Water for Elephants: My first swap.com book

Hello!! I've been so busy lately. The new quarter started and I've been working constantly. I feel very productive. However, working that hard after a couple of weeks at home has taken its toll on me and now I have the flu :(. But I also have some good news; I  passed the qualifier! If you don't know let me tell you, I am a PhD student and I needed to pass the qualifier so that I could still be a PhD student. Now I just(!) need to pass the candidacy and defend my dissertation to become a Dr, still a long way ahead but I feel happy that I am done with the first stage...

Book cover

Now, on to the latest book that I've read: Water for Elephants. I got this book from swap.com for just a shipping fee :). As the name implies swap.com is a website that offers a platform for people to exchange their books, CD's, games etc with each other for free (not including the shipping fee). You don't need to worry about "not receiving your item"  because if something like that occurs swap.com will send you a new one and charge the member that failed to send the item. I have exchanged "Angelology" for "Water for Elephants".

swap.com logo

I learned a lot about circuses while reading the book. The writing was really good and although the story is pretty much predictable after a point I enjoyed it very much.  An interesting things is that the story is told from the perspective of one character at two different stages of his life. I don't think it is a must-read but I would suggest it.

Katy Perry Concert!

It's been a week since my last post... I've been working hard for my qualifier and finally I took the exam on Friday. I hope I'll pass it! By the way, I have been working hard but I didn't miss Katy Perry's concert which was last Tuesday :). I have decided to take advantage of what America offers. I have enjoyed both Britney's and Katy's concerts. They were great. Katy was much more of a chatterbox which I really enjoyed. During the show she talked about her ex-boyfriend who was from Ohio and how she used to visit often. I was thinking that this was just part of the show and she would change the name of the state to please the crowd according to where she was performing. I was surprised to read online that she did actually have an ex-boyfriend who was from Ohio.

She came on stage with this outfit and sang "Teenage Dream"

Katy was sick but she didn't cancel her Columbus show and to my surprise her voice was not bad. She actually performed most of her songs live. She seemed to be enjoying her new found fame and wanted to give her fans what they wanted. I am glad that I went to see her show, you could feel her energy and she seemed to be a fun person. I didn't know half of the songs she performed but they seemed to be fun and catchy. She has 5 or 6 shows left in North America, you can take a look at the tour dates here.

California Dreams Tour set list:

1. "Teenage Dream"
2. "Hummingbird Heartbeat"
3. "Waking Up in Vegas"
4. "Ur So Gay"
5. "Peacock"
6. "I Kissed a Girl"
7. "Circle the Drain"
8. "E.T."
9. "Who Am I Living For?"
10. "Pearl"
11. "Not Like the Movies"
12. "The One That Got Away"
13. Medley: "Only Girl (In the World)" / Big Pimpin'" / "Whip My Hair"
14. "Thinking of You"
15. "Hot n Cold" (contains elements of "I Want Candy")
16. "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)"
17. "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" (contains elements of "Girls Just Want to Have Fun")
18. "Firework"

Encore

19. "California Gurls"

One more thing, "Peacock" is a funny song :).

Performing Peacock

Cake Decorating... Preparing a feast for the eyes

I am soo into cake decorating at the moment. Having got cable for the first time since we moved to U.S. I've been watching all the "cake shows" to catch-up :).

I was introduced to cake shows with Amazing Wedding Cakes, which is shown on We TV. The show visits 4 bakeries located in different cities and you get to see all the work that goes into creating a wedding cake from scratch. There are so many different types of wedding cakes. You can go for a really classic one or a very dramatic one with many vibrant colors. It is simply up to your imagination...

This cake was designed by Robin at Gateaux  from the show Amazing Wedding Cakes for a bridal shower. Both the bride and groom were pilots and the places on the maps showed meaningful locations such as their honeymoon hotspot

I have also watched Ace of Cakes and Cake Boss. Ace of Cakes is shown on Food Network and Cake Boss is shown on TLC. Right now my favorite show is Ace of Cakes. They rock! They made cakes for the latest Harry Potter movie premiere, Super Bowl, 30 Rock Cast & Crew, the Oprah Show and for many more great events, people and shows...

