The Cat is Drawing Pentagrams

So, one night we decide to give the cat some catnip. What a great idea right? Then we found a ball of yarn, and thought, 'What an even GREATER idea?'. Well, we put some tidbits of catnip in the ball of yarn and let Arry take a wack at it... which she did...

The next morning we found this.

The cat is drawing pentagrams in our breakfast room.

No more catnip for her.

In unrelated non-cat news, I was craving something horrendously bad for me.

 Hence the monstrosity depicted below. I don't know if you can see, but that pan is probably 2 or 3 inches deep.

Godliest nachos ever. We couldn't finish them. I couldn't even bear to look at them the next day.

Housemate approved.

 So, being the mischevious chocolate-loving female I am, I decided to be a little selfish this year and er... not share my birthday cake. I made it a few days in advance, then finished it off after my party. Granted, I did spend some given birthday money on the ingredients getting like 3 different kinds of chocolate.

All I can say is... Holy !*@& Can I atleast make something look DECENT?

 The first time I made cakes it looked "special" and I just passed it off as "quirky". But SERIOUSLY FOR THE 5th TIME CAN I JUST MAKE SOMETHING THAT LOOKS SLIGHTLY AESTHETICALLY PLEASING FOR THE LOVE OF GOD?!

I used a simple chocolate cake recipe which called for coffee (couldn't resist). Then made a dark chocolate ganache for the middle layer. Then for the outer I used a raspberry white chocolate mousse... which apparently didn't thicken enough or I used too much liquid.. I don't know. What I can say though is that this cake brought me some hellish developments.

This cake had me crying by the way. CRYING. I had to blend and strain raspberries,without a "cheese cloth". Tried a paper towel, nope. Coffee filter, nope. By this point I was crying. Then the boy came in and suggested a tea strainer and a coffee sieve, both to no avail. I was, shamefully, still crying. He disappeared for a few minutes, then came back out, pulled out one of the shmancy tea bags he had from the theater, then proceeded to squeeze small amounts of seeds through the tea bag (mind you it was made of silk, really fancy schmancy, was probably some chai flavor no one in the house really liked). Anywho, it worked. Finally. Love that boy.

A Week in Pictures

SO, this week was packed. But I did make sure to take pictures of tasty things and cat things.

DOWOWOW

Weirdest cat in the world. She will actually watch tv and video games.

I'm sad I actually forgot to take pictures of these pretty little things once they were steamed. They're barbecued chicken dumplings, with the dumpling covers made from scratch. I had also made a bottle of home-made red chili oil that I mixed with some soy and vinegar to make a tasty dipping sauce. They lasted maybe... 3 hours before all of their little dumpling cousins and nephews were consumed in our bellies. Poor little dumplings.

Friend with crazed cat. This lady is awesome. We did a girly shopping evening and I found an awesome blue dress that will soon be turned into the BEST Halloween costume. I never plan ahead for those kinds of things then regret it painfully the week of. This year will be different.

 OHMANZ I saw this a few weeks ago and thought, "No... this is too good to be true."
Then. I made it.

Bacon wrapped eggs, baked in a muffin tin with cheese. So bad. So good. 

I had also developed a sweet tooth this week. Picked up some limes and lemons at the store, and made some tasty curd. This lasted for maybe two days. Then I had firmly decided it needed to be married to something pastry and chocolate. 

I also had split my thumb nail across the nailbed a week ago, so squeezing and juicing the citrusy delights was a challenge in and of itself.

PASTRY AND CHOCOLATEZOMG

Housemate approved. I also totally broke the rules and TOTALLY tempered chocolate chips even though they have nasty additives that make it "harder". Totes.

Behold. Lemon-lime curd chocolate tarts. Mmmmmm. Co-workers loved it. I'm going to bring a few more tomorrow to work :3 or else I would eat them all.

This is something the boy whipped up, we had some lentils and barley we hadn't experimented with. He cut up some zuccini and carrots and made a curry stew. SO FILLING. After our serving of them we had about two hours of laying around immobilized by how physically and emotionally FULL we were. That's definitely something that's gonna last more than two days (hopefully).This beautiful creation was made last night, then finished off by 4pm the next day. So sad. Crust from scratch, stuffed with cheese, rolled out by hand (desperately need a real roller though :( ), topped with pepperoni, low-fat mozzarella, and artichoke hearts. I already miss it. The boy said that it was the best home-made pizza he'd ever had. It was greasy and cheesy and wonderful. And I am still mourning its passing. 

 In other news I'm now currently working on revising and pumping out as much 'poesy' as I can. Finally looking to submit to journals hopefully soonly. 

