pineapple-cashew-quinoa stir-fry

From Veganomicon. Wegmans didn't have a red chile so I used some red pepper flakes. I didn't know red quinoa existed so that was exciting. I have only had the boring white kind before.

bees, winter

The number one question people ask me about bees in the winter is, what do the bees do in the winter?

In the winter, the bees huddle together in a cluster with the queen in the middle. They shiver their wing muscles in order to generate heat, so it stays warm in the center of the cluster. The outer layer of bees gets so cold they cannot move, but somehow they get shuffled into the center to warm up again. They cannot leave the cluster when it is cold, but when there are breaks in the temperature the bees leave the cluster and eat honey. They need about 50 pounds of honey to get through the winter. My hives are wrapped in some classy black plastic and duct tape for the winter. One has an expensive insulation that I bought from an official bee store. The other one has pipe insulation from home depot with a black plastic garbage bag over it. I'm worried about the pipe insulation hive. That is the one I started last summer and it was kind of pathetic.


There is still some mess from that October storm. Last summer I sort of tried to clear up some of the brush but that ended abruptly when I found a giant, dead, limp, rotten-looking snake that turned out to be a live snake posing as a dead rotten snake.


Oscar is pretty.

exciting odometer day

coconut lime cupcakes

autumnal baked goods for january

The pumpkin cinnamon rolls from Don't Eat Off the Sidewalk. I added some raisins because... well, I just added some raisins, ok. Very good and not really that much of a pain.


Cranberry nut bread. I modified an epicurious recipe. You could definitely add more cranberries. I didn't because my cranberries were old and it was annoying picking out the bad ones.

Preheat oven to 350 and grease up a loaf pan.

Collect 2 t zest from and then juice 2 navel oranges. Put the juice in a measuring cup and add soymilk up to 1 cup. Then put in the blender with 1/4 c silken tofu from a box and blend until completely smooth. Put the rest of the box of tofu into the refrigerator, forget about it for a week, and then throw it away.

Mix together:
2 c flour
1 c sugar
1.5 t baking powder
1 t salt
1/2 t baking soda

Cut in until crumby:
1 stick Earth Balance

Stir in the liquids along with 1/2 t vanilla and the orange zest, until just barely combined. Stir in 1 c (or more!) coarsely chopped cranberries and 1/3 c chopped walnuts.

Bake until whatever you can find to stick in there comes out clean, about one hour.

The lab next to mine got a copy of The Atlas of Creation a while ago. I find it insulting that my own lab did not get one. Anyways, it is really a very striking book. Here you can see its extremely fancy cover with holograms on it. I guess not really holograms. What are those things called where they have two different pictures from different angles.

Anyway, this is my favorite figure. I do not think you can argue with the fact that no matter how long you watch the barrel, you will not be able to make a cherry tree OR an owl come out. Or a majestic horse. Or a preppy toddler.

The caption says:

Evolutionists believe that chance, by itself, is a creative force. Let them take a very large barrel and place into it whatever materials they think are necessary to produce a living cell. Let them then heat the barrel, freeze it or have it struck by lightning. Let them stand watch over this barrel, bequeathing the task to future generations, for millions, even billions of years. Let them monitor the barrel constantly at every moment, leaving nothing to chance. Let them employ whatever conditions they believe are necessary for the production of a living entity. They will be unable to produce even a single cell from this barrel. They will be unable to produce a horse, butterfly, flower, duck, cherry or lemon tree, owl or ant. No matter what they do, they will be unable to produce scientists who examine their own cells under a microscope, and human beings who think, reason, judge, rejoice and feel excitement and longing.

Anyway, the whole basis of arguments in the book is that there are no transitional fossils. Seriously, think about it, when have you seen a fossilized starflipper?

Or a crocomunk?

And that is how you can use photoshop to help you prove points about evolution.

PS You can download a pdf of The Atlas of Creation, but it's not as impressive as the huge book itself. And there is nothing else in it as awesome as the barrel.