The ABCs of Sarah

Hello, friends!  I first saw this survey over at Pain Free Kitchen, and I thought it would be fun to do.  Here we go!

 
Addictions:  Right now it's Dark Chocolate Truffle coffee from Target, watching Lost on Netflix (I've never seen it before, so I don't even know what's going to happen!  It's so crazy!), giving my pal Maureen complete play-by-play recounts of every episode of Lost I see, Green & Black's 85% dark chocolate, and 'Madness' by Muse.

Source

Bed size:  Full, maybe?  I don't really know, the bed was here when we moved in.

Chore you hate:  Cleaning the shower.  I don't really like vacuuming, either.

Dogs or cats:  Well, I really like cats, but I'm allergic so I can't have any.  So dogs, I guess.

Essential start of your day:  Breakfast!  Recently I've been making breakfast sandwiches and burritos over the weekend (using these recipes) and freezing them so I can just grab them on my way out the door, and this has been working pretty well.

Favorite color:  Hmm...I'll say orange.  But I pretty much like every color.  Except for mustard yellow, and the combination of black and white.

Gold or silver:  Gold, 100%.  It just looks way better on me.

Height:  5'6".  A guy once mentioned that this was pretty tall for a girl.  But then when I said thank you, he said, "That wasn't a complement."  So, who knows. 

Instrument you play (or have played):  Piano and flute.  I wanted to play the drums in high school, but my mom said no :-/.

Job titles you've had:  Baby sitter, Sales Associate (at FYE), Undergraduate Teaching Assistant, regular Teaching Assistant, Teacher's Aide, Front Desk/Breakfast Attendant (at Harding House Bed and Breakfast), Product Tester (at Dymo-Mimio Interactive Teaching Technologies), and ORISE Graduate Fellow.

Kids:  None yet.  Gimme a couple of years.

Live:  Kailua, Hawaii.  Only for like 2.5 more months, though!  I'm making a list of all the stuff I want to do before we leave, and I'll try to fit at least one thing in for every weekend we have left.  This weekend might involve mini-golfing here.


Mom's name:  Catherine

Nickname:  My nickname in middle/high school was kind of Sunny, but no one really called me that on any sort of regular basis. 

Overnight hospital stays:  Just one, when I was only a few days old.  I had an infection or something.

Pet peeves:  Oh my goodness, I hate it when people walk behind my car while I'm trying to back out of a parking space!  Also when people leave crumbs in the butter, peanut butter in the jelly jar, etc.

Quote from a movie:  "You're a handsome devil; what's your name?"

Source

Right or left handed:  Rightie.

Siblings:  Just my big bro, Jordan :).

Time you wake up:  Currently I've been waking up at 5am Monday, Wednesday, and Friday to work out, 5:45am on Tuesdays and Thursdays (although generally I snooze until 6), and whenever I feel like it on the weekends, although it's usually no later than about 8:30am.

Underwear:  The more brightly colored, the better.

Vegetables you dislike:  Hmm...it's kind of a cliche, but I'm not a huge fan of lima beans.  Or water chestnuts.  Or seaweed, if that counts as a vegetable.

What makes you run late:  Hitting the snooze and generally moving slowly in the morning.  Also the fact that Kevin now gets up around the same time that as I do and immediately turns on the Daily Show (which totally comes on at 6am because we live in Hawaii!).  Every day I tell myself I can't stop and watch, but I always do.

X-rays you've had done:  I had an x-ray of my knee once.  I don't think it showed anything unusual, though.

Yummy food you make:  I think it's pretty apparent that I make all of the yummy food.  ;-)

Zoo animals:  Peacocks!  And Golden Lion Tamarins.

Okay, that's it!  Now you know all about me.  Have a good weekend!

Mini Souffle Pancakes with Cinnamon-Vanilla Maple Syrup

Last Sunday was awesome for two reasons.  First, it was Cinco De Mayo (and who doesn't love Cinco De Mayo?  No one, that's who.).  Second, it was my sweet boyfriend's 25th birthday!  Last year for his birthday I made him some Mexican Lasagna, but since we don't have an oven this year my options were a little more limited.  I eventually decided to just skip the Mexican theme, and started his day off with some of these delicious pancakes:

I found the recipe in Shape magazine.  The original recipe included a blood orange maple syrup, but blood oranges were the one ingredient I didn't have and I didn't feel like trying to locate one (is it even blood orange season right now?), so I decided to just wing it in the syrup department (read: I made something up).


Mini Souffle Pancakes
From Shape magazine
Makes 12 mini pancakes.  The original recipe says it serves 4, but Kevin and I had no problem eating half a batch each.

Ingredients
3/4 cup flour (I used whole wheat pastry flour)
2 tsp baking powder
pinch salt
1 egg
1/2 cup Greek yogurt
3 tbsp soy or almond milk (I used regular milk)
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 1/2 tsp maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg white


In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.  In a larger bowl, whisk egg, then add in Greek yogurt, milk, vegetable oil, maple syrup, and vanilla.  Fold flour mixture into yogurt mixture until just combined and set aside.

In a deep bowl, whisk the egg white until it holds soft peaks (the original recipe says to use a balloon whisk, but I used an electric hand mixer).  Gently fold the whipped egg whites into the batter, making sure not to overmix.

Lightly oil a non-stick pan.  You can use a spray to do this, but I like to pour a little vegetable oil on a paper towel and use it to lightly rub the surface of the pan.  Then, spoon about 2 tbsp of batter per pancake into the pan and spread into 3-inch rounds.  Cook for about 2 minutes or until a few bubbles form on the pancake tops.  Flip and cook for 1 to 2 minutes more.  Repeat with remaining batter to make 12 pancakes.

Kevin's pancakes got chocolate chips!  Also there are too many bubbles on top of those pancakes on the left, and I should have flipped them sooner.

The cinnamon-vanilla maple syrup sounds fancier than it actually is.  I poured an unspecified amount of maple syrup into a microwave-safe cup (maybe like a cup), added an unspecified amount of cinnamon and an equally unspecified amount of vanilla (if I had to guesstimate I'd say probably like a teaspoon of each), and stuck in in the microwave for about 45 seconds.  Then it went on my pancakes!

These pancakes were pretty good.  The one thing I will say is that they didn't have a ton of flavor by themselves, probably because they were designed to go with the blood orange syrup.  If I were to make them again I might add some cinnamon to the batter, and maybe a little more maple syrup as well.  Kevin's pancakes actually turned out a little better, partially because the chocolate chips gave extra flavor, and partially because they came out fluffier than mine did (probably because I waited too long to flip mine).  That was fine, though, it was his birthday so I was happy he had the extra-yummy pancakes!  :-)