Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Up Keeping the Halloween Spirit in a Delicious Way


                                           Carving Pumpkins
Ingredients:
Sharp knife
vegetable oil
garlic salt
salt
big spoon
sharpie marker
big bowl
baking sheet
Going to the pumpkin patch can be one of the most exciting adventures a child can experience. Not only is carving a pumpkin a good way for a child to express their creative side, it’s also very fun. The excitement and happiness that children share while getting ready for pumpkin festivities is enjoyable for most parents. Then, bam! Once that orange cap is off, there is highlighter colored Orange gooey innards, guts and seeds all over! While the kids are having a ball digging out the innards and squeezing the orange goop, the adults are focused on the goopy orange mess left on the surface. The parents’ once enjoyment of watching the child carving the pumpkin is over. If carving pumpkins is not done right it can be messy, but not to worry if you follow this process, you will surely get things done in a fun, organized and even delicious way.
The wonderful Pumpkin Patch

All kids know that great feeling of enjoyment they get while walking around their sprawling neighborhoods on Hallows eve going trick or treating. Illuminated Jack-O’-Lanterns often sit and watch, as dressed up children admire their spooky faces, on their way to candy bowl. The tradition of the carving of the jack- o’- lanterns extends back to 1700’s Ireland where the local Irishman had a common folklore of a man named Stingy Jack. Stingy Jack made a deal with the devil that he didn’t have to go down to hell, but when he died the doors of Heaven would not let him in. So, he had to wander the Earth for all eternity with only a candle. Thus, this tradition was started on by the locals and brought on to America with the Irish immigrants. Carving pumpkins is a wonderful past time and it’s an exciting tradition to uphold to the new generations. There is nothing better than seeing the enjoyment of a little kids face after completing his first jack-o’-lantern. So, learn how to complete and keep a wonderful seasonal tradition alive by carving and utilizing the wonderful seeds of the beautiful pumpkin this fall.

The first step in carving a pumpkin is: getting the actual pumpkin! It is one of the most exciting parts of the process. Look up a local pumpkin patch. Some pumpkin patches have pre picked pumpkins for sale, and others give you the thrill of physically going to pick out a pumpkin from the field. Once you have picked out the perfect pumpkin and paid, you can load it into your car and head on home. Once at home, put the pumpkin outside your house until you are ready to carve it! In the meantime imagine the face or picture you want to see on your pumpkin.
Bringing the pumpkins home

 When you are ready to begin the fun of carving the pumpkin make sure you have all the materials needed. If your pumpkin has been outdoors for a while, then let your pumpkin thaw out for 10 minutes at room temperature just to make the carving process simpler. Carving the pumpkin outdoors eliminates the mess that may stress some parents out, but carving the pumpkins indoors is a commonality upon many.  Wherever you are carving, make sure you have a bowl for seeds, and a bucked for goop. This will eliminate the sorting process later. The first step is analyzing the pumpkin and picking the side which will make your creative face look the best! The next step, with a large knife, preferable a special pumpkin carving large knife, cut a few inches around the stem, leaving a circle at the top of the pumpkin. Leave the cap of the pumpkin to the side. Next, use your hands, or a digging scoop to get all the goop. Put goop into one bucket and any loose seeds you find on the way, put into the seed bowl. Once the pumpkin inside is completely hollow and free of seeds, it’s time to carve! Wash the outside any gooey threadlike ick on the outside of the pumpkin off.
Paige Scooping the goop
Jack Cutting the pumpkin

 After the pumpkin is dry, all you need is your imagination and a marker! Think of what you want on your pumpkin. You can stick with the classic Jack-O-Lantern face, like our example, or attempt to incorporate a more modern, intricate design such as a spider web. After you have decided on your design, you can map out and draw it on the dry surface of the pumpkin with a sharpie or permanent marker. Once the super scary face is drawn in black on the pumpkin, use the medium knife to carve out larger features like the mouth, and use a smaller knife to carve out more detailed features like the eyes. Make sure to pop out the pieces after carving each one and add it to the guy bucket. To dispose of the guts of the pumpkin, you can add them to your compost pile, if you have one, or you can throw them in the woods since they are decomposable. Once the face is finished, there is one last step before perfection.

