Jailer

So, Odin is fitting in beautifully. He is still a bit on edge, but that's to be expected. He was obviously not handled enough while he was growing and that makes nervous snakes even more nervous.
Damascus has remained in his cage, Hallelujah! It seems the maximum security I've provided is working out. Think barbed wire, motion detectors and guard dogs.
Yeah, I'm exaggerating, except for the guard dogs, well, guard CATS, but still. I am watching him like a hawk. Every time I leave the room I point to my eyes and to him in the old "I'm watching you" sign. He must think I'm nuts.

I am baking Challah today.
I am using this recipe:

3/4 cup plus 2 tbsp. warm water
1 package active dry yeast
1/4 cup honey
2 eggs
1/2 tbsp. salt
4 1/2 cups flour
1/4 cups butter, melted
1 tbsp. water
1 egg

Put yeast in water and honey. Let set for 10 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, salt, and butter. Slowly add the flour.
Knead and let rise in a warm place for two hours. Knead again. Shape into whatever shape you like, place in prepared pan and let rise 2 more hours. Then beat egg and water to make the glaze.
Spread over the top of the bread. Bake at 375 F. for 35-40 minutes.

Musical Snake

Today's been a pretty dull snake day. I had a voice lesson this morning, so I didn't take Topkapi out. She was not too thrilled. but I made it up to her in the afternoon.
I took her out and placed her around my sister's neck while I finished some muffins I was making. She was playing the guitar (my sister, not the snake, although how cute would that be?) and Topkapi was extremely interested in the vibrations coming off the instrument. She kept stretching herself out to reach the strings. Adorable.

This is what I was baking:

Orange muffins

1/2 cup and 2 tbsp. butter
1 3/4 cups and 2 tbsp. sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. orange zest
3 1/4 cups flour
3 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 1/4 cups orange juice

Beat butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time, add orange zest. Sift lour, baking powder and salt together. Pour flour mixture in parts to the butter mixture, alternating with the orange juice.
Pour into prepared muffin pans. Bake at 350 F. for 20-25 minutes.

Pillow Talk

That's Topkapi having a nap inside my pillow. I took her out in the morning and placed her on my bed while I put some stuff away. When I finished,I turned around and she was making a bee line for my pillows. I guess it was too early for her.

Poor Coral is shedding and she is looking really dull. More than usual. Her eyes are powder blue and she is also more skittish than she is normally, which is saying a lot. I haven't used the humidifier yet because Coral is smart and she goes and soaks in her water bowl. If on top of that I use the machine she'd get a respiratory infection easily. Hopefully she'll shed soon so she can eat on Friday.

I am baking some Banana Peach Bread, here's the recipe.

1/2 cup butter
2 cups flour
1 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 bananas
2 peaches
zest of one orange
2 tbsp. fresh orange juice

Preheat oven to 350 F.
Mix the dry ingredients. Put peaches in blender and pulse. Place in a bowl and add mashed bananas. Add zest.
Cream the butter, add eggs one at a time. Add fruit mixture and orange juice.
Add to dry ingredients. Stir until just moistened.
Bake 50-60 minutes.

Feeding Frenzy Friday Part 20

Maat is driving me up the walls. I am really concerned.
My sister brought 2 live pinkies on Wednesday, one for Tybalt and one for her. Tybalt ate his of course, she did not. So I had an extra baby mouse on my hands. I decided to keep it for a few days, to keep trying with Maat. So, I took care of it for two days and nights. For me this really sucked.
Do you understand how cute a baby mouse is? I had to give it milk with Pedialyte every four hours and I had to keep him warm, but I also had to keep myself detached, because he was destined to be eaten.
I tried again today and again Maat did not want it so I decided to give it to Tybalt since he is the only one who eats live pinkies. It was horrible.

Damascus ate fine as did Talulah. Coral was really moody today and she did not want her mouse. Maybe she's pissed I put her on a diet.

I baked some cookies today. They are double chocolate chunk, yummy.

1 cup flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup cocoa powder
8 ounces chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 325 F.
Melt chocolate with butter. Add sugar, eggs, vanilla extract.
Mix flour, baking powder, salt, cocoa. Add to chocolate mixture.
Place in prepared pan and bake for 15 minutes.

