Transit of Venus

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For you astronomy buffs, today’s the transit of Venus.  That’s when you’ll see the silhouette of the planet as it passes in front of the sun.  It should start just after 3 p.m. PDT for western North America–if you’re in Asia, Australia, or most of Europe the transit is on June 6.  Don’t look at the sun without the proper protection!  Sunglasses are not proper protection.  Here are Sky & Telescope’s tips for viewing the transit.  If you miss this one, the next one will be in 2117 (so don’t miss this one).

The Day the World Discovered the Sun by Mark Anderson

Related book note: there’s a new book out, The Day the World Discovered the Sun: An Extraordinary Story of Scientific Adventure and the Race to Track the Transit of Venus by Mark Anderson regarding the June 1761 & 1769 transits of Venus.  Kirkus called it “a scientific adventure tale” and I have to agree.  Good reading!

Season’s Eatings

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Farmer’s Market Week continues with inspirational cookbooks.  Sometimes just gobbling up the fresh fruits and vegetables is the best thing to do.  If you want to cook with the fresh stuff but are feeling uninspired, here are three cookbooks that focus on fresh, seasonal eating.  Do you have your own favorite seasonal cookbooks?

In Late Winter We Ate Pears: A Year of Hunger and Love–Seasonal Recipes and Stories From an Italian Kitchen by Deirdre Heekin & Caleb Barber
In Late Winter We Ate Pears

 

 

 

 

The Big Sur Bakery Cookbook: A Year in the Life of a Restaurant by Michelle & Philip Wojtowicz
The Big Sur Bakery Cookbook

 

 

 

 

The San Francisco Ferry Plaza Farmers’ Market Cookbook: A Comprehensive Guide to Impeccable Produce Plus 130 Seasonal Recipes by Peggy Knickerbocker & Christopher Hirsheimer
SF Ferry Plaza Farmers' Market cookbook

Strawberries

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Farmer’s Market Week continues with strawberries.strawberriesToday’s “recipe”: Strawberries and Baby Cakes

Slice or chop a basket of strawberries into a bowl.  Cover with sugar to taste.  Let berries macerate at room temperature for at least an hour.  Taste for sweetness then add pomegranate balsamic vinegar as desired.  Serve over halved Baby Cakes.  Top with yogurt if you’d like.  If you want whipped cream, use that on top instead of yogurt (but I’d seriously consider leaving out the balsamic vinegar if you do go with whipped cream).

Baby Cakes

3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter, softened
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup plain yogurt (not non-fat)
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Put all the ingredients in one bowl.  Using a hand mixer, blend at low speed until all ingredients are combined then beat on high speed for three minutes.  Divide batter evenly amongst 9 well-greased (but not papered) muffin tin wells. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 25 minutes or until golden on top and an inserted toothpick comes out clean.  Let cool for ten minutes in muffin tin then remove and continue cooling cakes on a rack.

How do you like to eat your strawberries?

Another Bonus Joke (last one, I promise) from The Electric Radish and Other Jokes selected by Susan Thorndike & illustrated by Ray Cruz:

Why did the elephant paint his toenails red?

Strawberry elephant joke illustrated by Ray CruzAnswer: So he could hide in the strawberry patch.

Radishes

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Our garden, except for the strawberries, still has a while to go before anything is harvestable.   I’ve been haunting the farmer’s market instead.  To celebrate all that gorgeous fresh produce, I’m declaring this Farmer’s Market Week.  Sometimes the week just has to start on a Thursday.

radishes

Today's bounty: The radish!

The “recipe”: You’ve heard of this traditional french snack before, I’m sure.  It’s the only way I like radishes.  Take your very fresh, cleaned radishes and slice thinly.  Spread a baguette slice (not too think a slice–about a 1/4″) with high quality butter.  Top the butter with your radish slices then sprinkle with sea salt.  Eat.  If you’re carb-phobic, you can skip the bread and just dip your halved radishes in butter and sprinkle on the salt.

radishes with butter and sea saltHow do you like to eat radishes?

Bonus Joke from The Electric Radish and Other Jokes selected by Susan Thorndike & illustrated by Ray Cruz:

What is red, has a tail, and hums?Electric Radish illustrated by Ray CruzAnswer: an electric radish

Yup.

Eclipse Shadows

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eclipse shadowsDid you catch the eclipse?

If you missed this one, the next solar annular eclipse won’t be for a long time. BUT, there’s a partial lunar eclipse coming up very early in the morning of June 4 (for the West Coast, US), so get ready.

How do YOU slow down and relax?

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Relaxing with a butterfly: Lorquin's AdmiralI know how I slow down and relax (going outside and taking picture of bugs is one way I do it…to each her own, eh?).  And I know what we’ve said in Quarterly Speed Bump Magazine about ways to slow down and relax.

But, what do you do and how do you do it?

Moon Shadow, Moon Shadow

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Don’t forget Sunday’s (May 20) annular solar eclipse.  What’s an annular eclipse?  The moon only blocks part of the sun so there’s a ring–aka an annulus–of sun around the moon’s shadow.

May 2012 Annular Solar Eclipse

From NASA's Website: eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov

NASA has a nice map with timing of the eclipse’s path (sorry, not everyone will see it).  Here’s NASA’s handy-dandy chart giving local times for eclipse viewing for many US cities.  Most times are given in UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) so here’s a converter.

DON’T LOOK DIRECTLY AT THE SUN DURING THE ECLIPSE (OR EVER)!  YOU COULD INJURE YOUR EYES…POSSIBLY PERMANENTLY.  Here are Sky & Telescope‘s tips on how to safely view the eclipse.

Bee Notes

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If you want to get your citizen-scientist groove on, the Backyard Bee Count of the Great Sunflower Project is in full swing once again.  Count the bees that visit a particular flower in your yard or elsewhere for a 15 minute period and report the results to the Project.  Learn more here.

In sad bee news, the wild honeybee hive pictured at the end of the Spring 2012 Quarterly Speed Bump Magazine has been blocked up.  It was truly burgeoning and I hope the bees survived.