Megan Henrich's Blog

It’s been a while

meganhenrich — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 12:42:53 +0000

When I woke up early this morning, the weather seemed unreal. After a brutal winter, the warm air at 7 in the morning can feel like 80 degrees and sunny. When my alarm went off this morning, I could swear that my cell phone went crazy and it was actually 3 am, and while it is undeniably hard to get up on days like this, it is nice when it feels like I’m being rewarded by something simple like a morning so warm that you would swear it was summer.

It might seem desirable to have every day be such a stark contrast: winter next to summer, dark next to light. In reality, if we lived every day like this, life would be sharp, short and brutal. Life next to death, right next to wrong. We would lose all of our gray, and it doesn’t hurt to remember that gray takes shape in the form of a sunrise, or a sunset.

Of course, there has been a lot of talk of weather lately, and to be quite honest, I feel guilty talking about my beautiful morning knowing that the people of Japan are going through a trauma I could not even imagine. I’ve been thinking about them a lot lately, as most of us have. Tragedies like this are impossible no matter what, but I think matters are made worse because it is a disaster with no one to blame.

So, instead of focusing on blame, perhaps we should focus on what we can do. Donate to the Red Cross. Not everyone has money, and I get that. Another option, which is always popular is: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. If you don’t already, start slow and build from there. If you have a routine, see if there are other small things you can do.

A few possibilities:

-Reusable bags for your groceries every week (almost every grocery store at this point sells these, but you can probably find something around your house that would work just as well)

-Turn off your shower while you’re soaping up (hey, you’ll have more money, too!)

-Bring your own mug to your favorite coffee store (your baristas will love you)

-Arts and crafts before you go to recycling. A great example is a milk carton skeleton for Halloween. My husband’s fam made one, and it looked really cool (I’m wishing now that I had taken a picture of it!) http://www.ehow.com/how_2387340_make-milk-carton-skeletons-halloween.html

These are just a few, but you know how you could make my day? If you’re reading this, post your suggestion. I would LOVE to hear from you!

Until next time,

Megan

It’s a bird…it’s a plane…

meganhenrich — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 04:13:24 +0000

The first show I ever regularly watched (voluntarily, my mom and I watched General Hospital when I was younger) was Lois and Clark, The New Adventures of Superman. I recently started watching the series over again (courtesy of Netflix on demand which is taking over my life!), and I realized a few things about myself I never had before. Lois Lane, that saucy little minx, made want to be a journalist.
She made it seem so glamorous and sexy. I had my hair dresser give me a bob and prayed for a wisp of my hair to fall in front of my right eye…very come hither.
But it wasn’t just that…she made the job seem dangerous. She broke into office buildings to hack into top secret computer files to break the big story. For truth, justice and glory she fended off mob bosses’ cronies until the inevitable and always timely arrival of Superman. She had the admiration of all of her co-workers, the envy of all women, and the adoration of all men, namely, Lex Luther, Clark Kent, and Superman. Her life was never, ever dull.
That’s not even all. She had bad guys. She did her detective work and she pointed them out, turned them over to the authorities (did I mention that in this world newspapers had power to get people arrested?) and patted herself on the back for a job well done. She could go to bed at night knowing she was one of the good guys. When I was a kid I believed the whole thing (other than the superhuman alien whose main goal is saving Metropolis and winning the affections of Lois Lane thing), and now the show breaks my heart.
Superman, in many ways, has always been a symbol for the way we view our country: Indestructible, benevolent, a light on top of a hill. I don’t want to talk about politics except to say that it’s harder to distinguish the good guys and the bad guys these days. When I worked as a journalist (2 years hiatus), it was a lot of he said, she said. No one really wanted to step up and be the good guy, and instead of the bad guys developing a kryptonite gun to weaken Superman’s powers, they hid behind their expensive lawyers. Looks like a job for…

Being alone…courtesy of Jess

meganhenrich — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 16:37:52 +0000

My pal Jess posted this on one of those social networking sites, and I thought it was more than worth repeating:

I love my family more than anything, but when you’re finally not alone, you’ll miss it. When being alone is hard, that statement seems impossible (I’ve heard it before during those times), but it’s completely true.

