Not All Smoothies Are Created Equal

Some people think you can throw any mix of fruit into a blender and it will always taste good, but this myth is NOT TRUE.

Here's what works: frozen strawberries, banana, cinnamon apple sauce, OJ, and milk. Really well, actually. It's delicious.

Here's what apparently doesn't: peaches, mango, pineapple, honey, and ice.

I figured they are all somewhat tropical types of fruit so somehow it'll come out tasting good, but I was wrong. The flavors didn't mesh together and it tasted really watery. I'm definitely a proponent of using frozen fruit instead of ice to bulk up a smoothie because it just gives it so much more flavor. I use a little bit of milk because I like my smoothies slightly creamy.

Target's Market Pantry brand has these really good smoothie kits that come with frozen fruit and a flavor packet that probably is mostly sugar. You just add water, or juice, or whatever liquid suits your fancy. One combination I like in particular includes bananas, blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries. I never would've thought the banana could get along with all those dark berries, but once again I was proved incorrect.

Currently I'm looking for some sort of recipe that would involve Guava nectar because on a whim I picked it up at the store a few weeks nack. I know it tastes good, I just need something to do with it. If anyone has ideas, let me know!

The Most Epic Kitchen Experiment of 2010

As most of you know, I work in a fast food-like setting that involves fryers and a grill and grease and all that jazz. Let's call this place the kitchen, sorta similar to a McDonald's or something. Well our special yesterday in the kitchen was orange chicken like they have in Panda Express, so we had a large pan of sticky white rice as part of the dish. My favorite thing to do when we have rice is to get a little ball of it and squish it between my fingers for a while until it all mushes together and becomes like silly putty and then you play with it when you're waiting for people to serve because it's fun. People are always looking at me funny when I do this.

It was pretty slow in the kitchen at this time, so my boss Jared* took the ball I had and placed it on the grill. Tiny rice pancake, how cute! Next, he puts it in the fryer. It cooks. We cut it in fourths and eat it (*Jared, Paul, Daniel, and I) while everybody is like ewwww.

I get another ball going, this time a little bigger, and add in some shredded cheese, and Jared cuts up a piece of bacon for me, so I incorporated that into the ball as well, and flattened it into another small patty and put it in the fryer. They were all like what are you doing, Shannon, are you crazy?? I take full responsibility for this and the following operations of the night since I am the weird one who wants to try eating strange and un-natural things. I do not know why this urge came over me. But the guys continued being squeamish little babies and saying it was so gross and yucky when they took a bite, but really, it's all just food that we eat anyway, put together in a different way.

After that second one was eaten up (still begrudgingly), I told the guys to grab some more rice and start playing with it so we could make a big one, and they ended up getting a lot more than I had expected, and making this HUGE squished rice patty. This time the mix-ins came from the wide selection of the salad bar instead of our small prep station. I had to help people out while they went over and folded in a plethora of goodies into our rice patty (remember, it's not really rice anymore at this point, it's just a big ball of white gooey stuff), such as carrots and beans and I don't know what else because I wasn't there when they did it. By now it was the size of a large hamburger, and we let this one get comfy in the fryer basket for about 10 minutes, then placed it on a bun with some melted cheese and bacon. When Paul started eating his fourth of the sandwich I almost couldn't stop laughing long enough to try mine! He himself was laughing while trying to choke down what he thought was a really disgusting creation, and everyone had the funniest looks on their faces. Somehow my quarter of the sandwich did not taste bad at all! It looked like I got most of the carrots, and Paul complained that the beans in his part of the patty were what killed it, but even with beans I don't think it would've made me gag. He even ended up spitting his out. Haha.

Daniel had a few bites of his, and a bystander employee came and tried the other fourth - everybody ended up throwing the rest away because they thought it was nasty. Personally I thought it was kinda tasty with the bacon and the melted swiss, and that extra crunch from the crisped up shell of the patty. It tasted like a chicken sandwich!! I am proud to say that while everyone else was a sissy, I gladly finished my portion and spent the next 20 minutes trying to get gooey crap out of my teeth.

The whole experiment was one of the best I've seen in the kitchen so far. And that, my friends, is one of the reasons I LIKE working there.

Without access to my good camera, I had to resort to using my phone. Not such good quality but at least it's evidence. Look, it even had chipotle sauce. 

*Names of the actual people have been replaced in this story with fake ones.

Some Facebook Surveys

"A Thoughtful Facebook Survey"

1. If you could trade places with any other person for a week, famous or not famous, living or dead, real or fictional. with whom would it be?
I think I'd trade places with any of the top contestants on So You Think You Can Dance. I would love to know what that experience is like, and I'd like to be able to dance again with all my abilities back, plus more. Just the opportunity to be choreographed by Wade Robson or Nappytab or Sonya Tayek would make my life, and if I could do their works of art justice.


2. If you could be any character in fiction, whom would you be?
Hermione Granger! She's cool, smart, pretty, a loyal friend, and always knows what to do. Who doesn't love Hermione?


3. What would you want to be written on your tombstone?
Rest in Pieces. Haha just kidding. I don't really care right now.


4. Do you speak in a high voice when you are talking to a dog?
Yeah. I do.


6. Have you ever eaten food meant for an animal?
Yeah I've eaten a dog biscuit or two. They're not that bad.


8. Are you friends with any nerdy people?
Yes? Everybody is a nerd in some ways. I also know some extremely smart people, but they're not antisocial geeks or anything.


11. Did you ever have an imaginary friend when you were younger?
No, and answering this question always makes me feel like I have no creativity or something. But I played with dolls a lot, and that is pretty similar. Besides, I had real friends. Ha!


