A Little Book Of Sloth

Growing up as I kid, I looked forward to my bedtime story at night, both being read to and reading on my own. Some of my favorite bedtime stories were Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, The Stinky Cheese Man, The True Story of the Three Little Pigs, The Hungry Caterpillar, The Rainbow Fish, The Poky Little Puppy, The Bailey School Kids series, Wayside School is Falling Down, and If You Give A Mouse a Cookie. The tradition of loving bedtime stories is genetic in my family; my 9-year old niece always gets (and has gotten) bedtime stories. An indicator that my niece is growing up too fast is that she is now reading some of the same chapter books I read as a kid (i.e. Bailey School Kids is one of her favorite along with The Magic Treehouse series). Therefore, I am always on the lookout for "can't-pass-up" books for her  to add to her bookshelves, and if I can find these books without having to subject myself to actually perusing the shelves of the children section in the bookstore or libraries the better (I have been told there could be high concentrations of children present in these sections, so I am all for avoiding them altogether).

At the Seattle Public Library they have "must-read" books that the librarians recommend. This month, one of the recommendations for children was A Little Book of Sloth by Lucy Cooke. Now I am a sucker for cute and adorable animals and that is the primary reason I could never become a veterinarian, because I would be the person with a thousand animals. Besides the video of a laughing penguin being tickled, I think this has to be the cutest and most precious things I have seen including animals.

After reading it, I am incredibly envious of a sloth's way of life. People talk about how leisurely the European lifestyle is and how here in America everything is rushed and people just do not take enough time to really enjoy and savor life. Although my opinion is that life is what you make of it, I think the sloth has the perfect lifestyle of relaxing and Europeans would be incredibly jealous. The sloth's lifestyle motto is JUST CHILL.

Besides the overall cuteness of this book, it also has educational value for the readers. But as the back cover of the book states, "Baby sloths can be highly addictive. Prepare yourself for cute overload!" My favorite sloth featured in the book is Mateo. The sloth yearbook at the end is heart-melting. Here are some of the things one can expect to learn:

• Sloths have either two or three digits
• They are masters of mellow
• You cannot wake a sloth up by screaming "BOO"because their nerves do not react to loud noises
• Baby sloths in captivity cannot control their body temperatures, so they must wear customized onesies (and these pictures in the book are epically cute)
• You learn what a "cuddle puddle" is in the book
• Sloths receive rehab therapy when they have injuries (i.e. spinal injuries)
• At the sloth sanctuary, sloths go to the "slothpital" for receiving treatments
• Sloths have an extra neck vertebrae, which means they give owls a run for their money with neck flexibility; a sloth can rotate it's neck 270 degrees
• Part of a sloth's routine at the sanctuary is that they take baths in green leaf teas
• Sloth's top speed is 15 feet a minute
• Sloths have terrible table manners and most likely fall asleep in their food
• Hibiscus flowers are like chocolate to a sloth
• Potty training a sloth at the sanctuary is no easy task and you definitely need the right poo pole

My Quirks

The quirks I have listed are ones that I have noticed about myself.

