Global Hawk Night Visit

Hayden and Reese were in town this weekend and I thought they might like to see the Global Hawk up close. They thought it was pretty cool. We drove by again on Sunday and it was gone.

Global Hawk UAV

There was a Global Hawk UAV (RQ-4 I think) mock up on display at UND Aerospace today. I felt the need to check it out this afternoon. These things can fly for 36 hours and shoot missiles from 10,000 miles away.

The following models are a bit smaller. I kept looking for Snoopy and the Red Baron. As the Red Baron Song says "10, 20, 30, 40, 50 or more!!" I think I still have the Snoopy LP. They are hanging in one of the Aerospace buildings on campus.

On The Way Down

The Red River is on the way down. The second crest prediction has been canceled. So it looks like we don't have to worry about the flooding getting any worse. The flood gates downtown have been taken down and the Sorlie Bridge has been opened up. I decided to take a trip downtown over to East Grand Forks to check out the river and Cabelas.

The view from the opened flood wall looking at the Sorlie Bridge towards East Grand Forks

The Gateway into Grand Forks.

The Sorlie Bridge.

The Grand Forks County Office Building from the East Side of the river.

The view of Cabelas from Grand Forks.


The gateway into East Grand Forks.

Whiteys.

The Moose in front of Cabelas.

The Red River Flood Gauge.

Peanut Butter Cup Surprise Cookies

Time for another recipe posting. Jo cooked up a batch of Peanut Butter Cup Surprise Cookies for Easter weekend.


You can find the original recipe and step by step instructions at:

http://annieseats.wordpress.com/2009/02/06/peanut-butter-cup-surprise-cookies/

You may want to have a cup of milk or coffee when you eat these.


The following is from Annieseats
Peanut Butter Cup Surprise Cookies
Yield: 24 cookies

Ingredients:
2 cups creamy peanut butter
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
24 mini Reeses peanut butter cups, unwrapped
mini marshmallows
4 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 tbsp. sugar
2 tbsp. water
mini M&Ms

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Combine peanut butter, sugar and eggs in the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat until well combined. Divide the dough evenly between 24 wells of a mini-muffin pan (I usually have a bit left over, but do so to leave room for the candy). Make an indentation in the center of each dough ball. Bake for 13-15 minutes, until almost done. Remove from the oven and press a peanut butter cup into the center of each cookie until it is flush with the top of the dough. Top each cookie with 3-4 mini marshmallows. Return the pan to the oven and bake 2-3 minutes more, until the marshmallows have puffed up. Transfer the pans to a wire cooling rack and allow the cookies to cool completely in the pan before removing them. (This is important! I tried removing them while still slightly warm - not a good idea.)

Once the cookies are completely cooled, transfer them to a wire rack over a sheet of wax paper or aluminum foil. Place the chopped chocolate in a small bowl. Bring the cream, sugar and water to a boil, then pour the liquid over the chocolate and let sit for 30 seconds. Gently whisk the mixture together until smooth. Leave the glaze to sit until it thickens a bit to your desired consistency, then drizzle over the tops of the cookies. Sprinkle with mini M&Ms before the glaze hardens.

Water Over the Road

The water had gone up some over the Easter Weekend. On the way back home going south on I29 we ran into some water over the road. There were lots of places were the water was only a 3-6 inches from over taking the highway.

25mph zone!

The River Runs North.

We left Grand Forks on Thursday after work. Here are some photos of Interstate 29 heading north. The amount of water is unbelievable. The Red River is 7-12 miles wide in some areas. All the photos are taken from the truck at 75mph.

The 1 mile from the Oslo exit.





The road into Oslo.














Water Water Every Where.







The Rest stop south of Drayton.

Water over the road.

Snow

Took a walk through University Park after work yesterday. There was also a geocache there that I had to find. Thought that I would post some snow pictures.

This is the water park. Still a bit cold!


No more skating ice, but that does not keep the kids at home. Check out the nice sculpture.


Some blue sky.


One of the few local bridges not flooded.

Up and Down.

The Red River is on the way down (46 feet), but it will be going back up this weekend. The cold weather has slowed the melt, but next week is going to be in the 50's so the Red River will shoot back up.


Eastside in front of Whiteys.



Eastside looking a flood wall in front of Whiteys.


The Demers flood gate.

Sorlie Bridge.

The BNSF rail Bridge and the Point Bridge.

Stop!!

Grand Forks County Office Building parking ramp.

A view from the ramp.

The BNSF Rail Road Bridge is now open.

A view of Cabelas across the river in EGF.

The Point Bridge.

Looking East.