My guilty pleasure, the 3-letter acronym

meganhenrich — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 04:51:51 +0000

MSG

I know I’m not supposed to like it, but it just makes everything taste so much better. You know when you go to a restaurant and you’re thinking, man, what did they put in this chicken to make it taste sooooo goood? Hate to tell you, MSG.

Monosodium glutamate…what makes you so delicious? Well, after a little research and some high school chemistry we realize that a salt molecule is nothing more than a molecule held together by a proton and an electron. That makes up the monosodium aspect, what about the G, the glutamate? Glutamate is an amino acid that naturally occurs in our bodies and tells our neurons to fire. There are two different types of MSG that can be purchased/found in our food. MSG can either be synthetically created or extracted from existing food in which case it has to be broken down to the amino acid level from the enzymatic level.

So if it naturally occurs in our bodies, what’s the bad?

Access glutamate can be a problem (especially for certain individuals, particularly those with neurological disorders, pancreas issues, or diebetes) and how much of a problem is something you should consult with your doctor or dietician or whoever the expert of your health is, because it’s not me (as my grandpa would say, that’s my CYA *cover your A$$* statement). One of the main reasons it’s the big bad for diabetics is that the amino acid that converts access glutamate into GABA (a feel good neurotransmitter that they are worried about for the non-diabetic because it may be addictive) is attacked by their body, causing access glutamate to just build up, causing neurons to over fire, which pretty much fries their neurological system.

There are many other problems that the people who decide what’s good and bad suspect, and many others that I don’t have the knowledge to even cover. Let’s see what the Teen Girl Squad has to say about it:

Okay, so that was ridiculous. Anyways, needless to say MSG isn’t great for you, but I enjoy it in moderation (gosh, that makes it sound like a booze commercial, eh?). My preference is Vegeta, which is dried vegetables with MSG as a flavorant. My husband adores cooking with it, and I love eating what he cooks. Anyway, the whole reason for this post was just to introduce my husband, who will be writing different recipe posts. He will most likely tell you to sprinkle a little vegeta here and there, and if you are weary of that, just use a pinch of sugar and salt instead. I just felt the need to be transparent with all of you so that you don’t go out and buy vegeta and then find out later what it is, nor do I want you to be alienated from the recipe just because it contains MSG…there are perfectly great substitutes out there, and that’s just fabulous

Traditions, Language and Love

meganhenrich — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 23:54:18 +0000

“And you can tell everybody that this your song…” -Elton John

One of the most amazing aspects of family life is forming new traditions, and keeping old ones. My son Robby was born into one. His father is Robert, his grandfather is Robert, and his great-grandfather is Robert (they all have different middle names, there are no juniors here).

Traditions can provide comfort in times of distress and happiness. When I am lulling my son to sleep at night, I sing very softly into his ear:

“It’s a little bit funny this feeling inside
I’m not one of those who can easily hide
I don’t have much money, but boy if I did
I’d buy a big house where we both could live

If I was a sculptor, but then again, no
Or a man who makes potions in a travelling show
I know it’s not much but it’s the best I can do
My gift is my song and this one’s for you

And you can tell everybody this is your song
It may be quite simple but now that it’s done
I hope you don’t mind
I hope you don’t mind that I put down in words
How wonderful life is while you’re in the world

I sat on the roof and kicked off the moss
Well a few of the verses, well they’ve got me quite cross
But the sun’s been quite kind while I wrote this song
It’s for people like you that keep it turned on

So excuse me forgetting but these things I do
You see I’ve forgotten if they’re green or they’re blue
Anyway the thing is what I really mean
Yours are the sweetest eyes I’ve ever seen.”

“Your Song,” Elton John

Before my son goes to sleep at night, these are some of the last words he hears. I have a terrible singing voice, but Robby doesn’t mind.

