The Grasshopper Bundt, as Promised

I promised to post the grasshopper bundt recipe and I am making good on that promise today.  Regrettfully, the recipe is not my creation but that of food fanatic.  Credit should be given where credit is due.

My beautiful bundt.

Grasshopper Bundt Cake

Cake:

1 box dark chocolate fudge cake mix (I used chocolate fudge cake mix)

1 package chocolate pudding mix, 3.4 ounces, instant

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 cup sour cream

4 large eggs

1 1/2 chopped Andes mints

Mint frosting:

4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

8 tablespoons butter, room temperature

1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract

2 cups powdered sugar

2 tablespoons milk

Green food coloring to desired shade

Chocolate glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar

1 tablespoon dutch processed cocoa (I used Hershey's)

2 tablespoons salted butter, melted

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons warm water

For the Cake:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray Bundt pan with vegetable oil spray, then lightly coat with flour. Set aside (I coat the pan with Crisco.) 

In the bowl of your mixer, combine cake mix, pudding mix, water, vegetable oil, sour cream, and eggs. Beat on low speed until just combined. Scrape the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula, then beat for 3 minutes. Fold in chopped mints until combined. 

Spoon batter into prepared Bundt pan. Spread evenly, then bake for about 50 minutes, until cake is set and a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. 

Let cake cool in the pan for about 15 minutes, then very carefully turn onto a wire rack to continue cooling (I just put mine right on the cake plate.) 

For the Frosting:

In the bowl of your mixer, beat cream cheese, butter, and peppermint extract on medium speed until smooth. 

Add powdered sugar and beat on medium-low until combined. 

Add milk and food coloring and increase mixer speed to high. Beat for one minute, until smooth. 

Spoon frosting around the top of the Bundt cake then spread with an offset spatula. 

Place cake in the refrigerator to chill for at least 30 minutes. 

For the Glaze:

In a large bowl, whisk together powdered sugar and cocoa powder until combined. 

Add melted butter, vanilla, and water and whisk until smooth and thickened. 

Drizzle over cooled frosted cake, then top with additional chopped mints, if desired. 

First of the Month Challenge: July

Let it Rot

Composting is easy and oddly rewarding.  If you are not already composting, I challenge you to get started.  My family has both a bio orb and a tumbler outside.  We alternate between them depending on what stage each one is in.  We have a container in the kitchen for food scraps and the like as well as a couple of small containers in each bathroom for any paper products that can be composted.  

Composting is something that takes almost no effort and anyone can do it.  You don't want to compost or you don't think you have anything to compost?  Consider this, according to the EPA in 2015, 39 million tons of food waste was created with only 5.3 percent of that being composted instead of being sent to the landfill or incinerated.  Food is the largest single material being sent to landfills and amounts to 22 percent of all solid waste.  That means nearly a quarter of your trash is food.  I'll discuss food waste in more detail in an upcoming post.

I have plenty of posts about composting that can be helpful for you, you can check out a composting book from your library, or you can email me with any questions and I'm happy to help.  

These are the products that my family uses: 

65 gallon 2 stage tumbler.

Bio-Orb.

Sure-Close for the kitchen.

Seasonal Sunday: DIY Wire Leaf Bin Update

Back in January, I wrote about getting rid of our yard waste bin. You can read that post here.  In that post, I talked about a DIY wire leaf bin that you can use instead and reap the benefits of this compost.  Today's post is an update now that we have one for ourselves.

While doing some spring cleanup in the yard in April I decided to give the lawn a good raking.  We didn't have a leaf bin put together yet but I was getting quite a bit of grass and leaves that needed to go somewhere.  Luckily Handsome Husband was available to remedy this problem most terrible.  

We had the supplies on hand so he was able to whip it together pretty fast.  It took him 10 or 15 minutes total.  It is 4 feet in diameter and 4 feet tall.  I did all of the proper calculations and it holds a bunch of sh!t from the yard.  Bunch is the exact number by the way.  Wire, stakes and a big strong man is all that is needed to put this together.  I suppose in a pinch a regular man or a woman could execute this project but if you should have a big strong man around this clearly falls under the man's work category.  Don't email me or comment that I'm sexist, you and I both know this is man's work.

