Laura’s Amarula Carrot Cake!

Laura's Wonderful Carrot Cake!

Something special happens when you get a bunch of ‘foodies’ together… recipes and ideas just come out and an event gets planned!

Laura  and  Karen  put their heads together and found a wonderful recipe for Carrot Cake utilizing two ingredients that were surprising: apricot and  Amarula!  Their recipe also contains pineapple but Laura has added that for thirty years, so no surprise. What was interesting was how the apricot and the Amarula added something very special.

Here’s  Laura’s adaptation of her own recipe  and as Laura is fond of saying, “Bake it for someone you love!”

Roger Freberg

Now all we need is the Ostruducken!

Soccer will RULE the World!… so she says

Got Soccer? I am so sorry... 

The other day while we were enjoying a bit of coffee at a local shop, we witnessed a meeting of what only could be part of what I jokingly refer to as the failing ‘world soccer conspiracy.’ Four women and one petite, quiet & beaten on man entertained the coffee shop… they took themselves so seriously… which made this ol’ boy smile.

It was evident that they didn’t have an agenda …nor could any of them run a meeting. It was just like sitting at the local ‘PTA.’ ….Pointing fingers and laying blame for alleged attendance failures, poor refs, not generating enough ‘buzz’ or ‘hype’…. and the inevitable ‘why isn’t my kid playing more?’ whine. Sheeeeesh… it was a sad momment!”

Fortunately, using their collective brain works, they ‘discovered’ why soccer is failing and why other sports ‘surprisingly’ succeed… in one word…it was all due to “ice.” These ‘soccer ballers’ claimed that sports succeed by having the right amount of ice on hand, without enough ice… all sports fail. Huh? Hmmmm, I always have enough ice on hand, so maybe they’re right.

Seriously, in America, sports is more than a political statement… it’s entertainment and a way of life… and a uniquely competitive cultural arena for our time, interest and money. With all this competition, Soccer just doesn’t ‘make the cut’.

Yes Ma’am, soccer may someday may succeed in America… but not today.

 

Roger Freberg

Trojan Football is coming… “Mui Macho!”

Fairview… Fair Price! Pinotage

Fairview Fair Price! PinotageSometimes its nice to have a simple bottle of red wine… Fairview is an old South African vineyard that is now operated by the folks whose  Goats do Roam. (hint: click on the GDR site and search “Fairview”)

Anyway, the Fairview brand is: 

 “a wine of quality that will please both palate and pocket.” 

Unfortunately, you can buy from their site if you live in South Africa, but — fortunately –there are plenty of folks you can buy from that ship in the USA… including  BEVMO  (on sale right now!)and  Southern Wine.

Another interesting experience was presented to me by my daughter on her return from South Africa… a delightful creamy liquor entitled “Amarula Cream”. Now I do remember the story that my wife told me about Amarula berries from her research days at UCLA (1970’s)… they were one of the few things that got Elephants drunk!

So,  Karen searched the Amarula site , as in many South African wine and drink sites found some wonderful recipes. In particular, she found a carrot cake recipe that is very similar to one we all are very fond of… but with Amarula Cream. So we are adapting our recipe to accommodate… we’ll let you know how it goes!

Why does everything taste so much better when you are on a diet?

Roger Freberg

PS. I am now down over 80lbs on Jenny Craig! Amazing!

Laura Freberg’s Wonderful Psychology Blog

Laura's site is a big hit!

My wife Laura’s web site has been around in one form or another since 1995 and has evolved from something her students could use to a site that encompasses: her text book, current issues in Psychology, student participation and development and areas of personal interest… like family, hobbies, her psychology library and a few favorite wonderful recipes.

Although we are somewhat outside of the academic calendar,  Laura’s site  has continued to demonstrate wide interest around the world. The map above shows some of the many hits — grouped in frequency– just over the past 3 days.

Congratulations, Laura.

Roger Freberg

when ENTJ’s and INTJ’s World’s collide!

Laura the INTJFor anyone who has enjoyed studying personality or taking the variety of tests available, have you ever wondered if personality and political affiliation are related? Well, there is a certain amount of  correlational data  to support this idea.

Hmmmm… I wasn’t surprised that my wife’s personality type skewed to the right. She is an INTJ …and 43% of all INTJ’s report themselves as either ‘Republican or Conservative’ …. this is the 2nd highest percentage on the right of all 17 personality categories (only 14% of the INTJ’s said they were ‘not political’) 

From these same researchers, allow me share some of the highlights of what they had to say about  INTJ’s:

“…When under a great deal of stress, the INTJ may become obsessed with mindless repetitive, Sensate activities, such as over-drinking…. Other people may have a difficult time understanding an INTJ…. They may see them as aloof and reserved… INTJs tend to blame misunderstandings on the limitations of the other party, rather than on their own difficulty in expressing themselves…”

Here I am the ENTJ working to develope a harmonious relationship with my spouse

Poor, poor INTJ’s… by contrast…  ENTJ’s are quite different:

“As an ENTJ, your primary mode of living is focused externally, where you deal with things rationally and logically…. ENTJs are natural born leaders…. which is well-served by their quickness to grasp complexities, their ability to absorb a large amount of impersonal information, and their quick and decisive judgments. They are “take charge” people….The ENTJ has a tremendous amount of personal power and presence which will work for them as a force towards achieving their goals….They’re likely to place much emphasis on their children being well-educated and structured, to desire a congenial and devoted relationship with their spouse.”

Okay…Okay, I pulled a ‘Dan Rather’, I picked out what I wanted to say about both personality types for selfish reasons… believe me, INTJ’s are really quite interesting people. The hard truth is that for every individual — regardless of personality type — there exists specific challenges that must be met in order to be happy in life….. they just may be different types of challenges. ENTJ’s (Me), for example, must refrain from being overly absorbed in their career… or life and love passes them by.

By the way, I am an ENTJ, and we — as a group — tend to be a little less politically active than the norm with 25% of us saying we are ‘not political.’ However, the largest segment of ENTJ’s  describe themselves as either Democrat or liberal (45%).

After this ‘revelation’, Laura now looks at me with a ‘cautious eye.’ However, from what I can tell… when ENTJ’s (me) and INTJ’s get together… ENTJ’s (me) think they are in charge… but INTJ’s eventually get their way.

Roger Freberg