Growing up with one of the geekiest mothers in the world, I think it's safe to say that my brother and I have visited our fair share of science museums. While I love science and can appreciate its usefulness and general awesomeness, I'm not quite as into it as the rest of my family (where did I wrong? Both of my parents have science-related degrees! Weird...). However, I've always had fun at science museums and I still seek them out now that I'm all grownup and adult-like. 

But I do have to say something that will probably make my mother's head explode...My favorite part of any museum visit is almost always getting a bag of free-dried astronaut ice cream! Yeah, I said it. I have a feeling I'm not alone in this since ThinkGeek.com basically agrees with me. It's so delicious and weird! Who doesn't love that awkwardly dry sweetness that turns to neopolitan goo in your mouth?!  Sooooo yummy. But the bag is always so small and unsatisfying. Like they're just mocking you with a spaceman's diet. Anywho, last Christmas I noticed that Paper Source (because all good things can be found there) was selling Dippin' Dot-esque bottles of the stuff! YES! I kid you not. It's not as good as the larger chunks of it but it'll do in a pinch. Also, Thrive makes lots of freeze-dried goodies. I didn't realize this was a thing but I'm 100% on board.
 

There's this tutorial on how to make your own...It looks fairly complicated but I'm not Madame FancyPants like my mother so I think I'll show her and we'll see if it's doable.
There's also this version...Which seems a little less intimidating: HowStuffWorks

Has anyone else made it before? I'd love to know if it ACTUALLY tastes like the real stuff or ya know, actually works. The Maker in the video is fairly convincing but he could just really like ice cream in general (who doesn't?). 

Also, BONUS: Learning AND sweet treats!

As summer is rapidly winding down, school is firing up and getting crazy busy and of course this launches Gibberish's busiest time of the year. Doing dishes, making dinner, or pretty much any housework is going to take a herculean effort, so what's wrong with finding a few ways to combine tasks?

Salmon is on the menu for tonight and I'll let you all know how it turns out. And yes, I'm doing it the last way mentioned...with soap...while simultaneously cleaning our dishes. I'm ridiculously excited!

For all the delicious details, read this!

Today is my brother's 27th birthday! He's old now so we went down to Orange County to celebrate with him, his wife, and their 2 year old, Charlotte. I know everyone probably bakes cakes/cupcakes for birthdays but in our family it's a really big deal. When we were kids and visiting California in the summer, our lovely Grandma Doris (who turns 100 in October!!) would always help us bake a cake for each other or our dad and those are some of my favorite memories. We always made a box cake but it was still tasty! My Grandma made the best frosting and she tried to teach me how but whenever I make her recipe, it never turns out as good as when she made it. So I was on the hunt for the perfect frosting that I could make and a few years ago I found it on the foodie blog, The Girl Who Ate Everything. Seriously, this is the best frosting you will ever make...Well, if you like super sweet frosting and I do so it's perfect! My family seems to enjoy it quite a bit too!

But I decided to try something a little different his year because my stepdad, Wayne, got me a Debbie Meyer Cupcake Genius. I was a little skeptical at first but it worked perfectly! I used The Girl Who Ate Everything's chocolate cake recipe which I've made before when I first made the frosting and it is so rich and moist and amazing. I can't say enough nice things about her recipes.  

I also used her homemade whipped cream recipe for the cupcake filling, which was delicious! I'd never made it before and I was so amazed by the process. Mom and I aren't fans of whipped cream but I think we both might be converts to the homemade variety!

And to top it off I used - guess whose? - The Girl Who Ate Everything's chocolate frosting recipe! I had never made chocolate frosting from scratch before and I was a little nervous but I think it turned out well. It's pretty light but a little too sweet for my tastes...I think I might try a dark chocolate frosting next time.

Miss Charlotte seemed to enjoy them too!