• I have a queen sized bed but I sleep on the very edge of it; in other words, 9/10 of my mattress is brand new.
• I smile when I am taking someone else's picture, and yes I realize that it doesn't matter if I smile or not.
• I love the smell of old books, gasoline, and smoke after blowing out a candle/match.
• I don't like food on my plate touching other food.
• When I buy ice cream or frozen yogurt the first topping I want to put on it is sprinkles, and I will have double the amount of sprinkles to ice cream/yogurt.
• The room I am sleeping has to be completely dark. This even means that the alarm clock has to be facing the wall so the red lights from the numbers are not glaring at me. And there are absolutely zero night lights in my apartment.
• I hate going into perfume and candle stores; they make me feel nauseated and I usually get a headache from the overwhelming combination of smells.
• I never crack my knuckles and I absolutely hate the sound of others doing it; it's worse than nails on a chalkboard for me.
• When I eat Skittles, I eat all of one color before I move onto the next. And I eat my least favorite flavor to favorite. 
• I will walk all over the city or go to the gym, and when I come home I will wait as long as it takes for the elevator to arrive instead of walking up four flights of stairs.
• I get so impatient when reading a book that 75% of the time I will read the last few pages to see how it all ends.
• When baking things in the oven, I usually cover the pan with non-stick aluminum foil so I don't have to wash the pan after cooking.
• When I am sick, I regress back to my childhood days and watch nothing but Disney movies.
• I never iron. If the steam from running the shower doesn't remove the wrinkles then my style for the day is embracing the wrinkles.
• I am addicted to the app Foodspotting. Since I don't have cable, it's my Food Network fix. 99% of the time when I go to a restaurant featured in the app, I order one of the food items from the app. I totally eat with my eyes.
• My addiction to the Foodspotting app doesn't stop with what I order, but I also post pictures; therefore, yes I am going to take 10 pictures of that slice of cake from every angle.
• I continuously add books to my "want to read" list on goodreads.com. For every book I read I add about 20 more books.
• I hardly ever make spaghetti with a jar of sauce, but much rather prefer buying Stouffer's Spaghetti with meat sauce frozen dinners and add red pepper flakes, parmesan cheese, and Iranian hot sauce...so technically it is still semi-homemade.
• When I visit a new city/town I will want to go into every bakery/cupcake store/donut shop I see, and most likely I have already made a list with addresses of these stores with the most efficient route to hit all of them without having to backtrack.
• The only jewelry I like to wear are earrings and I feel odd if I forget to put them in. I never wear rings or a watch, and rarely do I wear necklaces. Wait, I did wear a mood ring when I was in the third grade.
• I absolutely hate dusting, and I have mentioned this before. I think it is the most pointless chore (next to ironing of course). Recently it's been so cloudy I didn't realize how dusty my apartment was until one day a few rays of sunshine shone through. The logical thing would have been to just dust, but instead I saw the forecast for the weather was cloudy for the next 7 days...therefore, can't see the dust then it doesn't exist, right?
• If I had to choose two small appliances that I couldn't live without, it would be my microwave and Keurig coffee machine.
• I own a total of two white pieces of clothing. Therefore, my separation of laundry consists of clothes and then towels.
• Plastic bags are banned in King County (Seattle). I love the plastic bags that one gets from grocery stores because they are the perfect size for 3 of 4 of my trash cans in my apartment. Therefore, my parents in Missouri save their plastic bags and when I go home I pack them in my luggage and bring them back to Seattle.
• None of my clocks have the same time in my apartment; and they are not just a few minutes off, some are hours off and even some are not working and are just up for decoration.
• 90% of the time when I am wearing a headband, it's not because I think it would be a cute accessory for my outfit, oh no, that headband has a very integral use. It means that I was too lazy to blow dry my bangs when I got out of the shower, so they were too curly and unruly and the only thing that can calm them down is duct tape or a headband, and the latter is less painful.
• Spare change in my car is not for parking meters or tolls, but rather for my favorite donut shop, because they only accept cash and I hardly ever carry cash with me.
• I eat beet rock sugar from Teavanna as dessert.
• When I eat ice cream, most often I am wearing a sweatshirt and have blankets on me.

Modern Flavors of Arabia 2

I know this is my second post about cooking this month, but during the holiday season I made a small dent in the recipes I have been wanting to try. On my February 19, 2013 blog posting I began attempting to make Middle Eastern recipes from the cookbook, Modern Flavors of Arabia. I have made a little progress through the cookbook. Although, none of the recipes I have completed in the cookbook are recipes that I have grown up with, they have been an adventure of their own.

• Baked Baklava Cheesecake
• This recipe was a lot of preparation and I took shortcuts that I shouldn't have done during the preparation stage. First, my parents did not have a cake pan deep enough for me to put all the batter in one pan; therefore, I decided to make a cheesecake following the recipe and then a nut-free cheesecake for my sister since she has a nut allergy. The first mistake I made was not taking out the phyllo paper out to defrost before making this recipe; therefore, it was cracking and tearing constantly. Therefore, defrost the phyllo paper hours before preparing the recipe. The recipe has you make a nut mixture (walnuts, cinnamon and sugar) for the top of the cheesecake and for a middle layer; hence, this is where I made my second mistake; I forgot to put the second layer of nut mixture. Additionally, I did not make or put the syrup topping on the cheesecake in fear that it would be too sweet and the baklava would become soggy. Despite my mistakes, the cheesecake still came out good, but I think I prefer regular baklava. I made the cheesecake a day before serving it.

