All the Chocolate Things

chocolate can be good for your teeth, too, right? at least when it's a big congratulations cake for graduating as a dental hygenist!

just be sure to brush and floss when you're done. ☺

sigh. what a long week it has been. once again, i am in one of those phases where i feel like i am constantly trying to recover from something, even though i had nothing much to do. i mean, maybe a couple late nights, but nothing out of the ordinary.

this cake came up last week for a friend of my mom's. it was big and heavy, but i am pretty satisfied with the way it turned out.

it is a chocolate cake with whipped cream icing. i have this recipe for stabilized whipped cream frosting that includes cream cheese. it is like magic.

(i love the way the teeth border turned out here, btw.)

it also goes great on chocolate with oreos, for a fabulous cookies and cream theme.

yay cupcakes! it piped out pretty well, but i guess the cookies could have been processed a little more so they would pipe easier. i had to switch piping tips because it clogged the end of my large star (hence the weird wobbly appearance of those). these were the same basic hershey's cupcake recipe i always use, plus some cookies crumbled into the mix. have i mentioned how much i love that recipe? it is so versatile!

sigh. otherwise, i am just working working working all day long. tried to run today, but it was way too warm, even at 9:30am; i supposed it was expected when the forecast was to be 92 degrees today. i am waiting now to get ready for work. again. because in the land of retail, nobody believes in a weekend off....even if other people get them. maybe it's just me.

next weekend ron and i are going to a rally event in wellsboro, pennsylvania. it should be pretty neat. we are camping out for the weekend, too. i haven't been camping in a while, so i am pretty excited for that. i won't even lie, mostly for the s'mores. i am a goddamn s'mores fiend.

on wednesday, we drove up to watertown to get his car serviced, too. it was another nice day, so we went out walking a whole bunch, stopped off at sandy beach island state park, and walked some more at green lakes when we got home. i am so glad the nice weather is here, even if it makes me wish these next 42 days would pass faster so i can get to vacation sooner.

i can't believe it is going to be june in a couple of days. holy crap. ron's birthday is next month, this rally thing, i have a wedding to go to, but mostly i just need to rack up deez hours to get some mad money for vacation! it is almost painful to wait so long. BUT....i keep reminding myself that i've been counting down since like 158 days, so 42 is awesome. it is also the answer to everything, but that is another story.

i feel like i have so many things to do, but not really. it will hopefully all work out in the end. anyway, i will leave you with more door art, and with any luck, will have some more treats next week. thanks for reading! happy (almost) summer!

In Memory of Pretty Girl Sora

see this pretty girl here? she is pretty much the best ever. i know i say that about all my kids, but for serious. sora was one of the most docile, friendly little things you would ever meet. granted, she didn't like the act of being picked up, but she was fine once it was over with, and would just sit with you until she got hungry.

sora was 11 years old, and she passed away this monday afternoon.

my poor, poor girl. she had been sick for a little while, almost a week, but in the end, i hope she was at least happy, as i tried my best to aid her in her time.

sorry, but today is going to be a picture show. i haven't really done anything. i do have a cake to make this weekend, but things like this are more important to me. i left work early because i couldn't handle that. eleven years, dude. come on. i am serious when i say these guys are my kids. imagine raising someone for 11 years, only for it all to come to an end?

anyways, there is always a time for sadness (which leads to tiredness and laziness....or lack of motivation, anyway), but you can always carry on and remember the good times.

 

she wasn't one much for bath time, at least not in her water dish. that would be the top picture. i believe she was my second blog post ever, where i was on my way to work, and she decided it was bath time after i had changed her water (unlike cosmo, whom for some reason thinks when i turn on the vacuum, it's bath time). she liked the spray bottle, though. she and kairi would keep going until i ran out of water sometimes.

speaking of punk ass, he has been sitting near her house, occasionally whistling and kissing in that direction for the past day. my poor boy. they were only a couple months apart, him being older. i hand fed both of them when they came home. kairi didn't care for it so much, but sora was my fatty fat fat. she would eat all day long.

most birds who hang out will preen each other, but not these two. i think it was mostly kairi being lazy, but sora would put her head down for him to preen, and he would just copy her, which resulted in them sitting head to head for periods of time, just peeping occasionally, thinking one might comb the other's feathers.

ron always felt she was special, and loved her the most. she was his "girlfriend," i wonder if kairi ever felt any jealousy toward him? either way, since the beginning, she would sit with him for extended periods of time, chill in his puffy hair, and just be happy. ohh she was so good, so soft. she loved having her head and neck rubbed. even in the end, she would just wait, and put her head down for you to reach in.

my baby girl, sora. you are forever loved, and will be greatly missed, by me, by ron, and by the rest of the kids, especially punk ass. i hope you are in a good place enjoying all the millet, eggs, and sunflower seeds you could ever hope for. ♥♥♥♪♫♪♥♥♥

thanks for reading. cake probably next time.