12. Have you ever told a lie, in which you would get into REALLY big rouble if you had told the truth?
No. I do no have the capability for that. If can only lie about small things.


13. Do you believe in God?
Yes.


14. If you do believe, why do you? And if not, why don't you believe?
That's a loaded question. First off, it starts with how I was raised and taught. But also the complexity of our universe is a testament in my mind to something greater that must have created it. Nature, the way the human body works, love. Miracles happen, and prayers are answered, and certain things and small feelings can occur that let me know someone is looking out for us.


17. Is the cup half full, or half empty right now?
I would definitely say half full. That's the optimistic one, right? It always confuses me because in my mind, half full sounds pessimistic. Like "It's only half full. Where is the rest?" type of thing. But the point is, I'm optimistic about life right now. Well deep down I am always trying to have a positive outlook towards the future and trusting in God that he has a plan for me, but as of late, I am feeling particularly happy.


18. Have you ever tried to do "the worm" while underwater?
Lol, no. Who does that? Freaks.


20. Some guy in an alley kidnaps you. He says that you will choose one of your best friends to die. If you say you don't pick one, then he kills you. What would you say?
Kill me. As long as it's not a torturous and horribly painful death, I think I can choke out the right answer and be the hero. But who knows until I get in that situation? Which will never happen anyway, cause how often do people kidnap innocent bystanders and just randomly threaten to kill their friends?

"Scattegories"

Use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the following:


You are: Shannon! Sassy, smart, sarcastic.
Famous Music artist or group: Ssssaving Abel? They're pretty up there, at least.
3 letter word: Sob
Street name:  Second Street. Haha.
Color: Silver
Gift or present: Silly String
Vehicle: Subaru
TV Show: So You Think You Can Dance
Country: Slovakia
Boy Name: Seth
Girl Name: Shannon. duh. or Sophie. Sydney. Stacey.
Alcoholic drink: Screwdriver
Occupation: Student, which I am. orrrr Stylist, Hair. Sales Representative.
Flower: Sunflower
Celebrity: Steven Spielberg
Food: Spaghetti
Something found in a kitchen: Stove
Reason for Being Late: Stopped by a chatty neighbor on your way out the door.

"20 Controversial Questions"

Do you have the guts take this survey? Yeah.

Would you do meth if it was legalized? No.

Abortion: for or against it? Against.

Do you think the world would fail with a female president? No, certainly the WORLD would not fail. The country may fail for a large number of reasons, but so far we've had some pretty questionable presidents and we're still running. Anybody can be the right leader, they just have to have the right balance of qualities and characteristics. 

Do you believe in the death penalty? So far, yes. But admittedly, I have a lot to learn, so my opinion is not based off a whole lot. 

Do you wish marijuana would be legalized already? No.

Are you for or against premarital sex? I'm not sure. I don't care what other people do with their reproductive organs, but in my life, I think I'm against it. I definitely don't want my husband to have had sex with a whole lot of women because that leaves nothing special for me. It's a gift you can only give once, and it should be saved for the right person. 

Do you believe in God? We already went through this.

Do you think same sex marriage should be legalized? Yes. I understand some laws are based on morals and what-not, like how murder shall not be tolerated, but to say gay people can't marry is delving too far into certain religions that do not apply to everyone living in this country. Sure, God didn't create Adam and Steve, but it's not really anybody's place to say two people can't get married because they are of the same sex. 

Do you think it's wrong that so many Hispanics are illegally moving to the country? Technically it's not wrong (if they're legal) but honestly, it IS annoying. 

A twelve year old girl has a baby, should she keep it? Heavens, no! What kind of idiot would answer otherwise?

Should the alcohol age be lowered to eighteen? No.

Should the war in Iraq be called off? No comment. 

Assisted suicide is illegal: do you agree? Is it? I don't know. I feel like it is, or it should be. 

Do you believe in spanking children? I'll figure out when I get there, but I don't think I could bring myself to hurt my child, and actually I don't see how anybody else could. So I guess the answer is no. 

Would you burn an American flag for a million dollars? Hmmm. On another survey I have answered that I think burning American flags should be illegal, but to this question I almost said yes. I think burning a flag is only bad when the reasons behind it are bad, kind of like how cursing is only offensive because of the meaning or feeling behind the words. Words and actions are just ways of expressing how we feel, so if I were to burn a flag for a million dollars, it wouldn't be because I am bashing my country. And I hope others would understand that as well. I guess if it were made into a public spectacle, I would also have to take into account what people will say and think. 

Who do you think would be a better president: McCain or Obama? I think Obama is doing an ok job. I didn't really follow that election because I wasn't going to be old enough to vote. I know, I know, I still should've payed attention, but politics are just hard for me to keep up with. 

Do you think Obama will be killed? I don't like that this is the second Obama question on this survey. 

Should child predators be forced to wear signs identifying themselves? Actually that sounds like a good idea in theory. Scarlet Letter type thing. Which, actually, was pretty dumb and ineffective, but the child predator one could be useful in more ways than one.

Are you afraid others will judge you from reading some of your answers? Kinda, yeah, but not really. I haven't fully divulged any really personal or controversial viewpoints in these surveys today. 

Once Upon A Dream

I dream a lot, especially if I oversleep or undersleep, but a particular dream that was memorable from last night was very Sleeping Beauty-like. I was kind of watching a live-version of the movie, but I was inside it. I wasn't Sleeping Beauty herself but I was frolicking through the forest like she was, and all the colors of the trees and the endless flowers were so vibrant and wonderful! It was magical. I picked up some very small flowers in my hand, and instantly they bloomed and multiplied all over my fingers and almost became attached to my skin. Very interesting. All day I have had this song stuck in my head.