< link rel="DCTERMS.isreplacedby" href="http://www.mrshappyhousewife.com/serendipity/" >

Friday, May 27, 2005

How-To: Simple Syrup


It's ready in minutes, lasts for months, and dissolves quickly in iced tea and other cold drinks.

1. In a small saucepan, stir together 1 cup water and 1 cup sugar.
2. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat; cook, stirring, until sugar is dissolved and mixture is translucent, about 30 seconds.
3. Let cool completely before storing in an airtight container; chill, up to six months.

Makes about 1 1/2 cups.

Variation:
Add slices of fresh ginger or strips of citrus peel at the end of step 2; let steep while mixture cools. Before storing, strain and discard solids.

Serving Suggestions:
Use simple syrup to sweeten iced tea or coffee, and to make fresh lemonade or your favorite cocktails, including margaritas. Or toss with fresh fruit, such as chopped cantaloupe and honeydew. Mix flavored syrups with seltzer water for homemade sodas.

From Everyday Food.

About Clerihews

cler·i·hew (klr-hy) NOUN:
A humorous verse, usually consisting of two unmatched rhyming couplets, about a person whose name generally serves as one of the rhymes. ETYMOLOGY: After Edmund Clerihew Bentley (1875-1956), British writer


G. K. Chesterton called it a “severe and stately form of free verse”, but then he had been a close friend from schooldays of the man who invented it, Edmund Bentley. Indeed, Chesterton illustrated the first book of whimsical verses, Biography for Beginners, which Bentley published in 1905 under the name of E. Clerihew.

The first clerihew, which Edmund Bentley is said to have composed during a boring science class at St Paul’s School, was:


Sir Humphry Davy
Abominated gravy.
He lived in the odium
Of having discovered sodium.

Another example:

Sir Christopher Wren
Said, “I am going to dine with some men.
If anyone calls
Say I am designing St. Paul’s.”


Bentley is also known for his mystery novel, Trent's Last Case (1911), which helped make plot and character as important as the puzzle in English detective fiction.

Learn more about Clerihews:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clerihew
http://thinks.com/words/clerihew.htm
http://www.newmanu.edu/fs/pages/burgesonj/clerihew.html
http://www.theotherpages.org/poems/bentley1.html

Simple Home Maintenance

Consumer Reports


Did you know Consumer Reports offers info for non-subscribers? Also, they have a free e-mail newsletter.

Home Schooler Wins National Geographic Bee

Two decades ago, home educators were being scolded from pulpits, persecuted by social workers, and mocked by the intelligentsia of evolutionary academia. Now they are not only the fastest growing and most influential new educational movement, but they are consistently bringing home the bacon in diverse national academic competitions.

Congratulations to Nathaniel Cornelius, a thirteen-year-old home school youth from Minnesota who won the $25,000 grand prize at the 2005 National Geographic Bee on Wednesday. The Associated Press reports that “Cornelius, of Cottonwood, represented the Marshall Area Home Educators Association. In addition to knowing his way around, he plays piano and classical guitar and enjoys photography. He also represented Minnesota in the 2003 and 2004 National Geographic Bees.”

The winning question: “Lake Gatun, an artificial lake that constitutes part of the Panama Canal system, was created by damming which river?” The answer: “Chagres River.”


From Doug's Blog.

P.S. Thanks to Izzy from The Homeschooling Revolution for linking to this article about Nathaniel Cornelius. Check out his SAT score.