This wire leaf bin is so simple and inexpensive I wish I had known about it sooner.  Now you can put together one for yourself.  You're welcome.

Here is our glorious wire leaf bin.

*Mama Betty's Korn Kob Holders by Kanye

Thank Yeezus!  The Korn Kob Holders by Kanye are finally here!  Treat yourself to a pair of these handcrafted beauties and be the envy of your social circle.  Each pair of Korn Kob Holders by Kanye are handcrafted by a few select chosen artists and extreme care is taken to ensure that each pair is made to Kanye's level of perfection.  Each pair is constructed from a couple of authentic mystical magical unicorns that once roamed free in the Bubblegum Forest of Happy Dreamland.  Only the very best unicorns were selected for their spectacular rainbow horns.  Care was taken not to harm the animal while their beautiful horns were being surgically removed.  After the horns are removed, they are cut down to size and coated in a thick glossy lacquer mixed with equal parts diamond dust and tears from Yeezy himself.  The lacquer is then buffed to maximize shine and then gently rubbed against Kim's luxuriously plump posterior in a clockwise motion in accordance with Kanye's strict specifications.  Lastly, Kanye kisses each Korn Kob Holder before placing it in its diamond-encrusted keepsake box.  Kanye personally suggests using the Korn Kob Holders for your very best selection of corn on the cob topped with a mixture of 24-carat gold and butter flavored Crisco, skip the salt, Kanye recommends you to save that for the watermelon.  Due to the majestic nature of these handcrafter horns, supplies are limited.  Order your very own pair of Korn Kob Holders by Kanye while supplies last!!!

*Satirical Saturday brought to you by Betty

Dear Betty: Reader Heads Up 6/28/2019 Three Mile Island

Dear Betty,

Did you know that Three Mile Island is closing their nuclear power plant?

-Jeff

Dear Jeff,

Thank you for the heads up and thank you for reading!  I was not aware that Three Mile Island is closing.  I wrote a Slow Clap Presents about the Three Mile Island accident back in January.  You can read that post here.  I checked into the story and I posted a summary below.

Thank you,

Betty

Since the accident at Three Mile Island back in 1979, people have been pushing to eliminate nuclear power.  Three Mile Island is scheduled to shut down the remaining reactor by September of this year due to financial issues.  Three Mile Island has been losing money for a long time and now that subsidy legislation compensation won't be coming through for the plant, it is forced to shut down despite having licensure for another 15 years. 

Nuclear power supplies about 20 percent of the nation with energy.  The majority of our energy comes from natural gas and renewable energy which is cheaper than nuclear energy.  Once the plant closes there will be a cleanup period that could take years.

"Homer, your bravery and quick thinking have turned a potential Chernobyl into a mere Three Mile Island." -Mr. Burns

Zero Waste Printed Homes

A lot of work, materials, and waste go into building new homes.  What if a home could be printed instead of built and create nearly zero waste?

A construction technologies company called ICON has teamed up with Fuseproject and New Story to build a village of 50 homes in Latin America.  The homes will be built for impoverished families in need.    

Each home is printed in place with a giant printing machine that used concrete to produce each home.  This method of construction produces almost no waste and each home can be printed in about 24 hours.  Countertops in both the bathroom and kitchen as well as options for shelving and seating can be incorporated into the design of the home.  Each home has an outdoor kitchen and room for growing food and raising chickens.  

Each home is just under 600 square feet and offers a safe shelter for people who otherwise would not have a safe place to stay.  According to New Story, there are currently 1 billion people in need of shelter and they expect there this number to grow to 3 billion by the year 2050.  The cost of each of these printed homes is 6,000 dollars.

My two cents:  What I think is so interesting about this idea is the simplicity of it.  It makes you question what you are fortunate enough to have and rethink need versus want.  

Want to read more about the printed village?  Click here.

3D printed homes concept.

WTF Wednesday: What's in Your Cans?

I drive my son Frank (not his real name) to school every morning and I've noticed a particular street where the garbage cans overfloweth.  It manages to pique my interest each week on garbage day that multiple households have their cans at the bottoms of the driveway and they are always crammed beyond the brim, so much so that the lids aren't even close to closing.  This isn't something that occurs once in a while, this happens each week without fail.  Keeping in mind that I tend not to notice things that are obvious, I've probably been driving past these robust cans for a very long time without noticing.

