Fat Burros

It's been reported that there is an epidemic of obese burros in the old gold mining town on Oatman in western AZ. The wild burros in the small town's one street are extremely overweight, "with rolls of fat on their necks and big, full bellies."

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management manages the burros and say that half a million tourist visit the small town each year and feed the burros carrots, hay, or anything else and the burros eat it up. They have started a campaign to help the burros get back into shape, as most of them are 100-150 pounds overweight.

How silly.

[image via wikimedia.org]

Daily Teachings

Sometimes, when we don't have the courage to change, everything changes around us to direct us to a new path.

You cannot stop yourself from growing - evolution requires it.

Happy Friday!

Mexican Hot Dogs (Sonoran Dog)

On Tuesday's dining and wine section of The New York Times, there was a fun article about the Mexican hot dog. It highlighted the popularity of the hot dogs served in Tucson and some of its vendors, known as hotdoguero.

I remember a friend from high school went to Sonora and Hermosillo and talked about how good their hot dogs were compared to the US dog. But I didn't really know what a Mexican hot dog was until I moved to Tucson 5 years ago. In college, my sorority sisters would rave about how delicious and fattening they were and being the young vain college student I was, the fattening description never turned me on so I never wanted to try one.

However, they opened an El Guero Canelo (a very unpretentious, extremely cheap, and popular authentic Mexican food restaurant), famous for their hot dogs, about 7 minutes from my house so we frequent the place often. Although I have been to the place dozens of times, I have yet to order a hot dog. I've had a bite of one here and there, but something about a hot dog wrapped in bacon, covered in beans, tomatoes, onions, mustard, salsa, mayonnaise stuffed in a soft slightly sweet bun still does not do it for me. Although I do admit the few bites I have had have been good, it's just too much.

At any rate, read the article if you are a fan or are just curious. But most importantly, if you haven't already, you need to try a Sonoran hot dog for yourself. It's really is uniquely different and delicious.

[image via The New York Times]

The Lovely Bones- December 11!

I read The Lovely Bones when I was in high school and loved it. I did not know they were making a movie out of it until yesterday. It has a pretty decent cast- Susan Sarandon, Rachel Weisz (love her!), Mark Wahlberg (not a fan) to name a few.

The book is about a daughter who has been raped and brutally murdered by a neighbor. The story follows the girl as she watches and follows her family deal with her death and she learns more about the man who killed her. The whole plot is just so interesting, captivating, and sad.

I hope the movie doesn't ruin it. The trailer looked good though, so I'm excited to see this in a few months. Apple trailers won't let me embed it directly to my blog so you can click here to watch it.

Side note: When I was looking up movie posters for this, I found out that Ryan Gosling was suppose to be the father, but three days before shooting, he quit due to creative differences. Saaad. I much rather watch a Ryan Gosling movie than Mark Wahlberg.

World's Largest Dog

I saw someone post a tweet on their Twitter about the World's Largest Dog in the Guinness World Records (Hercules, an English Mastiff that weighed 282 pounds with a 38 inch neck) last night and this photo followed:

After doing some brief research on the internet, I found out that the photo is fake. The above dog is a Neapolitan Mastiff, not English. Also, an average horse weighs about 1000 pounds and in the photo, the dog looks to be only 30-50% smaller.

The largest dog ever recorded comes from the UK in 1989. An 8 year old English Mastiff named Zorba. He weighed in at 343 pounds, measured 8 feet from nose to tail and stood 37 inches at the shoulder. Since he has passed away, another English Mastiff named Hercules in MA was named the World's Largest Dog by Guinness in 2001 at 270 pounds (below with his owner).

Goodness, Dim Sum, my old Labrador retriever, at his heaviest was 92 pounds and he was a handful. I couldn't imagine if he was twice that size! Cute little Obie weighs in at a mere 13 pounds and doesn't look like he's going to get any bigger.

[images via worldslargestdog.com and truthorfiction.com]

Daily Teachings, Day 196

"Kindness in words create confidence.
Kindness in thinking creates profoundness.
Kindness in giving craetes love."

-Lao-Tzu (c. 4th century BC)

Can I Do This At My House?

KVOA.com reported that The University of Arizona has a pretty cool way to cool down their buildings during the day and save money on their electricity bill. And as an added bonus, this makes the campus a more "green" campus.

Traditionally, buildings are cooled by passing air over chilled pipes which is very costly. Now, the campus has 156 tanks of antifreeze running through the pipes in the tank that freezes the water at night. During peak electricity hours (middle of the day), those giant blocks of ice in the pipes melt and cools the 140 buildings on campus.

