Delicious home made bagels are not that hard to make!

The little bagels (left) were over-boiled.

I wish I was a good enough cook to offer you my own bagel recipe, but alas, I am not. Still, I love this recipe so much, I thought I would share the link.

The only extra advice that I would like to add is to be very careful about "boiling" the bagels. As you can see from the picture, if the bagels are in too hot/too long, they will shrivel. I usually use water that is a very gentle boil (closer to a simmer) and only for 1.5 minutes on each side.

Enjoy!

Conversation with an email hacker

Has your email ever been hacked? A friend's? Have you ever wondered what would happen if you replied to a hack email? My email was once hacked (not recently; I never posted it before) A desperate plea for money was sent (from someone claiming to be me) to my friends. I had been stranded and mugged in London and needed money wired A.S.A.P. Thankfully, all of my friends realized it was a scam (perhaps the broken English?) so there was no problem.

However, my dear husband decided to see what would happen if he pretended to believe the artifice. Thus began the interesting email exchange between him and the hacker.

Here it is.

Urgent Problem!! 

Rebekah Adamoschek

Wed, Sep 1, 2010 at 9:18 AM 

Reply-To: verdanttbents@yahoo.com

I'm writing this with tears in my eyes,i came down here to,England for a short vacation and i was mugged at gun point last night,at the park of the hotel  where i lodged all cash,credit cards and cell were stolen off me, thank God i have my life and passport.

I've been to the embassy and the Police here but they're not helping issues at all,they asked me to wait for 3weeks but i can't wait till then. my flight  leaves in less than few hours from now and am are having problems settling the hotel bills.

The hotel manager won't let me leave until i settle the hotel bills,am freaked out at the moment you can speak to the hotel manager+447024094501 you can wire the money to me through western union all you need is Name on my passport and location below.

Name:Rebekah Markewich Location:10,Tooley Street, London SE1 2BY, England. Amount:$2,450 I'll def refund your cash as soon as i get home.

Matthew Markewich Wed, Sep 1, 2010 at 11:50 AM

To: verdanttbents@yahoo.com

Hey Beka, it's Matt. I didn't realize you were in England! I hope I'm not too late to help out. Can you please let me know how much you might have gotten so far? My wife and I can give you whatever you need. I hope you still have internet access! Are you okay?

Rebekah Markewich Wed, Sep 1, 2010 at 11:57 AM

To: Matthew Markewich

Thanks for replied, a friend just wired $800 all i need right now is $1,650 you can have the money wired to me Via western union information below....keep me posted with the western union transfer details.

Name:Rebekah MarkewichLocation:10,Tooley Street, London SE1 2BY, England.Amount:$2,450

I'll def refund your cash as soon as i get home.

Matthew Markewich Wed, Sep 1, 2010 at 12:10 PM

To: Rebekah Markewich

Beka, do you need that in pounds, euros, or dollars? I forget if they use one of or all three of those currencies. Thanks.

Rebekah Markewich Wed, Sep 1, 2010 at 12:15 PM

To: Matthew Markewich

You can have it done in pounds .

Matthew Markewich Wed, Sep 1, 2010 at 12:18 PM

To: Rebekah Markewich

OK, sure. I'm sorry to bother you again about this, but I don't know how much $1650 is in pounds. Don't they use rubles in England too? Can I send it to you in rubles?

Rebekah Markewich Wed, Sep 1, 2010 at 12:23 PM

To: Matthew Markewich

You can have it wired in pounds not rubles keep me posted with the western union transfer  details .

Matthew Markewich Wed, Sep 1, 2010 at 12:35 PM

To: Rebekah Markewich

OK Beka, I will be sending it promptly in rubles. So how was your vacation otherwise? I had no idea you were in London. What did you do while you were there? I know now may not be the best time to talk about it but since we will be forwarding the money I assume you are not too busy to talk right.

Rebekah Markewich Wed, Sep 1, 2010 at 12:39 PM

To: Matthew Markewich

Am freaked out at the moment, i will brief you in full as soon as am back am in a public library right  now...keep me posted with the western union transfer details .

