Einstein, The Dog Who Chose Me

I have a dog. Most people go to get a dog or puppy and they know they're choosing a dog. But I didn't choose this dog, instead this dog chose me. Much like Oose in Africa, Einstein has for better or worse picked me as his human. To be clear: Einstein actually belongs to my neighbor down the road.

I first met Einstein while I was trying to leave my apartment. He would come over and say hi, I'd pet him, he's wag his tail and then I'd get in my car to go to work. He's possibly a cross between a pit bull and black lab. I'd say about 50 pounds of solid muscle, with a sweet goof ball demeanor. As I was ready to back my car up he would go stand directly behind my car so close that I couldn't see him. I wondered if this dogs name was someones idea of a cruel joke. After about 10 minutes of trying to get this dog to stand somewhere other than directly behind my car I was able to leave.

The next day I noticed him inside the fence of the front yard. How this dog had gotten in I'm not sure. He was playing with my landlords dogs and generally causing them to look at him like he was some sort of annoying young whipper-snapper.

Einstein then while exploring one day found out where I live. I refused to let him in, I went outside and pet him but I didn't want him to think that it was OK to come into my home and pee on something. The next day it was bitter cold, and he was at my door. He gave me the look of 'aren't you going to let me in?' and I caved, I'm not heartless. He is a very respectful dog and I only had to tell him once to get his nose out of the garbage. He snuggled into the corner of my couch and gave me that look that says 'What are we going to do today?!' Well that day was Valentines Day. Lets face it, Valentines Day for the single person is pretty much the kind of day that you want to forget. And so this dog, probably sensing my not-so excited mood, became my Valentine. He snuggled with me and we watched my favorite movie, Almost Famous. About 9pm his owners came to find him. I was so cold the poor guy didn't want to to home.

Since Valentines Day Einstein has made the pilgrimage to my apartment and made sure I was doing well. This winter hasn't gone so well for me, but at around 10am I can expect a visit from my dog. He shovels snow with me, he starts my car with me, he cooks with me, he snuggles with me, every morning he puts a smile on my face. I know that I can't own a dog right now, but I'm very thankful that Einstein has adopted me this winter.

Pi Day

3.14 aka the number Pi. Ever ask yourself 'What is Pi?' Click here find out! Yes I did actually watch the entire video. Don't worry it's less than 2 minutes long. Unless you're still in school or in some sort of job that measures circles you probably don't use pi a whole lot. However, on March 14th (3.14) the nerdiest of nerdy holidays takes place. International Pi Day! Where celebrations are as follows: people eat pie. No joke, that's it. It's a nerds excuse to eat pie. Similar to International Talk Like a Pirate Day sometimes the day goes by unnoticed until very late at night while checking facebook you realize that your nerdy friends were more on their game than you were and made pie (cough cough, Alayna Bohan). I was hanging out with my cousin and his girlfriend and we actually remembered that it was Pi Day. Giving us the perfect excuse to have pie.

When my aunt got home we realized that we could also have a 'how to make pie crust' lesson. My Aunt is an amazing pie crust maker. And I'm at a loss for learning to make good pie crust. My mom, cutest woman in the entire world who never swears and is an excellent cook, I've watched her cuss out pie dough and throw it in the garbage before it was even rolled out to make rolli-polli pie. An ex boyfriend of mine from high school also made excellent pie crust. But he was a controlling chef and wouldn't let me help... ever. So consequently I can make things like tiramisu, flan and cinnamon rolls, but not pie crust. I won't give away any secrets but there was a lot of 'look at this color' and 'feel how it feels' and 'you just kind of do this'. Its the same with making bread, which my mom is very good at, You have to just know. Words cannot describe how it should be.

Crust was then baked and filled with cream cheese and cherry pie filling on top! Another had pumpkin pie with maple syrup instead of brown sugar!

Adventure: Doing Laundry

I tend to think that I'm pretty good at doing laundry. I have extensive experience doing laundry at home, in a laundromat, and in places without washing machine. Laundry is a mundane task which at the best of times means you put the clothes in the washing machine and then in the drier... and then after that it gets folded. Ideally this happens within your own home so that you can accomplish other tasks at the same time.

I enough time between jobs (I waitress in the morning sometimes at a local B&B) to go into town to do my laundry. Now the reason why I don't like to do my laundry here is because it's the worst laundromat on the face of the earth, seriously I'd rather go back to Benin than use this one. There are only a few machines which are working in the place, I found two and put my clothes in them. I waiting for them to be done. When I got them out the washing machine hadn't spun them out enough, so they were all soaking wet. More time in the drier. Awesome. So I put each load into a drier (2 driers) for 40 minutes each (total of  $4). I then sat and waited, hoping that the family who manages the worst laundromat on the face of the earth had at least paid their oil bill and the driers were spitting out hot air instead of cold (which has happened before).

