Lessons in Frying: Doughnuts, Mushrooms, and Pickles

This Friday we decided to venture back into the world of fried desserts. We were inspired by last weeks Krispy Kreme Doughnuts and decided to make some doughnuts of our own. We made cake doughnuts rather than raised doughnuts. Here is what they looked like before hitting the fryer.

And here they are all golden brown and delicious. Is there anything better than a warm doughnut? Fall isn't complete without a doughnut and some apple juice.

We haven't had hamburgers since we got married. So we grilled up some patties, toasted some buns, and topped them with pepper jack cheese, avocado, grilled onions, and fried pickles. I couldn't help but say "This is money" to Seth. They were so delicious, I'm sure Guy would have agreed. The fried mushrooms on the side were amazing. A big thank you to my former flatmate for suggesting the fried pickles.

Containers of the South...

I don't know if these containers are just in the South...but I don't remember seeing them in Utah. Our friends brought over the Coke pictured below for Fry Friday. This is a 1.25 liter bottle. Apparently they can now charge the 2 liter price for the 1.25 liter bottle. Seth said they can market it as "The same great taste in a smaller bottle." I have to admit the smaller bottle is cute...but is it really necessary.

We also picked this milk up on our last trip to Costco. I was happy to see that they sell milk by the gallon here rather than in two gallon packs out in Utah. (As a side note maybe people drink less milk out here...or have smaller families.). They have these square milk jugs so that they can keep them stacked.

Herb Garden: Part II

Can you see anything unusual in this picture?

If you didn't spot anything look at the picture below. Our Herb Garden visitor is a little more prominent. This little guy made a visit to our herb garden last week. We were just coming home from the pool when we spotted him crawling into our planters. Hopefully he is not eating our mini peppers or herbs.

I also spotted this creepy guy on the sidewalk outside our apartment. Don't let him fool you, he moves really fast.
P.S. Hopefully my numerous posts about bugs is not deterring any of you from making a visit.

How does he do it...

I came home one day last week to find Seth face down and spread eagle on the bed. There was seriously a trail of his belongings from the door to the bedroom. His back pack, shoes, etc. He came home from class and literally crashed. I have known all along that Seth loves to sleep. I just had no idea that he could sleep anywhere and in any position. I wish I would have taken a picture when I first walked in, but I didn't think of it. Here is a picture of him as he continued his nap. His feet are hanging off the bed. This picture makes our bed look small...it is just a full. His feet hang off the bed even when he is sleeping in the right direction.

Reason #3

RESIDENT MECHANIC

On Monday the light above came on in my car. It has come on before...it is the tire pressure sensor. It comes on when the air is too high or too low in one of my tires. Sometimes it comes on and when it is cold in the morning and then goes away later in the day. Well it didn't go away. So on Thursday I asked my resident mechanic to fix it for me. Seth and I drove to the gas station and he checked the air pressure in all of my tires and got it to the appropriate level. I don't know why but this is one of my least favorite tasks...Seth didn't seem to mind doing it. I love having a resident handy man/mechanic.

Work

I constantly compare the new to the old. I guess we all do. We have to use our knowledge from the past to make sense of the present. I can't help but compare job in Utah to my job in South Carolina. While I technically have the same job title (Speech-Language Pathologist) my job here feels very different.

Utah
I was working in a middle-class suburb school
The school was built within the last 10 years
I worked at the same place for 4 years...I knew all of the teachers...and all of my students
I had a 25 minute commute to work
I had a decent sized room with a huge storage closet

South Carolina
I am working in a Title 1 (low-income) school
The school is over 40 years old...I would guess maybe older
This is my first year...I don't know all of the teachers...I do know all of my students
I have a 5-7 minute commute to work
I have an enormous room

I took a couple pictures of my room. It is enormous...you have to understand that in Utah most Speech Therapists are placed in closets...literally closets. I have a window and I can see the sun all day long. I also have a sink.




