Another Day, Another Swim Meet

Today the girls and I went to see some of my students and advisees swim in a meet against a local girls' school. My own swimmer was quite pleased to see that some of her times stack up pretty well against high school kids, even though neither program is particularly high-powered. And my superstar student lapped everyone (a couple of the girls twice) in the 500 free.

It was 60 degrees out and rainy today. Monday, it was bitterly cold. My spouse saw gasoline for $1.57 a gallon. What on earth is going on?

Two more questions.

1. For you spinners out there, can I knit with what I spun on my drop spindle or does it need to be plied first or have something else done to it?

2. Read the recipe for Nanaimo Bars below, and then tell me --do you think I can substitute dried cranberries for the coconut? Note that I can't use the almonds at all (nut allergies galore around here).

(recipe courtesy of one of my colleagues, via the parent of a Canadian advisee)

For the Bottom Layer, use:

1/2 cup of unsalted butter, 1/4 cup of sugar, 5 tablespoons of cocoa, 1 beaten egg, 1 and 3/4 cups of graham wafer crumbs, 1/2 cup of finely chopped almonds and 1 cup of coconut.

Melt the butter, with sugar and cocoa, in the top of a double boiler. Add the egg, and stir to cook and thicken. Remove this mixture from the heat, and stir in the crumbs, coconut and nuts. Press firmly into an ungreased 8" x 8" pan.

For the Second Layer, use:

1/2 cup of unsalted butter, 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons of cream, 2 tablespoons of vanilla custard powder, and 2 cups of icing sugar.

Cream the butter, cream, custard powder and icing sugar together, beating until light. Spread the results over the bottom layer.

For the Third Layer, use:

4 one oz squares of semisweet chocolate, and two tablespoons of unsalted butter.

Melt the chocolate and butter over low heat, and then cool. When the mixture has cooled, but is still liquid, pour it over the second layer, and chill the pan in the refrigerator.