Cat-related posting

Time spent with cats is never wasted.
Sigmund Freud

Servus,

My girlfriend made me aware of a "problem" with this blog: a complete lack of cat-related content. I tried to argue that I don't want this to be a forum for showing off our furry charges and making crazy cat lady-like declarations on how smart and special our kittehs are.

I got "the look" and was reminded that I didn't want to do a food blog.

















So, without further ado, allow me to present:


Kali



aka "SuperKaliKatze" "Säbelzahn", "Knucklehead!", "Black Devil", "CAAAT!!", and "Satan's Spawn"

Kali's hobbies include:

Eating
Terrorizing her sister
Chasing after Mr. Dot
Watching birds she can never hope to catch
Sunbathing
Holding the aquarium lid down
Licking my eyelids at 0545 when she's hungry



Fun Kali Facts:

Kali can eat and eat and eat and never gains any weight. For this superpower, I hate her.

Kali lost all her teeth to FORL, which sucks but doesn't seem to slow her down one bit. Play-fighting is buckets of fun when she attacks and tries to gum my hand to death...

Kali is, by nature, stealthy. I have about two pictures of her where her innate stealthiness has not caused the autofocus on my various cameras to stop functioning correctly. Take that, Lockheed!

And now...


Tara



aka "SuperTaraKatze", "GrumpyCat", "Her Highness", "Schissbux", "CAAAAT!", and "Dumbass".

Tara's hobbies include:

Eating
Being terrorized by her sister
Whining
Being annoying
Sleeping
Hiding whenever she thinks we're going to box her up and go to the vet, which is always.
Getting really, really high on catnip...





Fun Tara Facts:

Tara triples her body weight when she sleeps, making it nigh on impossible to move her in the middle of the night when she sleeps on the bed.

Tara lost all her teeth as well, but this is to relieve symptoms of Lymphocytic-Plasmacytic Gingivitis Stomatitis (LPGS).Tara is our worry child - she's sick pretty often and we hated to take her teeth out but it was the last resort. Poor kitty :(

Tara likes to sleep on you. Not with you, on you, like on your hip or shoulder. Nothing is more fun than to wake up, twisted about with a 4.5kg cat lying on you. She also has a phenomenal internal gyroscopic system that allows her to stay firmly planted despite shaking and twisting efforts to get her to get off you. I should inform NASA.

So, there you have it - our kittehs. I love the little bastards, I really do.

I bid you Peace,
Jake


In ancient times cats were worshipped as gods; they have not forgotten this.
Terry Pratchett

Birthday Deliciousness!!!

Servus!

Last week, a good friend of mine had his birthday. He decided to celebrate with his partner and only a small circle of friends, of which Anna and I belong to!

Dinner was a 4 course meal, leaning toward seasonal/regional specialties -

First course: Mini Zweibelkuchen



Muffin-sized zwiebelkuchen which were very tasty and just the right start for this cool Autumn evening.

Next course: Hokkaido pumpkin soup with Balsamico cream



This was very well done. The only complaint was that it was very filling, so most of us were regretting having that second zwiebelkuchen, as those were filling as hell as well...

On to our main course: Medallions of porc with sage, chantrelles, and homemade gnocchi.



This was the delicious death blow. Despite the flavors of the fresh chantrelles, the pork tenderlion and sage, the combination with the homemade gnocchi (really good, BTW)had all and sundry unbuckling their belts for relief.

But wait, there's more...




Anna decided to make a mousse au choclat tarte for dessert. Now, traditionally Chocolate Mousse is supposed to be a light, fluffy yet still rich dessert. Strangely, it didn't come out "light" or "fluffy" Combined with a amarettini base, we each had the barest sliver but were still overwhelmed by the richness of the chocolate.



How we were able to drive home is still a mystery.

My friend made an incredible meal, as always! Chapeau!

I bid you Peace,
Jake

Spinach Quiche of DOOM!!!

Servus!

I think I need to stop taking pictures with my phone - the quality is really starting to degrade... Maybe I need to clean the lens or something?

On with the show!

On the weekend before last, Anna's family came to visit (incl. brother and girlfriend) and we were pressed to do away with some rather delicate deliveries from our Biokiste. Specifically, we had fresh spinach that was dying before our very eyes. Solution?

Spinach quiche:




Which was OK. Anna and I both agree that the pie lacked something but what that was, we weren't sure. It was tasty but it was like we had forgotten a spice or an ingredient. Strange.



I bid you Peace,
Jake

Wok of Ages!

Servus!

Mad props to the Kingdom of Loathing people for the inspiration for today's post title. An Adventurer is You!

So, Anna and I decided to fire up the grill and make some Asian-style chow!

I received the Weber Grill Wok for my birthday and can confidently say that this is a truly cool piece of equipment! Having tried to use my big wok on the stove, there just wasn't ever enough heat. Now, 10 seconds after adding the oil, I am stir-frying like a master!

You will note that I said "Asian-style". The (insert Asian culture of choice) have been cooking this way for generations and it would be an insult to say that I am cooking "Chinese" or "Japanese" because I'm not. My attempts to emulate one style or another are usually tasty!

Behold!



The flavors, the colors!!!!!



We used turkey (cause it's non-threatening) and I found the rolling the pieces in corn starch with a bit of salt and pepper made them turn out nice and crispy. Veggies were added after taking out the meat - this keeps everything from being horribly overcooked, a problem of mine in the past.

Now, I will admit, I cheated. Making Asian-style sauces from scratch that taste good is pretty challenging (read: impossible) so I used a *gasp* store-bought sauce: much to my shame, I cannot remember the brand. It was damned good though!

I bid you Peace,
Jake

Good eatin' today!

Servus!

The 3rd of October is the day of German Unification! This, of course, means that it's a bank holiday and I was able to enjoy the time off with Anna and friends.

Some of our guests arrived Tuesday evening so breakfast was a must on Wednesday. We decided to do something super cool and yummy: Bacon, Egg, and Toast Cups!





Super easy but a bit time-intensive. Despite the effort,you get something that's really delicious and very unique.

Later, the preparations began and we had pizza from the grill.



This is my favorite:



Barbecue sauce instead of tomato sauce, ground beef, bacon, jalapenos, red onions, and real mozzarella. If you order this from Joey's it's called "Conchita", from Kai's, its "The Elvis". I would like to call it "The Rattlesnake" but since this is not an original product of my imagination, I'll simply call it delicious.

I bid you Peace,
Jake