A good explanation!

So many of my friends and family have asked about what Michael does. I never know what to say. His job is so complex and I don't fully understand what he does so it makes it very difficult for me to explain. So for those of you who have asked, I am sorry for the poor explanation I probably gave you. I know the first part is a little confusing but stick with it and hopefully it will be a little bit easier to understand :)

  "I am currently employed as a Materials Scientist/Engineer. Materials science is an interdisciplinary field applying the properties of matter to various areas of science and engineering. This scientific field investigates the relationship between the structure of materials at atomic or molecular scales and their macroscopic properties. It incorporates elements of applied physics and chemistry. Like most scientists, my job requires me  to study and observe phenomena of the world around me. While biologist may study animals, or a chemist studies chemicals, I study materials that make up everyday objects.We interact with hundreds of objects every single day (cars, televisions, laundry basket, silverware) and every component of each of these objects was invented, studied, improved, or developed because of a materials engineer. At this point you may be asking "how?" The answer is each component is made up of a material and each material is made up of atoms, by manipulating (moving, restructuring, changing bonding, etc.) those atoms, it is possible to design (improve) a material to perform a specific function, like making a laundry basket stronger, lighter, tougher, or UV resistant. Once a materials engineer has designed (or improved it) other types of engineers will use that material to build new products. One of my favorite examples is Corning Ware, actually. As it turns out, an engineer at Corning accidentally left his glass in the furnace for too long. After analysis by a materials engineer a new type material (glass ceramic) was developed.  And people have been using Corning Ware ever since."

Life update!

We have been very busy around here! I'll be so excited when the semester is over and we can resume a somewhat normal schedule. Michael has been so busy working on his PhD and working. For now that means class twice a week at 3:30, which means he has to leave the house around 5:30am and head to work, leave work at 2:45 and head to class, he walks a full 20 minutes to class where he learns about stuff I can't wrap any part of my brain around, then starts his 2 hour commute home. Not to mention the homework he has on top of his job. He had to pull an all nighter last night, head to work this morning, to school this afternoon. I fed him dinner and sent him straight to bed when he got home tonight. I love that man so much and I am so grateful for his dedication to make a better life for his little family. He has a year or so of classes left then he'll do research for about 3 years. I'm so looking forward to that time. I have two papers, two quizzes, and an exam left. All in two weeks. 8 week classes. Smh. 

This year I'm trying my hand at gardening, I have planted my strawberries and have many growing. Some sneaky, sneaky critter ate the berry that was almost ripe, and I was so excited to pick and eat. The jokes on them though because I have a net now. Suckers. I also have lots of different peppers, herbs, romaine lettuce, cantaloup, watermelon, cucumbers and cauliflower. In the past I've had a black thumb but so far I've been lucky! I'm looking forward to harvesting some yummy veggies!

Next month we are going to see "Jonah" at the Sight and Sound Theater in Lancaster, PA. with Michael's parents. I am so excited to get away for a few days. We are heading up a few days early and staying in a lovely Bed & Breakfast. This is our first real trip we've taking since we took our vows. Or any get away for that matter. I wrote here about getting sick the day after our wedding and had to cancel our honeymoon to the Caribbean. I am so looking forward to a trip with my very best friend :) 

Our first anniversary is rapidly approaching and I've been working away on an entry for it :) It seems like just last week Mike was down on one knee and I was anxiously awaiting the ring I knew he had in his pocket. It's been a wonderful year of learning, growing, and love.

 

Mrs. Hunt

How to Make Greek Yogurt

I fell in love with Chobani last fall. My wallet however, did not. At $1.50 a cup, I had to limit my intake to 4 per week, unless I happened to be getting something from Wegmans, where it was $1.00, I could get 5. If I had it my way, I'd be eating yogurt everyday. In addition to me, I was also sending yogurts in Michael's lunch box for a snack during the day. I did the math- we had been spending $55/month on yogurt. That's almost $650 a year! That's a lot of money to spend on yogurt! I needed an alternative. I did some research and found that yogurt is relatively easy to make. To make Greek Yogurt you simply strain some of the whey out of the yogurt. You need two ingredients- a few teaspoons of live cultured plain (like Fage or Chobani) and milk. It does take a good amount of time but it seemed worth it and it is!! I did the math for the homemade greek yogurt- here are the numbers:  $.21/cup, $1.89/week, $98/year.  That means we save $552 by making our own yogurt. It is so good and creamy. Wonder what I can do with that extra money!! I'll probably never go back to Chobani. 

