Thursday, February 25, 2010

Stinky Chicks

A lot of people have been asking me about the chicks I had in my classroom, so here's an update!

February 4th was the estimated hatch day, but by the time I had to leave school that day, only one chick had hatched. Read about it here. After a long, restless sleep (seriously, I couldn't stop thinking about the birth of my babies all night long) I got to school the next morning and saw this...
An incubator full of yellow! I was jumping for joy. 11 out of 12 chicks hatched.
Here they are in their new home, cuddling to stay warm.
Precious!
And then my classroom was like this...
and like this for a week straight. All chicks, all day long. Peep peep peep.
PEEP during quiet reading. PEEEP during math tests. PEEEPPPP PEEEPPP PEEEEEEEEP.

And then came the poop. And the stench. I loved the experience but man, chickens poop A LOT.
Good thing I've got 20 child labourer poop picker uppers to help!

Over one week the chicks grew a ton! And got less and less cute. And more "chickeny". I had to take them home over one weekend, that was real fun. But now, the chicks have been returned to the farm and my students still talk about them everyday.

And sorry to keep you in suspense.. did the 12th egg ever hatch? We will never know because some bad ass STOLE it! Oy.

Monday, February 22, 2010

Indian Cooking Class, Week 5

NAAN!
Ingredients:
3 cups white flour
1 tsp oil
1/2 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp yeast
1 cup warm water

Directions:
In a big bowl add flour, salt, oil and mix together. In a warm cup of water add sugar and yeast and let sit for 10 min. Knead flour with waters and let sit for an hour. Heat oven to 500 degrees (broil). Roll small pieces of dough into flat ovals. Cook naan on each side for about 2 minutes.

Ohmygosh, freshly baked naan is so good.
Here's one of my group members, checking on our baking bread! Hi Susan!
In week 5 we also made chana masala (chickpeas), spicy potatoes, and kachumber (mixed) salad. I'm sure it was delicious, but all I can remember is the naan :)
*Hi cooking class members! Welcome. Leave me a comment!*

Indian Cooking Class, Week 4

I am luuurving my Indian cooking class and look forward to it every week! I am planning to cook up quite the feast for husby and I this weekend! Can't wait to show off my skills.

Week four was all about the pakoras. We made vegetable and bread pakoras, coriander and tamarind chutney to dip them in, and a mango lassi (yogurt drink) to wash it all down. I apologize for my lack of pictures. I get too wrapped up in stuffing my face with goodness.

Here are the pakora mixes. Top bowl is veggie and bottom is the mixture the bread was dipped into.
Into the oil they go!
The vegetable pakoras were delicious. Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups of besan (gram flour)
2 cups spinach, washed and chopped
2 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped
2 small onions, sliced
2 green chillies, chopped
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp red chilli powder
1 cup water
oil for frying

Directions: Make a thick batter with all ingredients except oil. Heat the oil in a skillet. Deep fry spoonfuls of the batter until golden brown. Drain and put on paper towel.

And if you go to all the trouble of making these, don't forget about the coriander chutney to dip them in!

Ingredients:
1 bunch fresh coriander, washed
4-5 green chillies
3 limes, juiced
1 small onion, cut into large pieces
1/2 tsp salt

Directions: Wash coriander and chillies. Add ingredients to blender and blend about 2 minutes until a smooth paste.

Good thing I've been blogging about these classes. The recipes are all starting to blur together, so looking back at the pictures is helping me remember my faves and plan the meal to end all meals.

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Back and Better Than Ever

Hellooo... hellooo.. hellooo.

Is anyone out there? I am back and I am alive! Ugh, life sometimes gets in the way of blogging :)

I feel good. I'm caught up with things at work. I had a nice weekend of nothingness. I now feel a balance with things in my life, which I haven't felt for some time now. Busy, busy.

Here's what I'm up to today:
It looks like a disaster, I realize this, but when I'm done it's going to be great. I've been cleaning and organizing like it's nobody's business. My drawers and closets are magnificent, and don't even get me started on what under the bathroom sink looks like. It's a thing of beauty.

