Reading: Water for Elephants

Title: Water for Elephants
Author: Sara Gruen

Style: Warm and poetic
Within a few pages, I could tell that I was going to be drawn into this story. The narration flowed smoothly without any rambling monologues - good start. The story alternates between the protagonist's (Jacob) current existence and observations of day to day difficulties in his old age home and his memories of his early life. At first, I was annoyed by the idea of  intermittent accounts of Jacob coming to grips with his aging physical appearance, memory loss and apparent depression...but it turned out to be quite heartwarming. The style of the 'flashbacks' was written in the present tense, which made it more enjoyable. It was similar in that Jacob's experiences were described with just as much innocence and candor as they were in the 'present'. I should also note that the descriptions of the circus animals and how they interacted with the performers and workers were sweet and colourful. I actually slowed my pace to enjoy the content of each chapter - whether it was in the present, or in the flashbacks. 

Content: Some difficult subject matter, but mostly a love story
Once again, I was totally immersed in this novel. I didn't have any previous knowledge about the subject matter - only what I had seen in the trailer for the film. The novel begins on quite a somber note, but quickly unravels into an interesting tale that you can google elsewhere. I suppose the majority of the novel takes you through Jacob's account of his new life with a traveling circus and the relationships he develops along the way. About halfway through, there are some allusions to mistreatment of the circus animals which 
caught me off guard, but weren't heavy enough to ruin the book for me.

Desire to finish: 100%
I took my time with this one... but I'm pretty excited to see how the adaptation turned out. I don't expect it to be as great as the novel, but am willing to give it a try.

Other comments: This book was recommended to me, and I probably wouldn't have given it a chance otherwise. It's worth checking out.

Overall recommendation: Read it.

Recipes: German Cookies

I usually seek out a couple of new cookie recipes every Christmas when I'm starting to plan my baking marathon. The trouble is finding recipes that are easy enough, tested and don't require an unreasonable amount of time to complete.

This year I tried 2 new recipes - one had been tested (by me!) a few a months ago. 

Spritz cookies

I'd made a huge batch of these earlier in the year, and they were a huge hit at the office.The recipe yielded a ridiculous amount, and it wasn't overly complicated. The troubling part was getting the batter into the piping bag and quickly piping the cookies before the mixture warmed up. With a few people in my kitchen, it was easily 24 degrees, so the batter was getting difficult to work with. I decided to pipe simple rosettes and keep things simple before pushing the middles down and adding a dollop of apricot & raspberry jam! The baking time was quite short, and once cooled I decided that they should also be semi-dipped in chocolate. All in all, very manageable and makes a good quantity that seems to satisfy even the toughest cookie critic!

Heidesand ("sand") cookies

These traditional german treats were recommended by a fellow baker who makes these sugar cookies regularly. These are quite different from regular shortbread, despite the fact that the ingredients are identical. The first difference is that you must use unsalted butter - not sure if I agree with this. I prefer salted butter, especially when I make shortbread. The next difference is that the butter is browned. I'm not particularly fond of this process as it requires patience, but it is usually worthwhile in the end, creating a lovely nutty flavour. Once the dough is formed into a log, it must be chilled for an extended amount of time... more waiting! I didn't get to thaw and slice the cookies until the next evening, by which time I was already fed up. Ensuring consistent cookie width was also quite painstaking in my opinion. The logs I formed weren't perfectly round, so my cookies weren't consistent in shape. Finally, the baking process took extra long as I had to monitor the buttery cookies for over-browning in the oven. The end-to-end process took too long, and I'm not sure the payoff was worth it. People certainly devoured them, but I didn't care for the extra-long chilling and monitoring required. I don't think I will be baking these ones again.

My top five cookies for 2011

(Clockwise: Spiced Gingerbread, Cranberry & Pistachio Biscotti, Spritz, Shortbread and Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip)

Reading: A Clockwork Orange

If you want to know about the plot, google it. I will just explain why I would recommend reading or experiencing this book.

What I value in a reading experience: writing style, content and the desire to actually finish the book.