Morning Madness

I walked into the library/snake room this morning and encountered something interesting. Topkapi was crawling all over, investigating every corner of her cage. She raised her body up and flicked her tongue out at her heat lamp, which I had just turned on. I expected the shenanigans to stop with me around, but I sat on the floor to watch her for a good ten minutes before she decided to go inside her hiding place and sleep. What the hell was she doing?
She's usually hyper like that only during the night, when all the lights are turned off, but never during the day. She is nocturnal, after all.
I have a couple of theories.
There are two cats in the room with all the snakes. These cats get quite hyper at night aas well. They play around like crazy and this morning they were still playing when I went in. So, either Topkapi wanted to see what all the commotion was about OR she wanted to get out of the cage and strangle both cats so she could sleep. With her, it's a toss up.

I have a pound cake in the oven, which already smells pretty fabulous. Here's the recipe:

1 cup butter
1 1/4 cup sugar
4 eggs
2 tbsp. honey
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. orange extract
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt

Beat butter, sugar. Add eggs one at a time, then the extracts and the honey.
Sift flour with salt and baking powder. Add slowly to the wet ingredients, beat until smooth.
Place in prepared pan of choice. Bake at 350 F. for 50-60 minutes.

Maat

That's my new baby, Maat. The name is Egyptian, and it means truth, balance, order, justice. It's also the name of a Goddess of Ancient Egypt, which doesn't hurt. I thought it beautifully appropriate for MY new ophidian goddess.
She is seriously cute. Her eyes are huge compared to the rest of her head so she has that wide-awake look that is always funny. She hasn't shed yet, which means I still haven't see her in all her glory. I am looking forward to that and to taking more pictures of her.
I tried this morning feeding her a thawed pinkie, but she was not interested. Hopefully I can tempt her in the next few days. I'm pretty sure she hatched only a couple of weeks ago, so she probably hasn't eaten anything yet which gives me a good chance of training her to eat pre-killed mice.
She also has the sweetest personality, and is not scared of anything. The first day I got her, she was crawling all over my hands and up into my hair. Little brave beauty. I can't stop looking at her.

I am baking some cookies, they're actually in the oven now.
Here's the recipe:

2 cups flour
1 cup butter
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
pinch of salt
preferred jam

Mix flour, salt. Add sugar, butter, milk, vanilla extract. Roll into balls, press center with thumb. Put spoonful of jam inside. Bake at 350 F. for 15-20 minutes (depending on thickness).

Lull

Those are little baby Quaker parrots. My sister brought them home yesterday from her job, because they needed a place to stay for the night. Since they're so little (they must be a day old) they need supervision and no one stays overnight at the wildlife center. Someone brought them in because their nest fell off a tree. It's incredible how defenseless they are. Only one of them has his eyes open, the other two walk around blindly, bumping against each other. Poor little babies.

They are adorable. We're keeping them here for now, and we'll see in the future if we can find good homes for them, and if not, they can stay with us. We already have a Quaker, an adult one, so maybe he can foster them. I don't think that's likely, but you never know with animals.

My ophidian babies have been surprisingly calm the past few days, no shenanigans of any sort. That does not bode well. They're probably planning something cataclysmic for the future.
Topkapi has bright blue eyes, she's a few days away from shedding, but she still walks around without too much concern, sure in my protection. Which she, of course, has. She's so spunky.

I am baking a cherry pie right now, I can smell it already.
Here is the recipe:
For dough:
2 1/2 cups flour
1 cup butter
3/4 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. sugar
4 tbsp. cold water
1 tsp. cinnamon

For filling:
3 cups pitted, sliced cherries
3/4 sup water
1/2 cup sugar
2 tbsp. cornstarch

Mix flour, salt, cinnamon together. Add the butter and water. Mold into a ball, wrap up and place in refrigerator for 1 hour.
Put cherries in saucepan with water, cook for 10 minutes. Slowly add the sugar and cornstarch. Cook 5 more minutes, until it gets thick.
Take dough out and roll onto pie pan. you can save some and make lattice strips, if you like.
Pour cherry filling. Bake at 350 F. for 45 minutes.

