I live on the hope that tomorrow will be a better day.
More Chonky goodness
I love my chonk
And I think he loves me.
This!!!!
This is so me!
Rough couple of days for the Chonk
The night from Sunday to Monday was a bit of an adventure for the Chonk, and not in a good way. He had a massive allergic reaction to something – exactly what, we don’t know – and broke out in hives and swelling. We made a 00:30 visit to the emergency vet in Etoy for antihistamines and cortisone shots, and then I spent the next hour cleaning all the floors (again, but with plain water this time) to make sure it wasn’t the floor cleaner I’d used earlier in the day that wasn’t the cause of the problem.
He went down like a rock, and spent most of monday completely wiped out. Seemed to perk up this morning.
Look who’s coming out and being social (and a trip hasard)
She’s still growling, spitting and hissing at Byron, but otherwise, she’s now a complete attention whore.
[recipe] Chocolate cake with chocolate coffee buttercream
240 g all-purpose flour
395 g sugar
65 g unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsp (8 g) baking powder
1.5 tsp (9 g) baking soda
1 tsp (2.5 g) kosher salt
1 tsp (2.5 g) espresso powder
225 ml milk
1/2 cup (99 g) vegetable oil
2 large (100 g) eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
225 ml boiling water
Preheat oven to 350F/175C. Prepare two 9-inch cake pans by spraying with baking spray or buttering and lightly flouring.
Add flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt and espresso powder to a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer. Whisk through to combine or, using your paddle attachment, stir through flour mixture until combined well.
Add milk, vegetable oil, eggs, and vanilla to flour mixture and mix together on medium speed until well combined. Reduce speed and carefully add boiling water to the cake batter until well combined.
The cake batter will be very thin after adding the boiling water. This is correct and results in a delicious and moist chocolate cake.
Distribute cake batter evenly between the two prepared cake pans. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick or cake tester inserted in the center of the chocolate cake comes out clean.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool for about 10 minutes, remove from the pan and cool completely.
Frost the cake with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting.
Frosting:
130g softened butter
200g sugar
50g cocoa powder
1 tsp espresso powder
50ml milk
Dissolve espresso powder in a little but of boiling water then mix with milk.
Whisk butter, sugar, cocoa powder and coffee/milk until smooth.
Take your chonk to work
…and then bring him home soon after
I tried to bring Byron to the office today. He passed the behavioral assessment without issue, but then the fun began when he saw Katy leave (without him) and refused to go back to the dog-friendly office we have to use (in the equivalent of the siberian gulag of campus).
After several strops, I got him back to the office, but then he went into full guard dog mode, where every door opening or voice he could hear bug not see made him woof and growl. I was slobd in the fog office, but the people on the other side of the wall were starting to grumble, so I cut the test short and went bzvk home to finish my day.
We’ll try again soon.
Crazy exciting Friday nights!
Organizing the Tupperware cupboard with my new deli tubs. Rock on!
When your cat has an emotional support hamster