Part of starting a family is starting new traditions. When my husband cooks (which is often), he has Robby in the kitchen “helping him out.”

Daddy and Robby making Königsberger Klopse

We’ve found that if we treat our son as a social individual who is entirely capable of interacting with his family members, he proves us right every time. We recognize that there are certain activities he is going to want to turn to absolutely every day: watching Schnappi, bouncing and kicking balls, jumping in his “baby command center,” reading books in both German and English, trying to crawl on his tummy time playmat (he doesn’t spend much time on his tummy these days), eating some “big boy food,” being gently lulled to sleep (and many more). These are his traditions, and they’re changing every day. We keep trying to give him the foundation of the things he’s come to expect, while building more to accomodate his rapid growth. When you think about it, humanity in general is built upon traditions, and without them our society would crumble. The many languages that all of our nations speak is a tradition passed down from parent to child. I guess sometimes we like to tease the French that their language is the most important thing to them, but really, that makes sense. Language comes to define us. Depending on what career path we choose, we use different languages. My brother, who is studying to become a doctor, certainly knows science-speak that I never will. He speaks that language because it’s part of what makes him T.J. (that’s his name). When my bestfriend, Kirsten, was on the newspaper with me in high school, she wanted to start her own section called *Perspicacity. A lot of the kids in the class (who were probably intimidated because they did not know what the word meant) thought that was pretentious of her. She didn’t see it that way because she grew up in book-rich environment where words like that were part of the dialogue. The classmates were alienated because Kirsten was speaking a different language.

Sometimes language can be transitory. My sister Beth, who is about to go away to college, says things like “probs m’gobs” (probably) and “tots m’goats,” (totally) and right now, that is marking her as a senior in high school who, among may other things, is very involved with the theatre group at her school. When she goes off to college, I imagine much of that language will be stripped away, only to surface momentarily when she visits the people in her high school that she left behind.

Sometimes, language comes back around. To use another example from my sister, she’s gotten into the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series(vampires are back in, who knew?), a show I watched constantly when I was her age. She references something obscure from Whedon-verse, and I pick it up. This is a silly example, but still it applies. So we started a tradition of watching the show together, and the age gap becomes a bit smaller for a little while, because language can unite opposing parties (which we typically are).

Of course, language and tradition don’t always go hand in hand. Religion shows great examples of this. The Catholic church used to be held in a language the majority of the congregation did not understand, and yet the audience was large. Say what you want about the Catholic church, but they make good use of symbols, and they used their symbol language to communicate to their congregants.

the sunflower is starting to get its petals

Symbols can be extremely powerful representations of a range of abstract thoughts, ideas and beliefs. At our wedding, we had sunflowers everywhere. 2 months after Robby was born, we planted a sunflower seed, painted a flower-pot with a sunflower on it, and marked the brown center of the flower with Robby’s hand print. Since then, it’s been Robby’s “pet plant.” Since Robert and I love gardening, this is another way we involve Robby in our day-to-day activities. We take him outside and show him how his plant is doing. We tell him that he used to be smaller than the seed the plant started out as, but I don’t think he believes us. The sunflower is growing with our family, and therefore has been a powerful symbol representing our growth.

So, it would seem, some symbols can be relegated to just an intimate group, and some are widespread, like stop signs, or the cross. I grew up in the Catholic church, in fact, I went to a Catholic grade school. When I went back to that same church for my wedding, and then for Robby’s baptism, it wasn’t the Bible verses that brought me back to my childhood (though I am extremely familiar with them, especially since I was a religious studies major in college). The smell of the incense, the sprinkling of the holy water, and the sound of the organ playing those familiar hymns, all brought me back to where I once was. That’s tradition’s role too, reminding you where you came from.

From left to right: Kirsten (Robby's Godmother), Robert, Robby, Me, and TJ (Robby's Godfather). Robby wasn't too happy about wearing the dress, but his great, great, great grandmother made it, and it has been passed down from parent to eldest child ever since. He was the first boy to wear it, so I guess that's the cross-dressing side of tradition.

