food

Things you can eat

Association Picnic Photos 2017

Shelter House 3, although many people had already left. Photo by Stephanie Reed

Jim Ray, Stephanie, Martin, Valerie, and Jeanna. Photo by David Reed

Looking at something shiny. Photo by Stephanie Reed

Despite the rain, there was a sizeable turnout at the picnic, with members from Show-Me, IGAMS, the Bead Society, and more. Bruce, Martin, and Jim Ray grilled, with plenty of umbrella helpers keeping the rain off. Every picnic table in Shelter #3 was covered with interesting items during swap time, but it was cleared off quickly to make room for food and auction action. There was a lot of good food and if anyone went away hungry they have only themselves to blame. Kara was the auctioneer and sold things like trilobites, ammonites, calcite crystals, Dr. Gentile’s book (he was at the picnic, so the winner got it signed!), a specimen of garnets on chlorite schist, necklaces, beads, and even a set of all-beef hot dogs with matching buns. The proceeds will go towards the Scholarship Fund, which will be awarded next March.

Association Picnic 2017

picnic

The Association Picnic will be Sunday, August 27 at Antioch Park. 6501 Antioch Rd, Merriam, KS 66202. There will be a swap starting around 8 am, lunch will be around noon, and then the auction will be sometime after lunch. Please bring a side dish or dessert, stuff to swap if you want to swap, and cash so you can buy something at the auction. Proceeds go to the Scholarship Fund.

Baker’s Quarry Cake

Cake version of Baker's quarry and all of its layers sandstone gravel granite intrusion basalt flow

http://blogs.agu.org/mountainbeltway/files/2011/01/cake29anno.jpg

This is what happens when you ask a geologist to bake a cake. http://blogs.agu.org/mountainbeltway/2011/01/24/east-wall-of-bakers-quarry/ has a very funny description of the quarry and how it was formed. Make sure you read the whole thing!

Historical records indicate that quarrying operations began in earnest around 9:30pm, although there is anecdotal evidence of small scale nibbling, particularly in the Strawberry Granite, prior to that time. Though only crumbs were removed, a few locals reported their findings to others. Resulting hype and rumor-mongering built up public anticipation to a frenzied hum. When the echoes of dinner had faded, industrial-scale excavations began at Baker’s Quarry.

The real Baker’s Quarry is a mine in Monroe, North Carolina, also known as Martin Marietta Materials. This is what it looks like.

Bakers quarry mine north carolina aerial view map

From Google Maps

Geode Cake

a white layered cake with a blue candy geode decoration

Cake by Whisk Cake Company, http://www.whiskcakes.com

A talented baker made this geode layer cake with fondant for the layers and a rock candy geode surrounded by gold and silver leaf. I am very impressed with the banding in the geode. It looks very tasty. This cake was recently featured on Cake Wrecks in their Sunday Sweets section, which is a day of beautiful cakes to contrast with the awful cakes on other days. There are other geode and rock-related cakes including a malachite cake posted that day, so be sure to go to the Cake Wrecks post “Oh Em Geode” and see the rest.

Association Picnic 2016

picnic
The Association Picnic will be held Sunday, August 28th at Antioch Park, Shelter 3. Swap begins at 9am, picnic around 12:30-1:00pm, auction after lunch. Meats, drinks, plates, etc. will be provided by the Association. Please bring a potluck side dish (e.g. beans, chips, veggies, potato salad, etc.), and dessert. Also bring cash to spend at the auction, which benefits the scholarship fund. Everyone is welcome.

Association Picnic

The Association’s Summer Picnic will be Sunday, August 23 at Antioch Park, shelter #3. The rock swap begins at 8 am, lunch is at noon, and the scholarship auction is after lunch. This is a good chance to see people from every “facet” of mineralogy, including rocks, minerals, fossils, crystals, paleontology, gem cutting, flint knapping, and more. The Association will provide the hamburgers, hot dogs, and soda, and they ask that everybody bring a side dish, salad, or a dessert to share. Also, bring something for the rock swap and cash so you can buy things at the auction. The auction raises money for scholarships for college students majoring in geology, paleontology, or other rock-related areas.

Here are photos from last year’s picnic. https://plus.google.com/b/109214060991924897753/events/gallery/ct46l01qks94sg53lmqg78st21o

If you use Google+ you can RSVP to the picnic here: https://plus.google.com/b/109214060991924897753/events/c2lhou5h8lkt725kn0hlafeu92k

Trilobite Cookies

A plate of cookies decorated to look like trilobites.

Stephen Greb, http://www.uky.edu/KGS/education/trilobitecookies2.htm

Even Easier Trilobite Cookies

by Stephen Greb, Kentucky Geological Survey

You’ll need:

1 bag of oval-shaped or circular cookies. Cookies that do not already have icing work best. Several types of cookies can be used, if you want to show variety.
1 cup of M & M’s ® (mini-size works well), Skittles ® or other small, round candies for eyes
Several tubes of icing for decorating. Large tubes and small, detail tubes can both be used.
Plastic knifes for spreading icing
Paper or plastic plates to make the cookies on
Paper towels for clean up

Preparation time: 15-30 minutes, depending on how many cookies you make

Recipe:

1. Place undecorated cookies on a plate or paper towel.

2. Decorate cookies using tube icing. Try to divide the cookies into three parts. You can spread icing on the top third and bottom third to model the head (cephalon) and tail (pygidium) of the trilobite. You can also divide the cookie into three parts along the long axis and spread icing on both sides, leaving the middle strip bare. This models the three longitudinal lobes of the trilobite. You can use small tube icing to make segments across the cookie, or bumps, or spines. Use your imagination.

3. Finish by placing two candy eyes on the head. You can use a dab of icing as “glue” to help hold the candy eyes down. If the eyes don’t stick, it’s okay; some trilobites lacked eyes and were blind.

4. Eat and enjoy!

Happy January Birthdays!

A chocolate cake with green icing and multicolored rocks spelling

Cake and photo by Stephanie Reed

We had several Show-Me Rockhound members with birthdays in January, and I got thinking about what kind of cake a rockhound would like. I’ve seen some amazing geology-themed cakes but I’m not skilled enough at cake decorating to come close to those. Then I saw these chocolate rocks at Price Chopper and I knew exactly what to do. This is the result. Happy birthday, David, Charley, and Sharon!

Thanksgiving Rock Dinner

Happy Thanksgiving! To whet your appetite for dinner, here are some pictures of rocks and minerals that look like food. This is a traveling exhibit, so maybe it will be at a rock show near you.