I also discovered this week that I have cockroaches. I was walking into my room with a student and she said "I see a bug." Except when she talks there are no consonants only vowels "I eee a u." I said "yes I do think that is a bug." Then she said "e a oe a i ou"... translation "we have those at my house." It told her that we had one at my house too. Then we sat down and continued to do our speech session...both keeping an eye on the cockroach the entire time. The cockroach circled its way around the room. My student got up at one point to move to the other side of the table. By the time the session was over it was somewhere behind the filing cabinet. I walked my student back to her class and then worked in the preschool classroom.

When I came back the cockroach had found its way up onto my desk and onto my water bottle. Unfortunately my resident bug killer was not around...I fought my urge to scream and tried to act rationally. I calmly picked up my water bottle and shook it in the garbage can. The cockroach fell inside. I then tied the garbage liner up and walked it down the hall and out the front doors. I untied the bag and let the cockroach go. I would not normally have let a critter go free...but I didn't think I could squash this one.

I talked to the janitor and asked him to spray my room for bugs. The next day when I came in I found the guy pictured below in the corner of my room. It looks like he may have thrown up on his way to die. Hopefully his friends and family won't stop by for a visit. Don't get me wrong...the school is very clean...we just live in the South and there are bugs.


On a lighter note...there are some things that my students have said that have made me laugh. I thought I would share.

• I was working on "wh" questions with one student. I asked "When do you brush your hair" she looked at me and said "when it gets nappy." I am 100% sure this is not a response I would have been given back in Utah. It makes me smile every time I think of it.
• I asked one group what "Better luck next time" meant. One student looked at me and said "It's like on wheel of fortune when you go bankrupt." I had no idea wheel of fortune was so popular among 3rd graders. Oh...he can't say his r's which made his response even better.
• I was doing a screening on a 3 year old head start student. I asked him what his name was knowing beforehand what it really was. His response "Handsome." I almost laughed out loud. There are some crazy names out here...but his name was not handsome. I then asked "What is your full name." He then told me his first name followed by "handsome" and then his last name. I seriously hope that I can instill this kind of confidence in my children someday.
• I was working with a kindergarten student that just talks in vowels. Several of my students sound this way... I think it could be because the vowels are lengthened in the South and it could be all that they hear. I was trying to get him produce /k/. Well I told him I didn't hear him say the /k/. He looked at me and said "u o a e e o" = "you don't have your ears on." I explained that I did have my ears on and that he did not say /k/.
• We were talking about Halloween this week and looking at a picture of a haunted house. This cute little boy looked up at me and said "I lived in a haunted house." I asked him what happened in the house and he said he would hear his name at night when he was sleeping. Then he said his name all drawn out like a ghost would say it. He had the most serious look on his face...it was priceless.
  

"Fry"day card games

We invited our friends Sarah and Kevin over last night for Fry Friday. We repeated our menu from last week, minus the shake. Sarah and Kevin brought some yummy Krispy Kreme doughnuts. They mentioned that they have had double fried Krispy Kreme doughnuts before. I was very intrigued...they said you dip the doughnuts in pancake batter and then fry it. By the time we were finished with our dinner we were a little too full for a double fried doughnut so we stuck with just the normal doughnuts. Can you believe Seth has never had a hot and ready Krispy Kreme doughnut? I think we may need to drive up to Greenville and wait in the parking lot until the Hot and Ready light comes on.

After dinner we played Canasta. I remember my old neighbor Shirley talking about Canasta. She grew up in Chicago and loved to play. Canasta is a game played with four people, divided into two teams. You play with a combination of three card decks. It is similar to Rummikub in that you are trying to get groups of numbers to lay down and you have to have a certain number of points to start laying down. I liked it because you could still carry on a conversation and play. Seth was trying to figure out the "strategy" of the game the whole time. I like when he is still trying to figure out the "strategy" because it gives me a chance to win. Sarah and I played together and we did win. The love the sweet taste of victory...and Fry Friday.