TheSnackHound

Once again, Geek Alerts has not disappointed me with their Geek Toys 2012 list. There are things the 12 year old Holly Hobbie oven-abusing me should have had but was somehow very deprived. (Geek Alerts are the folks that dish out all the promotional codes, like Petsmart coupons for the little Snack Hound as well as the finest in geeky finds).

Why did they not make a Dippin’ Dots machine that you could use at home when I was smack dab in the middle of the Dippin’ Dots target demographic? While surely it will be purchased and put on the shelf right next to the Mighty Men and Monster Maker, this would have been the biggest trend if it was dreamt up during the the Dippin’s salad days of the mid 1980s and early 90s.

At any rate, apparently, you can use juices and soft drinks to make your own dots. The fine print is “REAL” Dippin’ Dots mix sold separately.  Really?  A standard Vanilla Ice Cream recipe will do, or so I have read at Geek Alerts. Amazon is hawking the pint sized machine that your kids will use for two hours, grow impatient that it takes 4 hours for the real ice cream to freeze if you go that route, and then that’s when the adults take over and use it every day and cherish it. (You might want to snag some Amazon promotional codes before you buy.)

If I were to be gifted with this, there is no telling what I might come up with. Hopefully I will have better luck than my Holly Hobbie oven. The electrical cord was cut off and removed before It had been given to me, if that is any indication of what was perceived to adults to lie ahead.

Usually I joke around, but skin cancer is no laughing matter.

I learned something new today. People are more likely to develop skin cancer on the left side of the face than their right, statistically speaking. This is the first I have heard of it. Apparently, according to the California Skin Institute, that provides therapy for skin cancer in California, we are more likely to develop it there because we drive. UVB rays are blocked often by a coating on the windshield, but UVA rays are not typically blocked by the side window.

As we age, there is a gender disparity, according to the Institute:

“Recently, a study by Butler and Fosko showed that the majority of skin cancers in the US develop on the left side of people’s bodies and faces. This finding is especially pronounced in men, who more consistently spend time driving cars over a lifetime. While younger women have more left-side than right-side skin cancers, at age 50 this trend in them reverses, and rightside skin cancers predominate until age 80. Though we can only speculate, the shift seen around age 50 may indicate that younger women spend more time as car drivers, receiving more exposure on the left side of their bodies, while older women may more often be passengers, thus sustaining more right-side sun damage.”

The thought is also offered that more homes are two car households, so more women are driving at a later age. It should be interesting to see if these numbers equalize between the genders, as generational difference tend to take time to reflect in any numbers.

I never leave the house without sunglasses and always set a hat in the car. Though there is no “magic bullet,” I try my best to think about foods rich in antioxidants to build up my immunities against certain cancers, like cauliflower blueberries and kale. After reading this, I am going to think twice about hopping in the car for a long drive without sunscreen on my face (Zinc and not aluminum based, of course).

Does information like this inspire you to change small things about your daily habit, or do you have the mindset that if you are predisposed to have skin cancer, there really is no way to beat it?

Unfortunately, not everyone has Rosie the Robot to dust and distribute comical complains, nor a Mr. Belvedere. Maybe if you lived in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, everyone has a recently immigrated English butler.

I wasn’t really clear on what sort of domestic duties Mr. Belvedere performed aside from cooking and fluffing sofa pillows, as he issued more wry witticisms than household management, so it seemed. But maybe the show just took place on those off days, similar in theory to why there were never bathrooms on Star Trek until The Next Generation. They just got right down to business and left out all the routine stuff. I also don’t really remember much since I was a little shorter then, though the theme song sometimes gets painfully lodged somewhere in the middle ear. Are you under the age of 15 and don’t remember it? Go to Youtube. You can thank me later. I think it involves a tuba or a sousaphone.

In real life, I don’t know any middle class American family living in a subdivision that has their own English butler or robot, but sometimes you need one .

Growing up, my mom was friends with a lady who had emigrated from Canada instead of England. She was not a robot or a butler, but she had a cleaning lady. Twice a month, she would go home to clean her house before the cleaning lady came. It always perplexed me. What was the point of that?

As I grew in height (“as I grew older” is so unnecessary to remind me of), I thought “hey, that idea is not half had.” Now I try my best to Fly with the Flylady, but for some folks, buying them a gift certificate for a last minute maid service before a party, or more so when a loved one is coming home from the hospital.