The show Ace of Cakes takes us inside the wonderful Charm City Cakes bakery. The bakery was founded by Duff Goldman in Baltimore, MD in March of 2002. Their slogan is "You dream it, we'll bake it, you eat it"! They are not a typical bakery in which you can just walk in and grab what you like, you need to order your cake pretty early and up until recently they were only making custom cakes that were outside most people's price ranges. However, they now have Cakes for Two which basically means you can order a cake for your special event from a selection of cake designs. These cakes cost $250 each and in contrast to its name they feed up to 15 people. If I ever visit Baltimore I'll probably order one before going so I can pick it up when I get there :).

Charm City Cakes: Nightmare Before Christmas

Duff Goldman with his cakes

Charm City Cakes: From the Exorcist, I am really scared of this cake, it is terrifying!

Charm City Cakes: Anesthesia Machine

Charm City Cakes: A history book

I've posted a couple of photos of my favorite cake designs. I have also started looking into cake decorating classes. Once I'm done with my qualifier I want to sign-up for one. I even chose my cake decorating kit. Cake decorating looks like a fun way of utilizing some spare time and since I'm such a big cake fan, I think it is perfect for me :).

Turkish Delight

As most of my friends know I'm probably the number one person in their lives that has such a strong relationship with almost anything sweet. I can eat anything from simple candies to chocolates to five-star desserts. There are very few sweet things that I don't eat. All my life I was the one that had the biggest sweet tooth among my friends :). Therefore, I also love Turkish Delight but since there are many different kinds I especially enjoy a couple of them very much.

Before Turkish Delight is cut into cube shaped pieces

Turkish Delight known as "lokum" in Turkish was first found by Bekir Efendi, who moved from his hometown Kastamonu to Istanbul and opened his confectionery shop near the Yeni Cami Mosque in 1776 during Ottoman Empire's reign. You can now buy these sweet things in boxes but originally you were supposed to bring a handkerchief with you before you went to the store and when in the store they would put the delight inside your handkerchief. "Lokum was introduced to Western Europe in the 19th century. An unknown Briton reputedly became very fond of the delicacy during his travels to Istanbul and purchased cases of it, to be shipped back to Britain under the name Turkish delight".  For more information visit here. I watched a documentary about Turkish Delight a few years ago and in the documentary a lady said that when Turkish Delight became so popular in Britain there were many people who tried to replicate the sweet however they were not successful. At the time there was a specific technique that you had to use so the delight would not be runny or sticky.

Turkish Delight cut and ready to be taken out of store :)

However, now you can find Turkish Delight around the world. It is probably named differently in some places and the taste will definitely vary. In my opinion the best ones can be bought during the bus trips you take in Turkey. If you are traveling for more than 3 hours the buses will have a rest stop where you can find many treats to buy especially a wide range of lokum flavors. I love the rose and chocolate flavored ones and the ones with pistachios inside but I prefer the ones that aren't sprinkled with coconut.

Turkish Delight up close

Turkish Delight on display

I've done my detective work and in North America you can find these delights in Middle-Eastern/Turkish stores or online. Also I believe some of the Americans were introduced to Aplets and Cotlets as Turkish Delight. I will be trying them very soon :).

Aplets & Cotlets: Will be trying them soon

I would've given you a recipe but I haven't tried making Turkish Delight before and I don't know which recipe is the best among the ones I found online. As I've told you earlier it is hard to find the right density of the delight so it is not too soft or too hard.

Lychee

Lychees with skin

I've met a new fruit and fell in love with it :). Its name is lychee. My husband was introduced to this fruit by one if his Chinese friends while working in his office. Later, he was able to find them in our local Giant Eagle and bought some for me. I was doubtful at first and at that point I realized that I wasn't so open to tasting new edibles. However, I really liked the taste, I think it tastes like rose water. Actually I recalled the taste of rose flavored Turkish delight when I bit into the fruit. I will be making lychees my healthy dessert option from now on :).