Title: A Clockwork Orange

Author: Anthony Burgess

Style: Lots of weird slang

There is quite a lot of violence and disturbing imagery, but it is mostly masked by the use of Nadsat. At first, the language seemed to interfere with the storytelling, but you kind of get used to it after a while. After the first few chapters, I gave up trying to translate every single word and phrase. Much of the meaning can be deciphered based on context, and it is quite easy to remember what the words mean. If you're really worried about it, there are various glossaries available online!

Content: Humour, dark themes and a lesson

I was completely immersed in this book, primarily due to the way the story was told. Maybe I'm just dark and disturbed, but I quite enjoyed the first third of the book which focused on "ultraviolence". I empathized with the narrator (Alex) throughout the book, despite the fact that he seemed quite evil and heartless. Anyway, the book is about his journey... from evil to good... or being modified from a sweet and pure human capable of free will into a robotic windup toy? (a clockwork orange...)

Desire to finish: Bingo.
If a book is boring, I can't finish it. My goal was to finish the book before seeing the movie, but I didn't quite make it. I was also slow to finish, mostly because I was really trying to drag it out. Being a novella, there wasn't much to it, so the fact that I was enjoying it meant that it didn't last very long. I did end up finishing the book, and was disappointed to realize that the movie was quite a bit different. P.S. I hate that movie.

Other comments: This isn't the type of book I usually read. I prefer frivolous (gasp!) chick lit where I can really turn my mind off. Or maybe some kind of best-selling non-fiction. Needless to say, this book really sparked something in me. Something I can't explain. 

Overall recommendation: Read it.

Groupon: Fabulous Manicure Bar

The offer: $49 for $105 Worth of Deluxe Lemon Mani-Pedi and 15-Minute Pedissage ($105 Value) Fabulous Manicure Bar

What I value in the spa ritual: convenient location, competitive pricing, comfortable atmosphere, cleanliness, pleasant staff and good final product (in no particular order)

Location: Mount Pleasant & Davisville

While the location is fine in the summertime, it is a hike on foot from Yonge St. to Mount Pleasant. I tried to take a bus from St. Clair station, which is supposed to swing right by the spa, but the bus never showed up (that's a different rant altogether). 

Pricing: Overpriced regular service offering

The $50 Groupon was what the actual services were worth. $105 is completely heinous, so this isn't really a deal to me. My favourite mani-pedi place is Cozy Nails and gives you everything offered here for the same price. Plus, they do it with a smile, a movie and a free beverage. Well worth it, and it's uptown. :)

Atmosphere: Cute and pretty but impractical

The narrow space and antiquated setup make for awkward maneuvering. Everything has an "antiquey"look, but I prefer a more polished modern design. The aged finish of the painted surfaces might look pretty, but can't be all that clean. I wasn't too thrilled about propping my foot up on a stirrup-thing to have my pedissage and pedicure - I was wearing a dress. Sigh.

Cleanliness: Below par. Has this place been inspected?

I wasn't sure that the tools hasn't been used on someone else before and simply rinsed / washed after. I shouldn't have to guess about whether tools have been properly heated and sanitized. She used some old toothbrush to apply something to my toenails - acetone? I don't know, but I was cringing. Based on these observations, I would never go back to this place.

Staff: Hello, is anyone in there?

The manicurist hardly said two words to me. I'm not a big talker, but can you tell me what the hell is going on? Oh, I'm supposed to what? Now? Where are you going? Are we done?? Sigh. 

Final Product: Good.

The pedissage was forgettable, but she did a good job filing and buffing. The polish applications on both my hands and feet were exceptional. I can recall that the polish didn't chip for over a week. I tried to memorize her technique, but didn't quite get it down.

Other comments: The overall process took too long - I think I was there for almost 2 hours! The polish selection was not sufficient and the products used (foot soak was a metal bowl of water with rose petals?) were questionable.

Overall value: Minimal

The Objective

I've been wanting to do this for a while. Apparently I have a lot of strong (inflexible) opinions on things, and need a place to document them. These include ideas and thoughts about recipes, products, services and anything else that I feel the need to discuss. After a series of weird dating experiences, I thought about rating those as well, but figured I was just setting myself up for an unnecessary Bridget Jones scenario.

I'm a person of few words, so I will attempt to use photos wherever possible. I will also use categories and rating systems to avoid longwinded explanations. Well, I'll have to find time to sit down and get this thing going. I already have tons of photos to go back to, so look out!