An Awesome Experience

I don't normally stray from my baking related posts, unless there is something personal I want to share with the world. But recently, PETA has been making defamatory claims against an organization I have visited, and I felt the need to chime in with my own experience with the organization.

In June, I had the opportunity to check out the amazing wildlife rescue, Serenity Springs. I was blown away by this place. They specialize in big cats, but did have some other animals - a wolf, bears. The animals were very well cared for. We spent an hour walking around the facility, hearing the back story on almost every animal. The volunteer conducting the tour was extremely informative and professional, but you could really tell she truly loved the animals.

There were many different types of stories as to how the animals ended up at Serenity Springs. Some of the cats had been adopted by families thinking they were cute when they were little, only to realize later that they, you know, turn into real tigers when they grow up. For others, this place was like a really awesome retirement home after they'd been part of magic performances. There were even a couple of retired actors in the mix. And a liger. It's pretty much my favorite animal. It's like a lion and a tiger mixed....bred for its skills in magic.

What really struck me was how content all of the animals were. None seemed agitated or aggressive or unhappy. They were well fed and did not show signs of missing fur. Obviously, I am no expert, but I have a pretty good gauge on what abused animals look and act like. Last year, one of the only things I wanted to do at the Renaissance Festival was ride an elephant, it was all I talked about for weeks. Once at the festival, I walked over to the elephants and they looked so sad and miserable I couldn't go through with it.

One of PETA's biggest complaints is that Serenity Springs allows the handling of baby animals at too young an age. According to USDA there is no age minimum for the handling of animals. All I know, is that one of my biggest joys of last year was getting to hold a sweet 5 week old baby tiger named Bentley. Before I was able to handle the cub, I was asked to wash my hands and was briefed on how to properly handle and hold him. And the amount of my contact was no more than a minute or two.

Maybe PETA's claims are founded; I don't know. As I said before, I am no expert. I do know that I had a wonderful experience there and I have encouraged others to visit as well, and they too, have had an favorable time. I even found out after my visit that my father-in-law had donated money some time ago to pay for an enclosure.

Okay, thanks for reading. I'll step off my soapbox and get back into the kitchen now.

Pumpkin Bread

First, I need to explain why this post is so delayed. Especially since I am so backed up on my posts (and there are quite a few pumpkin treats). But, I feel like I have a very valid excuse. I was on my honeymoon! Yes, I got married over 11 months ago, but when you elope, especially right before Christmas, there's not much time to plan, let alone time for, a honeymoon. So there you have it, my extremely valid excuse for being an absentee blogger.

Wanna look like a rock star this Thanksgiving and not have to do a lot of work for it? Then this, my friends is the recipe for you. It's super easy and super tasty and I was even told it was "better than Starbucks'." Yup. I got the recipe from my favorite high altitude tome. I've made it a few times and it's always a hit!

**Update - In my haste to get this post out, I forgot to include this awesome picture of my friend, Angela, enjoying a piece of pumpkin bread topped with a Frosted Pumpkin Cookie. Apparently it was delicious this way.

Pumpkin Bread

1 3/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 1/4 cups canned pumpkin
1/3 cup water
2 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups sugar

Preheat oven to 350.

Combine dry ingredients (excluding the sugar) and set aside. In a mixing bowl, mix pumpkin, water, eggs, oil and sugar together until smooth. Add dry ingredients and mix until well combined. Pour into a greased 9x5 loaf pan. Bake for 60-65 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

A Day in the Life

I work for the federal government, and two weeks ago I deemed "non-essential" and was furloughed during the shut-down. I was getting stir-crazy (don't worry, there has be PLENTY of baking I'll be blogging about) and complained to my husband about it. He suggested that he plan a day for me and since I was running out of things to do, I readily agreed. So yesterday, I had a Ryan Day. Here's what was on the agenda:

 

Here's a break-down of how it went:

9:30 - run

10:15 - shower

Outfit for the day (per instructions):

10:30 - coffee and imgur

I wasn't sure if "Coffee - Dunkin" meant drink Dunkin Donuts coffee or drink coffee with Dunkin, so I did both:

 10:50 - Breaking Bad, episode 1

 Ryan put Breaking Bad on the list because he has been wanting to get me to watch the show and I have no interest (yes, I realize this makes me weird). My thoughts on this episode? The scene of Walt and his wife in bed after his surprise party was extremely uncomfortable. Yeah, not much else to add.

12:00 - Breaking Bad, episode 2, beer #1

I figured I'd just go ahead and get Breaking Bad out of the way. After episode 2 I was still not interested in the series. Ryan told me a just need to watch two more. I have a feeling after two more episodes, he'll just tell me to watch two more until I've watched the whole series. No thanks.

1:10 - lunch, beer #2, imgur

 Here's a snidbit of a convo between Ryan and me at this point:

Ryan:

how is it going?

me:

Making grilled cheeses

I'm drunk after one beer so I need foods

Ryan:

nice.

this pleases me

me:

haha

I was going to order pizza but it was just soooo complicated

My stomach had not been feeling well before I had started my day, but I decided to go through with the day anyway. That, combined with the fact that I hadn't had anything in my stomach, cause me to go from 0 to drunk in one beer.

1:30 - Army of Darkness, beer #3 and 4

 

2:10 - Soup

Yes, straight from the container (yes, I heated it up).

This is how Army of Darkness went:

me:

Army of Darkness takes place in medieval times?

am I watching the right movie?

Ryan:

oh yeah

me:

okay

me:

are you sure this isn't Monty Python and the Holy Grail?

...

me:

I thought he had a saw for an arm?

or is this not Ash

Ryan

good lord what are you watching?

me:

oh

now he does

I swear he didn't have it before

Ryan:

yeah he didnt have it on for long in the begining when he was a 'slave'

me:

oh

so...it just magically came back?

Ryan:

the wizard guy gives it to him

me:

this movie is confusing

because beer

my confusion is partly because I took a bathroom break and didn't pause

I can't back that up

I didn't know what was going on before I went to the bathroom

...

me:

he swallowed a tiny version of himself and now he has two heads?

I'm not asking for me, Dunkin wanted to know

...

me:

omg the animation is TERRIBLE

it's like claymation?

no, claymation is better

And some of my favorite lines from the movie: 

"You know, your shoelace is untied."  

"Yo! She Bitch…Let's go."

"I've got a bone to pick with you." 

"Buckle up, bonehead, cause you're going for a ride."

3:10 - NAP

4:25 - beer #5 and imgur

 

4:40 - The Last Starfighter, beer #6

I could see why my husband loved this movie as a kid. A kid gets a high score on an arcade and then is recruited to fight in an intergalactic war. I'm sure every time Ryan played one of his games he thought it might be the day he got picked to join space war. While watching this, Ryan came home and we ate leftovers and my Ryan day was complete. I was sad I didn't get to play any video games, but overall, I think the day was quite successful.