Lagniappe

Lagniappe is a Creole word that means "bonus" or "a little extra".  It is used mostly in the Deep South, such as Baton Rouge and New Orleans, where I spent my college and medical school years.  I'm using it now to refer to blog posts with just little thoughts about life, tidbits of what's happening around here, and interesting links I've come across.

Some of my favorite books to read are social histories.  I'm currently working on a biography of Mendeleev (made the first periodic table) which is really a social history of late 19th century Russia.  I'm also reading a book about the history of homeschooling in America.  One of the reasons that I got a bachelor's degree in Sociology was because I enjoy learning about society and how it changes over time.  I'll put up reviews of these books when I get a chance.

Ga'hoole Girl made a yummy lemon meringue pie today.  For Thanksgiving Day dessert, I'm going to make a stained glass cake (with Ga'hoole Girl's help).  It will be a chocolate cake with chocolate ganache filling, covered with a light covering of buttercream then a layer of rolled fondant.  The top is decorated by piping the outlines from a stained glass pattern onto the fondant.  When the piping is dry, Ga'hoole Girl will paint in the spaces with colored piping gel.  The last time I made a cake like this was 15 years ago.  I'm pretty excited.

We are loving reading Brisingr, but I have to say that Christopher Paolini is pretty detailed in his descriptions of fighting and injuries.  Ugh!

I realized that I ordered the wrong kind of yarn for one of my Christmas projects.  I debated for a couple of days about whether to change the project or buy more yarn.  I think I'm going to buy yarn.