Snakelings

My sister called a few hours ago to tell me that the first Burmese baby had hatched! She said he is very cute, green and brown. I wonder if any of the babies will be albino, like their daddy. I hope so.
Unfortunately, in the state of Florida you need a permit to have a Burmese python, so I can't get one. Otherwise, you can imagine how fast I would have made it to the center this morning.
It's so frustrating, especially when I know both of the parents and have handled the father quite a bit. Oh well, hopefully they go to good homes.

I just finished baking banana bread. It's a little different from the recipe I usually use, but I was getting a bit bored. This one uses more bananas.

Here's the recipe:

2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups mashed bananas

Sift flour, add baking powder, salt. In another bowl, beat butter and sugar. Add cinnamon, vanilla extract, eggs. Add the bananas. Mix well. Add the flour mixture, until just blended. Bake at 350 F. for an hour.

Famine

I ran out of dog food this morning. Yes, the supermarket is only a few blocks away, but do you know how damn hot it is outside? I do not have a death wish, thank you very much.
Of course, the dogs, all three of them, are acting as if the famine had reached Miami. They come and whine at me, then they go lick their empty, sad bowls as if I were purposely hiding their food.
I am boiling them some pasta so that I am not followed around by wide puppy-dog eyes (you know the ones I mean) all day long. They love pasta so there should be no complaints.

I took Barbossa out this morning and he refused to move. At all. I was sitting there like an idiot watching what could have easily been a snake made out of marble. He did not even deign to flick his tongue out.

I am probably going to be baking this afternoon. I have my eye set on a particular bread recipe, so I'll post it if I do it and also, hopefully, a good picture.

Here is the recipe for nut filled sweet bread:

3 1/4 cups flour
1/3 cup butter
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup warm water
1 package fast-active yeast
2 whole eggs
1 egg yolk
For filling:
1 1/4 cup chopped pecans
2 tbsp. butter

Place yeast in warm water, let dissolve. Add sugar, milk, eggs, egg yolk, butter, salt. Slowly add the flour. Knead and place in a warm place to rise until doubled (about two hours). While the dough rises, place chopped pecans in skillet with the butter and cook until browned.
Knead bread again. Make dough into whatever shape you like, and spread filling on one side of it. Fold the other part of the dough over the filling and let rise in warm place until double, again. Bake at 325 F. 30-35 minutes.

Doors and Shops

That's Barbossa trying to get into my room. He doesn't realize just how big he is. He thinks "well, my head fits, so I'll be fine". I really have to keep an eye on him or he could get completely stuck, and then what the hell do I do? Can you imagine, taking the door off it's hinges so I can rescue Barbossa?
I actually had to do that, but with the library's closet door. That was when I first got him and I mistakenly thought he was a wise old snake and knew better that to try to get his big coils through a tiny, little, space. Thank the Gods it was only the closet door.

A bit of profile.

I had to bake the same cookies I baked last week, again yesterday. My sister insisted. They have become a favorite of hers, although she always tells me that none of the cookies are as good as the ones I made for Christmas years ago. These were chocolate and vanilla pinwheel cookies that I have not been able to reproduce, mainly because I have no idea where I got the recipe from. I have tried different pinwheel recipes for my sister to taste, but none of them compare to the mythical Christmas ones. I didn't taste them all those years ago (I rarely try what I bake), so I have no clue what I can add to make them the same. I know the recipe came from a magazine, probably one of my mom's Victoria or Country Living issues, but she has soooo many that I am daunted by the task of going through all of them. If any of you have great pinwheel cookie recipes, I'd be glad to try them out.
By the way, I have an Etsy account where you can order pretty much all I bake, even if it's not posted. My shop is called "Carabosse's Bakeshop", you can type it into Google and it comes up, or go directly to Etsy.
If you see something you like, in the shop or here in the blog, don't be shy, I don't bite...much.

