The Incredible Date Part 4

Get in the game, it's only fair. That was the hint that was waiting for me on my seat when I returned to the car. It was a clue for the movie "Fair Game," which we found at the nearest Redbox. But there was even more!

RETURN AND REPORT. Get a scrapbook and document what you've seen! :)

That was the last clue, which was more of an instruction, really. We went home, armed with the pictures that we took during our photo scavenger hunt. As we walked in the door, Mike asked me if I'd get his drink for him. Thinking he meant a Gatorade or something, I looked all through the fridge. After a couple of minutes, I heard a muffled, "It's in the door."

It was a chilled bottle of Martinelli's with a note attached: Great job! You found the grail!!!!!!!!!

Mike later admitted that he was hiding behind the kitchen wall watching me around the corner and when he saw I wasn't finding it he ran over by the staircase and muffled his voice so I wouldn't know he was spying on me.

We were a little tired that night, so we didn't end up scrapbooking Friday. We printed the pictures on Monday, however, and scrapbooked our adventures for Family Home Evening. It was a wonderful, romantic night filled with fun and mystery. Best. Date. Ever.

The Incredible Date Part 3

LET ME POINT YOU IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION! Defiance of these rules is the only way!

In retrospect, this clue should have been obvious to me, but Mike had to read it thus: Let me point you in the right direction. Defiance of these rules is the only way!

Ha ha. Point Defiance in Tacoma. I've been there several times. It's the most beautiful area of Tacoma, hands down. They have a small zoo, a rocky beach, a rose garden, and other scenic areas to go. Usually, it's bustling with families and power walkers, but by the time we got there the park was closing and we were the only ones there.

We watched the ducks.

Many ducks. There were flocks of ducks walking around. (Question: Is that the right way to say it: flock of ducks? That sounds wrong, because they aren't flying. I looked it up on wikipedia but it was unhelpful. I'm going to make up my own. How about a "snorkle of ducks?")

But I digress. We had fun posing in the park.

And then it was time for the final clue...

The Incredible Date Part 2

This was the next clue presented to me:

WHAT NOW?!? Seek direction from Delphi's priestess (the oracle of Delphi) at her temple.

This one was hard, too. The oracle of Delphi was called the Pythia. When I entered "Pythia" and "temple" into the decipherer, the Pythian Temple in Tacoma came up. I'd never even heard of it. It's the local HQ for The Knights of Pythias, a Masonic-like fraternity/secret organization founded upon principles of loyalty, honor and friendship. And not being a Communist or gambler.

This was the outside of the temple in downtown Tacoma.

Once we got our scavenger hunt photo, Mike gave me the next clue:

NONE SHALL PASS! You must first defeat the black knight, "Galloping Gertie," to prove yourself worthy of the quest to find the Holy Grail!

This one was fairly easy. The decipherer led me right to the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. As part of the fun of the evening, we read a little bit about the history of each place we visited. The bridge had the history that was the most intriguing.

The Tacoma Narrows Bridge (built 1938-1940), spanned Puget Sound between Tacoma and Gig Harbor. The bridge had a narrow roadbed with shallow trusses to allow the span to be flexible--too flexible, as it turned out. The lack of rigidity led to a tendency to sway, even in moderate winds. It soon earned the nickname "Galloping Gertie" and motorists came from hundreds of miles to go on the bouncing drive across.

On November 7, four months after the bridge opened for traffic, the center span began to sway in winds of only 40 mph. The bridge's construction and the effects of the winds upon it caused the center span to roll. The twisting became more violent and the supporting cable at the center snapped. The span was now undulating up to 28 feet and pieces of roadbed broke off. The bridge finally collapsed and plunged into Puget Sound.

There were no casualties except for a dog that was left behind in the only abandoned car on the bridge. The remains of the bridge were left on the bottom of the Narrows, where they continue to function as a man-made reef. The collapse was filmed, helping it to become one of the more conspicuous engineering failures in American history. As a result of the collapse, the methods for testing and building of bridges--including the new Tacoma Narrows Bridge that opened in 1950--were radically changed.

You can find a film about it on YouTube. This was the one Mike showed me when we got the the bridge: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-zczJXSxnw. It's amazing.

But our journey was far from over...