Here's the process

Equipment:

2 qt batter bowl

Accurate food thermometer

Whisk 

Bouillon Strainer

Ingredients:

1/2 gallon milk

a few tsp live culture yogurt

Here's how you make it. 

It's best to start early in the morning or late in the evening as it takes about 13 hours to make.

Step 1

Fill a 2 quart batter bowl with milk and microwave (or use a double boiler) til milk reaches 180 degrees. My microwave takes 17 minutes. Stir milk a few times during heating to prevent skin from forming. If one does form just skim it off.

Step 2

Allow milk to cool to 110-120 degrees. It should take about 30-40 minutes, just let it sit on the counter. If you're in a hurry you can stir it a few times.

Note: if your yogurt is above 120 degrees it will kill the bacteria

Step 3

Whisk in a little yogurt, some sites say 1-2 teaspoons, some say 1/2 cup. I've done both and everything in between and it's always worked for me.

Step 4

Incubate your yogurt for 8-12 hours. There are many, many ways to incubate yogurt. The most common is the oven. If your oven does not set to 100-110 degrees you can turn it on for 3ish minutes to 145 degrees, then turn it off. Cover then wrap your batter bowl with a towel. Place in oven. Do not open your oven to check as the heat will escape and make it too cold.  I tried my oven and it didn't really work so I moved on and tried using a heating blanket. Much to my surprise, it worked! Yogurt should stay between 108-112 degrees.

It will look like regular, plain yogurt when its done. The only liquid you should see should be the whey on top, everything else should be slightly solidified. 

Going from Regular to Greek Yogurt

Strain yogurt to reduce volume by about half with a very fine mesh strainer over a separate bowl. Start with a few scoops then you can dump the rest.

You should have about 4 cups of whey left over. You can discard it or save it for other recipes.

Dump yogurt in bowl and whisk until smooth. Add desired amount of milk back to the yogurt to get the preferred texture.

I put about 5 oz. into a 1/2 pint mason jar and then put them in the fridge.

To flavor:

We mix in something different almost every day!

Stevia, vanilla bean paste, low/no sugar jam, instant coffee, honey, crushed pineapple, fresh fruit, sugar free cookies...

Hope you (and your wallet) enjoy!

A week full of goodness!

What a great week! Last weekend Michael's parents came up for Easter! On Saturday we went down to Occoquan and had dinner on the river at Matigans. 

 They enjoyed stuffed mushrooms, crab and asparagus stuffed chicken, lobster mac n' cheese, and I had dirty chicken. It was beyond good :) We walked around and ended up at "Mom's Apple Pie Bakery" where we picked out a Raspberry Peach Pie and headed home!

 

 Michael played at all 3 services and closed with the youth group. Love being married to that man! We came home and I made Feta Stuffed Lamb Burgers (poor lamb) with red wine and rosemary. So yummy!

My parents and little brother came up on Monday. Danny has officially past me in height and at 5'11" I am now the shortest of the siblings. They went in to DC on Tuesday and I stayed home and got some stuff done around the house. Wednesday was spent at IKEA, Home Depot and in the yard.

and then this happened....

  

Yesterday we spent HOURS at Mt.Vernon.

 I had previously been when I was in 9th grade but we didn't spend much time there. We were able to see everything yesterday! In addition to general admittance, we did the "Behind the Scenes: The National Treasure Tour" which was based on the movie. We were able to go down into the basement and a few doors were unlocked for us to peek into. I was beyond fascinated with plantation.  The mansion (which isn't really that big by todays standards, but still pretty big) had 10 bedrooms, parlor, informal and formal dining room, and the Presidents office. The kitchen was detached from the house (which was common standard for that time). The formal dining room, which was very large, was the size of a standard house. Can you imagine eating dinner in a dining room bigger than your whole house?! The plantation had many separate buildings on it to keep the property running.

 Slave quarters (87 slaves worked on the mansion property), a washing room, overseers quarters, green house, smoke house, store house, coach house, blacksmiths shop, shoe making shop, necessaries (outhouses), spinning house, salt house, just to name a few.  It was practically a small village. They also have a special "Cooking with the Washingtons" exhibit where they had a few of Martha Washington's recipes. One cake recipe called for 40 egg whites and 4 lbs of butter!! Whoa. I had two favorite parts: the view from the mansion (overlooking the Potomac) and guess what?! Spring= baby animals!! Lots of baby lambs and piggies! 

Way too cute! It was such a good week :)

Oh Yea--

First Strawberry of the season!