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By Amber, on March 31, 2011, at 10:54 pm Lard is one of those retro ingredients that supposedly made everything taste incredible back in the day. These days most recipes use vegetable shortening where lard would have been used (vegetable shortening is scary!), so you have to hunt down fresh lard and possibly render it yourself. Were our ancestors more deserving of delicious food than we are? I think not. I decided to take a shortcut and order some rendered lard online to find out what the fuss is all about. And since I was going to have to get it shipped all the way from Minnesota, I decided I might as well buy enough to fill their smallest box. Presenting eight pounds of rendered leaf lard:
I stuck the larger piece in the freezer, put the smaller in the fridge, and immediately set about determining what I’d cook first. Something called ‘lard cake‘ seemed an obvious choice, and something for which I already had the ingredients. I got the condensed milk out first. We have a bunch of this because Mark uses it to make Vietnamese coffee.
Did you know that you can make caramel by boiling a can of condensed milk? I’ve never tried it, but apparently someone did and then decided they’d bought more than they needed:
Or maybe it got stuck on a truck in the Texas heat, who knows. I moved on to another can, which was normal.
Next, the unveiling of the lard:
I wanted to smell and taste it. Smelled maybe just the faintest bit porky, definitely an animal type of smell but not an unpleasant one, and tasted the same. I cut chunks of it and packed them into a measuring cup, then processed the batter normally.
At this point, I must admit I got nervous. The batter looked completely normal, but it smelled like lard. Was this going to be any good? Were we going to be eating pork cake? But, lo! The lard smell gave way to delicious cake smell as it baked. Thank goodness.
Okay, so something weird did happen that I can’t explain, but I don’t think it’s the lard’s fault. I baked it for 45 minutes, which is longer than the recipe calls for, and sliced a piece. Hmm, very moist. Mark likes his baked goods undercooked, so I decided to live with it — until I sliced a second piece, which was not so much undercooked as it was batter. Back into the oven, which had mostly cooled down, for another 45 minutes, after which it was perfect. So does this cake take 45 minutes, 90 minutes, or something in-between? I don’t know what to tell you. But I can tell you it was moist, dense, and delicious, even after we ate half and went out to dinner a couple nights in a row, leaving the other half on the counter and coming back to it almost a week after it was baked.
And the surprise caramel? We found a use for that:
It was so good, it could only be serendipity.
If you have any ideas for what I should make next with lard, I’d love to hear them!
By Amber, on March 29, 2011, at 10:00 pm This is the speech I gave tonight at Toastmasters, and the pictures I used. Links are (obviously) not my material; photos posted here are.
My grandfather always used to tell me I was a weird kid, because I had Barbies and Care Bears and My Little Pony, but I preferred to be outdoors, catching frogs and insects. In my bedroom I would pour over my field guides, identifying the species I’d seen and the ones I hoped to see. My parents thought I would go on to study entomology, and some days I wish I had. For now, my guest bedroom is a shrine to my fantasy life as a naturalist, with mounted insects and nature prints adorning the walls. Tonight I’ll be bringing a little of that fantasy to life, and telling you about three of my favorite insects.
