Toby-tude

 

Yeeess?

Why do you insist on getting so close?

 

 BACK OFF LADY.

 

Ok, you may continue to admire me. 

Bit of a complex?

I don't even know you sir, but all signs point to you having a tiny _____ (fill in the blank)

Happy Wednesday.

Cactcus Blossoms and Culinary Exploration

Its Spring in Phoenix and our prickly pear is not only about to take over the world, but is also in nearly full bloom.  Last year when I noticed a few, literally the first few flowers on the cactus, I was through the roof.  Check out this bad boy now!  This type of cactus is known to be an aggressive grower, and thankfully it is a hearty beast seeing that it shows no ill effects of the frost this winter. In addition to this glorious bloomer we unfortunately had some noticeably damaged plants/trees in the front and the back yard, but luckily only one out right goner. 

 Making a quick transition from our front yard, into the kitchen, I wanted to give a little run down on some recent culinary adventures. Per expectation, some have turned out well, some not so well, and some have been full on FAILS. I'll start with the complete fail, carrot-cake cupcakes.

I decided to go with a recipe from a trusted TV personality and ended up with a disappointing oily-sugar-gu. I do not know what went wrong, but within the first few minutes of backing the smell of burning sugar should have been my first sign to abort. 

Using my amazing food processor I produced these perfect shreds of carrots, but after all was said and done I ended up with these disgusting oil-sugar-carrot toss-aways. Needless to say I haven't re-attempted carrot cake cupcakes since..

My favorite of the recent attempts is a Roasted Salmon with Soy-Marmalade Glaze (http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/salmon-soy-marmalade-glaze-50400000126820/) from cooking light.  I enjoyed the flavor of the glaze but most importanly appreciated the darn near perfect cook time which created a tiny bit of crisp while leaving the salmon steaks cooked to perfection.  I've tried gently poaching salmon but still manage to dry it out a bit.  The roasting/broiling method in the recipe is by far the way to go.  I served it with brown rice and a mix of sauteed sweet peas and asparagus. 

Next up the most adventuresome, Tempeh and Broccolini stir fry.  Tempeh is essentially fermented soybeans smashed into a patty.  Yummy sounding I know, but it seems to be all the soy craze so I wanted to give it a try. The temph I used, from Trader Joes, included soybeans, brown rice and barely, smashed together in mini paver-like formation.  The best way I can explain the texture is to imagine something like pressed, having been moist at some point but no longer, granola.  I know I'm not selling it, but I like its texture when cooked, and like its tofu cousin, it derives most of its flavors, beyond "nutty", from what its cooked with.  (http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/tempeh-broccolini-stir-fry-50400000119698/).  I was a tablespoon short on the Hoisen so I cut back a little on the other ingredients and added some random asparagus, but overall I really enjoyed the dish.  Jonathan, well, he wasn't the biggest fan, but its something that will likely be repeated in the Hupp household.  Insert semi-maniacal laughter of being the main dinner cook : )

 The last two recipes include Granola Cookie wedges, also from Cooking Light (http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/granola-cookie-wedges-50400000126849/), and a second attempt at marmalade.  The cookie recipe is tasty, but not my favorite cookie texture, since it was bordering on a bit too hardy.  The best part about the recipe has to be its dough size and its ease/speed.  Because there are so few ingredients, neither a mixer, nor seperated bowls for ingredients are needed.  Also, thanks to the pie plate cooking, the overall bake time is quick, and requires minimal fuss. I added more chocolate chips than called for, and a secret ingredient, but would guess the original recipe would produce equally tasty results.

Lastly, my marmalade re-do.  Last year, for the very first time, I attempted marmalade. It was made from our grapefruits, could turn even a honey badger's stomach and well, likely could have been used as a warfare projectile it was so stinkin hard.  Needless to say I wrangled it out of about 8 mason jars in order to prepare for this year's attempt.  Instead of a grapefruit focus I went for something a little more traditional, Orange Marmalade (that included Grapefruits and crystallized ginger).  The prep went better, and the cooking went well, but this was my first run with pectin and I might have just missed the mark. The result is mighty sweet, which I, the perpetual sweet-tooth doesn't have too much of an issue with, but unfortunately it never quite thickened/gelled like it should have.  Can it still make a cavity inducing tasty toast spread, sure, will I be quitting my day job... not quiet yet.