Feeding Frenzy Friday Part 9

Tybalt did not eat, yet again. He seemed interested when I first put the pinkie in front of him, but then he changed his mind. I have scrubbed his cage and not handled him at all this week, so at least it's not something I'm causing. But why doesn't he eat!?
CocoRosie is also refusing food. I didn't pester her too much today. When I saw that by the third strike she was getting pretty worked up I backet away and closed the cage. No point in upsetting her and getting her to burn needless calories. I must be patient.
Damascus ate without problem, as did Coral and Talulah. Coral was hilarious today. She struck the mouse almost immediately, but she got it by the middle. So, being pretty smart, she knows that she can't swallow the mouse sideways. She instantly let go and attacked again. This time she got it by the tail. Again, frustrated she let it go. You could almost see the steam coming from out of her nostrils, she was so pissed. She must have struck four more times before I had to position the mouse with its snout pointing perfectly in her direction. Finally, she was able to grab it in the correct spot.

Later today I'll be baking brownies. I'll probably use a really simple recipe, but I'll post it later anyways.

Ok, I realized I didn't have eggs, so I didn't make brownies, but a kind of banana bread. Here's the recipe:

1 cup flour
2/3 cup orange juice
1 banana
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 cup sugar (I used brown)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
4 tbsp. flaked coconut
4 tbsp. oil
1/4 cup chocolate chips

Mash the banana and mix it with the orange juice. Set aside. Mix all the dry ingredients and add to the banana mixture. Add chocolate chips and coconut flakes. Pour into prepared pan and bake at 350 F. for 40-45 minutes.

Feeding Frenzy Friday Part 8

I finished feeding my morning babies. I am really getting concerned about Tybalt. He shed last week, so he should be hungry enough to take the pinkie, but he refused it again. I made sure it was hot enough so he could see it, but still nothing. I don't know why he is not eating. I've gone through the mental checklist of things that could be bothering him: it's not the temperature, it's not the humidity, I've been really careful with the light/dark schedule, I only took him out once this week, so he can't be feeling stressed. What is it? I wish he could tell me so I could fix the problem.
CocoRosie continues to refuse food but she is a grown snake that can go a while without eating so I am not AS concerned, although I am getting there.
Yesterday I received the order of fuzzies in the mail that I bought from RodentPro. I offered one to Damascus today and he took it with gusto (he also ate Tybalt's pinkie). Talulah ate without problem and so did Coral.
Tonight I feed Topkapi and tomorrow Barbossa.

Every time my snakes don't eat I ask myself, why do I put myself through this worry? Don't I have enough on my plate? That lasts about 2 seconds, until I think of what my life would be without their flicking tongues and bossy attitudes and then I feel like the most ungrateful person on the planet. No matter what kinds of troubles or frustrations they add to my life, they are my spoiled babies and I adore them.

I am baking some bread, called Swiss Cinnamon Bread so here is the recipe.

1 packet active dry yeast
1/4 warm water
1/2 cup warm milk
1/4 cup butter
3 cups flour
1 tsp. salt
2 tbs. sugar
2 eggs

Add the yeast to the water. Let dissolve. Mix milk with butter, let cool and add the yeast mixture. Slowly add the eggs, the salt, sugar. Add the flour. In floured board, knead until the dough is flexible. Place in bowl, butter slightly on top, cover and set in a warm place to rise until doubled.
Knead again. Cut dough into 3 pieces. Roll each piece into strips. Roll the strips in 1/4 cup sugar mixed with 1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon. Braid the strips. Let rise again until doubled. Bake at 350 F. 30-35 minutes.

Happy Mama's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there! That does include animal moms, like the duck we have by our front door sitting on her eggs. Yes, our house is going to be the site of around 16 duck babies' births. I don't know how animals do it, but they always seem to know that we welcome all kinds of them and that we will feed pretty much anything that appears at our doorstep. So, we are patiently waiting for all those little ducklings to be born. What's cuter to see than the babies waddling after their mom?