To understand my favorite insect, we have to go back to the summer of 1987 in Northern Virginia. I was seven years old, and suddenly the summer air was abuzz with this sound. That’s the periodical cicada, sometimes called the 17-yr locust, though they belong to a different order than locusts. They have the longest lifecycle of any insect, spending most of it underground feeding on the roots of the tree where they were born, and because the many broods across the US emerge in different years, the six species making up the 13- and 17-year broods don’t get a chance to crossbreed. In 1987 the emergence of Brood X, the Great Eastern Brood, formed a carpet across my world, leaving little brown nymph molts clinging to every surface:
 Alien in appearance, smooth to the touch, and completely harmless, the adults fascinated and delighted me. When Brood X was due again in 2004 I was living in New Jersey, and I closely followed the Washington Post’s frenetic coverage of the anticipated emergence. It’s fair to say I was just as frenetic, but unfortunately they mostly gave my area a miss. However, a couple summers ago in Hill Country, I happened upon a late-night molt: 
The next insect I want to share with you is the firefly, also known as the lightning bug or glow worm, depending on where you grew up. Did you catch fireflies in a jar as a kid? I did, and I can’t think of summer without remembering chasing them all over the yard, catching them in a jar, then taking the into a dark bathroom to watch them flash. Unfortunately for kids growing up in the western half of the US, they are mostly stuck with non-luminous fireflies. There are over 2000 species of firefly, and while all of the nymphs are luminous, not all of the adults are. The ones that are flash in yellow, green, or red. To me, fireflies are definitely one of those feel-good insects that everyone kind of likes, like butterflies, but you might be surprised to know that they are vicious as larvae — they will hunt down slugs and eat them, and they’ve been seen ganging up on earthworms! One thing I never knew about fireflies until a couple years ago is that sometimes, huge groups of them flash synchronously. There are reports that they actually do this in a lot of places, but one of the largest, most stunning displays in the US can be seen every June in Elkmont, TN, in the Great Smoky Mountains. It’s become such a popular attraction that you have to arrive hours before dusk just to get through the line for the trolley that takes you to the viewing area. I haven’t had a chance to see if, but hopefully someday I will.
Finally, we come to the bee. To say bees are one of my favorite insects is oversimplification, since there are 20,000 species divided amongst nine families, but I suppose for me it would be a tie between the industrious honey bee, whose work I’m a big fan of, and the adorably rotund bumblebee. The department of agriculture estimates that bee pollination adds $15 billion annually in crop value, meaning that you can thank a bee for one in every three bites of food.
  Bumble bees are used commercially as specialty pollinators; the vibrational frequency of their buzzing releases pollen from certain plants like tomatoes. And did you know that half of the honey bees in the US are responsible for pollinating California’s almond crop? Honey bees aren’t even native to the US; they were brought here from Europe (I think I forgot to say that sentence!).
 As you may have heard, honey bees are facing a serious population decline known as Colony Collapse Disorder. Theories about the cause include parasites and pesticides. You can help protect the bee population, and ergo our food supply, but doing a few things: you can be judicious with your pesticide use and avoid spraying during mid-day when they are out and about, and you can encourage bee-friendly plants in your garden. As an aside, I was terrified of bees as a preschooler and identified ALL flying insects, including butterflies, as ‘stinging bees.’ Ironically, I was never stung by a bee until this past fall.
Having said all that, there are some insects with no redeeming value — bedbugs and fleas come to mind — but I hope I’ve given you a little appreciation for some pretty amazing insects. I wish you all a summer full of singing cicadas, flashing fireflies, and buzzing bees.
By Amber, on March 27, 2011, at 10:19 pm Sadly, the HLSR concert series is what makes it difficult to get good rodeo tickets, and I don’t even care about the concerts. If you look around at the premium seats during the rodeo, they are mostly empty. If you look around once the concert starts, they’re full. Mark and I would gladly pay more for no concert and more rodeo, but that’s a rant for another time.
However, I do like some of the photos I took during the concert! There are fireworks:
Things to buy that light up and annoy the person sitting next to you:
If you pay $300 for your seat, during the concert you get to sit on the…dirt:
No recording during the performance, please.
Remember when people held up lighters at concerts?
Oh well. It’s still good for a nice time with your sweetheart.
By Amber, on March 24, 2011, at 10:29 pm The rodeo isn’t all cowboys. At HLSR, the finale for professional events is barrel racing. If you’ve never seen barrel racing, it’s kind of like slalom on a horse. The rider comes blazing out of the chute and has to make a certain circuit around several large drums as quickly as possible without knocking any over, then ride back across the line. It’s fast (times at this event were about 14 seconds), it’s impressive, and it’s exciting to watch. Those horses get nearly sideways!
Presented without further commentary because it is Thursday and that means I am really, really tired:
By Amber, on March 22, 2011, at 10:00 pm Hey, did you know I still have approximately a kafillion rodeo pictures to share, even though the rodeo is over? Aren’t you glad this only happens once a year?
We now return you to your regularly scheduled Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo blog!
