It’s so funny how dogs come into our lives. One minute they’re with their sisters or brothers or in a shelter or at an adoption agency and the next minute, they’re yours. Sometimes, when the entire house is quiet and I’m on my computer, sitting in the dark, as I am now, and Henry is lying beside me somewhere between dreaming of food and toys, I look at him and it amazes me that I can call him mine. This little dog is mine. When I talk about him, I say, “My dog, Henry.” That is just astonishing to me. I’m sure I sound weird to anyone who is reading this, but you don’t understand. My childhood wasn’t filled with actual pets, just the longing for pets, almost every day.

My parents never let me have a dog or cat, so I would spend my days catching ladybugs and lizards in the back yard to call my own. They finally relented and let me have goldfish, and these were not your ordinary goldfish. They were beautiful, with striking colors, big puffy heads and flowing tails. I had them for a couple years. Then one day, we went on vacation and I came back to find most of them dead. After my goldfish fiasco, I was granted ownership of two anole lizards I kept in a terrarium in my room. Every week, my mom and I would make the trek down to the pet store to buy a bag full of crickets to feed them. A couple would always get loose and make their way around the house.

The lizards were tropical and as such had to be occasionally sprayed with water. I would take their cage out every week and put them in the shade. One day, I left them out too long while I went to the store with my mom and came back to find them shriveled up and gasping for air. They both died. I ceremonially buried them under the oak tree. I was completely devastated. Having felt sorry for me, my parents gave me permission to get more lizards, but I didn’t want to have anything to do with them. It was enough of a traumatic experience that I couldn’t bare to think of having two more.

Year and years went by. Having a dog was a topic of conversation at least once a week in my house, but the end of it was always the same: It’s either me, or a dog, my mom would say.

Thinking back on it now, what a cruel thing to say to a kid. But she didn’t understand, and I don’t blame her. I loved animals more than life itself and she, well she didn’t.

It wasn’t until I graduated from university last year, that she ever gave serious thought to me having a dog. By then, it wasn’t her choice anymore. It was going to be her and the dog and there was nothing she could say or do. So she chipped in and paid for half of Henry. She even came with me to bring him home. Although she might not admit it, they have been best friends every since. She feeds him chopped pepper, he sits in her lap. She worries about him when we’re not home, he watches her cook. She calls him “our dog” and pats his head while he sleeps. They love each other.

Pets are such an important and enriching part of life. Looking back, I’m not sure how I went all those years without Henry. Everything in my life can be crumbling and when I take one look at him when I get home, all of that melts away and it’s just me and him, with his head resting upon my hand, comfortably. It’s where he belongs.

I’ve decided to go on a detox of sorts. This is not only something I want to do to get healthier, but really, it’s a test of my own will power. You see, trying to go on a diet, or detox is nothing new for me. I’ve tried many times, but I’ve never managed to do it all the way. In cases concerning diets, starting is definitely not the hardest part, it’s keeping it going until the end. The only time I managed to lose a significant enough amount of weight that people noticed was in my sophomore year of high school. That summer, I was inside, avoiding the heat and flipping through channels while conveniently sprawled out on my parents’ bed. By chance, I started watching a little old movie you might remember, by the name of “Center Stage.” If we’re going to hold it up to a bar ( no pun intended!), it’s definitely no where near a masterpiece. But nevertheless, it dealt with subject matter that I loved: ballet. That was all it took to get me to motivate myself to lose some weight. I not only watched what I ate, I took ballet classes once a week and walked the rest of the week. I think I lost 10 lbs by the time summer was over. But it didn’t last.

I’m not big by any means, really. I’ve got my height against me, because I’m short. If I was a few inches taller, I could eat whatever I wanted and not care. But unfortunately that’s not the case. Overall, I’d say I would like to and need to lose 15 lbs. Maybe 20.

I found a book I had bought years ago at a discount store called “Detox: Revitalize, Rejuvenate, Revive” by Sara Rose. The inner sleeve reads ” Do you ever feel that you body is tired of the fast food, quick snacks, free-flowing alcohol, choking cigarette smoke and constant stress that seems to be such a part of modern life?”

Yes, Sara, I do.

“If so, you will find within this book a complete guide to detox: the ancient practice by which you can cleanse your body of the toxins that leave you lazy and lethargic.”

