(no subject)

[the_rck]

I've now tried poaching eggs. With practice, I could probably manage it better, but I won't be practicing because Cordelia has declared that she doesn't like poached eggs. As far as Scott and I can tell, the problem is that she doesn't like runny yolks. I expect that I could cook the eggs long enough to solidify the yolks, but I can't guarantee that that would be enough.

Ah, well. I guess I'll have to practice hard boiling until I can get it right. I suppose that it'll be a help next fall when I'll be packing lunches for the girl. She may well be more likely to eat an egg than a sandwich. (I strongly suspect that most of whatever I pack for her lunches will come back home with her or end up in the trash.)

I've thrown out a good bit of the confectioner's sugar. I tested each bag by mixing a bit with water. The oldest two had been stored on top of the refrigerator and tasted dusty and chemical. I think there's still another partial bag or two to be dug out and tested.

I made shortbread last night because, for Teacher Appreciation Week, the PTO is sponsoring two lunches for teachers. The K-2 one is today, and due to the first letter of Cordelia's last name, we were up to contribute a dessert. I'm not entirely pleased with the result. It's not bad, but it's peculiar because Scott has stopped buying all purpose flour. He now buys mostly that half whole wheat, half white flour. I mostly bake things where it doesn't matter (banana bread even benefits from it, IMO), but shortbread isn't quite right this way.

I've no idea whether or not the twenty squares of shortbread I contributed will be enough. They didn't actually give us a target serving number or any sort of estimated head count. I'm not sure how many teachers there are in the building or if non-teaching staff are included.

This level of (lack of) communication seems to be typical of the school. Some of my perception may be due to my current slight migraine and some to having two insufficiently explained (for my tastes) items this week. In addition to teacher luncheon, there's also a fund raiser for heart health in gym class. That involves jumping rope during their scheduled classes. I have no idea what the kids who don't have signed permission slips will do or have done. The sign up form went home Friday, and they're doing it this week during class. I asked the gym teacher about it today, and he said that there should have been an explanatory sheet with the sign up sheet. Apparently nobody got it.

So, I have until tomorrow morning to try to organize some pledges for Cordelia for this. I'd bang my head, but I think that would make it hurt worse. I didn't sign her up earlier because I needed more information. I guessed, based on the title of the fund raiser and some of the wording of the waiver on the permission slip, that jumping rope would be involved. I just couldn't tell for how long, where, when or on what the pledges were supposed to be based. (20 minutes for kindergarteners and 30 minutes for older children; in the gym; during their class' scheduled gym time this week; and just trying to jump rope for the duration.

And they want me to collect the contributions in advance. Bah. I don't like the organization on this. It encourages importing the parents' e-mail address book to the fund raiser website which I find...iffy at best. ::sigh:: It's the American Heart Association's fund raiser. The goals aren't bad ones. I just.... Yeah. I suppose, if Cordelia's going to do this, I'd better set up her website for it.

Anybody want to sponsor Cordelia for a few bucks once I get her set up?

Anybody want to join me in snarling at the school and gym teacher for effectively making this mandatory?

Comments

[dhaunea.livejournal.com]

Call my cynical, but I don't think the American Heart Association would be thrilled to discover how this particular school is running this, and you might fire a letter off to them asking exactly how much of this was their idea... as I remember when our school did this sort of thing, and it was organized very, very differently.

Most charities do not like it when their fundraisers are put forth as mandatory, as it loses them support, and the AHA tends to be a very friendly organization (at least in my dealings with them).

As to hard boiled eggs - the best luck I've ever had with hard boiled eggs, and I make them often, is to put the eggs (straight out of the fridge) in a pot with water straight out of the tap, turn the heat on high, cover the pot, and wait for it to boil. edit: Boil VIGOROUSLY. With eggs bouncing around as the water boils like mad.

Let it boil approximately two minutes.

Then shut off the heat, take the pot off the burner and let it sit for 20 minutes with the lid still on.

Then empty out the hot water and fill the pot (eggs still in it) with very cold water (change it out as soon as the water starts warming - usually twice) and make sure those eggs are shocked to coldness as fast as possible.

This has always given me what I felt was the perfect hard-boiled egg, and the shocking in cold water makes them REALLY easy to peel.

[the_rck]

I wish it were organized differently. I got the impression this morning that the gym teacher is rather embarrassed about the whole thing, well, not about the doing it in class part of it. He was very apologetic about the lack of communication.

I just-- This is *Wednesday*. Didn't any questions come up on Monday or Tuesday? I'm pretty sure he teaches at this school all week. Maybe all of those classes were kids whose parents remembered past years and didn't need explanation.

This is worse than the science fair fliers that never said whether or not participation was obligatory (it's not, but I had to ask and was told that, while kindergarteners aren't discouraged from participating, they're not encouraged to either). At least the science fair stuff came home months in advance and wasn't asking for money.

I think I'll try hard boiling an egg for Cordelia this afternoon. We've got some fresh ones.

[p-zeitgeist.livejournal.com]

For what it's worth, while I can no longer remember where I found the following magical formula for hard-boiling eggs, I can attest that it works beautifully.

Cover the eggs with cold water, and then bring that water to a rolling boil. Boil them for one minute. (Or ninety seconds if you're me and have no faith.) Then cover the pot and leave it for 25 minutes. At the end of that time the eggs will be firm throughout, but the yolks will still be tender and not rubbery, and you will not have risked forgetting the whole project and leaving the eggs on the stove until the smell of scorching metal and eggshell reminds you about it.

[the_rck]

That doesn't sound too hard. ::crosses fingers:: I'll have to try one this afternoon and see how it goes. Getting protein into Cordelia would be a Good Thing.

Thanks!

[anderyn.livejournal.com]

Augh! I would, but I can't right now. As referenced in my lj, I don't have a bank account and thus cannot use paypal or my debit card.

But I will happily join you in the snarls at no communication and effectively forcing the kids to be involved. Sometimes a kid (or parents thereof) just need to opt out.

[the_rck]

Thanks for the willingness even if it can't be done.

I'm tempted to opt out, but I don't think that Cordelia would understand.

[daegaer.livejournal.com]

On the eggs front, you could try buttering a ramekin, breaking an egg in and cooking in a heated oven (at about 200C/400F/gas mark 6) for 15-20 minutes. That time might be a bit high, but the yoke probably wouldn't be runny.

[daegaer.livejournal.com]

Oh, and I meant to say, I'll be a sponsor!

[adrian-turtle.livejournal.com]

I love baked eggs, but they are different from boiled eggs. (I was making my own baked eggs in a toaster oven when I was 7 or so. It's easy enough that Cordelia could do it as soon as she can use oven mitts [responsibly, consistently] for handling a hot ramekin.) The biggest problem I see for TheRCK is that baking eggs makes the kitchen smell of cooking eggs.

[daegaer.livejournal.com]

It is a hazard, though I think the smell might be less obvious than from using a microwave? (I usually can't smell things as strongly from my oven as when microwaving).

Eggs are sort of the bane of my life - I have some similar issues with their smell as TheRCK with some methods of cooking. Stupid eggs.

[dormouse-in-tea.livejournal.com]

Definitely snarling with you, and as long as I can use PayPal for it, I'll be a sponsor.

Stupid, stupid school.

[the_rck]

I can't tell if they take PayPal or not. I've left a message with the AHA on their website asking. ::growls again::