Finally, you have successfully accomplished carving out your Jack-O-Lantern. To complete your work and make it look even better, wipe off your pumpkin with a cloth to remove any dirt or residue from the pumpkin. Illuminate your face and make it stand out by placing a lit tea candle inside the hollow pumpkin on an even surface. Lastly, display your decoration on your porch or driveway for others to enjoy throughout the Halloween season!

After adding the finishing touch of a candle to your pumpkin, it’s time for the delicious part. Rinse off the separated seeds in a colander in cold water, making sure no bright orange pumpkin goop is remaining on the seeds. Let the seeds dry out on a paper towel for about five minutes. While the seeds are dehydrating, preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Depending on the size and genetics of the pumpkin, seed amounts vary. To be safe, use one tablespoon of vegetable oil per cup of seeds yielded. Dust a cookie sheet pan with vegetable oil prior to laying the seeds down in a single layer fashion. Shake the pan back and forth or use a spatula to turn over the seeds in effort to coat each seed with a layer of vegetable oil. Next, shake about ½ teaspoon of garlic salt and ½ teaspoon of table salt over the seeds on the baking sheet. At this point, the seeds are now ready to be put in the oven. Set a timer for 45 minutes on your oven. On a separate timer, set an alarm to shake or turn the seeds over every 7 or so minuets in order to prevent burning. Each time that you check your seeds, look for the perfect golden brown hue in the shell of the seed. Once the golden brown color is achieved, remove your seeds from the oven and allow them to cool. Once your seeds are cooled off, you are almost ready to munch! Just lay the seeds on a decorative plate and enjoy your Jack-o-lantern masterpiece visually, as well as orally.
The Delicious part
Carving pumpkins is such an amazing tradition that we should cherish and share with the generations to come. Everybody can enjoy this wonderful and relatively simple process each and every year. There is no better sight then walking down the street and seeing all the houses lined with decorations and the classic jack-o’-lanterns. This fun and festive activity is a great way to spend time with young children while they learn to express themselves and their artistic abilities. The joy and sense of accomplishment can be seen on a child’s face when they view their bright pumpkin and munch on their yummy seeds. Is truly an amazing and scrimptions activity that only takes a few steps, but the memories you make is priceless.
Sharing Life Long Memories


Monday, October 15, 2012

Journal Two: The Walking Dead


                                           Fear the Walkers

         In the article, ‘Walking Dead’: On set with Michonne, The Governor — but oddly, no zombies, Gina McIntyre was reflecting on a popular AMC television series called The Walking Dead. The Walking Dead is starting its third season and is one of the most popular basic cable shows out there with over 9 million viewers. This show is spawned from Robert Kirkman’s comic series and has been adapted into its on screen form. Now, I personally love this show, because I have read all of the comics in this series and I think this is a fantastic story line. The whole show revolves around a group of survivors from this “zombie apocalyptic” and how they deal with finding shelter and surviving these zombies or as there know in the show: walkers. It is fascinating seeing the portrayal of the human revolution and what people do when there are no rules. Overall it’s an amazing well-produced series that is great for a wide array of people.
    
         Gina McIntyre was responding on how the producer, Glen Mazzara, is giving his own adaption of Robert Kirkman’s series. He loves the characters, storyline and great concept of Kirkman’s amazing work, but also wants to better the story himself and make the show have a little bit of his own twist. I think this is really cool to see such a great original idea taken and produced into such an awesome visual adaptation. This also gives the avid readers of the series a little bit more excitement as the seasons progress to see what Mazzara has in mind. As for what I have seen thus far, this show is only going get better and will be one of the best series on the air.
Youtube Video:http://youtu.be/V9_lkap-uFA(From youtube, and from my article in hero complex

