Churros

Okay, so we tried something new; churros! It's like...the Spanish equivalent to a doughnut. :) It's actually very good! So.....here's the recipe:

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes

Yields 2-3 servings

• 1 cup white flour
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1 cup water
• 1 Tbsp vegetable oil
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1 tsp granulated sugar
• oil for frying 
• several Tbsp granulated sugar to sprinkle or honey*

* we used confectioner sugar to sprinkle on it. :)

Pour vegetable oil, such as canola or corn oil into a large, heavy bottomed frying pan. Make sure there is about 2 inches of oil in the pan to cover the churros. There should be enough oil so that they float freely while frying. Set the pan aside.

In a medium sauce pan, pour 1 cup of water. Add oil, salt, sugar and stir. Bring water to a boil.

While waiting for water to boil, dry the cup used to measure the water and use it to measure flour, since it is necessary to have equal parts flour and water. Pour flour into a medium-sized mixing bowl and add baking powder and stir.

Once water boils, remove sauce pan and begin heating oil in frying pan.

Slowly pour boiling water from saucepan into flour mixture - stirring constantly with a fork until it is a smooth dough without lumps.

Note: dough should not be a runny like batter, but rather a sticky smooth dough.

Spoon dough into a large cookie press or pastry bag. (We just used a plastic baggy and cut a hole in the corner of it.)

Carefully squeeze dough into hot oil and fry until golden brown. Remove with a slotted spatula or long-handled fork. Place on paper towel to drain.

Once drained, cut into manageable lengths. Sprinkle with sugar or drizzle with honey and serve!

Very tasty and very easy!


Note: I didn't take the picture; it was taken from Google Images. :)

Random Photos

Update Photos on Max

Okay! Long time coming in photos for Max. I've had a couple of friends demanding at knife point that I post some....okay...well...not knife point. =)
Anyway, here they are! The little guy is growing like a weed, and his baby-coat is vanishing like mist. (You can see the black spots!)

Pictures from Birthday

These are a few pictures taken the night before my birthday; we always take pictures then!

Cat # 6!!

Yes...we have another cat. This adorable fur-ball showed up at our door Saturday evening. Actually, we had heard a cat meowing, thought it was our cat Lemon, and I went down into the woods to find him. Turns out, there was the little thing sitting in the middle of the road, and it came running up to me. So cute! I took it up to the house, and it's been outside ever since; dad said we could keep it if it stays outside! We're pretty sure it's a girl, so we named her Shina. (Note: Name may be liable to change if we found out it's a boy!) Shina means "good" or "virtuous". She's so cute!!!

Friends Visit

The other week some good friends of mine came over to visit. Their names are Sarah and Heather, and they demanded some of the photos we took be put up on my blog! =D So, dear friends, here they are!

New Car!

Last week we went down to GA to pick up a car that we bought from our grandma. It's a Nissan Altima and is REALLY cool! (Although I'd prefer black...:) At any rate, it's really nice, and a smooth ride! Here's some pictures:

Birthday Fun!!!!!!

I really can't believe it's already OVER! Oh well....mom and I had a great time yesterday! Dad and I left for breakfast in the morning, went up to the Parkway to the Bluff's Restaurant, had a great time, went to the overlook, got some wonderful pictures, and then headed back home. As soon as we walked in the door, I changed clothes, freshened up, and then left with mom to go down to Winston-Salem. We got to the Mall at around 11:00, and stayed there browsing until about 1:00. SWEET! I got a couple of hoodies and some lounge pants that are REALLY comfy! We then went down the road to a Chinese buffet, and...now I can say I've tried sushi. One word: GROSS! And this didn't even have the fish in it! It was rice, cream-cheese, and cucumber. Hey, but at least I TRIED it! They also had kimchi there, (main Korean dish...what it was doing in a Chinese restaurant, I'll never know...) I decided to try it again, as I had tried it in Ohio and hated it, but, nontheless, I wanted to try it again and see if I could develop a taste for it. Well, I managed to down it, but I still do NOT like that stuff. And it was HIGHLY Americanized compared to the real thing we had in Ohio! (Not half as spicy, in other words.)
After that, we went BACK to the Mall and looked around some more. We just sorta walked through store after store, not really buying anything but just, well...looking. :) One of the last stores we went to was a little Chinese store tucked in the Mall that hadn't been open long. They had tons of Samurai Swords, which completely fascinated me! I got to hold one and pull it out of the sheath, studying the beautiful blade. Ah...I wanted it. It had Chinese writing on it, so I asked the little Chinese lady there what it said. She read it in Chinese, but had a very hard time speaking English; though she was very, very sweet. They also had nunchukas, climbing claws, and some absolutely gorgeous dresses! They had little golden dragon statues, and I was tempted to buy one because of the Chinese Golden Dragon Acrobats, but...I didn't. :) I DID buy a BIG black ring, that looks really neat! There was a big glass case in the middle of the room that caught my eye as well; it had tons of knives in it! All sorts of them! Switch blades, flip blades, small throwing stars, double blades, and my favorite of all...balisong knives, or otherwise known as butterfly knives. Ooooh man they were SO neat! I got to hold one of them, and flipped it a bit, though very carefully, because I really don't know how. It was very, very nice.
After that, mom kept telling me that she had a surprise, and I'm going, "What is it? Tell me!!!!!!" Dying of curiosity, of course. Finally, we left the Mall, and mom took me to Cold Stone Creamery. I've never been there, and it was REALLY good! (Too good...)
We finally went home and wrapped up the day with watching Nicholas Nickleby.
All in all, it was GREAT! We had a wonderful time, and I'm glad I got to spend the day out. Lot's of fun! And thank you to all of the friends who've wished me a happy birthday and made it special! Love you all!!!!!!!!!!

Lord, thank you for 16 years!

                              UNCAAAAASSSSS!!!!!!!! (the poor guy's still falling!)

 Saw this really cool Chevy Avalanche at the Chinese restaurant! 

Sushi!

A really nice wine-glass that I liked. (That's the hoodie a bought!)

 Balisong knife^

My ring!

-Han