Sara goes on to point out that the signs of toxic overload include dry, blotchy, spotty skin (check!), headaches (check!), lack of energy (check!), bloating and constipation (check!) and many more. There’s even a questionairre.

Do you feel tired when you wake up in the morning, even though you’ve had enough sleep? Yes.

Do you suffer from skin rashes, spots around the mouth or eczema? Yes.

Do you live or work in a city? Yes. I love how this is an indication of toxic overload.

Do you have mood swings. Yes, but then again, who doesn’t?

Do you crave certain foods, such as candy or bread? Totally.

Anyway, you get the picture. I’m full of toxins. I’m on toxic overload. I’m infected.

So, I’m going to detox. Whether I will succeed remains to be seen. I hope I make it across the toxic bridge to come out on the other side feeling better, healthier and accomplished. Sara recommends that I not eat any products that contain wheat, cow’s milk, tea, coffee, chocolate or alcohol. Wait a minute, tea?! I love tea. My day does not start or end without a cup of tea. How can this be, Sara? Well, she goes on to say that I can have herbal and green tea. I guess I can make do. She also suggests to replace sugar with pure organic honey or maple syrup.

So what can I eat? Apple, artichoke, asparagus, broccoli, carrot, cranberry, fennel, garlic, ginger, lemon and yogurt are all considered detox superfoods. She recommends blue-green algae, coenzyme Q10, dandelion, kelp and milk thistle as detox supplements.

This morning, I woke up and drank a glass of hot water with the juice of half a lemon squeezed in. This apparently helps flush out your liver. My breakfast consisted of maple pecan granola, with fat free vanilla yogurt and a sliced up saturn or “donut” peach and some grapes. It was delicious. I didn’t eat bread, or butter or honey, and although the yogurt is made from cow’s milk, it’s still a step in the right direction. I feel good.

Fruit Granola

2 - 3 tablespoons of Trader Joe’s Maple Pecan Granola

4 oz cup of Dannon Light & Fit Vanilla Yogurt

1 Saturn peach, sliced

Handful of grapes

I put sheet in parentheses because it didn’t turn out like a true sheet cake. First off, I was out of wax paper to put in the bottom of the pan. Second, my pan was not nearly wide enough or long enough as it should have been, and also, I did not sprinkle confectioner’s sugar over the top and cut the pieces in triangles. So my cherry sheet cake, was more of a cherry flat cake than anything else. I found the recipe while browsing Martha Stewart.com, a website that never fails to be a good thing. I had been wanting to make something with cherries for a while now and it just so happened that we had a bag of frozen dark cherries sitting in the freezer.

The difference with this dough and regular cake dough was that it had the consistency of cookie dough and used more baking powder than usual. In fact, the dough turned out amazing, it was light and fluffy, not overly sweet, but just perfect. The cherries were really the icing on the cake.

It definitely didn’t turn out as good looking as the Martha Stewart version, but it tasted great, so I’m ok with it. The recommended cooking time was 35 to 40 minutes, however because my pan wasn’t wide enough and the dough was packed tight, it took the middle section of the cake about 50 minutes to fully cook. Serve with a warm (not piping hot) cup of tea!

Today on eHow’s Edible Gardens, Willi and I talked about our favorite cookbooks and recipes. She mentioned a really great one called Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison. I am definitely intrigued by this book and from what she said, it sounded great. I have a couple of vegetarian cookbooks, but none of them seem complete. This is especially helpful now, as I’ve recently become vegetarian this year, although I suppose I could be considered a pescetarian because I do occasionally eat fish. A book that I mentioned, New Food of Life: Ancient Persian and Modern Iranian Cooking and Ceremonies by Najmieh Batmanglij, is one of my favorites. Last year, I asked my mom to get me a book that would encompass all the food she’s made over the years. I started to feel like, that although I loved to bake and cook, I didn’t know much about Iranian cooking or recipes, and that concerned me slightly, because I didn’t want those traditions to die.

You see, although I am Armenian, my family is from Iran, which doesn’t make too much of a difference, because Armenian and Iranian cooking are very closely related, as is Arabic and Greek cuisine. So this book is just a complete encyclopedia of Iranian food. It covers dishes such as Dolma, or Ghormeh Sabzi or Shirin Polo (all pictured here, with photos taken by me) and tons of delicious Iranian and Armenian desserts and pastries.