The Incredible Date Part 1

Last week, Mike asked me if it was OK if he planned something special for our Friday night date. (Um, trick question? Of course it's OK!) Excited to see what he came up with, I got home from work and found the table was set for an oh-so-yummy spaghetti dinner. When I got up to take my plate to the sink, I found a little scrap of paper with the following message:

Ready for our date?! For this journey you'll need your camera! ...and a decipherer (bring your iPhone).

Ooooooo! The air was thick with the aura of mystery. I was intrigued. Mike sent me upstairs to get the camera and when I came back down, this note had sneakily taken its place:

WE'RE NOT IN KANSAS ANYMORE! To settle this riddle, travel back in time to a foreign country: LAKEWOOD. Where are you? One amony many, your answer lies set in stone.

Off we went. I had to find out what the destination was by Google-ing in my iPhone (the clue decipherer) what I felt the key words might be. This was, by far, the toughest clue. It was also quite clever. When I finally googled "settlers" and "Lakewood," I finally came up with The Old Settlers Cemetary.

We had fun goofing off among the headstones. But, as the clue hinted, I was looking for a specific "one among many" that "lies set in stone."

The answer was the one tombstone in the entire cemetary that was written in a foreign language. We're not sure which language, though. Anyone, anyone? We're going with Dutch.

Once I found out the answer to the first riddle, Mike presented me with the second clue and we were off. Where? The answer is...

...to be continued.

Like Mother, Like Daughter

So true. Mom, this one's for you.

Heavenly Lemony Cheesecake

Let's be honest. I'm not the most homemakery person the planet. The Internet has been both my friend and my enemy as far as this subject is concerned. I see the creative, wonderful things that other women come up with and blog about. These MacGyvers of the arts and crafts world can take 5 inches of pipe cleaner, a 10-year-old Cricut machine, 2 pieces of paper and an egg carton and from them make Young Women handouts, a table centerpiece, and a couple of matching hairbows that leave you stunned with their awesomeness.

I don't know if it makes it better or worse that many of these women are my relatives. Even as I happily use their ideas, I'm torn between admiration and envy. I'm as grateful to them for sharing their gifts as I am discouraged by the knowledge that I will never be a member of their talented club.

The same goes with cooking. No way can I make up my very own recipe from scratch. (Not an edible one, at any rate.) I do, however, love looking for good-sounding recipes that I happily modify to suit my tastes. I did it with Heart Attack Mac 'n Cheese and I did it again for Sunday dinner yesterday. Ben and Marika came over with their family and for dessert I made lemon cheesecake that was absolutely scrumptious. Maybe the best cheesecake I've ever had. Period. Mike declared it to be his new favorite cheesecake--better than Cheesecake Factory. I would have thought that he was just being an exaggeratedly nice husband, but when he single-handedly downed 1/3 of it in less than 24 hours, I guess I have to take what he says at face value.

This cheesecake turned out perfectly. No cracks in the top. No sticking to the pan. No dryness. It was smooth without being too runny, lemony without being overpowering, sweet with the right touch of sour. I simply can't do justice to the yumminess of this cheesecake. The recipe is originally from "The New Best Recipe Cookbook."

CRUST
8 ounces Nabisco's Barnum's Animal Crackers
4 1/2 tablespoons sugar
5 tablespoons melted unsalted butter

(Note: The original recipe called for 5 oz of animal crackers but I like a thicker crust so I adjusted it accordingly. And put in less butter. Not that it matters in this recipe.) Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. In a blender, process the crackers until you have fine crumbs. Add the sugar and pulse. Add the melted butter a little at a time while pulsing. Transfer the mixture to a 9" springform pan and press evenly into the bottom. The recipe says to bake 15-18 minutes but mine was done at 12. Refrigerate until cool (about the length of time it takes to make the filling) then wrap the pan with 2 sheets of foil along the bottom and up the outside. Set it in a roasting pan.