Maybe there is something to this sensory aspect of tradition. Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays, but I don’t celebrate it because of the pilgrims. The way the turkey smells, remembering the first time I went for a glass of milk after eating cranberries (yuck!), my aunts and grandma in the kitchen, my uncles and grandpa watching tv, and kids running around everywhere, that’s Thanksgiving. And it has nothing to do with language.

Some of the best traditions are rooted in who knows what. You don’t know when or how they came to be, but they just are. When my mom was a little girl, my grandpa dramatically recited the “Jabberwocky” poem to her. When I was little, he did the same with me. Now Robby is little, and he receives the same treatment…

again and again…

(excuse my crazy ramblings)

and we wouldn’t have it any other way.

Just some questions to think about:

What traditions have become central in your life?
What language do you speak?

*perspicacity: the acuteness of perception

Cheap Fixes

meganhenrich — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 02:43:18 +0000

Do you have bread in your cupboard that’s no longer good for eating but hasn’t gotten to the moldy point yet? Rats, money down the toilet. Nope, not anymore. Just put paper towels underneath and on top of the bread and leave it over night (this will draw all of the moisture out of the bread). Put it in a food processor, add whatever seasoning and spices you like, and voila! you have breadcrumbs. And now you don’t have to spend the extra $ buying old chopped up bread.

Does a recipe call for a zest of this or that? Why buy a lemon zester and spend extra money and take up extra counter space? Get a cheese grater, it will work for the zesting and for the grating (homemade tacos without having to buy chopped up cheese in a bag that contains mostly air, yes please). You won’t get the long strips that look nice in your cocktails or for garnishing a dish like we all see on TV, but hey, we don’t all live in kitchen stadium

Dragon fruit

meganhenrich — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 23:40:02 +0000

: Dragon fruit!

I have always loved fruit, and always will. Since our world is becoming increasingly smaller, varieties of fruit from across the globe our making their way onto our plates. I’ll admit, I bought it because it looked soo cool, and I’ve always wanted to try it (its appearance in Vitamin water does not count, I’m sorry).

I sliced it lengthwise…

The seeds are edible, much like kiwi

Scooped it out and cubed it…

The skin is not edible, but could serve as a cute bowl to eat the fruit from

You have to make sure there aren’t any pink parts on the fruit that you scoop. You are going to want to cut those off because they are not edible. The fruit tastes similar to a kiwi, but slightly different in a way I can’t quite pinpoint. It’s almost more citrusy. Anyway, it’s yummy, so enjoy, whether you choose to juice it (an alcoholic concoction might not be bad, eh?), throw it into a fruit salad, or do what I did… give it to Robby with some mangoes

He made a mess, as you can see, but he loved every second of it

I had plenty of leftovers (my son might love eating, but he can’t eat an entire dragon fruit AND an entire mango in one sitting), so I cubed them for later, which is what we do with all of Robby’s solid food:

: Robby generally eats 4 cubes worth in a sitting…he’s my growing boy

Expect a future post about how Robert and I make all of Robby’s food (one way or another). We think it’s something practical and fun for all parents, and it takes responsibility for what you’re feeding your child A love of food should be shared with the whole family!

Cupcake Craze Stretches to Middle East (via Blogging with Besen Retail)

meganhenrich — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 05:46:09 +0000

This showed up as related to my rose-flavored cupcakes, and I just had to reblog it because it talks about a pistachio cupcake with orange flower icing…yum! And just when I was talking about orange flower water too Speaking of which, I just realized that I have been to that Magnolia Bakery before. When I went to New York with my family, I took the Sex and the City tour. My mom didn’t want me to go alone, but didn’t want to go herself, so she made my brother T.J. go with me. He was the only boy and so embarassed. He made me ditch our tour on one of the stops because he couldn’t face it anymore. The cupcakes were delicious

