don't know or haven't read. I'm lacking context which is hardly the book's fault. In general, Liu's opinions on science fiction, science, and the future of humanity are fairly grim and sometimes hard for me to relate to. There are, after all, some fairly significant cultural differences between he and I. Even so, some of his work is deeply compelling even if it paints a dim picture of humanity's future.

In this collection, I particularly liked three works:

1. "The Messenger" - a short story about the final days of Albert Einstein's life when he encounters a strange young man who enjoys listening to Einstein play his violin. While this is a sad story, it's also entirely hopeful which is unusual for Liu.

2. "Heard It in the Morning" - Liu at his most grim really, but as I said, being grim doesn't make it any less compelling. This is a story that is really a meditation on the nature of scientists. The final question it raises about the purpose of humanity and of the universe is troubling and almost despairing. 

3. "We're Sci-fi Fans" - this is Cixin Liu's essay on being a sci-fi fan in the People's Republic of China. I don't know that anyone born in the U.S. can really understand what it is like to live in such an ideologically different culture. Liu's description of what it means to be a sci-fi fan in China nevertheless resonates with my own experiences as a girl in the 90's who was a fan of both sci-fi and of table top role playing games. 

Over all, this is worth a read, but I would suggest reading several of Liu's novels before you do. 

Cranberry Fluff "Salad"

 Jell-O salads always feel more like wonky desserts to me. I like them for the most part, I just don't tend to put them on my dinner plate. I do, however, insist on calling them Jell-O salads and not the dreaded C word (congealed) which appears to be a regionalism down here. 

A refrigerator mishap led to me making the Jell-O salad for Christmas dinner this year.  Grandma E's boxes have something like 14 different gelled salads, so getting to pull them out was an exciting prospect. There's really quite a range in gelled dishes. Historically, gelatin was rendered from the hooves of ungulates and mixed with clear broths to make a savory dish or with fruit juices and wine to make a lightly sweet one.  The process was a laborious one though and was a status dish that typically indicated a household had a large kitchen staff.

The introduction of instant gelatin made the dishes accessible to home cooks and Jell-O published many "Jell-O salad" recipes to promote their product. Based on my Grandmother's recipe boxes, it would appear that these recipes were very popular through the 1950's through the mid-1980's. 

Out of the 14 different gelled salads, I chose "Cranberry Fluff" to try for two reasons. First, gelled salads can ether be clear or opaque and it's been a very long time since I've had an opaque one. The second reason is that I actually vaguely remember my grandmother making this one.

The dish came out a little lumpy, mainly through my inexperience with gelled dishes and not because of the recipe (I'll do better next time). That aside, it was absolutely scrumptious but intensely sweet. The blend of cherry, cranberry, and sour cream was delightful.

Cranberry Fluff Salad

• 1 (3 oz.) pkg. cherry Jell-O
• 1 cup hot water
• 1/2 cup diced celery
• 1/4 cup chopped nuts (we like pecans)
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 can (16 oz) whole cranberry sauce (I used the fully smooth jellied kind and it came out well. Don't get too fussy about the can size - 14.5 oz is fine.

Dissolve Jell-O in hot water. Chill until slightly thick. (Keep an eye on it, it will happen faster than you expect.)

Beat cranberry sauce with the sour cream and mix into the thickened Jell-O. You can do this by hand, but a hand mixer is much, much easier on your arm. (If the Jell-O started hardening on you at the edges, use the beater to mix it all in.) 

Stir in nuts and celery. Pour into a bowl or mold and let set in the refrigerator. (This takes several hours)

*this doubles well. I used full sugar Jell-O and full fat sour cream, but it would work with the reduced versions of either. The texture wouldn't be quite as luscious I expect. 

The Good, the Bad, and the Smug by Tom Holt

 The fourth book in the YouSpace series I started around this time last year by reading third book in the series first by accident. Although, in this series it really doesn't matter all that much what order they get read in. While they refer to events and characters in other books, the individual plots are fairly self contained. 