Website: http://herocomplex.latimes.com/2012/09/29/walking-dead-season-3-photos-beleaguered-survivors-struggle-with-new-human-foe/
Picture Source:http://www.google.com/imgres?q=walking+dead&um=1&hl=en&client=safari&sa=N&rls=en&biw=1153&bih=606&tbm=isch&tbnid=4RjPs6WVbwHlPM:&imgrefurl=http://screenrant.com/the-walking-dead-season-2-sandy-86891/&docid=QIw-yCHRDWBT9M&imgurl=http://cdn1.screenrant.com/wp-content/uploads/The-Walking-Dead-full-cast image.jpg&w=570&h=340&ei=oHZ8UOOEH8faywHBx4DoDg&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=423&vpy=122&dur=1551&hovh=173&hovw=291&tx=206&ty=102&sig=116290683341346210878&page=1&tbnh=143&tbnw=235&start=0&ndsp=15&ved=1t:429,r:2,s:0,i:156


Wednesday, October 10, 2012

                                                     The Perfect Cheese Burger

       Now, when one receives that wonderful appetite for a great hankering for beef, people love to devour a big juicy burger. I, myself, love a great tasting Delicious Burger, too. But, when I get my beef appetite on, I know exactly what to do. First, I start off by buying a pound of premium Angus ground beef at the local store. I then take that beef and mix in a cup of garlic salt, half cup of pepper, and a dash of Italian seasoning. Once that is all mixed in, I make around 2-3 beef patties. Then I grab some great deli rolls, my lettuce, cheese, guacamole, ketchup, pickle and the beef to bring out side. I start up the grill on medium heat and let that warm up for about five minutes. Then I throw the meat on the grill and cook each side for about 4-6 minutes until its medium rare. Once its about two minutes away for being done, I throw on the two slices of American cheese and let that melt perfectly onto the beef patties. After that, I take the meat and put it on the bun, and then put all the toppings on it. Then you are staring at the perfect cheese burger.

http://www.foodnut.com/182/mos-grill/

Monday, October 1, 2012

The American Greed


In the article, Winning actually isn't the only thing, David Maraniss was pretty much angered exactly what the title states: Winning actually isn't the only thing. This whole notion is of winning is like a plague on our society. We all think that if we don’t win were not doing anything right. He focused his anger on football. Now, Football is a common activity for most American families to pop on their television and watch their home team in a physical battle for bragging rights.  We all have watched at least one game in our lives and we can all say that we can get a little into the whole atmosphere of the match. We feel our week is satisfied if the team wins, but really win or lose there is no point of this weekly endeavor of watching sponsors and high paid athletes battle it out if the game is bad. There is no good in going out to do something just for the sake of winning. Doing things fair and at the best of your abilities is what all of us should strive to do. We should not wake up everyday and go out to win in everything we do. All of us need to set up goals and work at our best abilities and hope something good comes out with all the hard work. He was especially angered by last week’s game and yes the call was very apparently skewed. However, that should not be the focus of all the Packer’s fans. The Packer’s fans should be more upset about the whole 4 quarters before that play. If both teams played bad all game and ends in a controversial call, both teams should really start focusing on their game plans and start to realize that one play should not affect the outcome of the game. If they both played amazing and it ended in a last amazing play then of course there is merit for being angered, but clearly this was not the case.

            The article by David Maraniss was describing American greed and the lust for being on top. The whole phrase “Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing,” is completely ridiculous in itself. Think of what this phrase is doing to the youth. Growing up in a society where your value is determined on being on top for everything you do. This is why we get over aggressive people who get fired up watching games and crying when their hometown loses. To an extent I follow this stigma too. I love my bears and cant wait to watch them crush an opponent, but when they do bad and win I am unsatisfied, because the whole reason you watch football is to see a good game not to just see them win. Winning is a plus on top of your hard work. People should strive to be the best person to their abilities, because they want to be. We have to start veering away form this whole notion of win or die and start doing things with quality and for ourselves. I agree with David Maraniss in the sense that we as a culture need to be more relaxed and start focusing on the good of actions we are doing. We should be satisfied when we accomplish solid goals and do things well in life and not just when someone tells us we won. Focus on the real things in life such as personal statisfaction and the fact that you are doing activities to the best of your abilities for yourself.





Picture taken form www.fantasytrade411.com
 URL: http://www.fantasytrade411.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Touchception.jpg