Me and my sister Beth in NYC

The cupcake craze has exploded beyond our borders, as far reaching as the Middle East. The New York Times reported that Fadi Jaber, who always preferred his American classmates’ cupcakes, brownies, and cookies to his own mother’s pasteries, knafah and baklawah, has opened his own business “Sugar Daddy’s.” Jaber … Read More

via Blogging with Besen Retail

Rose Vanilla Cupcakes

meganhenrich — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 05:35:06 +0000

my lovely

I tend to get a hankering to bake cookies, brownies, cupcakes, etc. in the middle of the night. Tonight I wanted rose-flavored cupcakes, so I found a vanilla cupcakes recipe and modified it. For the batter, I used half of a teaspoon of vanilla extract and half of a teaspoon of rosewater (can be found at most international grocery stores). For the buttercream frosting, I used a full teaspoon of rosewater. I also took half of the lemon that I zested for the batter and squeezed the juice into the frosting. I find lemon juice, in the summer, really brightens most dishes up. It helps make food taste lighter. This is just one example (of many) of me taking someone else’s recipe and switching it up to fit my particular taste. I fell in love with the ingredient, rosewater, when my husband and I used it in the simple syrup the first time we made baklava (we also used orange flower water, which is another killer ingredient). To me, good cooking is personal, so instead of trying to make this recipe, I challenge you to think about what simple recipe you can take to the next level by putting one of your favorites in! I don’t know if any of you watch Iron Chef America, but I try to catch it as much as I can because the competition forces the chefs to really stretch the versatility of an ingredient. I think I would about die with joy if the secret ingredient was rosewater! In addition, I am always, always trying to find ways to do things myself, and I just found this website that shows you how to make your own rosewater, so I guess I am going to have to try that next time! I don’t know if it would taste any better (or worse, oops!), but there is something to be said for a baked good that was made completely from scratch. I think that is part of why people love baking. So many office jobs are work, work, work, but what product are you left with in the end? With baking you mix together ingredients and presto chango! you have cupcakes. What could be better than that?

Illinois Tax Holiday

meganhenrich — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 18:47:54 +0000

I’m sure most of everyone in Illinois is aware of this, but in case you aren’t (or you’re not sure of some of the details) I am going to provide the info! It started this past Friday, August 6 and runs until August 15th. Everywhere in Illinois, sales tax will be 5% less (so if the sales tax in your area is 9%, it is now 4%). Now, there are some limitations (aren’t there always).

Clothing

This is supposed to be a sort of Illinois “back to school sale” so it includes clothing, but not any one item that costs more than $100. As far as clothing, there are items which are not included in this deal:

briefcases
cosmetics
hair accessories
handbags/wallets
handkerchiefs
jewelry/watches
sunglasses
umbrellas
wigs and hair pieces
sporting gloves
goggles
hand/elbow guards
life preservers
mouth guards
shin guards
shoulder pads
wetsuits
breathing masks
clean room apparel and equipment
ear and hearing protectors
paint or dust respirators
protective gloves
safety glasses/goggles
safety and tool belts
welder’s gloves/masks
ballet/tap/spiked shoes
ski boots
roller and ice skates
waders and fins

School Supplies

For school supplies, the item that you purchase can be over $100 and qualify for the reduction in sales tax. The list includes most school supplies, except:

clay and glazes
acrylic, tempera, and oil paints
paintbrushes for artwork
sketch and drawing pads
watercolors
reference books
reference maps and globes
textbooks and workbooks
computers and related supplies
flashdrives and other computer data storage devices
data storage media such as diskettes (some one should tell the government they are old-fashioned), and compact disks
boxes and cases for disk storage
external ports or drives
computer cases
computer cables
computer printers
printer cartridges, toner, and ink
cameras and related supplies such as film and memory cards, video cameras, tapes and videotapes
cell phones
Personal Digital Assistants (PDA’s) and handheld electronic schedulers

So that’s pretty much all you need to know, but if you want more detailed information about what is included, check out tax.illinois.gov (that’s where I got my information). Happy shopping!