CherylKatz.org

Okay, well I guess it was always possible that the rumors about Sarah Palin’s son being her grandson were not true.

But Bristol *is* pregnant, now.  I have a lot less to say about this.  I’m glad the Palin family is supporting her.

However.  This means that *if* Bristol isn’t really the mother of Trig, then the story of her delivering a speech, getting through airport security, boarding not one but a series of connecting flights back to Alaska, and engaging in otherwise risky behaviours during the labor and delivery of her fifth child - IS true.  And personally I think it’s a) implausible at best, and b) if true, horrible that she showed such lack of concern for the safe delivery of baby #5, whatever her reasons were.

She’s pro-life.  That is why she carried a Down’s Syndrome baby to term.  (Over 90% of Down’s Syndrome pregnancies are terminated - according to wikipedia.*)  Her behaviour between water breaking and delivery certainly indicates a lack of concern for the safety of the child, an inconsideration for the other passengers on the two flights that could have been grounded if she needed to be brought to a hospital mid-flight, not to mention for her own health.

This is infuriating, to say the least.

I just don’t buy it.  I think that maybe Bristol is 3 months pregnant, and being used as a convenient cover up to the original cover up.  It certainly is a resonably successful diversion to the rumor about Trig’s birth.

The bottom line is that no matter what is true, at this point, something is seriously wrong with Sarah Palin.

*A 2002 literature review of elective abortion rates found that 91–93% of pregnancies in the United States with a diagnosis of Down syndrome were terminated.

I’ve noticed that my weight loss slows down or stops completely when I have diet soda in my diet.  (I drank 1-2 sodas per day this week, and despite no other changes in what I was eating, I did not lose any weight.)

This could be why:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080210183902.htm

If my body’s internal temp doesn’t rise for artificial sweeteners the way it does for whole foods, then it makes sense that I’d gain small amounts of weight over time of exposure.  Fascinating.

I’ll just stick to water and coffee, since that always works.

Snapshot of future study?

Originally uploaded by cinediva

I took a bunch of pictures of Sami reading this Beatrix Potter book last weekend, and to be honest I can’t decide which is my favorite. I chose to post this one because I love her studious expression.

I’ll report back in 13 years (hopefully with pictures!) to let you know if this is what she looks like when she’s working hard on her homework.

I joined the ranks of People Who Have Made Soy Milk At Home.

My first attempt yielded a pretty weak product, though it tasted good hot and both Sami and I enjoyed it. Combining info from five or six different sources on home soy milk making (without a machine), here is what I did:

1) Soaked one cup of dry beans overnight in about a quart of water.  I replaced the water about once every 8 hours for 24 hours.  I think this is longer than necessary, but it didn’t seem to do any harm.

2) Boiled the beans for about 30 minutes.

3)  Ground up beans in the food processor with about one cup of (hot!) water for each 1/3 cup of beans.

4)  Strained the milk through cheesecloth to remove the okara (bean pulp.)  Squeezed the okara until it was more or less bone dry.

5) Added a tablespoon of honey and a pinch of salt to the quart or so of hot hot milk.

6) The end.  Enjoyed a cup of hot, fresh soy milk.  It was very weak (about 50% regular soy milk strength) but still tasty.  Even Sami liked it.

The second attempt was much, much better.  This time, I:

1) Soaked 2 cups of dry beans in 2 quarts of water overnight.

2) Microwaved the beans until they were heated through - about 3 minutes.  I read on the internet somewhere that heating the beans before grinding them in hot water can reduce the beany soy milk flavor.

3) Ground up the beans, this time in the BLENDER (not the Cuisinart) for a finer grist.  One cup of beans to about 3.5 cups of barely boiling water.  I did this in four shifts before I got tired, and still have about a third of the beans.

4) Strain the blended stuff through clean cotton cloth.  I skipped the cheesecloth and went straight to a 12 x 12 inch swatch of muslin.  Since the grist was very fine and the cheesecloth I have is a loose weave, I figured this way I’d get better straining.  I think I was right.  Strain it until I’m satisfied that all the gooky parts are out.  I did this twice.

5)  Cook the milk.  Low boil for 30 minutes.  I scooped off all the little bits of foam that formed on top.

6) Serve hot with honey and salt as before - yum.  Then pour the rest (about a gallon?) into a storage container - in my case a giant tupperware container with a pour-spout lid.  I plan to get a glass pitcher with a sealing lid.

It wasn’t as hard as you’d think it would be, especially without a soy milk machine.  I probably wouldn’t make this big a batch again, so in the future I won’t have to do the grind/strain dance so many times in a row.  THe most time consuming elements were the soaking of the beans and the 30 minute milk cooking time.  I can take save soaking time by putting them in the fridge a day or two before I want to make more, or always keeping a batch in there if I think I’ll make soy milk once a week or so.  Not much to be done about the cook time, except perhaps to time it so that hot fresh milk is available when I want it.

I highly recommend doing this.  It was (dare I say) fun!  And I don’t think I’ll need to buy soy milk again.  For the price of one carton of soy milk (or so) I got about a pound of beans, which I can use to make a whole case or more of soy milk.  I don’t have to take home all those plastc-lined cartons!  I don’t have to drink additives or preservatives or sugar!  Unless I want flavor or sugar!  Wheeeee!

@muppetK ohhhhh jealous. what are you reading?

Salad Pirate Photo.

Originally uploaded by cinediva

I found a freeloader after I washed and prepared my salad for lunch today!

I would have thought finding a stowaway slug in my salad would disturb and/or disgust me, but because I actually like my food certifiably organic, I found it deceptively comforting.

Sure, I cross my fingers and hope that I didn’t just eat some of his friends. Even if I did, I clearly didn’t notice. The salad was fresh and wonderful!

Best of all, there were no toxic chemicals to kill my little friend. Life is grand.

Just made vanilla pear sorbet!

Using twitter on my phone is coolwr than I expected!

is staring at New Beauty magazine trying to count all the ways in which a magazine funded by plastic surgeons is offensive.

unable to lift myself from the couch because my belly is fullll of fresh local goodness from this week