Matthew Markewich Wed, Sep 1, 2010 at 12:46 PM

To: Rebekah Markewich

OK, I am very sorry. It can't be so bad though, right? At first you weren't allowed to leave the hotel but now you are at the library. I am in a library right now, too. Right now I am with my friend Jeff. We are eating Subway sandwiches and talking about the good times when we were all in the Windham fencing team. Remember how Jeff accidentally stabbed the dog in a practice joust? I know it probably adds to your current anxiety to recall this situation but maybe you can find the humor behind all the sadism. Jeff and I agree also with the idea you said last week that it would be cool if guns were replaced with nuclear-tipped sabres and we could all joust in massive campaigns for global supremacy.

Did you get to climb Mt. Fuji while you were there? I know you've always wanted to. Or is that in China? I can never remember since England and China are both big islands.

Rebekah Markewich Wed, Sep 1, 2010 at 12:51 PM

To: Matthew Markewich

Keep me posted with the western union transfer details.

Matthew Markewich Wed, Sep 1, 2010 at 12:58 PM

To: Rebekah Markewich

Rebekah, I have sent the requested rubles, as stated, 10,Tooley Street, London SE1 2BY, China. I am so happy you'll be back. Please let me know if there are any complications. Jeff says hi and he is picking his nose. GROSS!

Rebekah Markewich Wed, Sep 1, 2010 at 1:03 PM

To: Matthew Markewich

I will need  the western union  details,get back to me with the details (MTCN) number.

Matthew Markewich Wed, Sep 1, 2010 at 1:06 PM

To: Rebekah Markewich

Dear Beka, I am sorry but I realized that you are not in China. I was confused by my Mt. Fuji reference. I have called Western Union and they are canceling the order. I am resending to 20 Tooley Street, London SE1 2BY. Is that fine?

Rebekah Markewich Wed, Sep 1, 2010 at 1:11 PM

To: Matthew Markewich

Thanks for the mail, all you need to get the money wired to me is my name and present location below....keep me posted with the western union transfer details.

Name:Rebekah MarkewichLocation:10,Tooley Street, London SE1 2BY, England.

I'll def refund your cash as soon as i get home.

Matthew Markewich Wed, Sep 1, 2010 at 1:12 PM

To: Rebekah Markewich

Dear Beka, the number is 5482041921

This is when I guess I was found out. Probably because the number didn't work. Hm...

Birkenstocks on Zulily!

I have been waiting and hoping that Zulily would have Birkenstocks soon. I gave up. The shoes that I ordered from Amazon are due to be delivered today, and today Zulily is featuring discounted Birkenstocks! Gah! At least, the style I really wanted isn't being offered, so I can't feel TOO bad, heh.

Any who, since this is such a good deal for such a great shoe, I thought I would share the sale with you in case you don't have a Zulily account.

If you didn't see my Zulily disclaimer before, here it is again. Zulily sends daily emails of highly discounted items. Really, the deals are amazing (maternity, nursing and normal clothes plus every baby/child thing you can think of). The downside is that you have to sign up for an account and get a daily email. The sales usually last for a few days, so you have to act fast. I get annoyed at daily emails, but in this case, I think it is worth it. If you share your link with friends who create an account and purchase something, you earn shop credit. A lot of it. In other words, use my link if you are going to buy something, haha.

$120. 59.00 (The link will take you to the main page. The Birkenstock sale is at the top of the list.)

$90.00 49.00

$155. 77.99

$90. 47

$90. 49

$120. 59.00

There are about 100+ other styles to chose from (plus shoes for kids and men). Seriously. If you have been considering a pair, I would definitely suggest checking out today's sale to see if they have your model.

Ginger Cake, a Downton Abbey-era recipe.

A recipe from the White House Cook Book:

I was given this first edition (from 1913) that my great-aunt's mother used.

Soft Ginger Cake

"Stir to a cream one cupful of butter and half a cupful of brown sugar; add to this two cupfuls of cooking molasses, a cupful of sweet milk, a tablespoonful of ginger, a teaspoonful of ground cinnamon; beat all thoroughly together, then add three eggs, the whites and yolks beaten separately; beat into this two cupfuls of sifted flour, then a teaspoonful of soda dissolved in a spoonful of water and last  two more cupfuls of sifted flour. Butter and paper two common square breadpans, divide this mixture and pour half into each. Bake in a moderate oven, This cake requires long and slow baking, from forty to sixty minutes. I find that if sour milk is used the cakes are much lighter, but either sweet or sour is most excellent."



White House Cook Book
The Saalfield Publishing Company: New York, 1913.