A few things to point out.  The cans in question are those of the standard 96-gallon size.  Garbage pickup is weekly in our area and recycling is collected every other week.  This involves multiple homes on the same street which is probably why I even noticed in the first place.  I will refer to this street as Garbage Lane going forward.  Garbage Lane has what I feel are average-sized homes for our area and I would speculate that we live in a middle-middle class area.  Although most everyone thinks they are the middle-middle class.  

We used to have the standard 96-gallon garbage can and even at the height of our trash mongering we were putting out 2, maybe 3 bags of garbage each week.  Remember that we are a family of 6.  Maybe after Christmas, we would have an overflowing garbage can but that's probably the extent of our former trash productivity.  

After noticing the consistent overflowing cans on Garbage Lane, I started wondering what the heck they have in there week after week.  I wondered if maybe the people on Garbage Lane don't recycle and this is a contributing factor in their robust cans but after making a point to notice on recycling day, their recycling cans are overflowing too.  I would never do this but I ran the scenario in my mind where I stop and ask them what they have in there or just looking in the cans.  Again, I would never do that because I'm not nuts pants Magoo but I wonder nonetheless.  

The mystery of Garbage Lane and its overflowing cans will go unsolved but will no doubt continue to mystify me each time I drive by and see them.  A few thoughts to close with:  What the heck is in those cans?  How can each household consistently produce so much darn garbage?  Are they aware that they are wasteful trash mongers?  What's in your cans???

Is this your garbage can?

Slow Clap Presents: Jakarta, a City Half Sunk

Real Story.  Real Stupid.

Jakarta is the capital of Indonesia with a population of 10 million people.  Jakarta is the fastest sinking city in the world with almost half of its area already below sea level.  It is estimated that by the year 2050, 95 percent of North Jakarta will be submerged.  There have been ideas over the last few decades to relocate the capital city but that plan has yet to come to fruition.  This is reminiscent of the Simpson's episode 'Trash of the Titans' where Homer ruins the city with garbage and Springfield is relocated 5 miles down the road.  

The relocation of Springfield.

So why is Jakarta sinking?  A variety of reasons that are all manmade.  Jakarta is a coastal city and is therefore easily impacted by rising sea levels.  Many coastal cities are feeling the impact of rising sea levels and that comes from climate change.  Climate change causes the polar ice caps to melt and that created more water.  Thermal expansion is another effect of climate change which causes the existing water to expand due to increased temperature.

Another reason Jakarta is sinking is due to excessive water extraction.  The city has very little piped municipal water so 60 percent of residents, businesses, and commercial buildings must pump water from aquifers.  This groundwater extraction is poorly regulated and much of the population takes much more water than they are allowed.  Businesses and commercial buildings need a license to pump water but many do it without the proper licensing that regulates the amount of water that can be extracted.  When you pump water out of the aquifers that the land sits on the land settles and sinks.

How can Jakarta be saved?  There are a few ideas that are all fantastic.  They are already building the Great Garuda across Jakarta Bay, a sea wall that is designed to help keep sea water out.  They are also building 17 artificial islands that are supposed to help along with a lagoon that will lower water levels and will allow the city's rivers to drain.  There are ideas to use artificial recharge, an extremely expensive method of managing sinking ground that Tokyo used some 50 years ago.  The biggest and most fought solution is to stop taking water from the aquifers.  To stop taking water from the aquifers there would need to be another source of water, which Jakarta actually has.  The problem with all of Jakarta's water from rivers and natural sources is that they have polluted them so much that it would take 10 years to clean up the rivers enough to be usable for humans.  Finally, another solution to the sinking city is to relocate.

My two cents:  I'm not sure where to start.  Jakarta is a self-made problem that wouldn't even be a problem if the rivers weren't so polluted.  It really serves as a cautionary tale for where the rest of us are going to be if we keep polluting and warming the planet.  

Rating:  I give the sinking city of Jakarta 2 out of 5 possible slow claps.  Why 2 slow claps?  I just picked it really which I can do because I write the blog.  When you write, you choose.