Persian cuisine is not only versatile and flavorful, but it’s very healthy as well. Vegetables are always used in dishes as opposed to on the side and ingredients such as lentils, saffron, parsley, rose water and a mixture of herbs and spices. When you eat Persian food, you really get a sense of culture from it. The flavors that are combined together make for one amazing people. The great thing is that, if you don’t eat meat like me, the food has so much substance on its own, that omitting meat or replacing it with something like tofu does not change the dish by much.

This is shirin polo. Shirin polo in Persian means “sweet rice” and is one of my favorite dishes ever. The combination of almonds, candied orange zest and saffron in the rice makes for a titillating experience in the confines of your mouth.

It’s not necessarily a dish you make everyday, but reserve for special occasions, such as celebrations or weddings. The colors alone are beautiful, let alone the taste.

Rose water or Golab in Persian is used to flavor food, as a component in some cosmetic and medical preparations, and for religious purposes throughout Europe and Asia.

Rosewater has a very distinctive flavor and is used heavily in South Asian, West Asian and Middle Eastern cuisine

In Iran it is added to tea, ice cream, cookies and other sweets in small quantities. Two of my favorite desserts are akbar-mashti and faludeh, both Persian delicacies that have rose water added to them. Akbar-mashti is a thick creamy ice cream that has rose water (and sometimes pistachios added to it). Faludeh is a Persian sorbet made of thin vermicelli noodles frozen with corn starch, rose water, lime juice, and often ground pistachios as well.

I hope to present more Persian and Armenian recipes on this blog, as I definitely think it’s an undiscovered area of food for most of the U.S. If you’re interested in Middle Eastern recipes, a blog you should be reading is Desert Candy. I read it weekly and the recipes are just amazing. Noosh e jan! (Bon Apetit)

It has been 3 weeks since Henry had his luxating patella surgery on both knees. His x-ray went very well last Thursday and as you can see a couple posts below, he even had a bath and a cut. The last few days have been very difficult for me as I have become nervous and anxious about his recovery. When I put him down to walk to his pad, he walks fine. I have seen him raise his leg up once and this worries me a lot. I feel like it’s all a part of the recovery process and I don’t want my expectations of him walking perfectly so soon to be unrealistic, but it’s just so hard to know what’s going on. Sometimes I feel very out of the loop about the recovery process. I’ve read different things that mention how some dogs were given physical therapy schedules or other dogs were not even touching the ground until 6 weeks. It’s been 3 weeks and Henry can walk pretty fine, I am just overly worried. I don’t honestly know how people have kids, the amount of worrying that goes into children is in itself worrysome.

Henry does not have another vet appointment until next Thursday. From then on, I am going to confine him to his crate and only let him walk a couple minutes a day, closely supervised. I wish I knew more about this and I sincerely hope I’m doing the right things to aid in his recovery. My mind won’t be at ease until his next x-ray.

I have also scheduled him for a 2 hour examination at the California Animal Rehab Center, a facility which was recommended to me on a forum I visit. They completely assess the state of his legs and send me home with a physical therapy schedule. I’m looking forward to it. Until then, I will keep writing about his progress!

I have a theory that all good things come from Sweden. Ikea, H&M, Pippi Longstocking, health care, peaceful relations, crisp bread, etc. Turns out I’m right because ABBA is one of the best things that’s ever happened to music and now, film! Nat had been telling me how amazing this film was. It was so amazing, she decided to see it with me again today - and let me tell you, you will not only fall in love with this movie, you will fall in love with ABBA all over again and will begin feverishly downloading their music as soon as you get home from the theatre.

ABBA has every song to encompass the journey that is life, mark my words and isn’t it ironic, that they were discovered at the Eurovision Song Contest of 1974 and went on to sell millions of records? They sang “Waterloo” and went on to win. I think that’s a testament to their awesomeness right there. My favorite ABBA songs off the top of my head are “The Winner Takes It All,” “Fernando,” “I Have a Dream” and “Lay All Your Love On Me.” All but “Fernando” was included in Mama Mia!