FILLING
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 1/4 tablespoon grated zest (original recipe: 1 Tbsp. What can I say? I like lemon.)
1/4 cup juice from 1-2 lemons
24 oz cream cheese, cut into 1 inch chunks, at room temperature
4 large eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup heavy cream

Process 1/4 cup of the sugar and the lemon zest in a blender until the sugar turns yellow and the zest is incorporated. Transfer to a small bowl and mix in the rest of the sugar. In medium-sized bowl, beat the softened cream cheese until somewhat smooth. Add the sugar a little at a time, scraping down the bowl in between additions. With mixer speed at medium, add the eggs, 2 at a time. Beat until incorporated. Add the lemon juice, vanilla, and salt. Mix to combine. Add the cream and beat well. Remember to scrape the bowl between each addition. Pour the mixture into the prepared ungreased springform pan. Fill the roasting pan about half full with water. Bake at 325 until the center jiggles slightly, the sides start to puff, and the surface is no longer shiny. The recipe says this should happen in 55 to 60 minutes.

(Note: It took almost an hour and 45 minutes for the cheesecake I made to get to that point, and that was after I increased the temperature at 1 hour to 350! I'm not sure why it took so long. Maybe it was the fact that I made do with a 9 x 13 pan because I didn't have a roasting pan. Whatever. I went by how it looked and it turned out OK.) Turn off the oven and prop the door of the oven open with a potholder or wooden spoon. Allow the cake to cool in the water bath in the oven for about an hour. Transfer the springform pan to a wire rack and run a small paring knife around the edges of the pan to loosen the cake. Let it sit to room temperature for 2 hours.

LEMON CURD

Lemon juice from 2 lemons (1/3 cup or more)

2 large eggs plus 1 egg yolk

1/2 cup sugar

2 Tbsp cold butter

2 Tbsp heavy cream

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Pinch of salt

While the cheesecake bakes, heat the lemon juice in a glass bowl set in a pan of simmering water (like you're melting chocolate) until it his hot but not boiling. Whisk the eggs in a small bowl, then gradually add the sugar. Whisking constantly, slowly pour the hot lemon juice through a strainer into the egg/sugar mixture. Unless you have 3 hands, I suggest getting a helper for this. Return the mixture to the bowl over the pan and heat over medium heat, stirring constantly until it's thick enough to cling to the spoon. Immediately remove the pan from the heat and add the cold butter and mix until incorporated. Stir in the cream, vanilla, and salt. Cover the surface of the curd directly with plastic wrap and refrigerate until needed.

This cheesecake ages well. I'd make it at least 24 hours before you want to eat it. Just before serving, pour the curd over the top. This made a lot more curd than I ended up using, but having lemon curd leftovers isn't the worst thing in the world.

Take THAT, MacGyver!

Why my husband is also my best friend

Yesterday, during a long, hard day as ward attending, I got the above photo text from Mike with the caption "Flowers to add cheer to your day! I LOVE you! :D"

Awwwww! I love him, too!

There is no "I" in team...just me

This is Madigan. It's the hospital where I work. For 51 weeks out of the year, I like my job. Many days, I even love it. One week out of the year, I hate my job so much that I fantasize about getting a weird illness that will briefly incapacitate me without being fatal. This is that week.

Normally, I work in a clinic as a developmental pediatrician, a career path chosen in no small part because of its lack of medical emergencies. I do pretty low-acuity, non-critical stuff. This week, I'm the pediatric ward attending. This means that I'm in charge of all the children who are admitted to the hospital because they are having high-acuity medical emergencies of a critical nature.

Usually, I have residents and interns who help with this. Everyone--attending, resident, etc...--makes up what is called the "ward team." If the hospital ward team were a tribal village, the interns would be the gatherers, looking up patient data, getting lab results, and finding out vitals. The residents would be the hunters, examining patients at their bedsides and performing procedures like lumbar punctures. The attending would be the village chief, making sure that things are being done right, helping make overall plans for patient care. Someone let the resident go to a medical conference this week in Miami and put the intern on night call (meaning they're not there during the day). This means that I have to perform all the roles in the village.

Did I mention that the ward is filled to capacity? And not with easy pediatric bread-and-butter stuff like babies with elevated bilirubin or dehydrated kids with diarrhea/vomiting--the kind of stuff I could do with my eyes closed and one hand behind my back. It's people with cancer, failure to thrive, physical abuse, congenital heart disease, metabolic disease, and the list goes on. It's like the village is on fire and, let me tell you, the chief is getting seriously burned out.

So I'm surviving for now, but not looking forward to the remainder of my week as attending (which ends Wednesday night). On the bright side, there's still time to come down with a good case of dengue!