25- Ritz cracker caramel chocolate crack

This is the second Thursday of Baking the Baking Pantry theme. This means that I am using up some of my lesser-used ingredients.

Because I was hosting for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, the little voice inside my head ensured I purchased enough crackers for the events. Even though my sister is gluten-free. The other voice inside my head said that I could never only buy one box if they were BOGO (buy one, get one). Twice.

We have a lot of crackers.

Normally, I keep at least one box in reserve in case I make pimiento cheese for a work event.

Yeah, we have four boxes that were unopened and 1 box that was only missing 2 sleeves. One sleeve for each night of the festivities, you know.

And the best Christmas crack crackers to use are Ritz crackers. I know because I’ve tried saltines, Ritz, matzoh, club crackers, digestive, and graham crackers. There is just something about the butteriness of the Ritz that puts the rest of them to shame.

But, of course, I wanted to do a little experiment. I made a ring of unbroken crackers around the cookie sheet, duly lined with parchment paper, and I crushed a sleeve of crackers to fill the center. The ring itself took half a sleeve.

What? I wanted to see what would happen.

I theorized that the caramel would make even a crushed cracker more interesting and the bigger surface area would make it adhere more.

I was half right.

Okay, three quarters.

Yes, the crushed cracker and the caramel interaction was interesting. And weirdly even more buttery.

Yes, the bigger surface area of the crushed cracker edges did make the caramel adhere more.

No, it didn’t adhere quite like I was picturing.

Not a total failure. I must increase the amount of caramel to account for the increased amount of edges.

I give myself a B. With the caveat to try again with more caramel.

Also, I used milk chocolate in the beginning over half of it and it refused to spread evenly while melted. Semi-sweet is the way to go here.

After all, Cookie Thursday is a Thing is all about experimentation.

Tuesday Top of Mind 2/11/25- the SAVE Act

Well, this is a piece of neo-mansophere trash.

If this vote passes the Senate and is signed into law as written, voting by women will be changed.

On the surface, this bill is about voting. Okay, fine. Not a demonstrable problem, no matter what some republicans think.

However, if you read the summary, voting will be permitted only if you are able to prove that you are a United States citizen. How to prove that? The easiest way is to provide your birth certificate. Your certified birth certificate.

Good on the surface, right?

Why did this not pass last year when it was first introduced?

Because it is a huge waste of time and resources. You already cannot register to vote unless you prove you are a US citizen. Usually by driver’s license or passport.

There is already a REAL ID that will be used by airlines starting in May. The SAVE Act is a belt to that suspenders. I got my REAL ID by showing my passport to the DMV. The same passport that I had to use my driver’s license and birth certificate to obtain.

I will note that I have a certified copy of my birth certificate. Obtained from the state where I was born. But what about the people out there whose birth certificates cannot be certified. What if they were born at home? What if they were born in a time before all of this nonsense?

To obtain a passport, you already have to show proof of residency. To get mine I had to have my driver’s license and my marriage license proving that the name change was legit. Same for the social security card.

Because this act shows their hand. 80% of woman who are married in this country take their husband’s name. I did. Does this bill mean that I would no longer be eligible to vote because my birth certificate and my driver’s license do not match?

I am afraid that this is the intention. In all the reading I have done these last 3 months I have come across a phrase in a couple of places that I thought was straight out of The Handmaid’s Tale. “Family voting”, wherein the man, whose name does match his birth certificate, votes for the entire house.

The real question is what exactly is this bill saving? Nothing. It would cost A LOT of money to implement. Imagine the lawsuits. Imagine the outrage the first time a woman goes to vote and is denied because she took her husband’s name.

For something we didn’t even need. Unless that was the entire point. To more than halve the number of women who are eligible to vote.

This is a feature, not a bug.

Are you frightened yet?

More importantly, are you paying attention yet?

Post-it Sunday 2/9/25- table height

The post-it reads “Height of the OR table is important.”

Height of the OR table is important and can be changed for a variety of scenarios.

When a tall person is intubating the patient, the OR table is high.

When a short person is intubating the patient, the OR table is low.

When a tall surgeon is working, the OR table is high.

When a short surgeon is working, the OR table is low.

You with me?

When a patient is on the fracture table or the CHIK table and the hip is being worked on, the table is high. Not only is that for surgeon comfort, but it is also so the C-arm, which is an x-ray machine, can clear the table in order to take pictures.

When a circulator is prepping a patient’s leg, the table should be low. This is for leverage and also changes the fulcrum of the balance of the weight of the leg. This also improves the circulator’s reach to ensure that all the skin is prepped.

I have always known this was important but I didn’t realize that other specialties do this too. Which is odd, because of course they do. I came to this realization when I was in the dentist’s chair going up and down, depending if it was the dentist or the hygienist working on my mouth.

Talk about your flash of the obvious.

Imagine me not even realizing of course it would be the same, even when they are sitting down.