Thoughts on baking everyday foods

I have been baking a lot. To justify my delightful Kitchen Aid stand mixer purchase last Christmas, I have been baking more often. I made a rule for myself not to buy most things that I could bake. That rule is more or less followed in that if I don't bake bread I don't buy it, but then we don't have any to eat. Since that isn't pleasant, it keeps me motivated.

I have found that keeping huge canisters of staples next to my mixer makes baking so much easier since I don't have to dig anything out. My measuring cups are close by as well.

So what are some staples that are simple to make at home?

Bread
Pasta
Bagels
Crackers
Pizza
Tortillas
Bread crumbs (use leftover bread)

Another reason why it is better to make these at home is that most of the above foods are often laden with preservatives. Yuck! If you want to buy organic to avoid that, it is quite costly. Baking them at home saves me lots of money and is much healthier.

Of course, not everyone has time for this. Before moving into a home with a giant kitchen and dropping my part-time job, I didn't have time for it either; I bought everything. Just do what you can and don't beat it yourself up over it. I don't mean to give the impression that I bake everyday- I don't! There are plenty of times when there are no baked goods even in the house.

Giving up the notion that you must always have bread in the house helped me a lot. Sure, I like to have it around more often than not, but you can be very healthy without eating it all of the time.

Make your own easy peasant skirt

If you have a few minutes, you can make this breezy peasant skirt. It is very simple and can be done as a beginner's project. This should fit either a small or medium. If you are a size large, increase fabric measurements by about half a yard.

What you need:

3 yards of lightweight fabric

Several inches of wide elastic 

*Optional several inches of elastic lace

Cut two rectangles for the top and bottom parts of the skirt. The top part should be roughly 54x22 inches and the bottom should be 108x22 inches. (I cheated. I cut the three yards in half widthwise, then one of the pieces lengthwise, to be the top and bottom. Does that make sense?) It doesn't have to be exact. The lovely thing about peasant skirts is that since they are so billowy, there is a lot of room for error.

Take the top piece and sew a french seam in the side. Repeat with the bottom piece. 

1. Hem the bottom piece, if needed. (I used fabric with a finished salvage so it did not need to be hemmed- hooray!)

2. Baste three rows around the top of the bottom piece. Pull the threads to create a ruffle. Pull the seams until the bottom piece matches the size of the top piece (see picture of how it should look finished). 

3. Repeat three rows of basting for the top of the top piece (where the waistband will go).

Now the top and bottom pieces will be sewn together using a French seam. 

(Need help with that? First, pin the wrong sides together. Be careful with the ruffle and sew the seam as close to the edge as possible. Trim the excess, then fold and pin the right sides together. When you sew the seam, pull the ruffled part gently as you go (to prevent unsightly puckering). You can email me if you have questions about this.)

This is what it looks like when you are finishing the French seam. Try to keep your seam very straight because it will show when you are wearing it. 

It's time to sew the elastic waistband. Cut it one or two inches smaller than your waist. Overlap the ends by an inch (to create a circle) and sew together using an elastic stitch (or zig-zag). 

Pull the basted threads on the top part of the skirt to match the size of the waistband. Pin the skirt to the waistband and sew together using either an elastic stitch or zig-zag. Now you will want to remove the basted stitch or your skirt will not stretch! I just give it a good ol' pull and the old threads break. You can use a seam ripper if you are working with a delicate fabric, or like to be precise.

*If you are also attaching a lining, sew that to the waistband first, or pin together with the top of the skirt. I didn't bother with one since I wear a slip all of the time anyway. 

Obviously this is a different skirt. I included a picture to show how you can cover the ugly seam with pretty elastic lace. I did not do this because I didn't have the color I wanted when making the skirt.

Tada! Elegant! 

It is a lot of fun to wear!

Now go make one!

Easy shoelaces for kids

Amazon sells awesome elastic shoelaces. I replaced Daniel's annoying (someone frayed one of the laces, so I had to replace them) shoe laces with these nifty things. I AM SO GLAD I DID. The elastic laces are much tidier and SO. MUCH. easier to put on his feet.

The elastic laces that I got are for athletes, but the smallest size fit a toddler shoe. There was a little excess, but I just tied it off at the end. The knot comes apart sometimes, but could easily be rectified by tying it with a piece of thread. The best part is that when he grows out of these shoes, I can take the laces off and put them on his new shoes.

This isn't an official review or anything. Sure, if you use my link and purchase some I would get credit, but I really wanted to share it because it has helped me out so much. I thought other parents would find it beneficial as well.