Peeled and ready to eat lychees

Lychees were originally cultivated in southern China, Malaysia and northern Vietnam and introduced to the west in 1782. Well it wasn't introduced to Turkey because I haven't come across any lychees in super-markets in Turkey. Furthermore, I couldn't find a translation for the word lychee. Lychees are more recently grown in California, Hawaii, Texas and Florida and I believe our lychees are coming from one of those states.

Rose flavored Turkish delight

Lychees have a total of 66 calories in 100 grams. About nine lychee fruits meet an adult’s daily recommended Vitamin C requirement, which is pretty good because last night I ate 11 of them :). They are pretty expensive in Giant Eagle, they cost $5.99/lb. However, 11 of them cost around $1.00 so it is a cheap desert option in addition to being healthy. I learned that I can usually find them in Asian grocery stores for cheaper. We checked out our local Asian store and were able to find them but they were greenish yellow and as far as I know ripe lychees should be brownish red in color so we didn't get them. I think they may have been longans though. I haven't tasted them but read that they're similar in taste to lychees but they are yellowish in color.

Longan

Green Tea and its Health Benefits

About two weeks ago we went to a Sam's Club. In case you don't know Sam's Club is owned by Walmart and you have to purchase an annual membership to shop there. They offer bulk products that range from tea to meat. In addition to grocery items they have electronics, office supplies, furniture and even jewelry :). Hence, they have pretty much anything you want but most likely in bulk. Some of the prices are great compared to most of the grocery stores that we usually prefer to shop at. However, you have to be careful because  not every item is cheaper. You may assume because they sell in bulk they will always be cheaper but this is not the case, don't forget to read the price tags! We don't have an annual membership but we were able to get in because they had an Open House for three days so any nonmember could shop. I guess they have open houses couple of times a year and if you don't have a big family to feed shopping a couple of times a year will be enough for you. For example, I think I bought a year's worth of green tea supply :). I've been drinking at least 1 cup of green tea since we went to Sam's Club.

A cup of green tea

I know green tea does not taste very nice but it is good for your health and since no one is getting younger I think protecting your health is very important. Here are the most known benefits,

1) fights cancer and heart disease
2) burns fat
3) prevents diabetes
4) boosts your immune system
5) simulates metabolism (good for weight loss :) )
6) reduces tooth decay
7) reduces and prevents acne
8) slows the aging process so that you get less wrinkles :)

You can read here and here. I think the second link is a very good source about the health benefits of green tea. If you're thinking of drinking green tea to lose weight then you have to drink about 4-5 cups of green tea. If you drink that amount of green tea your body will burn about 70-80 calories more so if you're thinking of going on a diet drinking green tea will be beneficial. However, by merely drinking green tea and not doing any diets or additional exercise you'll be able to lose about 8 pounds (3.7 kg) per year, which is pretty low if you want extreme results. Read here for more information about the relationship between weight loss and green tea.

Gifts from Turkey

While we were in Turkey we received a couple of gifts from friends and family. I want to thank them once again. I've posted photos of our gifts,I think now our home feels more like a traditional Turkish home. We finally have some accessories!

In case you don't know evil eye beads are very popular in Turkey and are used to ward off the looks coming from an evil eye that may cause harm to the person,home,car etc. that it is directed at.

The tulip part is made from glass (handmade) and the evil eye beads (the blue/white colored beads) are to protect the home and they are nice looking beads that are usually attached to traditional gifts such as the one above

These are usually hung on kitchen walls so that the owner(s) of the home will always have food on the table. You can notice the small evil eye beads on this traditional gift too.

In many cultures elephants are believed to bring good luck so we have them hanging on our walls :)

A tomato shaped pitcher. We are currently using it for water.

A sweet little bottle opener to use and decorate our fridge