The Last Couple Weeks

58 DAYS.

just gonna start out by saying that and get it out of the way. i mean, i started counting like 100 days ago or something. now, it is to the point where in the next couple weeks i will: A- feel like time is dragging me through a field of hot coals, glass shards, lemons, and salt extremely slow (aka: torturously slow), and B- feel like there is suddenly so much left to do with not enough time to finish it. aahh to have vacation now would be a treat, but i have other treats to share, and 58 more days to make more treats. and....do my best to prepare. ☺

let's start here, shall we? by the way, if you can't already tell, this is exactly what it looks like. bacon, chocolate chips.....and some kind of batter. this is no ordinary bacon, though, it is candied bacon (with brown sugar).

candied bacon chocolate chip cookies. yes, please!

if you like sweet and salty, these are super awesome. i mean, salted caramel is in a world all its own, but bacon and chocolate are like magic, whether you want to believe it or not. believe it OR ELSE. these cookies are made with a little more brown sugar and melted butter to give them a nice chewy, but crisp texture. get the recipe here, from tablespoon. i have a recipe from my culinary class that involves chocolate chip cookies and potato chips, which are equally as tasty. maybe i will make those another day.

the day i made these cookies (last tuesday? idk. it was a day off), i went on a cooking/baking spree and went crazy making all sorts of things. cue the slideshow.....

i haven't made this in a while, but with summer on the horizon, i figured it was time to bring it a little closer with some pasta salad. the only kind of salad i will eat cuz there are no real greens or things in it. i bought a couple bags of wacky mac (a veggie based macaroni) because the last time i bought some, rufio ate the fucking bag of dry pasta (stupid asshole is probably stealing everyone's shit in the afterlife, too). so one bag went to the pasta salad, (with pepperoni, sharp cheese, carrots, and bruschetta, with roasted red pepper dressing), and the other went to a southwestern goulash.

i got that from my healthy cooking taste of home book, i did not take a picture, but that came out pretty good, too. it had corn, green chiles, tomatoes, ground beef, onion.....more pasta. a little more tomato sauce next time would make it better, but i also didn't plan on using the whole bag of pasta (it only called for like half, and i thought, "well, this will be fine!!" and added extra other stuff, but with not enough of other things). experimental! yay!

my snapchat story was so full of food pictures for the day.

anyway, what was next?

ah, yes! blender salsa! i have posted the recipe for this in the past, but tomatoes and small quantities of vegetables are inexpensive, to make a blender of salsa, it cost me maybe 2.50, which is probably about 3 of those tostitos salsa jars full of salsa that are like $5 each or some crap. plus, this is way better, no preservatives or extra crap. look at me be healthy!! i didn't have any mason jars since i also made ron a bunch of salads that morning, too. mason jar salads to bring to work, because pinterest! and he also needs to get healthier, or something. he is doing a biggest loser challenge at work, although it seems noone is playing along anymore, but if they do, he is gonna win dat prize money. if anyone remembers. in the meantime, it's gym time and good food time.

we already talked about these, but here are some pictures of them, completed.also, that is an r2d2 bowl that i acquired from work (it was a set with c3p0 to match, because my co-workers are the best).

and THEN.....i had some leftover bacon, so i chopped that up and made maple bacon cheddar muffins! because bacon is good on/in pretty much anything, so shut up. muffins can be savory, too. so says my magnificent muffins recipe book. there are some pretty awesome recipes in there, too. basic, savory, rich and indulgent....because muffins. these are like eating a breakfast flavored muffin, meaning pancakes, bacon, cheese and syrup. just imagine that for a minute. take your time, just clean up your keyboard and monitor from the drool after.

 now to take the food away, (for those of you reading, if you tallied it up, i made goulash, pasta salad, mason jar salads, salsa, cookies and muffins all in a few hours in one day), since it has been nicer, we have been walking a whole bunch, too. green lakes won't be free for much longer, so it's best to take advantage of it while i can. we have been walking around town, too, since most times we don't have the chance to walk during the day. it is nice to get out and do things, and better than sitting around doing nothing (even if there is a time and place for that- sometimes you just need to chill).

i don't remember if i mentioned this in a previous post, but when i got my car inspected at the end of april, i ended up walking/jogging home from work (basically- right behind my work is where i went for my inspection). it is only 4 1/2 miles, so i figured it would be a good day to try it! i walked a mile, then started my app and made it home in just under an hour! later that day, ron heather and i walked green lakes, so for me, i had walked like 10 miles in the day.

which brings me to this- this was just last night! i have been running with this c25k app, and last night i went on my final (30 min) run, except i actually ran 35 minutes, and walked a few extra minutes at the end, but i think i exceeded the 5k (3 mi?) distance by a little! i am pretty proud of that, coming from someone who doesn't know how to sport. i even had some 9 minute-ish miles in there! ☺

in 58 days imma be doing that at the beach! if the car ride doesn't kill me first.

aside from that, i have just been stuck at work. work work work. who needs it?

actually, i would probably go crazy with nothing to do so i take that back.....to an extent.

my poor pretty girl has not been feeling well the last few days, either. she keeps laying eggs, and now has one that is stuck again. this happened about two years ago. i have her in a little fortress with a heat lamp and a vaporizer. i am hoping everything will be okay.

ohhh she is so good. i brought her in the bathroom for almost two days (before i bought the vaporizer) to keep her warm and stuff, the last time this happened the vet recommended the humidity to help her pass the egg, hence the shower. she has lost some weight, but seems to be eating and drinking, so it is all about keeping an eye on her at this point. i hope my poor girl gets better soon.

anyway,i guess in the meantime i will leave you with this  last bit of art i completed on thursday. this was added to the back of the cars shirt i painted last summer sometime, something just to fill the back of the shirt. i think it came out pretty good. when i started it, i was kind of nervous i wouldn't be able to get it to look right, but somehow i always find a way to turn things around. i wish i could have more time for stuff like this, and yet i also wish i could find things to draw or paint to be motivated to do such things. i can't just sit down and something will come to me and happen. meh, maybe another thing for vacation to inspire me.

SOON.

have a good weekend, all! thanks for reading! ☺