PS. Just as a quick update, thankfully Toby is back to full health.  He's returned to his 5:52 AM on the dot daily wake up calls, is fully active in the house and outside, and is sharing his normal sounding kitty meowing perspective as often as possible.  I'm not the biggest fan of the blur in this picture, but proves his back to normal, enjoying life, self.

Sands in an hour glass

No, I did not watch Days of our Lives, but just caught those who know the line!

Its been some time since the last post and I must admit, life has been flying by.  The weekend after the baby shower adventure Jonathan returned to the Garden State for a Rutgers buddy's bachelor party weekend.  Man adventures, included paint balling, a pro hockey game, and unknown debauchery, within reason.  While in Jersey Jonathan sent me a picture of falling snow, to which I chuckled as I shifted my lounge chair to a better shaded section of the yard.  Mid to high 70s in March is this cat's meow.

Only a few days after Jonathan returned home, I headed out to LA for an office move.  I will not bore with too many details, and it was certainly no pleasure cruise, but I managed to sneak in 5 minutes at the beach for the very first time since having supported the office for over two years. I was in Malibu, yes, on a work mission, and having arrived 10 minutes early, booked it to the beach for a quick toe in the pacific before returning to work.  As much as I love California, by the end of the 6th day of nose to the grindstone working, I was quite delighted to return home.

While I was out of town, Toby kept with his tradition of keeping veterinarians happily employed when he 

 managed to come down with a rather serious spontaneous illness.  Sunday night, while chatting with Joanthan, he mentioned that Toby was acting odd, wasn't eating, was lethargic, was hot to the touch and actually panting.  We agreed he was not well and Jonathan rushed him over to the kitty ER. By the time they'd arrived the poor little guy's temperature registered at 105, which for cats that normally range from 100-102, was mighty high.  The doctors knocked him out, set him up with an IV for hydration, and ran x-rays to verify he didn't have any throat or intestinal blockages.  Jonathan had to leave him overnight for additional observation, but thankfully was able to bring him home the next morning.  Toby was still noticeably uncomfortable and had a wicked cough, but despite it all, he was doing much better than the night before. He was still hiding on occasion, but thanks to follow up from our terrific dog walker/cat sitter, we learned that on Tuesday afternoon he was feeling energetic enough to greet her when she came to walk Jackson.

After several days of antibiotics Toby's bronchitis like cough didn't seem to be improving, so I stayed home with him Wed and attempted to get him a last minute vet visit.  Toby's eating habits were still less than normal, and he rarely meowed which is not normal for a cat who can be quite chatty when he wants something.  The vet gave him a shot to help with the inflammation, prescribed him some more meds, noted that his temp was normal, and said despite a cough, he was a mighty healthy young bob-cat, I mean, kitty.  I expected the cough to fade away faster than it was but the vet clarified that these types of illnesses can take quite sometime to kick, usually around 10 days to 2 weeks.

Within the last few days Toby's 4:30 and 6:00 AM serenading wake up visits indicate his health is steadily returning to normal.  As much as I miss the quiet mornings, I'm glad our kitty is back to near perfect health  His cough has noticeably decreased and his resistance to me flinging a pill down his throat has gained considerable strength. Three more days of meds, and soon enough Toby will be back to routine which includes his much missed unsupervised outdoor adventures.

This past weekend Jonathan, Jackson and I took a trip up to Prescott to check out some national forest land, do a little Prescott shopping, and of course enjoy some delicious brews at the Granite Mountain Brewery.  We took an off road adventure route to see the land that ended up much to bumpy for this lady, but I certainly appreciated the fresh mountain air, the greenery. We finished up the weekend Sunday night with some new dinner recipes.  Joanthan worked the grill to smoke some very tasty pork chops while I gave a go at mac and cheese from scratch.  A tasty way to finish up an interesting week.