#TIL: Comma Chaos

This post is only for those of you who are writing or grammar nerds.  The rest of you, pick a topic that interests you on the right and enjoy ;).  

Comma Chaos in English

So TIL there’s a worse trauma possible due to a lack of comma than that felt by Nelson Mandela and everyone else harmed by a missing Oxford Comma.  However, it’s not relevant in English writing only in Spanish and until now I had NO idea.  Zero.  Ziltch.  Nada.  None.  So now I’m wondering how much I’ve misread cause of it lol.

So - here’s the thing, this post is why actual live teachers are important, cause this TIL comes to you from my Spanish lesson today, and suffice to say Google Translate has never imparted this info to me ;)  Also, I’m writing this as much to solidify in my own little brain as to share this complete randomness.

These two sentences:

• Van a reformar la casa, que está vieja
• Van a reformar la casa que está vieja

Do not actually mean the same thing.

The words translate roughly into They are going to renovate the house which is old. 

The one with a comma functions similarly to how it does in English - the comma gives us extra information.  So this one house, right here, is being repaired because it’s old.  

But the other one, without a comma, means they are renovating the old house (not any of these other ones around here) 

That missing comma was donated to create a whole neighbourhood!   😂 

For those who read Spanish, here's the official version
For those who don't,  it's the pretty picture of the above ;)

This one amused me:

• Los hijos de Clara, que son simpatiquísimo, vienen a visitarnos
• Los hijos de Clara que son simpatiquísimos vienen a visitarnos

Basic Translation:

Clara’s children, who are very nice, come to visit us.

Vs: The nice children of Clara’s come to visit us (but the other, not-nice, children stay home)

So there you have both your and my educational moment of the day ;).  

Making a healthy snack horrifically unhealthy

So C randomly came home the other day w a collection of apples - not that apples are exactly rare in the fall in Canada lol but these were lovely, clearly local-ish, and not a type we generally need…. “They were given to me and I was hoping you might make pie happen”.  Given the disproportionate amount of cooking he does, I’m generally pretty open to baking requests esp when it’s not a waste of precious summer hours.

Suffice to say it doesn’t take much to twist my rubber arm.  I hate cooking but somehow love baking - probably cause the outcome usually lasts longer than it takes to make it ;).  And it’s tasty.  Almost always 😂 

Given the choice though, apple crumble is so much better than apple pie.  I’ve made it before but had a recipe I hadn’t done that I’d wanted to try for salted caramel apple crumble squares.    

So this seemed a good chance to test that out.  Also found a recipe for making said salted caramel.   So all good - walk over to the grocery store for the couple ingredients I didn’t have (looking at you heavy cream!   We’re not going to discuss the calories in this adventure).

So I made up all the parts - I was mildly concerned about how the caramel would work out but figured if it failed, we would still be left w some form of apple crumble so that’s not a bad worst case scenario.

As I was layering the crumble I wondered how structurally sound the bars would be.  Spoiler alert - they are 100% not ;).  However, I have not one, not two, but three things I will do differently next time to impact the structural soundness.

I’d never made any kind of candy before beyond melting already-made chocolate into molds (lol autocorrect is convinced I meant “moods” - and maybe I did!).  So I wasn’t convinced about the salted caramel; also, it seemed like a lot of salt.

But, one thing I do reasonably well is follow instructions.  Which is a problem if they’re not well written but this is one of my favourite recipe authors- not for the ridiculousness at the start that I’ve yet to read but cause her recipe’s generally have all the steps required and none that are not and if you do them in order, good things come out of the oven.   You’d think this was true of all but alas dear reader, it is not. 

So they were well written and as a result we had lovely looking apple crumble and lovely looking salted caramel sauce - which C bravely tasted and informed me it was excellent.  Yes - following instructions for the win.

But then….  It has to go in the fridge for 2h before you can cut them.  Boooo.   But if the caramel goes in the fridge it’ll have to be reheated for use.  It’s in a stainless steel pan.  It cannot go in the microwave, and reheating on the stove runs the risk of burning before I ever even got to try it.

So.  Solution.  Pour the caramel sauce over the squares and shove the whole thing in the fridge.  Done.