I got comfortable and while reading noticed that there was a bright yellow/ orange piece of laundry in one of my driers. Now, I don't own anything this color. I then saw that it wasn't a piece of clothing that someone had left but instead it was flames.

Yes, that's right. the drier was spitting out FLAMES through the vent in the back. Effectively drying my clothes via blow torch. I immediately stopped this nonsense and decided I'd rather have really really wet clothes and hang them over every surface I had in my home instead of no clothes because they were burned.

I then went to the manager of the hotel where the laundromat was and told him of the problem. I didn't blame him for the lack of safety within his establishment, after all it could have caused a major fire burning down his entire hotel instead of a load of laundry. He then explained to me 'this is how all driers work. There is a flame in the back which you can't see which heats the air and then dries your clothes' I then told him 'If its working properly than yes, this is how it would work, but shooting flames into the drier is NOT how a drier works. I've seen enough driers in my life to know there is a serious problem.' He wasn't apologetic but rather got angry with me (thanks for the customer service) and said 'Well I don't know what to tell you.' I said that because I didn't feel comfortable drying my clothes that I would like my $4 back that is now in his machine. He then explained to me that $4, even split between 2 machines was way too much no wonder why your clothes burned! Clearly this person rarely does laundry, especially within his own facility. With a quarter for every 5 minutes in the drier a full load of wash is going to take 35 (if you still want damp clothes) to 40 minutes (a short drying time in any other drier)

I did finally get my laundry dry and my $4 back but this is it. LAST time I go to the worst laundromat on the face of the earth. I think I'd rather just go with dirty clothes for a few day rather than wash them there.

North Dakota

My reason for going to North Dakota was to visit my parents. Sorry North Dakota, but you leave something to be desired in the way to scenery. However, it was actually very mild temperature wise. Most days were in the 20's and one day was up into the 50's. My parents took me a few of their favorite places, mostly in Minnesota as they live near the state line of North Dakota and Minnesota. Other than going to Itasca we celebrated a belated Christmas complete with roast beef dinner and tiramisu, our traditional Christmas desert which is only made once a year. We went out to their favorite state park near to where they live, my mom and I saw Silver Linings Playbook, and we went out to dinner a thai restaurant, and lunch at a place where it's name really is the only description for it 'The Blue Moose'.

 P.S. To anyone who is interested in making THE BEST tiramisu here it is. Warning: after making this and eating it you will forever be disappointed in any tiramisu you order at a restaurant.

TIRAMISU

Sponge Cake

4 eggs - separated

2/3 cup sugar, divided

1/4 cup hot brewed espresso (instant or regular coffee works)

1 cup flour

pinch of salt

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line a rimmed sheet pan or jelly roll pan (14"x11" or 15"x10") with parchment. Beat egg yolks, 1/3 cup sugar and hot espresso on high till thick and voluminous(6 minutes). In another bowl with clean beaters, beat egg whites on med. speed. At soft peak stage slowly add remaining 1/3 cup sugar while mixer is running. Increase speed till whites form stiff peaks. Fold 1/3 of whites to yolk mixture. Then fold in remaining whites. Sift flour and salt over top of egg mixture and gently fold. Spread in sheet pan. Bake till cake springs back when lightly press,( about 12 to 14 min.). Remove from oven and cool 5 min. Run knife around edges and invert on cooling rack. Peel off parchment. Cool completely.

Mascarpone Filling

4 egg yolks

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup coffee liquor (Tia Maria)

pinch salt

3/4 cup mascarpone ( I use 8 oz pkg cream cheese)

1/2 cup heavy cream

Set up double boiler. Whisk egg yolks, sugar, coffee liqueur and salt. Whisk till mixture thickens ( 6 to 7 min.). Cool egg mixture by setting on ice bath. Whisk occasionally. Meanwhile Beat softened cream cheese until smooth. Add heavy cream and beat until it holds peak. Fold cooled yolk mixture into cream mixture. Keep cool.

For assembly

1 cup brewed espresso or strong coffee

1 oz unsweetened chocolate-grated ( I use cocoa powder)

Divide sponge cake into thirds. Lay 1st rectangle in a dish(Pyrex 9x12 baking dish works well). Brush liberally with 1/3 hot espresso. Spread part of cream filling onto cake. Sprinkle with 1/3 grated unsweetened chocolate. Repeat a layer of cake, espresso, filling and chocolate again and again (3 layers). Refrigerate ( 24 hrs is best)