A tale of two patients

Snuggle Bug is now on antibiotics because she has a bladder infection. When Snuggle Bug is not feeling well she vocalizes A LOT. And she sleeps in odd places. Like the fruit bowl.

Wing Nut is now ALSO on antibiotics because Snuggle Bug bit her. It wasn't really a bite though. We were trying to give SB her antibiotics and Wing Nut's finger got in the way. It was a teeny tiny prick on her finger. But we figured better safe than sorry. So, off to the doctor she went.

Snuggle Bug gets meds that taste and smell like bananas. She gets to sleep in the fruit bowl under warm lights. And she gets to eat as much canned food as she wants.

Wing Nut gets meds that are the size of horse pills and taste chalky. PLUS she had to get a booster to her tetanus shot. Ouch. She's NOT allowed to eat all the chocolate zucchini cake. And she can't sleep in the fruit bowl. Life is so not fair sometimes!

 

--Curmudgeon

Lessons on friendship

A good friend shared this with us and we'd like to share it with you. Thanks MK!

The video is of Steve Hartman reporting for CBS Assignment America from The Elephant Sanctuary in Hohenwald, TN (Jan. 2, 2009).

--Curmudgeon & Wing Nut

SAGBUTT

No, this is not a post about what happens to Wenches who eat too many chocolate waffles and too much chocolate zucchini cake. This is a post about an upcoming event here in the seriously soggy Seattle area.

Karen, over at Greenwalks, is organizing a garden bloggers get-together. You are cordially invited. Hopefully, this will be the first of many such gatherings. Here are the details. 

WHAT:    

Seattle Area Garden Bloggers United To Talk (SAGBUTT*)

WHEN:    

Saturday 7 February 2009

12:30 to 2:30 p.m.

WHERE:  

Conference Room

Elisabeth C. Miller Library

Merrill Hall, Room 102

Center for Urban Horticulture,

UW Botanic Gardens

3501 NE 41st St.

Seattle, WA  98195

Map and directions are available here.

Elisabeth C. Miller Library. Image from the Visual Resources Collection of the College of Architecture and Urban Planning at the University of Washington

*SAGBUTT is not our official name. Karen came up with it as a joke, but I couldn't help running with it. Perhaps we will come up with a more dignified name during our first meeting.

 

--Curmudgeon

Gâteau chocolat & courgette

Yesterday evening when I got home from work there was a delicious surprise waiting for me on the kitchen counter. Wing Nut had the day off and spent part of it baking. She tried her hand at a new recipe and it was a grand success in my opinion. She made a chocolate zucchini cake. But this wasn't just any chocolate zucchini cake. This was  Clotilde Dusoulier's Chocolate & Zucchini Cake.

If you look carefully at the picture, you can see flecks of green in the cake. Wing Nut didn't put any nuts in the cake as the recipe on Dusoulier's website calls for. One thing I really liked about this particular recipe is that it calls for less fat and sugar than most other recipes for C&Z cake that I've found out there on the Internet. And the cake is so incredibly rich! Dusoulier mentions one possible alteration to her recipe which I'm curious to try; she gives the option of using olive oil instead of butter for a slightly peppery flavor.

My 2009 continues to smell and taste of chocolate. How about yours?

--Curmudgeon

Sleeping cheek to cheek

White Socks and Diva Dog taking their afternoon nap.

--Curmudgeon & Wing Nut

2009 is smelling like chocolate

What resolutions did the Wenches make for 2009? Only one:

EAT MORE CHOCOLATE!!!

Okay, okay. I'm not really serious about this being our 2009 resolution. But a chocolate recipe does follow. So all those of you who made resolutions involving diets, dieting, and weight loss for 2009 should probably stop reading right now and click away to a different blog.

This year we started what I hope will become a New Year's tradition at our house. On the first morning of 2009, Wing Nut made chocolate waffles for breakfast. Yes, I did write waffles and chocolate together. The intoxicating perfume of chocolate lingered throughout the house for hours after breakfast. We topped our waffles with baked pears and a sprinkle of cardamom.

DOUBLE CHOCOLATE WAFFLES

• 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup cocoa, preferably Dutch processed
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 cups reduced fat milk
• 6 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup semi-sweet mini chocolate morsels

Place all the ingredients except the chocolate morsels in a large bowl and combine until well blended and smooth. Let batter sit 5 minutes before using.

Follow the manufacturer's instructions for your waffle maker regarding preheating and cooking. Once you've poured the batter sprinkle chocolate morsels over each waffle and let batter bubble a few seconds before closing the cover of the waffle maker.

Makes twelve 4-inch waffles. A serving is one waffle.

Nutritional Analysis per serving: Calories 265 (39% from fat), carbs 37 g, protein 5 g, fat 12 g, sat. fat 3 g, cholesterol 38 mg, sodium 187 mg, calcium 62 mg, fiber 3 g

*This recipe is from the instruction booklet that came with our waffle maker.

Here's wishing you a great smelling 2009!

--Curmudgeon