I believe my first rodeo was in Wyoming, where my grandparents had a little fishing hideaway, when I was 9. My grandmother walked me around the holding area to see the animals. She insisted that the kid wrangling the calves had been ‘making eyes’ at me, which was highly embarrassing and most likely not true (since I was NINE). We met a bull rider, whose autograph she insisted I get (it stayed pinned to a bulletin board amongst other personal mementos for many years — like, until I bought my own house). I can still picture that little scrap of paper, which said ‘DAN [something], NORTH FORTY RODEO’ in scrawled, black handwriting.
My grandmother then tried to introduce my sister, who was 14 or 15, to Dan the Bull Rider. I don’t remember much about that part, but my sister recounts spending the rest of the rodeo in the car, where she hoped nobody would try to set her up with grown men. So do I love the bull riding event because it’s so impressive, or because just the words ‘bull rider’ are still enough to get a giggle out of anyone in my family? Probably a little of both. :)
The guys in the lightning jerseys have the unenviable job of running toward the bull when a rider falls off (one of them had a helmet-cam!):
I thought this was the prettiest bull:
You won’t see me running toward any bulls. Except maybe Ferdinand.
By Amber, on March 20, 2011, at 10:00 pm Did you get to check out the supermoon on Saturday night? I was excited to photograph it and had hoped to catch it just after sunset when it would appear largest, but we were busy buying a car (!) until well after sunset. We went to dinner afterward and didn’t get home until late, but I did get to snap a few (by which I mean ~60) shots when the clouds were cooperating. Here are a couple of my favorites:
I feel like some of the moon photos I took a couple years ago when I knew less about my camera came out a little better than that second one. Who knows. It is still amazing to me what you can do with a camera these days! (FYI, I used a 1.4x teleconverter and a 70-200mm lens.)
As for the car, I believe Mark wants to guest post about it sometime this week, but you can take a gander in my 365 Project photostream. :)
By Amber, on March 17, 2011, at 10:05 pm These two events are similar in that a rider attempts to stay on a bucking horse for eight seconds, but as you can read here, the ‘bucking horses’ are smaller and wilder than the ‘broncs.’ Either way, it’s amazing to watch and I’m always impressed by the riders who have to come transfer the successful competitor safely to one of their horses while it’s still bucking like crazy.
Bucking horse:
Saddle bronc:
I was going to include bull riding tonight, but that is probably my favorite event so I think it really deserves its own post next week. Happy St. Patty’s Day and have a great weekend!
By Amber, on March 15, 2011, at 10:00 pm I always feel a little sorry for the calves in the roping events, but I can’t help being impressed at the ropers’ skill. I doubt I could rope a stationary target, let alone a moving one while riding a galloping horse, but these guys do it in seconds. First there are the solo ropers, who rope the calf by the neck and then tie the feet together as quickly as possible:
Then there is the team roping, where one roper gets the head and the other follows with the feet. This one requires so much coordination that it’s not unusual to see a few misses in any round. Check out how synchronized the horses’ legs are in the second and third photos:
Next, follow the jump to see a man leap off of a perfectly good horse! Continue reading Ropin’ & wrasslin’
By Amber, on March 13, 2011, at 10:00 pm This weekend we visited one of our favorite Houston traditions, the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo! I took a ton of photos, so tonight let’s focus on what happens outside the stadium. It’s a carnival atmosphere, with plenty to eat, see, and do. Follow me!
One thing you realize while walking around and seeing various badges and vests is that it takes a lot of people to put on the world’s largest rodeo. That means a lot of people to feed, too:
And a lot of boots to shine:
There’s a livestock show in the exhibition hall:
Outside there are games and rides:
Don’t follow the jump if you’re hungry!
Continue reading Rodeo time!
By Amber, on March 10, 2011, at 10:49 pm One thing I really appreciate about Houston is the colorful sunsets:
Of course, you do know why we have those, don’t you? Because our traffic is like this:
 From Wikipedia Okay, that’s not normal traffic, it’s the disastrous 2005 evacuation before Hurricane Rita — but it’s close enough! We also get a little extra help in the pollution department from all the industry along the ship channel:
But today we got a little extra help! Thanks, Montgomery County. The haze and smoky smell blanketing the city were a little gross and I’m guessing it aggravated more than a few people’s asthma, but I did enjoy tonight’s beautiful sunset on my way home from spinning. :)
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