I wanted to post a picture of Topkapi with her blue eyes. You can see she looks very dull, her scales are lacking brilliance and color, but in a few days she will shed the old skin and look brand-spanking-new. She will also shed her eye caps. All snakes have a scale covering their eyes, which, since they don't have eyelids, they use as protection. The only problem is that when they start shedding, their eye scales also turn dull and they can't see well. Some of the snakes, like CocoRosie, get very nervous and aggressive, which is understandable. You wouldn't like people picking you up if you couldn't see well, either. Others, like Barbossa, get even shyer, if that's possible. And still others, like Topkapi, Damascus, Talulah and Tybalt, don't really give a crap one way or the other. I guess it comes from being in human contact since they were born. They are so tame, they feel no danger in our presence.

Yesterday, my mom and I went to the beach. The water was really glorious, but the sun was murder. This Miami heat is really becoming unbearable, you can feel the sun cutting into your skin. It doesn't even feel like burning anymore, it's like a million little paper cuts appearing on your skin. I didn't get truly burned because I carry my SPF 50 sunscreen pretty much everywhere I go, but still I have a tan. Once again, I HATE tans. I'm like a vampire (not the Twilight ones, if my skin glittered like a high school girl's at prom, I would die again of shame) the less sun I get on my skin, the better. Oh well, the water was incredible, so it was worth it. We'll probably go back next Saturday, but this time earlier in the day so the sun is not quite as brutal.
I'll be baking later in the afternoon, so I'll probably post either the recipe, the picture or if I feel really inspired, both.

Ok, I just finished baking. Here is the recipe for a simple vanilla cake

3 cups flour
2tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup milk
1 cup butter
2 cups sugar
4 eggs

Preheat oven to 350 F. Mix flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside. Add vanilla extract to the milk. Set aside. Beat butter and sugar. Add egss, one at a time, and beat after each addition. Add 1/3 of flour mixture to the butter mixture. Add half the milk to the batter. Beat well. Repeat.
Bake at 350 F. 30-40 minutes. Frost as desired.
Once again Happy Mother's Day!

Expensive Ice

Barbossa ate his two mice yesterday. He is getting much better at being a predator. He rarely misses anymore and when he does miss he still tries again. Maybe he is getting more confident as he gets older, which is a great thing to see.
Last night I ordered more mice for my little snakes. The regular sized mice I get from the wildlife center where my sister works since it's much cheaper and quicker, but when I need to get pinkies or fuzzies I have to order them online. The mice themselves are not expensive, I bought them yesterday at 0.14 cents a fuzzie, the only problem is the shipping costs. They have to package it with a ton of ice, so the cost goes up. I paid $40 just in shipping. That's something else people need to take into consideration before buying a snake. Yes, it is best to get a baby snake so that it gets used to humans from the very beginning, but can you afford their food? You can't just walk into a pet store and ask for baby mice. They don't have them. It is a pretty expensive "hobby" to have.

I took a Stephen King book with me while i camped. I know myself enough to realize that no matter how good my intentions are to be social in a situation like the pagan festival (or any other event where there's people), I always find myself alone with a book. I can't help it. Books are more interesting than people (yes, I know books are written by people). I took "Lisey's Story". I haven't finished it yet, but I cannot praise it enough. This is, I think, the best Stephen King book I've read so far. How can people say bad things about his writing? It's not Dostoevsky, and you can't judge it as that, but his writing makes me think and makes me happy to have eyes to read, so what's wrong with that? Nothing, just a bunch of uptight literary critics. Anyway, I'm running out of pages and I don't want it to end. It's too good. Read it, read it, read it.

I just fnished baking some cookies. They are Swedish. Here's the recipe:

1/2 cup butter
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup honey
1 egg
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375 F.
Cream butter and sugar. Add the honey and the egg. Add flour, salt, cinnamon. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Roll out and cut into desired shapes. Bake in prepared pan 5-7 minutes.

Liquid Trust

I just can't get enough of Topkapi drinking water. She does it every day, but I always find it astounding and also a bit flattering that she trusts me enough to drink, not only when I am around, but when I am actually holding her. Most of my other babies don't let me do this. For the first year I had him, I never saw Barbossa drink. I knew he did because his bowl's water level would go down but I never saw him. One time I almost did but as soon as he felt my footsteps he froze. Now, at least, he lets me watch him while he drinks. I can't get too close, but I can be in the same room. I've seen both Talulah and Damascus drink, but they both get too hyper when I'm holding them. CocoRosie has let me hold her while she drinks a few times. For a few months she's been unusually cranky so it has not been repeated, but I have hopes for the future. I would like to achieve that level of trust with all my snakes.