A sliced of the baked (nut) baklava cheesecake without syrup topping.

Side view of the baklava (nut) cheesecake). I was very cautious on how much phyllo paper to put in the crust and on top because I was afraid it would burn, but the concern was unnecessary.  If I was to make this recipe again I would definitely double the amount of phyllo paper used.

Aerial view of the baklava (nut) cheesecake without syrup.

Baked Baklava (nut) Cheesecake fresh out of the oven.

Unbaked baklava (nut-free) cheesecake with uncooked phyllo paper on top.

The unbaked nut and nut-free cheesecakes without phyllo paper yet.

•  Date and Orange Scones
• I have documented my love/hate relationship about scones in previous posts. The hate part of the relationship is that they are a lot of work, and they only taste good fresh out of the oven. HOWEVER, these scones were AMAZING even four days later. They are my favorite scone experience EVER! 

Finished product. If you look close enough you can see some "bizarre" looking shaped scones; that is because my niece and I used a variety of cookie cutters to cut the dough. Once the scones were cooked the shapes were highly abstract.

Baked Date and Orange Scones.

•  Kofta Meatballs with Sweet & Sour Cherry Sauce

This is a picture of the meatballs raw. The cooked meatballs were good but they became amazing with the cherry sauce. This recipe was very good as a leftover as well.

•  Spicy Fries

Picture of uncooked fries with all the ingredients. The fries were definitely a little spicy. 

•  Spicy Chicken Wings

Picture of baked chicken wings. If I was to make this recipe again I would double the spices in the recipe.

•  Kofta Sandwich

This is a picture of the kofta patties raw. I made the homemade sauce to go with them.  This is another recipe I would double the amount of spices if I was to make them again. I served them on pita bread and with fresh baby spinach.

Smitten Kitchen 2

On my blog post from September 23, 2013 I began publishing my journey cooking through the cookbook, Smitten Kitchen.  At that time, this cookbook was quickly becoming my favorite, and now it is my reliable cookbook for delicious new recipes. I am continuing to cook my way through it and here is my most recent progress. If you are in the market for a new cookbook, I highly recommend this one; you will not be disappointed with the food or the author's humor! The captions under the pictures are my commentary of what I thought of the recipe and if I made any substitutions to the printed recipe.

• Leek Fritters with Garlic and Lemon

This is a picture of the fritters and the garlic and lemon sauce. I did not put lemon zest or fresh lemon juice, instead I put bottled lemon juice (because I was feeling particularly lazy that morning and I hadn't had coffee yet). The preparation of the leeks was a lot of work and this was my first time cooking leeks. The fritters were good but my favorite part of this recipe was the garlic and lemon sauce.

Fritters sizzling in the skillet.

•  Grapefruit Olive Oil Pound Cake

Side view of the grapefruit olive oil loaf with the glaze on it. The picture in the cookbook shows the glaze being whiteish, but both times I made the glaze, my glaze came out clear.

Aerial view of the grapefruit olive oil loaf with the glaze on it.

Fresh out of the oven, before the glaze was put on it. I highly recommend that you wait for the loaf to completely cool before you take it out of the pan. The first time I made this I was being impatient Shaida and the loaf completely fell apart. It didn't look pretty but still tasted yummy.

•  Emmentaler on Rye with Sweet and Sour Red Onions

I have been wanting to try this recipe since I got this cookbook. I was intrigued how a sandwich with just onions on it would be delicious, once again my skepticism was replaced with immense satisfaction. 

I loved the rye bread that I bought. I was in Missouri when I made this so the bread came from a Wal-Mart. It was New York style rye bread.

I know this picture of the finished cooked onions looks like earthworms but overlook it and try and imagine how amazing this sandwich tasted.