About that.  Did I mention the recipe for salted caramel was not part of the recipe for the bars?  Which means the amount was not relevant.  Which means instead of a drizzle - which prob would’ve been ideal - we had a thoroughly blanketed treat 😂 

Fast forward to today when we finally got to try it.   Lessons learned:

• the instruction to line the pan w overhanging cookie sheet was a win.  Super easy to get it out of the pan for cutting
• The now thick layer of caramel significantly impacted the structural integrity of the squares.  Lol as soon as I started to cut them, there were challenges ;)
• The paper won again since I used it to redeposit them in the pan in relatively the same condition they came out in
• My apple layer also contributed to structural unsoundness - it was way too think.  The instructions had said to squish them down; I thought I had; spoiler alert - not nearly enough.
• Also, in future I’d run the base (which was actually shortbread) up the sides for extra soundness.  At least, I will if I can’t sort the apples out.

So in the end we cut some out, heated it up, threw on some whipped cream cause we needed more calories, and gave it a go.  It is extremely the opposite of a square ;).  But it is SO tasty.  And super sweet w the extra caramel that it has installed portion control.  Although I’ll admit the salt portion of that makes it addictive and counteracts the portion control.   C also doesn’t find it as sweet as I do (normal) so maybe other people would like it more :)

Overall not quite exactly what I was trying to make but it’s so yummy I don’t actually care and I’m pretty pleased how the caramel worked out.   Next time I’d mix in a few green apples to balance it out and probably back off the caramel a bit - although not as much as you’re supposed to ;)

The final result - that's all gone now.  Yummy!

Kitten silliness

Moriarty

So I was freezing cold when I got home today and decided a hot bubble bath (well along w turning on the heat) was the solution.  Tub is in our ensuite and usually bath time is right before bed, so as a result our kitten Mori - who loves playing in the tub, has never seen it full of water (animals aren't allowed in our room at night cause I'm a light sleeper and not a good human when I don't sleep ;)

But - this was daylight so I didn't lock the animals out.  He was *super* concerned about the loud tap running and was yelling at me from the other side of the bathroom.  I - being a stupid human - did not get out or take his warning seriously 😂 

So I turn off the tap and Mori comes over and pokes his head up.   Jumps up on the surround behind the tub and head butts me a few times purring and then goes away.  All is good.

Right so I’m half asleep soaking, no critters around.  Then *splash*!!!    😂 Mori had tried to cross the window ledge and failed, fell in the tub, and managed to levitate himself out, completely soaked and absolutely covered in bubbles.  Somehow without scratching me in the process.

He flew back to the floor mat absolutely traumatized for life and frantically started trying to solve the fact that he was now soaked and covered in bubbles.

It’s hours later and I’m still chuckling at the desolate drowned rat kitten wearing a bubble sweatshirt and looking so very confused as to what had gone so horribly wrong 😂.

I gave a moment’s thought to hoping the bubbles weren’t toxic to cats but figured by the time I managed to catch him it’d be too late for me to do anything about it anyways.  I am amazed at how much of the bathroom my 8lbs kitten managed to soak in .07 of a second.

Today's amusement for you :).   Alas too fast an adventure and I was asleep for the first part of it, so suffice to say, there are no photos ;).  But I kinda wish there were.

Rebel Kitten

Pure innocence ;)

So with Enola it wasn't all that hard to convince her to stay off the counter.   Mori, otoh, is a bit more adventurous ;).  So a few weeks ago we ordered a device that will blast air any time it senses motion - it doesn't have the best reviews, but theoretically it should deter the kitten from jumping on the counter.  Said device arrived yesterday, but it needed batteries which I figured would be a today problem.

Well this morning I got a text from C that mentioned he "picked up batteries on the way to work".   Ummm okay?  I figured there was more to that but busy work day so didn't ask too many questions.  Got the story when he got home.

Apparently he was making chicken breasts for his lunches and had left them on the stove while he put dishes away (now understand our kitchen is not large and is horseshoe-shaped.  If you are putting away dishes, you are by definition within arms reach of the stove).   It seems Mori hopped up on the counter and helped himself to one of the chicken breasts 😂     You have to realize, the chicken breast is nearly as big as the kitten.  C did, of course, get it back.  But omg the gall of that kitten.  I have to admit I'm still laughing at the scene I never got to see in reality ;)   

And yes, the air device is set up and appears to work.   The noise more than anything scares him off.

Anyways - just some silliness that made me laugh.  I adore this kitten, even when he is being a holy terror 😂