My living room, on the other hand is a little scary. I've piled up a bunch of stuff I want to sell or give to Goodwill, or get rid of somehow. You want something?

I just love weekends like this. They keep me sane.
So, I've missed you, what's new?

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Oh, the Joys...

... of condo living.

So, do you remember when I was telling you about getting a new bed? The delivery was all set up, last Thursday between 5-9. I got a phone call around 7 saying that the bed was here but couldn't be delivered. WHA?

These are the times when I hate living in a condo. Apparently nothing can be delivered after 6 o'clock due to condo rules. Give me a break, it was going to take 5 minutes. I begged the concierge to just let it slide, but he has no heart. Then I found out I had to book an elevator in advance and give a $300 deposit.

The next issue I encountered was with Sleep Country. Their policy is to call the morning of the delivery, telling you a three hour window they'll come by at. How can anyone who is employed get something delivered without taking a day off?? This is ridiculous. I also couldn't pick up my mattress at the warehouse because it's a warranty claim (again, this makes no sense).

After getting angry with the customer service at Sleep Country, the best they could offer me was delivery today, between 3-6. I rearranged my prep time, left work early, and yes, THE BED IS HERE!!! And it's lovely.
Here she blows!
But Sleep Country, how dare you make a mess of my floors! Please do not advertise your clean, cute booties if they do not work! I'm not impressed that I have to go mop now.

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Wecome to the World, Beast!

I had such an exciting day at school! Today was the expected hatch day for our chicks! When I got to school three of the twelve eggs had pipped, which means that the chicks broke little holes in the egg to begin their hatching! Eeeee! Like this:
My students and I seriously spent most of the day just sitting, watching the incubator. They were so intrigued. Ha! The eggs rocked quite a bit all day and we could hear lots of peeps. Slowly but surely, by the end of the day all of the eggs had pipping holes and cracks, but nothing BIG was happening.

All of the kids wanted me to help the chicks and break open the eggs and I wanted to as well, but I kept saying.. let nature take its course, let nature take its course! I don't think the kids understood that or cared, they just wanted the chicks out!

But then.... right when the bell rang, "Beast" started to make his/her appearance. It took about 5 minutes in total for him/her to get out of his/her shell fully and it was oh soo soooooo exciting!
Hello, Beast, welcome to the world! Sorry for the craptastic pictures. I was taking pics with my iPhone and it was in the heat of the moment and by this time I was surrounded by at least 30 screaming children. It was great!
Then I was angry because I had to leave as quick as I could because I had an appointment. I CANNOT WAIT TILL TOMORROW!

Now, here are some cuter pictures of the chicks from the other classroom that hatched earlier and are now fluffy and cute!

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Action Shots

Today my school went skating so I got to practice my mad skillz. I was nervous because the kids assumed that I can skate and tried to hang all over me. They also wanted to chase me, which is pretty impossible because I can't exactly move too fast! So far I have not fallen, but it's only a matter of time! Especially when surrounded by kids falling around me and into me every five seconds! Here are the action shots of the day:
Pretty much the best work day ever!

Monday, February 1, 2010

Seriously, it's February?

I can hardly believe it's the first day of February. This winter if flying by and I don't mind it one bit! Knock on wood.

I have now been a "single" woman for 2 full months. Of course I miss my husband but being apart is not as bad as I thought it would be. Five more months to go! I find that I am gaining more of myself and my independence back. I'm taking a lot of classes and trying new things. I do what I want whenever I want. And seriously the best - the tv goes on only when I want it to! The constancy of the tv was really beginning to stress me out.

February is the shortest month of the year and it's sure to be a busy one. Here's what I have going on in addition to my normal everyday things:

- report card writing :(
- two tv show audiences to attend (not Oprah.. yet!)
- chick hatching, which means this weekend I'll be bringing babies home to take care of!
- a trip to Chicago
- parents visiting this weekend
- training for 5K in March
- skating, skating, skating
- studying for Chicago teacher tests

I'm sure I've forgotten some, but, yep, it's going to be a busy one!

Do you have any exciting February plans?