If you are thinking about gifting someone with the gift of cleaning, there are several things they’ll need to do first before the cleaning person arrives.

1) Declutter. There are a few reasons here. Firstly, it prevents someone from seeing your very personal bank statements or undies, but it also protects someone from falling leaning towers of Pizza. Important papers can also be confused with garbage.

2) Decide what rooms should be cleaned ahead of time. This way, there is no misunderstanding on either end. Typically, the kitchen and bathrooms will be attended to and other rooms are as negotiated.

3) A cleaning person will do the heavy cleaning, such as floors and sinks, but will typically not do your laundry.

4) A periodic cleaning person is not replacement for you own routine cleaning, but gives a base to work from.

Last but not least, find a copy of “I’m a Barbie Girl” to play, or that little ditty by Right Said Fred.  Why? If you have followed all suggestions carefully, you will need something to get the Mr. Belvedere theme out of your head.  I am not too cruel. I didn’t suggest The Macarena.

Italian restaurants usually are forbidden territories for those suffering from Celiac disease or mild wheat sensitivities. A gluten free Italian restaurant menu just does not exist.

Well, Portland – you can put Pastini on the list. Pastini is a Portland, Oregon Italian restaurant chain dishing up authentic Italian pastas. They offer spaghetti and penne in non-wheat versions as well as tiramisu. All of their cream sauces, with the exception of the beschamella also is wheat free. If you live near or are traveling to Portland ( with locations in Portland, Bend, and Corvallis, Oregon) – lift up your forks! I will warn you – it’s still pasta, carb counters. But loosen up once in awhile and have some fun. You know you want to.

Any chance of opening a location a lot farther east, Pastini?  If not, how about an overnight shipment of tiramisu?

(Oh, and if you are looking for affordrable Portland Italian catering, give them a ring.)

Posted by Darwin Garza

I had never heard of DirectStarTV until maybe a few months ago. To be honest, I just never paid attention to company names or service providers much before I started working at the company I am with now. All I cared about was if Coke was using the polar bear ad campaigns near Christmas.

Outside of small factors like that, I really had no idea what a majority of companies did. TV providers were no exception really. I just did not pay attention. I mean, all of those companies really do some good ad campaigns, but I just never really paid attention or remembered them.

It is definitely a good thing I am not in charge of any sort of marketing campaign at my job. I would have no idea how to get the attention of people like me! I have so much respect for our marketing representatives who do such a good idea representing our company and making out name known. I cannot say whether or not I would know the company if I did not work here, but I think I may be somewhat of an anomaly.

My latest most requested cake is a flourless chocolate torte, which My Favorite Guy suggested the addition of orange extract to the frosting. We have been experimenting with the amount and have seemed to have established the perfect equilibrium between the dash of vanilla extract in the cake and the orange extract in the frosting. Unlike the vanilla, which seems to bring out and amplify the chocolatey flavor, the orange stands out distinctively.

What if I eliminated some of the water in another recipe and replaced some of it with extracts or pure cherry juice? The results were mixed and the brownies turned out almost unbearably cherry. Recently, I discovered what I was doing wrong. In theory, it makes sense to reduce one liquid by adding another. Extracts and super concentrated juices, however, are too strong to replace the liquid in a cake with one for one.

The answer lies in baklava. Really?

Several Baltic nations argue over who originated baklava. Why does the Greek version taste slightly different? The secret is flower water, specifically rose water. It is very subtle. You don’t really notice it per se, but notice something’s different that you can’t put your finger on.

There are other flower water, such as orange flower water. Instead of being made from the zest as extract is, it is made from distilled orange blossoms. The flavor is a bit more subtle, and the water can be added a little more liberally than an extract ever could.

I am going to experiment (stay tuned, you guinea pigs!) with orange water. The flourless cake does not call for water, but perhaps I could replace a fraction of the egg whites or just add a splash. In the chocolate pudding cake, I am going to try cooking the pudding with orange water to see if I can replicate the aroma and taste of the chocolate orange Christmas candy like I can with the flourless torte.

Ready to try it? If you have already experimented with orange water or other flower waters where they weren’t originally intended, let me know.