Busy, busy day!
Sep. 18th, 2008 10:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kareinaWoke up an hour before the alarm this morning thinking of uni stuff I wanted to do, so I got up and got to work. Managed about an hour of work before I needed to get ready to head down the hill.
Passed my Citizenship test. Took about 2 minutes to take the test--the give you 40 minutes total. 20 multiple choice questions, most of which have two obviously wrong answers and one correct answer. My favourite asked about the duties of an Australian citizen. From memory the choices were A) own a gun. B) To defend Australia should the need arise (subject to the same rights and exemptions as Australian-born citizens) C). become a police officer.
There was *one* question which caused me to pause and say to myself, darn, the way it is written it might be A or C. I guessed C in that case (don't remember what the question was in that case), but perhaps it was A, because it turns out that I missed one question (in the sub-section titled "governing the country", but they don't tell me which question it was). However, one only needs 60% to pass, so my 95% will have to do.
Ran errands:
Spotlight for more sewing thread. Why do _3_ spools of thread cost over $20?
Habatit for a couple of baking dishes I've been wanting. Bookstore to pick up the third book in Tamora Pierce's Immortals Quartet (I'm re-reading those at the moment, but![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
clovis_t only had books 1, 2 & 4, his sister owns #3. I was able to borrow her copy the first time I read it, because we happened to be living with his parents then, so it was just down the hall in her room. It isn't so convenient at the moment, and will be less so when we finish the degrees and move... some place.
Eumarrah for bulk foods including ingredients for my museli and other dried fruits, nuts, and etc.
Went to Uni to talk with my advisor. As always, it was a *very* useful discussion! I now have a plan of attack from here. I need to write up a comparison between the results I get when I use the bulk-rock composition obtained by crushing the sample and doing XRF analysis and those I get when I measure the composition of the individual minerals and multiply that times the amount of each mineral present. This because it seems that the MgO content for the XRF version is *much* higher than that of the mineral mode estimate. If this is so it may well mean that the "chloritization" in these rocks is due to fluids bringing in excess MgO after the main metamorphic event. If that is my conclusion then I will need to re-do calculations for all of them (or at least all that have been chloritized), as it simply wouldn't do to conclude in one section that the XRF data isn't appropriate to use, and then use it in another (unless I can show that for the other section chloritization isn't an issue!). As soon as I know if I need to re-do all the calculations I need to get on it. fortunately, I've gotten fairly quick at the process, and have thought of other streamlining techniques recently.
In addition to that, I need to do some detrital zircon work, and to decide if I want to do an additional couple of days on the microprobe. The good news is, despite this additional analysis and potential for re-calculation of everything, he thinks I'm on track to be done, or at least nearly done, when my funding runs out in December!
After that meeting I stopped by Woolworths on the way home--having purchased a spring-form pan I thought I should use it. Since cheese cake is traditionally made in such a pan, I purchaced some ricotta and some cream (andclovis_t was out of motzerella, so it was a totally dairy trip!
And finally went home, where I discovered that the cake-pan came with a recipe which sounded good.
************************
Almond Cream Cake
2 cups flour
1 1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups thickened cream
3 eggs
1 tsp almond extract
preheat oven to 180 C
Butter a 22 cm spring form pan. Sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. With a mixer, whisk the thickened cream until stiff peaks form. Whisk in the eggs, one at a time. Add the almond extract. Change to paddle attachment, and stir in the flour mixture. Transfer batter to the prepared pan and bake for 45 minutes.
topping:
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1/2 cup sugar
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp cream
2 tbsp flour
While the cake is baking, combine the topping ingredients in a small sauce pan. Warm over low heat and stir to combine. When a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean, remove the cake from the oven. Spoon topping over the cake and bake for 10 minutes more. Remove cake from the oven and loosen the outside ring of the pan. Cool completly before serving.
************************************
I didn't happen to have any almond extract, and the cream I'd purchased was pure whipping cream, not the Australian standard "thickened cream". Therefore I added a handful of ground almonds to the flour mixture and used a small amount of almond oil to moisten a little bit of unflavoured gelatine before adding it to the cream. I also don't have a "paddle attachment" for my mixer, so I mixed the dry ingredients into the wet by hand with a rubber spatula. When I got it all mixed and took a taste of the batter, my response was "I think I'm in love!". but I haven't yet sampled any of the finished cake because I'd had enough just licking the bowl while the cake was baking.
After baking the cake there was time to briefly look at my e-mail before baking some scones, which we provided to attendees at the Baronial meeting. The meeting went well, and I managed to finish the second sleeve and decide on pocket placement on that cardigan I've been making out of what had been sold me as a wool dress.