Yesterday my sister and I went to see Rachael Sage. The concert went really well. She played and sang some great songs and we had a good time. The venue was also cute, kind of a lounge style room, with a buffett and bar, and the audience had tables with tablecloths and everything. I was also surprised at age demographic of the audience. We were the youngest ones there. Rachael Sage must be about 30 so, why is her audience so much older? She is an Indie singer so I expected a room full of mid-20s people. Very strange. I got to talk to her and I got her autograph, which is very cool. Now I just have to meet Tori Amos (my musical obsession).

I have a cake in the oven right now, so I'll share the recipe

Maple Cake

2 cups flour
1 1/2 tdp. cinnamon
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup maple syrup
2/3 cup milk
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg

Preheat oven to 325 F. Mix dry ingredients, set aside. Mix maple syrup and milk, set aside. Cream butter and sugar, then add the egg. Add the wet and dry ingredients alternating, in two parts each. Pour into prepared pan. bake 20-25 minutes.

Ranting

So much for posting the recipe and pictures yesterday. I got hooked watching LA Ink with my sister and forgot all about it.
Today Barbossa ate his two mice. I was supposed to get him three but they didn't have anymore at the store. That's something I just don't understand. Don't they do inventory? Can't they tell they're running out of mice? Someone in the store has to have enough brains to think "we're almost out of mice, maybe I should order more". It's not rocket science, guys.
I just get irritated when one of the only stores that carries feeder mice is full of incompetents. Do your jobs people!

Topkapi is sleeping behind me, on my pillows, in my bed. My mom saw her today after not having seen her in about two weeks and she was amazed at how big she is. I don't notice because I see her every day, twice a day, so it's too gradual a change, but she is looking bigger and chunky. Good chunky, not obese.

Today officially started the summer season for me. I know it doesn't actually start until June, but today I was able to use the pool for the first time in months. Plus, Miami is not known for it's wonderful, distinctive seasons. We're lucky if we get anything besides "surface-of-the-sun" hot.
The water was wonderful, so refreshing. I'll have a tan in no time, which I hate, by the way. I go to the beach and while everyone puts on suntan lotion, I pile on the sunscreen like my life depends on it. I HATE tans.

Here is the late recipe with the pictures. I made Cocoa Meringues.

3 egg whites
1 cup sugar
3 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp. vanilla extract (I didn't have any so I used almond extract and a splash of vodka)

Beat the egg whites until frothy. Gradually add the sugar and beat on high until glossy. In another bowl, mix the cocoa powder and the vanilla extract. Slowly add to the egg whites, beat some more. Place in prepared baking sheet by the spoonful. Bake at 275 F. for 25 minutes.

Feeding Frenzy Friday Part 5

Tybalt refused to eat again today. I am in code orange, a mild state of panic. I don't know why he hasn't eaten. There is no reason: he's not shedding, he is not sick (that I know of), the temperature in his cage is the same as always, etc. I paid special attention this whole week to the light/dark schedule because I know he is very sensitive to that, and yet...nothing. Snakes can spend a lot of time without food, but he is still very young and he needs all the nutrients he can get. This coming week I'm going to abstain from handling him, just in case I'm stressing him out a bit. I don't think that's the reason because he always seems to enjoy walking around. We'll see next week. Arrrrrghhhh!
All the other snakes ate without problem, which is good for my nerves. Talulah actually ate two mice since Tybalt refused his. Usually I give the extras to Damascus, but today feisty Talulah was eying the pinkie, so why not? She seemed very happy and full when I checked up on her before turning off the lights.

I'm in my room and I have a gardenia flower on my altar, and I can smell that erfume all the way across the room. The gardenia plant in our backyard is in full bloom and it is just gorgeous. There is nothing like the smell of these flowers.