I can’t remember when it was that I discovered ABBA, but I’m sure “Dancing Queen” was always ingrained in my subconscious from an early age. Before Mama Mia! decided to take on the songs of this Swedish quartet, there was Muriel’s Wedding, one of my favorite movies of all time. I was perpetually intrigued by the idea of Muriel Heslop a girl on the outskirts of the social circle who sat in her room, listened to ABBA and dreamt of her glorious wedding.

Amanda Seyfried, who plays Sophie really has a great voice and Meryl Streep and Pierce Brosnan live up to their potential. You might not want to see it because musicals aren’t your thing, but trust me, the hardest part is getting to the theatre. By the time you leave, you’ll leave wanting more.

Sometimes, I secretly enjoy Los Angeles traffic becomes it not only gives me time to listen to all the wonderful, insightful and interesting news and feature reports on NPR, but it gives me time to think. And it also gives me time to do my makeup. Yea, sometimes I do my makeup while I drive, always in heavy traffic and for always less than 15 minutes tops. Don’t scoff. It takes me 1 hour and 15 minutes to get to work. And I’m a girl. I’m allowed to do my makeup in my car by default. At least I’m doing something constructive with dead time. What are you doing, picking your nose? I thought so.

Graduate school

When will I apply? Where will I go? Most importantly, how much will it cost? And what about Henry? I have to sit and map out a 2-year-plan.

Barack Obama

I don’t know how anyone in their right mind can vote for John McCain. I don’t know. I swear to God, if he becomes president, I am packing up and moving to Europe. Maybe France, I don’t know. Sacrebleu!

Bollywood

I wonder what film we will watch this weekend. I keep forgetting to Netflix Khabi Alvida Na Khena. Nat hasn’t seen it. She must. She must see it immediately. I wonder how Aishwarya Rai is so beautiful. That face, that hair, those eyes. I could stare at her all day long. They’re all pretty. All of them! Priyanka Chopra, Bipasha Basu, Preity Zenta. How is this possible, Universe?

Reading

I have so many books that I’ve bought but haven’t read yet. I want to read. I really want to read. But every night I come home, I am either too tired or have other things to do. I must have at least 10 books waiting for me. I can’t even remember at this point what the last book I read was. How upsetting.

Manicures

I need one. And a pedicure. I wish I had the time and energy and patience to professionally get my nails done, at least once a month. It’s nice to have clean and nice hands, and feet for that matter.

Life

I wish I was at home, sewing and knitting instead of driving to work. When will they day come that I can work from home? I need to plant more vegetables in my garden. I need to paint my room. I wish I had a house to call my own, instead of just a room. Jeez, I need to pluck my eyebrows, they grow at the speed of light. I probably need to shave too. If someone handed me a lump sum of money right now, the first thing I would do is go to the nearest laser hair removal center and purchase head to toe body treatments.

Henry had a bath and a cut today, courtesy of me and some clippers. We went to buy professional grooming clippers at PetSmart today, but apparently the cheapest ones were $130! I used human clippers on him and scissors.

We decided to give him a cut to make evening out his hair easier when the area that was shaved for his luxating patella surgery grows back. Grooming animals is so difficult. No wonder I pick Henry up 4 hours after I drop him off at the groomers - I don’t know how they have the patience to handle so many squirmy dogs.

Mouse.

Dogs always fall asleep after a nice bath, I suppose. Here is Henry, in dreamland. His surgery wounds have healed nicely.

So I know I made these in the completely wrong season, but I had a huge can of pumpkin puree in the fridge, because I had to feed a couple spoonfuls of it to Henry to end his bout of constipation. I was originally saving the can for pumpkin pie time in a couple of months, but since it was open and I didn’t want to waste it, I thought I’d make some muffins.

I found this recipe from my new favorite site, Recipe Zaar. It’s pretty simple, that’s why I think these turned out so well - there were no fancy ingredients or methods involved, just plain old pumpkin muffins.

A lot of people don’t line their tins with anything, because the cups are usually reserved for cupcakes, but I like to line them anyway. I’d love to use parchment paper to create the cups, like the muffins I’ve seen at Starbucks.

Ginger, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg - all my favorite spices in one.

Overall, they turned out great. They were moist and bounced back and they baked through really well too. I will probably try this recipe out with whole wheat flour, less sugar and maybe some walnuts next time.