The Citarum River, an alternate water source for Jakarta.

Garbology: Our Dirty Love Affair with Trash

I have read quite a bit about living with less, zero waste, and plastic pollution but nothing was quite as informative as Garbology by Edward Humes.  This book isn't for anyone who is looking for an easy leisurely read.  This book is for people who are determined to understand how our world became this way and want to strive to do their part to elicit change.

This book is jam-packed with information and at times I found it fascinating and other times I struggled to stay awake reading it.  This book could and should be used as a textbook in schools because the information that it contains is quite valuable.

The book begins with a vivid description of a home that is inhabited by hoarders.  Every last area of the home is cram packed with garbage and no one is aware until part of the garbage mountain inside collapses and the owners are trapped inside.  The owners survive and it is revealed that they have tons of garbage in their home.  You question how anyone can live this way and how people can make so much garbage.  When the author points out that hoarders produce the same amount of garbage as every other American and the only difference is that they keep theirs instead of rolling it out the curb once a week, you stop for a moment and realize what that means.

The book moves you through the different waste management methods throughout the history of our country as well as different areas of the world.  From early primitive landfills to complicated cell sanitary landfills, from backyard Smokey Joe's to industrial incineration, from throwing trash in the ocean and streets to garbage munching hogs wandering the streets to designated piggeries, from food rotting in streets and gutters to backyard compost and municipal compost facilities.  The book talks about recycling and the lack thereof including the limitations in many aspects of recycling.

I found the science of garbology fascinating in this book.  There is a big portion dedicated to the work of William Rathje and his team of scientists that studies garbage.  They sorted garbage to learn about consumerism and what people throw away and when.  For example, nearly all of Halloween candy is eaten where Valentine's Day candy is largely thrown away.  They tracked garbage to see how efficiently it made it to the dump or to the recycling center and found that often times the things we get rid of make long unnecessary journeys before arriving at their final location.

This book will explain how people in first world countries have a 102-ton garbage legacy that they create in their lifetime.  It's hard to believe we create this much waste until you delve deep into the problem and you understand that this garbage is the result of our mindless consumerism.  You will understand how we came to be this way and why we all suffer from a buy and toss mentality.  When you read this and it is staring you in the face it envokes the desire for change.  After reading this book you will not only know how to break free of your 102-ton legacy but you will want to.

Seasonal Sunday: Charcoal or Gas?

Grilling season has arrived again and with it comes the debate of which grilling method is better.  Charcoal or natural gas?  This post is not about which grilling fuel is better when it comes to taste but rather which grilling method is better for the environment.  As far as taste goes, most people say charcoal is better but I have no opinion on the matter as I personally can't taste the difference.  

Let's take a look at the pros and cons for each method and I'll let you know who comes out ahead at the end of the post.

Traditional charcoal briquettes are made up of sawdust, cornstarch, and lighter fluid.  Different companies have variations to these ingredients but essentially they are the basic components.  When burned, charcoal emits 105 times more carbon monoxide than propane and it releases dangerous VOCs that are known to be carcinogenic.  The upside of using charcoal is that it is a renewable resource.

Lump charcoal, also known as chunk charcoal, has no additives so burning it is carbon neutral.  Lump charcoal is considered "natural" charcoal as it is made from burning wood in the absence of oxygen.  Lump charcoal is not as plentiful its briquette counterpart and is therefore usually more expensive.  I have to wonder about where the wood is coming from that is turned into lump charcoal.  At face value lump charcoal sounds better but I'm not so sure when you factor where the wood is sourced from.  

Natural gas or propane carries the lowest carbon footprint but since it comes from a non-renewable resource it has that drawback.  Other than coming from a non-renewable resource, I couldn't find any negative aspects of gas.  

Skip the meat?  I read some articles that talked more about the carbon emissions that come from what you grill as opposed to what you grill with.  Apparently the food you grill makes big difference.  For example, chicken, fish, and vegetables have a significantly lower CO2e (carbon monoxide equivalent) than hamburgers, steaks, and hotdogs.   

The winner:  I think gas is the way to go if you want to be kind to the environment but make sure to use it sparingly.  Since I like to have my burger and eat it too, I say go ahead and grill whatever you feel like.