temporarily defunct

In the coming year I will not be updating this blog, and may not ever again. If you'd like to read about my adventures, check out one of my new blogs:
--> http://aruberg.blogspot.com (English)
--> http://alaynaensevilla.blogspot.com (Spanish)

Feel free to unsubscribe from this blog and resubscribe to one (or both!) of the above listed. Thanks for reading!

Que te vaya en paz,
Alayna

exam week cookies

It's the Sunday before exam week, and for once I'm not stressed out beyond belief. Exam week is rarely ever worrisome for me - by this time I either know the material or I don't, so all that's left to do is some intense reviewing. Yet my roommates seem to be fairly preoccupied: one has a paper due tomorrow, another is busy packing up boxes to ship them home, and the others are preparing for exams. Baking is stress-relieving for me and eating my baking is stress-relieving for them, so I think it's about time for a batch of oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.

new mexico repeals death penalty

The CNN.com article: http://edition.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/03/18/new.mexico.death.penalty/index.html?eref=edition

Governor Richardson's comments: http://www.governor.state.nm.us/press.php?id=1103

My note to the Governor via his website:

Governor Richardson -

I want to extend to you a note of thanks and approval after hearing of your recent decision to repeal the death penalty in New Mexico. I read CNN.com's article about the issue this morning, and fully agree with your comments in the article as well as those on your website. Though the death penalty is entirely appropriate in some situations, with a flawed justice system it's irresponsible to have the possibility of a death sentence.

Thank you for pointing out in your comments that "minorities are overrepresented in the prison population and on death row." Though slavery and segregation have long been abolished, subconscious prejudices still exist in the minds of everyone of all colors. These prejudices certainly are one of many factors that contribute to numerous minorities being in prison and on death row.

However, with the repeal of the death penalty, I wonder what steps will next be taken to ensure that prisons in New Mexico are not overcrowded. I have no experience with this issue, but would it be feasible to utilize the physical strength of inmates in some way that benefits the law-keeping members of society? For example, perhaps inmates could grow their own food (instead of food being provided by the state and citizens' tax dollars), do supervised community service, or in some way assist the border patrol?

Additionally, thank you for making the decision to run for president in 2008. America needs more people who are members of minorities in positions of political power. Had I been able to vote for the Democratic party nominee, I likely would have voted for you.

Thank you for your continuing efforts to improve the state of New Mexico as well as America.

Alayna Ruberg

cinnamon rolls

Yesterday I decided to attempt yet another new baking experience: cinnamon rolls. I've baked with yeast only once before, so I was very wary of how they would turn out (especially since I realized halfway through dough-making that the recipe called for rapid-rise yeast instead of active-dry yeast like I had bought!). The recipe's from epicurious.com, and it even includes a really tasty cream cheese frosting/glaze.

rolling out the dough

Clytemnestra kept me entertained with the "Slumdog Millionaire" soundtrack :)

The rolls in the foreground are the ones baked in my glass baking dish. I own only one baking dish, so I baked half of the rolls on a cookie sheet, and they ended up quite burnt on the bottom. Next time I'll just have to bake half of them at a time.

Frosted and yummy and ready to be devoured

chocolate raspberry cookies

I've recently discovered that baking is incredibly stress-relieving for me. On Friday I made monkey bread with a cream cheese frosting for the first time ever, and tonight I tried baking a new kind of cookie.

A few years ago I found a recipe for chocolate raspberry cookies on the back of a bag of raspberry chips. The cookies turned out great, but the only source of raspberry flavor came from the raspberry chips themselves. The other day I happened to recall this experience and decided to try it again, but this time with actual raspberries in addition to raspberry chips. Unfortunately I was unable to find raspberry chips at Meijer, so I had to substitute them with Hershey's "Premier Baking Chips - Dark Chocolate Filled with Raspberry Creme". The "premier baking chips" ended up being a bit too fancy for me - I think regular dark chocolate chips would've been just as good, if not better.

I used this recipe as a guide and first tried a pan following the recipe to the letter. Unfortunately it's incredibly difficult to tell by sight when chocolate cookies are done, and I'm not very skilled at the "touch the top and if it springs back it's done" method, so I ended up burning the first pan!

Then I mashed up some raspberries, mixed them with the rest of the dough, added a bit more flour and cocoa to restore the consistency, and baked them. They turned out significantly better than other attempts - very soft, brownie-like and satisfyingly raspberry-er.

All in all, despite the first few burnt cookies, it's been quite a stress-relieving night for me. :)

the finished product

bagel black bean bruschetta

The recent cancellation of my meal plan has delightedly allowed for more flexibility when it comes to mealtime. I've felt wonderful freedom to eat at the Kletz, buy more groceries, and even cook at home!

I'm taking a Computer Science class that meets once a week on Thursdays at the unfortunate time of 4:30 - 6:20pm. The dining hall closes at 6:30, so therefore I am obligated to cook for myself on Thursday nights, which I can already tell means I'm going to be spending a lot of that class time thinking about dinner. During class today I wondered what I could do with the bagel I justifiably stole from Cook during lunch. After a bit of ruminating, I came up with a completely-from-scratch creation that turned out immensely better than I had initially presumed.

Bagel Black Bean Bruschetta
by Alayna

Open up a can of black beans and begin heating them on medium on the stove. Turn the oven on to 350 or 375 and place both halves of the bagel on a cookie sheet. (Note: my bagel was plain except for a bit of cheese on the top)

Add good things to the beans (I used red wine vinegar, olive oil, a bit of oregano and basil, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, and salt) and stir.

When the beans are warm enough and the oven is ready, spread the beans on top of the bagel. Sprinkle cheddar cheese on top, and dash on a bit of oregano for looks.

Pop it in the oven for about 10 minutes - the cheese should be all melty and the bagel slightly toasted. Take it out, add some of Becca's mom's homemade salsa and devour.

(Sorry, Lynnae - this is (obviously) not gluten-free!)

oops

Okay, so I accidentally lied. I'm not taking 18 credits - I'm taking 15 credits, but it feels like 16 since my Engineering lab doesn't count for anything. I had thought my CSCI 495 class was 4 credits, but in reality it's only 2. However! That 15 credits total does not include my Chinese class, so it'll really feel like 19 credits. :)

One other correction: 11 of the 15 credits are math and science courses, not 14.

Sorry for misleading you!

college is crazy.

I knew it would be an insane semester going into it... but had you told me the details of fall semester in August, I would have been very reluctant to begin it. Hopefully I will feel differently when I look back on spring semester in May! Though I'm not sure if the school part of life will be any better: 18 credits of classes - 14 of which are math and science courses - is a tough load. And that's not even counting the 4-credit Chinese class I'm auditing.

Here's to the next semester not being too awful. *clink*