Addendum

Of course as I say I'm signing off the blogosphere. THEY ARE DONE.

My beautiful mini quiche tartlets

 I will eat them all. Actually I was able to stop after 2. They will not last long.

Quiche and Cheesecakes

Elo again.
So, I tend to not use recipes to the exact 't'. Most of the things I've posted on here have been me reading through a few recipes to get a feel of ratios, then just going for it. This was no exception, I found a quick crust recipe, dear god it's wonderful, and then made a simple quiche, with little bits of bacon. I only had a rectangular pan, so I ended up making two things of crust and just making a really big quiche. It was gone within 2 days. Housemate and boy approved.

With it's departure so soon, I have decided to make little quiche pies. Pictures will come soon.

The boy went in for his last day at the theater, and the chocolate chip peanut butter mini cheesecakes were a hit. Ok, I'm signing out, getting out of the kitchen, and doing some homework. Productivity ENGAGE.

Obligatory cat pictures.

Lazy Productivity

I have a problem. Everyday I start what making something that ends up being atleast a 3 hour commitment. Not that my school work is terribly demanding, but seriously, I think it's a little funny. A little.

Whenever I'd try to make something at my mother's, my every step would be micro-managed, and her endless wisdom would gently and condescendingly remind me that I don't know anything. Then I moved to a place where there was really no room, or demand, for any homecooked necessities. So I guess now, that I have a home of my own, I want to make all of those mistakes, oh dear lord they are numerous, and make all the things I want.

I love eggs. Overeasy, in pie crust, scrambled with hot sauce, fried with bacon and green onions. This is what I woke the boy up with yesterday before I headed off to work.

Today's his first day of new work, I made him let me take a picture of him before he left :3. He's got a uniform shirt and what not and looked adorable. When he gets off we're picking up some cream cheese and peanut butter. Remember those cheesecakes I made last week? I had packed one away in his lunch for him, which he apparently shared with all his coworkers at the theater with great review. I asked if he wanted to take a full batch with him on his last day on Thursday, he emphatically agreed. So that'll be what we're tackling this evening.

In other parts of my mind, been itching to do something artlike. I keep looking at this piece I did out of frustration last semester. It's just aggressive fingerpainting with oil paints, (horrible idea, really, horrendous to get off anything), on a piece of cardboard. Right now it's just lying against the wall in our room. May tackle that this weekend.

The pasta

I've made this like three times this week. Its funny, my mother always got me accustomed to making big helpings of things and then dividing them up in tupperware to decrease cooking needs further down in the week. Living with housemates has completely changed this. Also living with a boy who can eat whatever he wants and manage to lose weight, has lead me to believe in a simple yet profound solution. C'est la vie, make more pasta. Garlic, parmesan, and olive linguini

My ovaries are screaming OHGODCARBSGIVETHEMTOME

So today our landlord came by to fix a grocery list of things that have seemingly become functionless in just the month we've resided here. The dishwasher broke during its first attempt to run (we haven't opened it since), the sink in my bathroom sprung a leak in the pipes, and the disposal did likewise. Disposal fixed, sink in my bathroom is in worsened condition, and after many cuts and scrapes our landlord threw in the towel and has arranged for professional plumbers to come by. He also arranged for the dead tree in the front yard to be cut down, with the "tropical storm" all up in our area.

Poor tree.

You were ugly

You will not be missed-ly

But do not worry

Tree

They left your stump

So really

You never left-ly.

Here are more pictures of the cat, being all sneaky and conspiring with Ramen.

.

Pillow Fort

Y'know the things you stack together with plushie things and blankets? I want to make one. Especially with the weather all cloudy and gray, I actually love weather like this. So far it's only sprinkled.
Anywho, enchilada casserole. It started being a, throw a bit of everything in it, casserole, and turned out to be decently healthy with veggies, black beans, and wheat tortillas. Housemate approved. All in all, mexican food is always a great decision.

I woke up this morning craving chocolate, (nothing new). Hence, coffee chocolate chip muffins. The texture is a bit weird, will remake sometime. 

In other news, just finished a script for Club Theater. It's an awkward comedy, inspired and created by listening to the 69 Love Songs compilation by the Magnetic Fields. I've had a housemate read over it and she thought it was well humored and comical. Waiting on a few more peer reviews. This will technically be my first play I wrote, I feel like The Birds/Paper Crisp Spatula was more of a concept piece. The processes were different, with this being much more er, hands on. 

I bid salud, I'm already tired, contemplating a nap, and take my leave with a picture of a sleepy cat.