Once everyone had left the meeting I finally got a chance to type up all of my notes from my meeting with my advisor and create a "to do" list for all that needs to be done ASAP, but now it is too late to do any of it tonight, so the rest can wait for morning...
Passed my Citizenship test. Took about 2 minutes to take the test--the give you 40 minutes total. 20 multiple choice questions, most of which have two obviously wrong answers and one correct answer. My favourite asked about the duties of an Australian citizen. From memory the choices were A) own a gun. B) To defend Australia should the need arise (subject to the same rights and exemptions as Australian-born citizens) C). become a police officer.
There was *one* question which caused me to pause and say to myself, darn, the way it is written it might be A or C. I guessed C in that case (don't remember what the question was in that case), but perhaps it was A, because it turns out that I missed one question (in the sub-section titled "governing the country", but they don't tell me which question it was). However, one only needs 60% to pass, so my 95% will have to do.
Ran errands:
Spotlight for more sewing thread. Why do _3_ spools of thread cost over $20?
Habatit for a couple of baking dishes I've been wanting. Bookstore to pick up the third book in Tamora Pierce's Immortals Quartet (I'm re-reading those at the moment, but
clovis_t only had books 1, 2 & 4, his sister owns #3. I was able to borrow her copy the first time I read it, because we happened to be living with his parents then, so it was just down the hall in her room. It isn't so convenient at the moment, and will be less so when we finish the degrees and move... some place. Eumarrah for bulk foods including ingredients for my museli and other dried fruits, nuts, and etc.
Went to Uni to talk with my advisor. As always, it was a *very* useful discussion! I now have a plan of attack from here. I need to write up a comparison between the results I get when I use the bulk-rock composition obtained by crushing the sample and doing XRF analysis and those I get when I measure the composition of the individual minerals and multiply that times the amount of each mineral present. This because it seems that the MgO content for the XRF version is *much* higher than that of the mineral mode estimate. If this is so it may well mean that the "chloritization" in these rocks is due to fluids bringing in excess MgO after the main metamorphic event. If that is my conclusion then I will need to re-do calculations for all of them (or at least all that have been chloritized), as it simply wouldn't do to conclude in one section that the XRF data isn't appropriate to use, and then use it in another (unless I can show that for the other section chloritization isn't an issue!). As soon as I know if I need to re-do all the calculations I need to get on it. fortunately, I've gotten fairly quick at the process, and have thought of other streamlining techniques recently.
In addition to that, I need to do some detrital zircon work, and to decide if I want to do an additional couple of days on the microprobe. The good news is, despite this additional analysis and potential for re-calculation of everything, he thinks I'm on track to be done, or at least nearly done, when my funding runs out in December!
After that meeting I stopped by Woolworths on the way home--having purchased a spring-form pan I thought I should use it. Since cheese cake is traditionally made in such a pan, I purchaced some ricotta and some cream (and
clovis_t was out of motzerella, so it was a totally dairy trip! And finally went home, where I discovered that the cake-pan came with a recipe which sounded good.
************************
Almond Cream Cake
2 cups flour
1 1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups thickened cream
3 eggs
1 tsp almond extract
preheat oven to 180 C
Butter a 22 cm spring form pan. Sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. With a mixer, whisk the thickened cream until stiff peaks form. Whisk in the eggs, one at a time. Add the almond extract. Change to paddle attachment, and stir in the flour mixture. Transfer batter to the prepared pan and bake for 45 minutes.
topping:
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1/2 cup sugar
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp cream
2 tbsp flour
While the cake is baking, combine the topping ingredients in a small sauce pan. Warm over low heat and stir to combine. When a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean, remove the cake from the oven. Spoon topping over the cake and bake for 10 minutes more. Remove cake from the oven and loosen the outside ring of the pan. Cool completly before serving.
************************************
I didn't happen to have any almond extract, and the cream I'd purchased was pure whipping cream, not the Australian standard "thickened cream". Therefore I added a handful of ground almonds to the flour mixture and used a small amount of almond oil to moisten a little bit of unflavoured gelatine before adding it to the cream. I also don't have a "paddle attachment" for my mixer, so I mixed the dry ingredients into the wet by hand with a rubber spatula. When I got it all mixed and took a taste of the batter, my response was "I think I'm in love!". but I haven't yet sampled any of the finished cake because I'd had enough just licking the bowl while the cake was baking.
After baking the cake there was time to briefly look at my e-mail before baking some scones, which we provided to attendees at the Baronial meeting. The meeting went well, and I managed to finish the second sleeve and decide on pocket placement on that cardigan I've been making out of what had been sold me as a wool dress.
Once everyone had left the meeting I finally got a chance to type up all of my notes from my meeting with my advisor and create a "to do" list for all that needs to be done ASAP, but now it is too late to do any of it tonight, so the rest can wait for morning...