Today I also baked some yummy Sticky Lemon Rolls. They are a bit like cinnamon rolls, but flavored with lots of lemon except cinnamon.
Here is the recipe:

For dough:

1 envelope dry active yeast
3/4 cup lukewarm milk
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract
4 1/2 cups flour
1/2 ts. salt
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
2 eggs
1/2 lemon

For filling:
1 cup sugar
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. powdered ginger
1/2 lemon
3 tbsp. butter

For glaze:
4 ounces cream cheese
juice of one lemon
1 cup powdered sugar

Place yeast with warm milk. Let rise a few minutes, then add sugar, butter, vanilla extract, 1 cup of flour. Mix well, then add salt, nutmeg, lemon zest of 1/2 lemon, eggs, and the rest of the flour. Knead well, cover and let rise an hour.

For filling, mix sugar, nutmeg, powdered ginger, zest of 1 lemon, and juice of 1/2 a lemon.

Stretch dough out into a rectangle, brush with 3 tbsp. butter, pour filling inside and roll dough u tightly. Cut into slices, place in baking pan and let rise again 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Bake 35 minutes.

For glaze cream the cream cheesem add juice of 1/2 a lemon and powdered sugar.

Wincing Snake

I was able to take Barbossa walking around my room today. He was disappointed that we didn't go outside but it was a little too chilly for him. It has been really warm for the past few days, so the change of weather today took me by surprise.
Barbossa is looking gorgeous, with his fabulous new scales and he seems quite proud of them. New scales do not equal new courage, he is still a little coward. While I was sitting with him on the floor, I was working on my monologue (which is due tomorrow, by the way) and I kept picking up the notebook to check on my memorization skills, and every time I moved he would wince. As if I took a broom to him on a usual basis. Come on Barbossa, I have never and will never purposely hurt you!

Yesterday my mom and I discovered that Vincent, our new rat, doesn't drink water. He is so used to the dropper that he had in the pet store, that he doesn't know how to drink from a bowl. I was flabbergasted. He looks at the water, touches the water, but he doesn't drink it! So, for the past day and a half, I have been giving him water from a syringe. I am his own personal dropper. It's amazing the way that their mind works, because he kept licking one of the bowls that have a metal edge. He thought that, since the droppers are usually made with a metal top, this particular piece of metal would also give him water. Poor thing.

I said I was going to bake today, but I actually baked yesterday. I made chocolate croissants and hazelnut-orange croissants. It was very easy. I copped out and bought frozen puff pastry (give me a break, last week was a long one) which I defrosted and stretched out. I cut into rectangles, then triangles and put a piece of chocolate in the widest part of each triangle. I rolled them up, brushed them with egg yolk, and baked them for about 20 minutes in 375 F. oven.
For the other version I just substituted the chocolate with a 140 g. bag of hazelnuts (I put them in the blender and hit the pulse button) and half a cup of orange marmalade. Mix this all up, and place a dollop in each triangle.
Most of the croissants are gone, so there are no pictures, but they looked fancy and tasted great.

Rising to the Occasion

Barbossa today has been really active. I haven't taken him out for about a day and a half because I assumed he would want to be left alone while he is in the process of shedding. But today, as soon as I went to turn his heat lamp on, I saw him pacing around the cage, looking up expectantly. I had breakfast and then I took him out for a morning walk. He actually moved around! Very surprising. I think he is growing up and realizing he is a big strong snake that is afraid of nothing! Or... he just wanted to stretch and is still terrified of everything that breathes, and even everything that doesn't. I know Barbossa, inanimate objects are scary.
Well, last night I got it into my head to bake bread today. Specifically an Easter bread. I don't celebrate Easter per se, since I am a card carrying Pagan, but I am not averse to getting chocolate eggs and bunnies fresh an early on a Sunday morning. Besides, the holiday has it's roots on the pagan day of Ostara, celebrating the goddess of light and spring (that's where the eggs and bunnies come from), so I am not quite being a hypocrite.
The bread that I decided to make is a Romanian one called Cozonac. It's a bit like the Italian panettone, with raisins and an optional walnut or chocolate filling. I am making it with the walnut one. Right now, the bread is in the process of doubling in size, which takes about an hour and a half, so I've got time to kill. I was reading how Romanian women used to, and probably still do, get up early in the morning to be able to finish the bread in time for dinner. I can see why. After this rise, I have to do another one, so it'll be close to six in the afternoon before I finish the bread. It already smell Divine, though.

