Skinny Cow, yum yum

I’ve discovered the deliciousness of Skinny Cow ice cream sandwiches! So yummy, and not too many calories!

Today they are soothing my sore throat that decided to make a come back today. Blah.

What a good lookin’ turkey!

Our Thanksgiving turkey is just too pretty and delicious not to share…

Some favorite Seattle places

I’ve been completely neglecting blog writing. So far my Seattle experience has been one great adventure. I am making wonderful friends, having old friends visit, and learning a lot about myself (and in school, of course!).

I am quickly finding my way in Seattle, and getting a feel for some of my favorite places, so I decided I would compile them into a series of entries. Seattle is packed with locally owned businesses and there is always a new place to try, which I love. We’ll start with the obvious choice for Seattle, coffee shops!

There are so many great coffee shops in Seattle, all with so much character. I’ve been to tons and love them all, but here are a couple of my favorites.

Cafe Van Gogh
This is about a 5 minute walk from my house. Their latte foam is to die for. And they have delicious food too! I love to study here since it is cozy and there are recreations of Van Gogh paintings all over the walls.

Cloud City Coffee
This is Sara’s favorite coffee shop in Seattle, so she brought me here twice! I had their Chai both times, and both times it was great. Their bacon, spinach, and feta quiche is incredible.

Top Pot
Ohhh Top Pot! Top Pot is a short bike ride from my house, and offers delectable doughnuts and coffee. I really like to study here since the seating area walls are full floor to ceiling with books. The old-fashioned cinnamon sugar doughnut dipped in a good cup of black coffee sure does get my studying done.

Mr. Spot’s Chai House
I found this place on one of my Ballard adventures. I love Ballard! I found Mr. Spot’s when I went to get stuff for my Halloween costume, and had some homework to do. I happened upon Mr. Spot’s and had the best chai tea I’ve ever had. Spicy and delicious! I want to go back on a night where they’ve got some live music!

Stay tuned for places, stores, bars…and who knows what else!

How to Cool Burns from Chili Peppers

via wikihow

1. Drink milk. There’s a protein found in milk called casein that acts like a detergent against capsaicin. It’ll actually pull the capsaicin compounds away from the nerve receptor binding sites in your mouth. Drink at least a half cup, making sure you rinse your mouth well first. You can spit it out, but you won’t get as much relief in your throat that way.
   • The colder the milk is, the more effective it is against the burning sensation.
   • If you don’t have any milk, you may be able to soothe your mouth with the casein in cottage cheese, cold plain yogurt or ice cream.
2. Drink sugar water. Mix a tablespoon or more of sugar with a cup water and use it to rinse out your mouth. Cold sugar solution (10%) at 20°C/68°F is about as effective as whole milk at 5°C/41°F^[2] but the relief only lasts while the mixture is still in your mouth^[3] so you’ll need to keep rinsing and spitting until the pain subsides.
3. Drink alcohol. Capsaicin is soluble in alcohol, so drinking a beer or a shot can help wash it away. It’s not nearly as effective, however, as milk.
   
4. Rinse your mouth with oil. Capsaicin is also soluble in vegetable oils^[4] so swishing some around in your mouth might help. Keep in mind that oil has been found to be only slightly more effective than water in relieving pepper burns, so use it only if nothing else is available.

5. Eat some chocolate. The capsaicin in peppers is more soluble in fat than aqueous based solutions (ie beer, water, even low-fat milk). The high fat content of most chocolate bars will help to remove some of the capsaicin from your mouth. Milk chocolate generally has a higher fat content than dark chocolate and therefore should give better relief.

Unverified Folk Remedies

1. Try any of the following folk remedies, but keep in mind that these methods have not been verified in a reliable third party source.
   • Cheese, for the same reason as milk.
   • Eat some cucumber. This is in fact a common way to deal with too much heat in the food in Indonesia and Thailand.
   • Curries and other hot dishes are almost always accompanied by copious amounts of rice in India, because all starchy foods combat the burning sensation. Potato will work as well, as will bread. Chew well, so that the tongue is “washed” by the rice, potato or bread.
   • Use salt. Salting the food or eating salty chips can soothe the burn.
   • Try honey. Sopapillas with honey are served with spicy foods in some restaurants.
   • Pepto Bismol may stop the burn.
   • Try taking a tablet of Benadryl.
   • Try eating a raw carrot. There’s no trick to swishing it around. Just take a bite and the burn will significantly diminish.
   • White toothpaste can significantly reduce the burning from habañero oils on the skin. It will likely work in the mouth and/or with other peppers.
   • Coconut milk works very well to cut the burn and modulate the heat level of a spicy recipe.
   • Bite into a slice of lemon, orange or other citrus fruit or drink a citrus juice. The acid in the fruit will relieve the burn.
   • Ice Cream for the same reasons as cold milk, and it has sugar

Peachy!

My mom bought a bunch of delicious arugula from Whole Foods, which we didn’t end up eating the other night for dinner (because we had caprise salad and grilled sweet potatoes with maple syrup and green onions YUM). We also had some amazing carolina peaches laying around, and I love how arugula tastes with fruit. I whipped up a peach vinaigrette and topped the arugula with some delicious cheese (made in Chapel Hill, can’t remember what kind) and chunks of peach! Great dinner!