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May. 19th, 2009
Well, *this* is depressing.
May. 19th, 2009 07:44 pm
The GAO (Government Accountability Office) has issued a report saying that there is widespread (alleged) abuse against disabled kids in schools.
Depressing, but not exactly surprising. Be sure to read the last sentence - they examined ten restraint and seclusion cases where the educator (and I use that term loosely) was found culpable in some way. Five out of ten of those cases? The staff is still employed.
Depressing, but not exactly surprising. Be sure to read the last sentence - they examined ten restraint and seclusion cases where the educator (and I use that term loosely) was found culpable in some way. Five out of ten of those cases? The staff is still employed.
I actually used this same recipe for cupcakes yesterday for Ana's in-class party, but they weren't as divine. *shrugs*
Here's what I did:
1. I used the recipe from the back of a Hershey's cocoa box, except I used cake flour instead of all purpose, and I used half raw sugar, half white. Oh, and of course we used goat milk.
2. I took my two cakes and, once they'd cooled, pasted them together with a jar of raspberry jam (all fruit).
3. I made a frosting with margarine, vegan margarine, and goat butter combined with scrapings from vanilla beans, some extract (scraping beans SO wasn't worth it), cocoa powder, and powdered sugar. Query: Can one get powdered raw sugar?
4. I frosted and refrosted my cake. In the past, I've had a problem with dryness, so I wasn't sparing with the frosting. Lemme tell you, this cake was anything but dry. Rich, moist - mmm! But the frosting was yummy alone anyway.
5. Now, I have the same problem with frosting cakes as I do with wrapping presents - for whatever reason, it tends to come out a bit sloppy. (I must remember to start chilling my frosting before putting it on the cake.) However, with a little creativity you can hide this. With presents, I add strategically placed bows, cards, and little goodies (everything from candy to scrunchies to nail polish, preferably something that coordinates with the present inside). For the cake, I decided to just smooth out the top and add raspberries. I would've put more on than I did, but Evangeline stepped on them :( (I have one rule, one rule regarding bags - DON'T STEP ON THEM. That's the rule the kids always break, naturally.) So I just spaced them around the edge and in the approximate middle, and filled in the rest of the space with grated chocolate. Not very *much* grated chocolate, as it's definitely not the candy that melts in my mouth. (Note to self: Next time? Freeze the chocolate first.)
6. We stuck in trick candles (ha!) and dug in. Mmmmmmmmmmmm! This was the bestest cake ever, bar none. If I'm gonna keep making cakes (and I can't, it'll kill our health, seriously) I'm gonna need to get a cake stand so I can frost them better. Hm. And some friends to eat them. Anybody up to come over for free cake next time I bake?
Here's what I did:
1. I used the recipe from the back of a Hershey's cocoa box, except I used cake flour instead of all purpose, and I used half raw sugar, half white. Oh, and of course we used goat milk.
2. I took my two cakes and, once they'd cooled, pasted them together with a jar of raspberry jam (all fruit).
3. I made a frosting with margarine, vegan margarine, and goat butter combined with scrapings from vanilla beans, some extract (scraping beans SO wasn't worth it), cocoa powder, and powdered sugar. Query: Can one get powdered raw sugar?
4. I frosted and refrosted my cake. In the past, I've had a problem with dryness, so I wasn't sparing with the frosting. Lemme tell you, this cake was anything but dry. Rich, moist - mmm! But the frosting was yummy alone anyway.
5. Now, I have the same problem with frosting cakes as I do with wrapping presents - for whatever reason, it tends to come out a bit sloppy. (I must remember to start chilling my frosting before putting it on the cake.) However, with a little creativity you can hide this. With presents, I add strategically placed bows, cards, and little goodies (everything from candy to scrunchies to nail polish, preferably something that coordinates with the present inside). For the cake, I decided to just smooth out the top and add raspberries. I would've put more on than I did, but Evangeline stepped on them :( (I have one rule, one rule regarding bags - DON'T STEP ON THEM. That's the rule the kids always break, naturally.) So I just spaced them around the edge and in the approximate middle, and filled in the rest of the space with grated chocolate. Not very *much* grated chocolate, as it's definitely not the candy that melts in my mouth. (Note to self: Next time? Freeze the chocolate first.)
6. We stuck in trick candles (ha!) and dug in. Mmmmmmmmmmmm! This was the bestest cake ever, bar none. If I'm gonna keep making cakes (and I can't, it'll kill our health, seriously) I'm gonna need to get a cake stand so I can frost them better. Hm. And some friends to eat them. Anybody up to come over for free cake next time I bake?