Archive for March, 2010

Pizza Dough With Cake Flour

I read an intresting article a while back in Cook’s magazine.  The author was trying to get pizzeria crust in his home oven.  He realized that pizzerias use ovens that cook pizzas at 800 degrees; while the home oven can’t cook above 500 degrees.   He said that the pizza crust in a home oven gets tougher [...]


Exercise With A Purpose

Some folks dread it.  Many are so busy they claim they don’t have the time.  I find the time, but I have enjoyed the break, since the beginning of December, but I am ready.  What am I ready for?  The chore of cutting my yard.  It takes me almost one hour to walk around with [...]


Azalea Time

My father- in-law used to say that a ‘splash of color is good.”  He was talking about those spring flowering plants, azaleas.   We have a lot of azaleas in our yard, and sometimes like this past winter, extreme weather or drought can claim the life of the plant. So this past weekend I had about [...]


Saving Dollars Flying

Even though I am usually deeply engrossed with my weather computer and data during our morning news,  I can multitask.   I try to pay attention to the newscast.  It’s interesting how I will be working on a weather graphic, and I will hear Penn or Sharon mention something and my ears perk up. Fortunately that [...]


Wireless Rain Gauge

All you need for a rain gauge is a straight sided flat bottom object.  You can then use a ruler and measure the rain that falls.  However, unless the object is clear, it is very hard to see the ruler inside a can.  For years I had a plastic rain gauge that I would put [...]


Flowering Trees

Have you noticed?  A sure sign that spring is here…trees are budding and some are already flowering.  We have a star magnolia in our back yard.   I planted it several years back and it is now about 10 feet tall.  Maybe it was the cold winter, because this year the tree bloomed a little later than normal; [...]


Accidental Chocolate Spread

Being a little lazy while trying to make some chocolate dipping sauce for strawberries last night….I stumbled upon something different.  I normally melt chocolate over a double boiler; but hey, I had a last minute request for chocolate covered strawberries and I was tired. So, I decided to melt the chocolate in the microwave.  I melted [...]


Durham Crop Walk 2010

Even though the clouds rolled in early, no rain fell yesterday at the 36th annual Durham Crop Walk.  I got to kick off the event yesterday.  It was great to see lots of people raise money for hunger.  Below is a brief video of the kickoff.  It occured in front of Duke Chapel.  Music got the [...]


Yard Work: Fertilizing Time

St. Patrick’s Day and Thanksgiving, those are two holidays that I enjoy.  Those were also the holidays that a landscaper friend of mine told me to keep in mind while working around the yard. He said in central North Carolina, we should fertilize our plants twice a year.  And those times are the middle of [...]


March Madness 2010

Here we go again, with 64 teams playing games in the next 40 hours or so.  I don’t know why, but I am not so excited this year about the tourney.  Maybe it is because I wasn’t paying as much attention as usual.  Football, the Olympics, and Hurricanes hockey have kept most of my attention this [...]