Christmas in...March??

In a desperate attempt to put off writing a paper for as long as possible...I am catching up on some recipes that I never posted :) Definitely not very productive...but it beats writing that paper! lol.

So I'm starting off with two treats from waaaaaaay back...Christmas :)

Treat #1
Peppermint Bark
I got this recipe from my mom's friend, Kelly, from high school. Gotta love the power of facebook!



Ingredients
1 to 1 1/2 cups of crushed candy canes (in about 1/4 inch chunks)
2 bags of white chocolate chips (12 oz per bag)
1 bag of milk or dark chocolate chips (12 oz bag) I used milk chocolate
1-2 capfuls of peppermint extract (I used 2)

Directions
1. Melt milk/dark chocolate in double broiler and pour onto a wax paper lined cookie sheet, spread evenly.
2. Chill in fridge for about 15 min.
3. Melt white chocolate in double broiler. Once melted, add candy cane chunks and peppermint extract and mix together.
4. Pour on top of milk/dark chocolate layer and spread evenly.
5. Chill in fridge for about 45 min. or until firm.
6. Remove from cookie sheet and break into pieces, like peanut brittle.

I had never made peppermint bark before and I thought the whole process was going to be very hard. I was totally wrong! This was super easy, it makes a lot and its delicious! Thank you so much for the recipe Kelly!

Treat #2
Cranberry White Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies
Recipe retrieved from: Good Things Catered

Ingredients

3/4 cup butter, softened

2/3 cup packed dark brown sugar

a little more than 1 1/2 cup oats

1 1/2 cup all purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

2/3 cup dried cranberries

2/3 cup white chocolate chips

(I also added about 1/2 tsp. of cinnamon spice blend)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line two baking sheets with parchment paper

2. In bowl or stand mixer, combine butter and brown sugar and beat on medium high until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.

3. In another large bowl, combine oatmeal, flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Stir to combine.

4. To butter and sugar, add eggs, one at a time, then add vanilla.

5. Stop mixer, scrape down the sides of the bowl and turn back on at the lowest setting.

6. Add oatmeal mixture, then cranberries and white chocolate chips, beating until barely combined. (I added the cinnamon spice blend at this point)

7. Pick up loose balls of dough about 2 to 2 1/2 inches in diameter and place onto baking sheets at least two inches apart.

8. If you have any leftover cranberries or white chocolate chips, top cookies with a couple of each.

9. Bake for exactly 10 min.

10. Remove from oven, cookies will be slightly golden around edges and middles will look a little underdone.

11. Let cool for 5 min. on cookie sheets and then place on wire racks to cool completely.

Result?? Christmas in a cookie! Seriously. The oats...the cinnamon...the cranberries! This is my favorite out of all the cookie recipes I have ever tried :)

Changes in Education

READ ME! ---> http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100313/ap_on_re_us/us_obama_education

Finally some changes to the No Child Left Behind Act!

A few things that I am excited to see...

*I LOVE the fact that the new plan is proposing to move away from punishing schools that don't meet "benchmarks" and is instead focusing on rewarding for overall progress, especially with minority students. I think the best of intentions were there when they put the original plan into action, but unfortunately, schools that weren't meeting the benchmarks often couldn't afford the penalties posed by the NCLB act and many of them had to close....which caused even more problems :(

*The idea of allowing schools to use subjects other than reading and math to access their students ability to meet federal standards. This will hopefully put more value on subjects like history (YAY!), science, art, etc. In my opinion, with the current system, students are not prepared for college when their sole focus for 12 years has been on reading and math. Don't get me wrong, those subjects are extremely important, but these subjects are limiting students to certain careers. What about the science majors? Art majors? How are students getting a well-rounded education when they aren't exposed to these things in the classroom?

*Say "adios" to the name "No Child Left Behind!" I think this is a great idea! It may be just a minor detail in comparison to other changes, but the name has such a stigma attached to it and I think most educators would like to just completely erase it from meomory ;)

Something that I am still a little skeptical about and would like to research more...

*Aggressivly punishing the 5% lowest performing schools...define "aggressivly" please! And while your at it...define "lowest performing"... Are we talking lowest test scores? Lowest attendance rates? I have seen some high academically performing schools recieve low ratings just because they didn't meet the required attendance rate. I would like some clarification on this one :)

Overall, I am excited to see what these changes will bring! NCLB has been a problem for a while now and a part of me is giving a sigh of relief over the possibility that I won't have to deal with it in all of it's crazy-ness when I graduate ;)

Note: President Obama plans to send the rewrite to Congress next week.

Somewhere Between "Fresh Milk" and "Blank Paper"

I can remember being 11 or 12 and laying outside for HOURS without sunscreen trying to get a tan. Horrible, I know, but I just couldn't accept the fact that my sisters and friends could tan at the drop of a hat and I only had two colors to my skin...white...and red lol. One sister in particular...you know who you are Miss Katie B!...she has always had GORGEOUS glowing skin, no matter the time of year. Colorado could have been covered in snow without a glimpse of the sun for a whole week and she would still look like she just came back from a month vacation in Cabo. NOT. FAIR!



Over the past couple of years, I have really embraced my "porcelain skin." I have always idolized celebs from the 40's and 50's and it probably has to do with the fact that they wouldn't have been caught dead outside without a hat to shade their fair skin. Nowadays, I wear sunscreen 24/7 because I love the way my skin looks :) Now don't get me wrong, I think people with healthy tans are beautiful too, I just think that us "whities" (lol) need to realize that our skin color isn't unhealthy or ugly.



Being a huge history buff, I could go on and on about how fair skin was a sign of beauty and wealth in the past, but I have a feeling if I start talking about the 18th century, most of you will become bored and stop reading this post lol. So, instead...I will show you why I got so excited while watching the Academy Awards last night!

Words used to describe these lovely ladies included...elegant, classy, classic and gorgeous. I never once heard anyone say that they needed "some sun" or that they "looked sick." I have to say the little pale girl inside of me was jumping for joy last night!

And even though she is not as fair skinned as some of the other ladies, I still need to give Sandra Bullock a HUGE round of applause for her win for "Best Actress in a Leading Role." She too looked absolutely stunning (and not too tan! lol) and really deserved the Oscar :)

Will this be the new trend for Hollywood? While I am very hopeful, summer is just around the corner...so we will just have to wait and see!

Regardless of whether or not it is "on trend" with Hollywood, everyone should embrace the skin color, skin tone, body, hair etc, that they were given. You don't have to fit into the model of what society thinks is sexy. If you feel beautiful and confident, that is all that really matters. Confidence is sexy, not the constant desire to fit into the Hollywood mold.

And on that note...PALE CHICKS UNITE! Somewhere with shade and sunglasses ;)