"The University isn't the only institution using this technique, it is spreading throughout the country. In some places it allows them to offset electricity production to cleaner renewable sources. At night, when demand is lower, renewable sources such as wind and water energy can fulfill a greater portion of the need, offsetting coal usage."

I thought that this was pretty cool for the environment and budget. Based on the data collected, they think it saves them more than $20K a month. I did notice that my office is cooler than it use to be, but my thermostat could just be set lower in the 7 months that I have not been here.

[image via arizona.edu]

Another Good Horoscope Day

Today's horoscope went along with yesterday's. I guess I just need to lose that stubborness and be more open.

Thursday, Aug 13th, 2009 -- Something that recently bugged you seems less than bothersome now. Perhaps you learn additional information that you were previously missing. Or, maybe you have a change in your attitude. You may see the same person who was stubborn only yesterday as the source of steadfast support today. In any case, your openness to new experiences can attract exactly what you are seeking.

My Horoscope Says

I get my horoscope sent to me from tarot.com and today's message is:

"Remember, the ability to negotiate and find common ground is a sign of strength, not weakness. Be strong and bend as necessary; you will grow from the experience."

Being that I am so stubborn I will definitely need to keep reminding myself this.

[image via Wikipedia.com]

Mini Yogurt Cake

Since I've moved back to Tucson, I plan on getting back into baking since I have more people to share it with. On Sunday, T suggested that since he was making dinner (champagne risotto with baby heirloom tomatoes), that I should handle the dessert.

I had quite a few recipes that I have been wanting to try, but I was also feeling lazy so I didn't want to make something too difficult. I love the Food Librarian's blog so I decided to make her mini-yogurt cake with fresh strawberries (adapted from the Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa Lemon Yogurt Cake recipe). The ingredients for the cake are scaled to be only a quarter of the original recipe, which worked perfectly for us since it's just T and I and we had no use for a whole loaf cake or a dozen cupcakes.

This was the final product. The actual size is a bit smaller than a regular cupcake. They were tasty and light. I particularly liked the texture and how the edges got a little crispy.

Last night, my sister said she wanted some more of the cakes. The previous night, I had only made 6 cupcakes. Since we had yogurt left in the house and the recipe was really simple, I decided to make them again. I wanted to use my mini cupcake pan since I love all things super mini. I was able to get 11 mini cupcakes. They tasted fine again and the best part about them being tinier was that they got even crispier on the edges.

I'm always nervous about making dessert for T because first, he doesn't like desserts and second, he's a trained chef so I feel he would be really critical of anything I make. However, he said they were good (but mostly, because he thinks anything I'm willing to make him is delicious...begin the awws).

Also, I plan on making a light box soon because the lighting in our house is not so good and if I plan on baking, I want good photographic evidence. :)

Clinton's the Man

In case you have not heard already, the AP reported that North Korea's President, Kim Jonh Il has issued a special pardon and release for Laura Ling and Euna Lee at former United States President Bill Clinton's request. The two female journalists have been arrested since March and were sentenced to 12 years of hard labor.

This was a first meeting with a prominent Western figure for the North Korean leader since he had his stroke a year ago.

[image via AP Images]

Changes

I have not been blogging as much lately because I have been so busy with recent changes in my life. Last Saturday, I moved back to Tucson. I went back to my old employer and started a new position yesterday as the Department's Senior Accountant. It wasn't that I was not happy at my previous job, but the Department has always treated me so well and made me feel very accomplished. So when E offered me my old office, a new title, a bigger salary, and a chance to go to grad school (I want to get my MPA) a few weeks ago, I could not turn it down.

As you can see from the picture above, the Department has been very welcoming to my return. Faculty, staff, and students have been stopping by my temporary office (I don't move back into my office until Thursday) and telling me how happy and glad they are to have me back. Nothing makes me feel better than a pat on the back and I love feeling appreciated. Even though it is only my second day, I am already swamped with work, but I am really enjoying it.

A bonus to my move is that T and I now live together. Even though it has only been a few days, it has been wonderful. He makes me coffee and breakfast everyday before I leave for work and cooks me the most delicious homemade dinners every night (pork chops, champagne risotto, babyback ribs so far).

We watched Food, Inc. this weekend and it definitely makes you think twice about how your food is being produced. I have always been conscious of healthy eating, food safety, and keeping it local, but I am even more aware now. I really want to make a difference for our society (hopefully I can do something on a grander scale after my public admin degree). Some things just make me sick and sad. If the movie is playing in your town, I suggest you go check it out.

That's it for now. Just wanted to let you all know I'm very content with where I am in life. I will be back in Phoenix often to help my mother out at their restaurant on the weekends, but for now, I'm changing from a Phoenician to a Tucsonian.