But the number one thing to take home is that after the patient has been moved to the in-patient bed, the head of the bed should never be raised until it has been moved away from the OR table.

Why?

Because I’ve seen OR tables get tipped, a lot of degrees, by the head of the in-patient bed that is being raised.

Heck, I’ve also heard the cysto table groan as an anesthesiologist was raising the head of the patient bed after we moved the patient. And those tables weigh a ton and are not to be moved.

School Me Saturday 2/8/25- This is not psychics 101

I’ve been around this school game for a while now. And I’ve had the full gamut of teachers/instructors/professors. My least favorite is the kind that want you to read their mind.

If teaching was a group project, these would definitely be the ones coming in late with their instructions scribbled on a receipt that has been dipped in coffee. In pencil! Smeared pencil.

Their work is sloppy. Their instructions are haphazard and incomplete. Their assignment due dates are a thing of fiction. Their grading is harsh.

These are the kind of instructors who “never give an A”.

I am sure that 99.99% of learners have had this teacher in their classroom at some point. And you think that complaining does nothing.

Not so. We are not in high school anymore.

Complaining about the teacher who “forgets” to complete their assignment directions and penalizes a student for not being able to extrapolate what they meant is acceptable. After all, this is tantamount to being slapped on the wrist for not being able to read their mind.

I am no Jean Grey or Profession Charles Xavier.

The university or college probably has an office to deal with teachers like these.

Find it. Complain about them.

But it is important to bring receipts. By that, I mean examples.

They will listen. They will know that you are not trying to get a better grade. After all, your classmates might already know and are complaining as well.

Alternately tell your advisor. I hope that the terrible teacher is not your advisor. If they are, go to the head of the program.

Adult learning is hard enough without having to develop a whole new skill that doesn’t exist.

Cookie Thursday 2/6/25- Baking out the (baking) pantry. Andes mint cookies

New month, new theme for February. The theme for this month is Baking Out the (baking) pantry. Today’s offering is an Andes Mint cookie. At the end of last year, I scored several bags of chopped up Andes mints. You know the ones, peppermint and chocolate.

Hence, today’s cookie. The Andes mint cookie.

There’s not much else to write about these. The base cookie is the Tollhouse cookie recipe and instead of vanilla flavoring, I used peppermint.

I also slightly undercooked them to keep them soft.

It is very minty in here.

None for the husband, as we are pretty sure he is allergic to peppermint. All for the department.

Tuesday Top of Mind 2/4/25- We warned you but you didn’t listen Part I

Where to start? Which dumpster fire do I start with?

For me and for every healthcare worker I know, the logical starting place is the takedown and dumbing down of all the CDC web pages.

This is DANGEROUS!

But what galls me are the people just sitting in the sunlight, playing with their hair, playing with the sunlight saying “tra-la-la, I don’t see anything.”

Seriously?

Is that what you are going to say when the chaos impacts you and yours? When your child comes to you sobbing because (insert reason)? When you are denied an opportunity that instead went to a mediocre white man? When your parent suddenly has to move in with you because of the financial malfeasance going on in the social security offices and they can no longer live on their own?

When will it be enough?

What words or combination of words can be said to make you start to PAY ATTENTION to the country-ending shit that is going on in Washington?

By people who were not elected or confirmed by the senate?

Even if you won’t pay attention, I will. Someone has to watch as our government is pillaged and women and children are raped and denied proper healthcare because someone wants more babies in the US. Gilead and the Handmaid’s Tale is fiction, not a roadmap.

The dismantling of the CDC pages is just one step they have taken. It is a step that impacts all of us, sick or well.

What’s going on with the bird flu? Can’t tell you because those pages has been taken down.

What is the proper birth control method that a 26 y.o. female who has zero children but a life-limiting disease and who doesn’t want to risk a pregnancy ending her life prematurely? Can’t tell you because those pages have been taken down.

And the fact that RFK, who is the scariest nominee of them all, has passed the first hurdle? Makes me incandescent with rage. A lawyer who fucked up Samoa with his lies about the measles vaccine now potentially has the entire US to fuck up.

I understand the desire to look away from the atrocities that are being inflicted on us and our government is strong. Take time when you are feeling overwhelmed. I understand, I do.

Someone has to bear witness.

No post-it Sunday post- Cookie Thursday is a Thing changes

Cookie Thursday is a Thing is going to deviate from the theme schedule I made.

As long-time enjoyers of CTIAT will recall, I did two months of the Inflation Baking theme in late spring 2022, and, when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade, I did an entire month of “If You Want Women to be in the 18th Century so badly” in July 2022. Oh, and I did an entire month of Eggceptional cookies when egg prices skyrocketed in February 2023.

I anticipate that grocery budgets are going to be screaming come Monday.

Since I and my husband are the sole providers and I am the sole baker of CTIAT, I will start off this new austerity with a Cleaning Out the Pantry theme for February.

Followed by Cleaning Out the Freezer theme for March.

April? Yet to be determined.