• Apricot [Peach] Breakfast Crisp 

I was in Missouri when I made this recipe and the only grocery store I had was a Wal-Mart and they did not have fresh or frozen apricots to purchase; therefore, I ended up purchasing frozen peaches. I served the breakfast crisp with plain non-fat yogurt.

The peach breakfast crisp fresh out of the oven. This recipe was really easy to make and I made with my niece on Thanksgiving morning.

The peach breakfast crisp was ready to be put in the oven. The recipe called for almonds to be added, but my sister has a nut allergy so they were left out of it.

•  Blue Cheese and Black Pepper Gougeres 

These have a very interesting texture when eating them; they are airy like a croissant but are very soft.  The preparation took me a little while but I was happy with the results.

•  Tarragon Oven Fries

This is my go-to recipe for homemade fries.  The secret is boiling the potatoes first and then placing them in the oven.  However, when putting the oil on the cookie sheet and placing in the oven to preheat it, don't wait til it's smoking to take it out to place the potatoes on it. Not that I did it but I could see it being a fire hazard very easily.

•  Alex Chocolate Raspberry [Strawberry Rhubarb] Regelach

I made these for bookclub and people seemed to enjoy them. I didn't use raspberry but rather strawberry rhubarb flavor because it was what I had in my refrigerator.  Additionally, I only put half the amount of chocolate and nuts in the recipe because A) I hate chocolate and B) Personally I am not a huge fan of nuts, unless they are in baklava.

•  Eggplant and Three Cheese Calzone

This is the finished product. The sauce was AMAZING! When making this recipe again I would put more eggplant and half as much cheese. The dough of this calzone was also really scrumptious. 

The finished cooked eggplant calzone without sauce.

Fresh out of the oven. I had a little bit of the cheese escaping from the inside.

Assembling the inside of the calzone. At first I thought I overcooked (and possibly dried out the eggplant) but in the finished product the eggplant tasted fine to me. If I was to try this recipe again, I don't think I would make a calzone but rather used the rushed pizza dough recipe in the cookbook and put the cooked eggplant on it with fresh basil and mozzarella cheese. 

2014 New Years "Resolution"

Part of ringing in the new year is that people are expected to make and then soon after that to break a resolution.  For the past few years I have gravitated away from "making" resolution but rather improving on something(s) throughout that year.

Resolutions that will never get on my list for 2014:

• Obviously, to stop procrastinating is not one of the resolutions; I am highly attached to procrastinating and hope to reach an expert level. 
• Giving up caffeine, haha who would I be kidding. My sanity and being nice to people is dependent on high caffeine consumption.
• That I will try to figure out why I "really" need five e-mail addresses, because I still use the one I created in 5th grade the most. Yes, I know I am 27 years old and I have an email address called fikkie_shady!
• I will stop making "lists" for everything. If we weren't suppose to make lists then why were Post-its created...think about it!
• I will balance my checking account in my checkbook...the invention of the debit card and online banking indicate that balancing a checking account yourself is archaic.
• To buy and learn on more HP and Window electronic devices...no way in the world; I am very devoted to my Apple family. Just yesterday I thought my 8-year Macbook was dead and my eyes were watering, but it just needed to be charged.
• When asked if I am related to Saddam Hussein to stop replying with "Yes." If you ask a stupid question like that, you are lucky all you get back is a sarcastic reply.
• To spend more time around children; trust me this not healthy for children or me.
• When cooking with my niece and the recipe doesn't come out right to stop blaming her for the mishap(s). Hey, it's not an excuse if it's true.
• Stop pretending it isn't time to take out the garbage out yet, but rather smashing it down. I try to prolong the time when I need to tie the garbage up, walk down the hall, and throw it down the trash chute..it's a really long 30 feet to walk.
• I will make my bed everyday. I have a system; I will make my bed on only two ocassions: when my covers fall off my bed and when it's time to change my bed.
• I will fill up my car's gas tank before the empty sign comes on...I like living my life on the edge, plus I pay for AAA.

This year I have three "resolutions" that I am striving to complete by the end of 2014:

• To continue experimenting with acrylic painting.
• To beat my dailymile.com mileage from 2013 (which was 1300 miles).
• To read more books and pages than 2013 (I read 51 books).