Could you at least guard against null in your own library code? That’d be great, mkay.

Popularity: 11%

Since I linked to Grayson’s site in the past, I thought I would also link to Dane’s site, just in case you need a photo fix.

Popularity: 13%

Definetly not Mary Zubiate quality, but decent to eat, and 2x better than store bought crap… Just slightly better than the uncooked tortillas from Costco…

Borrowed from Homesick Texan, who also borrowed it:

Texas Flour Tortillas (adapted from The Border Cookbook by Cheryl Alters Jamison and Bill Jamison)
Ingredients:
Two cups of all-purpose flour (can make them whole wheat by substituting one cup of whole-wheat flour for white flour)
1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
1 teaspoon of salt
2 teaspoons of vegetable oil
3/4 cups of warm milk

Method:
Mix together the flour, baking powder, salt and oil.
Slowly add the warm milk.
Stir until a loose, sticky ball is formed.
Knead for two minutes on a floured surface. Dough should be firm and soft.
Place dough in a bowl and cover with a damp cloth or plastic wrap for 20 minutes.
After the dough has rested, break off eight sections, roll them into balls in your hands, place on a plate (make sure they aren’t touching) and then cover balls with damp cloth or plastic wrap for 10 minutes. (It’s very important to let the dough rest, otherwise it will be like elastic and won’t roll out to a proper thickness and shape.)
After dough has rested, one at a time place a dough ball on a floured surface, pat it out into a four-inch circle, and then roll with a rolling pin from the center until it’s thin and about eight inches in diameter. (If you roll out pie crusts you’ll have no problem with this.) Don’t over work the dough, or it’ll be stiff. Keep rolled-out tortillas covered until ready to cook.
In a dry iron skillet or comal heated on high, cook the tortilla about thirty seconds on each side. It should start to puff a bit when it’s done.
Keep cooked tortillas covered wrapped in a napkin until ready to eat.
Can be reheated in a dry iron skillet, over your gas-burner flame or in the oven wrapped in foil.
While you probably won’t have any leftovers, you can store in the fridge tightly wrapped in foil or plastic for a day or so.
Makes eight tortillas.

As a small postscript, since I was on the subject of Zubiates, I wanted to let you all know that it IS a WELL-KNOWN FACT that Orlando Zubiate can kick the ass of his older brother Fernando Zubiate, any day of the week, and sometimes while napping. Orlando just didn’t want to say anything in order to keep Fernando’s ego in check, as the truth surely would have crushed him the same as Orlando’s right hand. Comments are open for anyone with a first hand account of Orlando smashing Fernando’s will to live.

Popularity: 21%

My second son was born on Jan 23rd. I am so happy that I have cried. Good thing I stopped. Mother and baby are doing fine, all is well. Bless all those who have sent their congratualtions, and thank you to my internal support system. You know who you are.

Popularity: 17%

Since the winter does slow down a little bit, I have started to organize the shop (another of the new year’s resolutions). I have wanted to build suspended overhead shelving, but I had to clean out an area first, and then insulate and sheetrock the wall before installing the shelving.
Below is the final pic of the insulation install. Alex and Amanda will notice that all insulation was installed with the wording legible

The insulation went fairly well, but the sheetrock is not my strong suit. One whole Saturday gone, with 1.5 man days in, you can see the final result

Not the greatest job in the world, but hey, it’s just a shop.

Will post pics of the suspended shelving soon.

Popularity: 11%