Hello Kitty + Zucchini chat

My favorite Sanrio character is Kuromi... but you wouldn't know once you walk into the house. I have placed Hello Kitty items throughout the house. I don't hate Hello Kitty though... and I don't have a massive collection but I realized I have a lot for someone who favors Kuromi. ha ha.

Even for holidays I receive Hello Kitty items which makes me happy. I have more to add to my collection. This year for Valentines my little sister sent me over some nice candies and this awesome non hello kitty scented pencil. (She always finds awesome stuff!!) For christmas she sent me these Hello Kitty Mustache candy (not going to lie I was like where is my mustache merch this time as with Hello Kitty I seem to collect a lot of Mustache stuff)....

On my desk there are neat little finds my mom has given me...

She found two pencil toppers and gave me one which I use. I like having cute pen/pencil stuff.

In San Francisco she found me these trading figures which I like a lot.

The other day when I bought my new purse (which is seen two posts ago and its a Hello Kitty bag LOL!!), I found these in Hot Topic on sale. :D. I almost bought the ear muff headphone versions at Claires. I am too lazy to go around the house and share more than this. I dont even have this much Kuromi stuff. So one might think I am a hello kitty lover and maybe I am too. If you can see it in the background that keyboard is a Hello Kitty and my PC mouse is also Hello Kitty.

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So to go with my new bag, a while ago I ordered a coin purse from Sengoku Basara 4's line of chara merch. It was so hard to decide between Mitsunari Ishida and Katakura Kojuro but I adore Kojuro so much and am always happy to see chara merch for him so I chose him in the end. The pouch is so big!! I am pretty darn happy with what I can fit in there. It makes purse organization so much easier.

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Now a little story time. For lunch today I made myself a Zucchini lasagne and it brought me back to why I can't resist zucchini. My best friend, Rei, came to visit me in Washington one year for my birthday and we ventured over to Elmer's (a restaraunt like a classier version of Dennys) for lunch. On the menu they had zucchini sticks which are like mozzarella sticks and I was interested a bit since it made me think of the last time I actually ate zucchini, which was as a kid. When I was a kid we visited my Grandma in oregon and my Aunt who lived up the road would send down some bread that I remember I would eat a whole loaf, I had no idea what kind of bread it was til my grandma told me it was zucchini bread. Anyways we ordered the sticks and I was in love! The whole weekend we ate them. In fact from the end of summer to fall I remember going back until I figured I could make them myself. I know its unhealthy to eat fried foods like that so I was lucky enough to find more ways to enjoy zucchini. My favorite now is zucchini pizza bites or just plain roast zucchini!

Here is the recipe for Zucchini sticks!

1 large Zucchini log, quarted then halved
1/4 cup flour (bread flour preferred not required)
1/2 - 1 cup Panko japanese bread crumbs
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon herb mix (italian preferred not required, optional)
1 egg, beaten & mixed with a little water or milk

Okay so if you followed the first direction it was to take the zucchini and cut it in quarters then take the quarters and cut them in half. Prepare 3 dishes as your breading station: 1 for flour, 1 for egg mix and 1 for Panko/bread crumbs. Mix the panko with the salt, pepper and herbs. Now dip the sticks in flour, then the egg and roll in panko. Put oil in a skillet and turn the heat to medium. Once it is hot carefully place each stick in and fry until it is golden brown like the photo. Serve with ranch. Trust me its heavenly. You can eat it alone but ranch just makes it oh so good. :) I make my ranch home made.. or you can find the ranch seasoning packets in your store in the dressing isle. Another option is to bake the sticks rather than fry. You won't get maximum crispy result but they are equally as good and a lot better!