In this one, Mordak, king of the goblins, is engaged in a scheme to improve the lives of the goblin nation in the name of . . . evil. He's successful too. Successful in a way that seems unlikely, yet draws the positive attention of the other pillars of the evil community. He has plans for his people, but these plans are disrupted when the humans, in an uncharacteristic show of wealth, start out-bidding the goblins for dwarven made armor. This is a situation that Mordak needs to get the bottom of.

In the mean time, a small human-ish fellow starts setting up shop spinning straw into gold while delivering basic lessons in macro-economics to undereducated princelings. 

I'm developing a real appreciation for Tom Holt's books. They are silly and feature that dry British humor that I'm so fond of. Additionally, they take on some pretty thoughtful philosophical ideas. At the core of this one is the idea that concepts of good and evil are relative and how those ideas apply to the idea of identity. Goblins are evil, you see. However, if a goblin saves a universe in the multiverse is it still evil? Can an elf who helps said goblin still be truly good? And so on. It's a fun idea that has a lot of space for exploration in a novel like this. 

January List

 New year, new list of books. Most of this list is new aside from a few that I received as gifts late in the year, are on loan, or partially read. I've randomly ordered them for ease of selection and also to ensure that I give them each a try, however I will reset the numbering each month. A couple of rules for the year:

• I must try to read each book when it's number comes up. However, I don't have to finish them. I can choose not to read the book and get rid of it or I can decide to put it aside for a later time, however, if I do this it goes off the list and doesn't come back in 2025.
• Once I read a book in a series, I'm allowed to jump directly to the next book (and the next and the next) if I wish, and pick up with the numbering once I'm done with the series.
• One out of every 10 books needs to be nonfiction. 
• Every book I read will get a review - even if it's a really, really short lame one.
• I can add to the list mid-month if something comes up, but I'm going to try to avoid this for the most part. 
• I will not get rigid about this system. Part of the point of this is to get books out of the collection that I'm never going to read

Wish me luck.

January List:

1. Let's Make Ramen! by Hugh Amano and Sarah Becan (Finished 1/22/2025)
2. Enlightenment Is an Accident by Tim Burkett - NF 4
3. Pandominion Series by M.R. Carey (Dropped for 2025)
1. Infinity Gate (Library) - 4
2. Echo of Worlds (Library) - 20
4. A Letter to the Luminous Deep by Sylvie Cathrall (Library) - 7
5. A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers (Finished 1/15/2025)
6. Finna by Nino Cipri (finished 1/25/2025)
7. Scarlet by Genevieve Cogman (Library) - 11
8. The Expanse Series by James S.A. Corey
1. Leviathan Wakes (Finished 1/9/2025)
2. Caliban's War (Finished 1/25/2025)
3. Abaddon's Gate - 17
4. Cibola Burn - 18
5. Nemesis Games-  22
6. Babylon's Ashes
7. Tiamat's Wrath
8. Persepolis Rising
9. Leviathan Falls
9. The French Girl by Lexie Elliot (Borrowed - Dad) - 21
10. Lady Janes series by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, & Jodi Meadows
1. My Lady Jane (Finished 11/4/2024) 
2. My Plain Jane (Finished 1/12/2025)
3. My Calamity Jane - 8
11. House of Hunger by Alexis Henderson (TBR) - 15
12. YouSpace Series by Tom Holt (Fantasy)
1. Doughnut (Finished 3/5/2024)
2. When It's A Jar (Finished 7/6/2024)
3. The Outsorcerer's Apprentice (Finished 1/15/2024)
4. The Good, the Bad and the Smug (Finished 1/1/2024)
5. An Orc on the Wild Side - 9  
13. Fairy Tale by Stephen King - 14
14. A View From the Stars by Cixin Liu (Finished 1/3/2025)
15. Secrets of the Octopus by Sy Montgomery (Finished 1/13/2025)
16. The Story Behind by Emily Prokop (Borrowed)- NF 5
17. The Algorithm by Hilke Schellmann (Finished 1/4/2025)
18. The Night Ends with Fire by K.X. Song (Library) - 13
19. The Devil's Only Friend by Dan Wells (Library) - 12
20. Someone You Can Build a Nest In by John Wiswell (TBR) - 16

Assigned or otherwise pre-scheduled Reading:

1. Lord of the Flies by William Golding (class novel) 
2. Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan (Thomas Book)