These were NOT the themes I had planned.

But needs must.

I don’t write that looking for sympathy or donations. In the 10 years CTIAT has been active I have received $45 and a 5# bag of flour.

This is more of a public service announcement.

School Me Saturday 2/1/25- Funding and research and slamming on the brakes

I’ve written before about research is expensive.

You have to pay the salaries of the researchers, the physical places to do the research, the salaries of the research assistants, the incentives for participants, the salaries of the statistician to help with interpreting the data, in some instances the postage, the electricity to run the machines, sometimes you have to pay for access to the big data sets if you want to do a secondary analysis. If you are doing hard science with microscopes and reagents and all the things that drive the hard science research you have to pay for all of that too. Sometimes there are travel costs incurred to get to the participants, including airfare and hotel, and certainly gas to drive there. Wherever there is.

Once you have finished a research project and you have the results, you have to pay for dissemination. Journals charge for papers, which are the result of the research. You have to pay to go to conferences to present the research. This includes the conference fee, the travel to and from the conference,

Research costs a lot.

However, research also gives the public so much in return. From drugs, and safe surgery, and safe food, and safe cars. Research is how we understand the world and how it impacts everyday people and things.

On late Monday, 1/28/25, President Trump wrote a memo suspending federal funding.

Fait accompli. A bloodless takeover of America by the billionaire class.

With a swish of his sharpie, all research came to a grinding halt and researchers were looking at each other saying “What now?”

This halt famously included children’s cancer research.

The funding freeze has been walked back, hastily, but I, for one, have a bad taste in my mouth about the whims of a spoiled brat and how much damage can be done to the fabric of America.

But I know that we Americans dare not look away.

What is happening is known as Shock and Awe. Where there are a lot of horrible acts in a flurry and you are feeling pummeled.

Which is the shock and very much as designed.

When everyone is reeling and unsettled and unsure of which direction to pay attention to, then someone, you know who, will come in and make it “all better”.

Which is the awe and we have yet to experience this.

It is important to realize that it won’t be “all better”. Millions will have been lost, hard science has to reset their experiments after losing data, and previously scheduled meetings may or may not go on.

This is by design and it is important to pay attention.

FFS Friday 1/31/25- Finally February

There are a LOT of memes running around on how long this January has apparently been.

Some say it has been 31 days. And then they quantify it by adding a thousand. As in January has been 31,000 days long. This absolutely tracks.

I counter that the time since the inauguration of the great disrupter has been eleventy thousand days.

I understand that paying attention to all the crap coming at us every damned second is hard.

Seriously, it’s like trying to drink from a hose. A firehose. However, that is the point.

We have to keep paying attention to the atrocities that are happening.

This can be difficult and soul-killing but we have no choice.

Because if we don’t, who will.

But hey, it’s almost freaking finally fuckingFebruary.

Only 47 and a half months to go.

February is only a day away!

Smile. Because I am sure that someone is watching and noting down when you don’t smile.

Are you paying attention yet?

Cookie Thursday 1/30/2025- sourdough chocolate chip cookies

This is it. The last week of the Cookie Thursday is a Thing extravaganza.

I’ve gone through some CTIAT is a thing background details. I’ve gone through some of CTIAT secrets. And I made 5 weeks of the department’s favorite cookies of the past 10 years.

There was one of the original cookies with the Twix cookie.

There was the original experiment cookie- the Jalapeno chocolate chip cookie.

There was the second favorite cookie- the pepper jelly cheddar thumbprint.

There was the crust cookie and the story of how CTIAT got its name.

Today’s cookie was a sourdough chocolate chip cookie.

I’ve done this in the past. Heck, I’ve done all of these cookies before. What earns it a spot on the list is the interplay of how the sourdough changes the cookie consistency.

The cookie is crisp but still chewy.

Alchemy!

That means magic!

Last time the addition of sourdough waste added a different texture to the cookie. As it did today.

What I did differently was that I left the dough at room temperature so that it could ferment. I left it for 6 hours before baking, covered of course. This definitely changed the consistency of the dough, giving it a fluffy appearance. Some might say that cookie dough is already fluffy. It is the only way I can describe it.

Tomayto-tomahto.

Spoiler, I had a cookie for breakfast.

Now for the final secret of CTIAT.

I began CTIAT as a morale project for the evening shift of the operating room. This is still how I advertise and talk about it. I freely give out any recipe when asked. I genuinely think that weekly cookies, no matter the time elapsed, has an impact on morale.

I see it every time I walk into the lounge and its dedicated drawer is open, usually by people interested in the cookies. I hear it when people stop me to tell me their favorite cookies. I see it when I pick up the empty container the next day. There are weeks that people don’t know about the cookies or the OR is too busy. But that is when they need the cookies most.

However, what you might now know is that it has an impact on my morale. I don’t even have to see people enjoying the cookies. It is the act of planning and creation that is important to me.

The weekly date with my kitchen doesn’t hurt.