Conference Gem
power in the priesthood comes through faithful and obedient living in honoring covenants. It is increased by exercising and using the priesthood in righteousness. – Boyd K. Packer
Earthquake
I hate this, when 9/11 hit I was in Chile and couldn’t do anything, at least there was news. The earthquake last night hit Chile and I’m here and can’t do anything.
Broken Computer
If when opening your laptop you hear a popping noise, and it’s not opening as easily as it usually does, I’m sorry. Sunday night at about 10 I sat down to check my email before going to bed. As I lifted up the monitor the case started popping open, and I couldn’t lift it all the way up. That’s odd, I thought. I set about taking the cover off to figure out what was wrong. After getting the cover off I could see that the hinge had snapped on one side.
After the initial frustration I realized how lucky I am to have a tablet PC. Once I got the damaged portion out I was able to flip the screen and use it as a tablet. The monitor won’t move, but at least I can still use it. How aweful it would have been if I had a regular laptop and couldn’t use it at all. Being about 95% finished with the second draft of my Masters Thesis, it would have been very difficult to get that done.
I’m grateful that I’m not afraid to tear things apart and try to fix them. At about 11:30 Sunday night Laurie looked over to see what I was up to and said I was weird. Most people wouldn’t tear their computer apart.
On Monday morning after finding a parts supplier and ordering a new hinge assembly I was looking around to see how much it would have cost me to get it fixed. The parts dealer/authorized repair facility for Toshiba would have charged me $290 in labor. That, the shipping, and the part would have come close to $500 dollars. I could buy a new computer for little more than half that.
While I may be “weird”, and not “most people,” being weird saved me $400, and the inside part of the screen that was so dusty and dirty is now clean. Perhaps the best part is I don’t have to be without a computer while it’s getting fixed.
When the hinge gets here I’ll take pictures, computer guts are pretty neat.
North Korea’s Nuclear Test
Umm… Shouldn’t we do something about this already? If they can make a 4.7 magnitude earthquake with a bomb, we probably don’t want this thing going off over inhabited places. Don’t they have an ICBM too?? Is the cold war going to start up again? The world against North Korea?
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/Quakes/us2009hbaf.php#details
Fettuccine Alfredo with Homemade Pasta
Laurie asked me to post a the recipe for the Fettuccine Alfredo I made for dinner the other night. This all started when I had so much spinach growing in the garden and didn’t know what to do with it all that I decided it was time to try my hand at making spinach pasta. My mother makes a pasta salad that incorporates a spinach rotini, and it is delicious. Not having a pasta maker I decided that fettuccine alfredo would be an acceptible alternative. Two weeks ago Victoria helped me with our first attempt.
Having a hand in making the pasta, cooking the pasta, and making the alfredo sauce (mainly testing the cheese before dumping it into the pan) helps a child enjoy the dish so much more. During dinner I asked her if she wanted pie for dessert and she said ‘no, I want more pasta for dessert.’
Here is a photo of our first attempt.
On Wednesday I had another crop of spinach ready to pick, so the following night I made more spinach pasta using a recipe from a cookbook I have. I cooked the pasta immediately and made the alfredo sauce. It was a big hit. The kids like green pasta with tons of cheese, and Laurie, amidst all the protests, decided it really was pretty good.
Spinach Pasta:
Ingredients:
2 3/4 C. All Purpose Flour
1/2 tsp. Salt
2 Beaten Eggs
1/4 C. Water
1/4 C. Cooked Spinach
1 tsp. Olive Oil
Directions:
Mix 2 cups flour and salt in a small bowl. Place eggs, water, spinach and oil in a chopper or blender. Chop until spinach pieces are less than 1/8 inch in size. Add egg mixture to flour mixture.
Sprinkle a clean kneading surface with the remaining 3/4 cup of flour. Knead dough until smooth and elastic (8-10 minutes). Cover and let rest for 10 minutes.
Divide dough into 4 equal portions. On lightly floured surface, roll each portion into 12-inch squares (about 1/16 inch thick). If using a pasta machine, pass each portion through the machine according to the manufacturers directions until dough is 1/16 inch thick. Let stand, uncovered, for 20 minutes. Cut as desired. Cook Immediately.
To store cut pasta, hang it from a pasta-drying rack or clothes hanger, or spread it on a wire cooling rack. Let pasta dry overnight or until completely dry. Place in an airtight container and chill for up to 3 days. Or dry pasta for at least 1 hour and place in a freezer bag or freezer container and freeze for up to 8 months.
Notes:
Makes about 20 oz. of pasta.
This along with the other pasta recipe, and the recipe for fettuccine alfredo can be found in the recipes section. (The link is on the right).