Here is the recipe I'm using:

2 1/2 tbsp. + 3 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup + 1/2 + 1/4 cup milk
1 package active dry yeast
4 egg yolks
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup golden raisins soaked in rum
zest of 1 lemon
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 tbsp. rum
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tbsp. oil

Scald (bring close to a boil) 1/2 cup milk and add 2 1/2 tbsp. flour. Stir. Let cool.
Heat another 1/2 cup milk just until lukewarm. Pour over yeast. Stir. Add to flour mixture and beat until large air bubbles appear. Cover and let rise at least 15 minutes.
Heat rest of milk to lukewarm. Add egg yolks, sugar, raisins, zest, yeast mixture, flour. Add cooled butter and knead for 15 minutes. Add rum, vanilla, oil. Knead for 2-3 minutes. Cover and let rise in a warm place until double in size (about 1 1/2 hours).
Punch down, knead 5-10 minutes. Spread dough out on floured surface, spread filling and wrap up. Heat oven to 350 F. Coat a pan with cooking spray. Place dough on it, let rise until it reaches the top of pan. Mix 1 egg yolk with 1 tbsp. water and brush top of dough. Bake 1 hour.

For filling:
1 cup walnuts, ground
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup milk
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Mix sugar, milk in pan. Boil. Add walnuts, stir. Let cool and then add vanilla extract.

Of Mice and Snakes

Yesterday was a super lazy snake day. Barbossa ate his two live mice without too much hassle. The first one did bite him on the nose and as soon as I saw Barbossa pull his head back and try to hide it underneath his coils, I thought "here we go..." fully preparing myself for feeding failure. But, surprisingly, my shy baby pulled himself together and went back out in search of the ferocious mouse. He is a good 15 times larger than the mouse, so really I wasn't chewing my nails in anticipation. He ate both and wanted more.
The only one that didn't eat this week was Coral. She's about to shed. Snakes shed periodically, depending on their size, age, health level. My Fearsome Seven eat pretty much every week so they shed regularly, every couple of months. The process takes about a week and a half, sometimes two weeks for the older snakes. First you see their scales get darker, opaque, their bellies might get pink. Barbossa's stomach gets a bright pink, as if he had a rash, but Topkapi's, for example, doesn't get pink until much much later. Then their eyes get kind of hazy and a few days later they are completely sky blue. At this point they can't see well. They usually don't have great eye sight, but when they're shedding it's even worse. Some of them will get a bit aggressive, in my case CocoRosie starts acting like a mamba. Most of them won't take any food, and will not want to move at all.
When snakes are about to shed, their humidity requirements go up, they need to be at 65-70% humidity, which in an air-conditioned house is not as simple as it sounds. The babies I have in the garage are fine because of the wonderful Miami swamp heat, but the ones upstairs give me a ton of work. I have to mist their cages much more often than I usually do. And on top of it all, they HATE the mister, so they contort their bodies so not a singly droplet of water touches them.

I was so bored yesterday, and what better way to cure that than baking! (or reading, or singing, or swimming, or...)
So I made a chocolate cake with a Cinnamon frosting. I followed the recipe of a Coffee flavored frosting, but it sucked so I changed it a bit, or more like a lot. Here are the recipes:

Chocolate Cake:

2 cups sugar
1 3/4 cups flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
3 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup oil
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup hot coffee

Preheat oven to 350 F.
Mix sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, salt. Add eggs, milk, oil, vanilla. Beat on high. Add hot coffee. Pour into prepared pan, bake 30-35 minutes.

Frosting:

2 tbsp. butter, softened
1 1/4 cup powdered sugar
3 tbsp. hot coffee
1 tbsp. cocoa powder
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. ground cinnamon

Mix it all together. Allow cake to cool completely, then frost to your liking.