Athena Can Fetch Too! August 24, 2009
Posted by pinchaque in Cats.1 comment so far
Not wanting to be shown up by Zephyr, Athena has lastely been working on her fetching skills and showing off. She has a toy mouse that used to have feathers (just like they occur in nature) that she’ll fetch, and also a green toy with a jingle bell. She really tears off after these toys and is quite protective of them. She used to growl while bringing them back but hasn’t done that in a while.
Happy Birthday to Zephyr and Athena August 11, 2009
Posted by pinchaque in Cats.Tags: Cats, companion animals
1 comment so far
Doing a sound check from the living room's high point
Time flies when you have cats! Athena turned one year old in June, and Zephyr in July. It’s been fascinating to watch their personalities develop.
Zephyr demonstrating bike maintenance techniques
In spite of his initial skittishness, Zephyr has turned out to be more dominant and resilient of the two. He seems to enjoy being picked up and cuddled. He hasn’t once pooped in the wrong spot or barfed up his lunch. He still loves to fetch but is pretty particular about the brand of foam ball.
Zephyr posing with his fetching ball
One of his most endearing traits is the plopping. He’ll find us and plop himself down forcefully to request his belly rubs.
Zephyr sleeps in strange positions
This is fine when we’re watching TV on the couch, but when we’re asleep in bed and our faces get in the way it can get unpleasant. He will also bring his foam balls to bed in hopes that we wake up in the middle of the night and want to play. He also loves to meow-chirp at birds, bugs, shadows, string, and the laser pointer.
Athena extracting her toys from a box
Athena is the more neurotic of the two. She’s seems to have gotten over her sensitive-stomach issues but we are still quite cautious when introducing her to new foods. She only likes to be petted or picked up on occasion. She goes into “orbiting mode” where she’ll circle around your feet as you walk. Then she gets into “kneading mode” where she purrs, suckles, and kneads us. Again, this is OK when it’s Amanda on the couch waching TV, but less so when we’re asleep in bed. She will also fetch a couple of her preferred toys, although it’s less reliable than Zephyr.
Athena and Zephyr passed out on the couch
We’ve learned that neither cat likes to be walked. We have harnesses for both of them and take them on walks on our buliding’s external staircase. With all the hair standing on end, cowering, and visible shaking we’re starting to get the picture they’re not too happy with being out. I personally think it’s good for them to get out of our 2-bedroom place and see the world.
Zephyr and Athena relaxing on their fortress
Since we’re at work during the day, one of the challenges is keeping them entertained. I keep building them fortresses out of chairs, ottomans, sheets, coffee tables, boxes, and step stools. I’ll weave ropes in between the items, hide toys, etc. They have a good instinct for destruction and the forts frequently require rebuilding. But each new one gets them in the exploratory mood all over again.
Athena dives into the box after her toy
The Mysteries of Sachertorte August 9, 2009
Posted by pinchaque in 101 Things, Cooking, Food.Tags: austria, cake, recipe, sachertorte
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When I was young I had the fortune of a father who worked for IBM and travelled a fair amount to Europe. Our family would get to tag along some times, turning otherwise lonely business trips into fun-filled family vacations! In the summer of 1986 when I was just 9 years old we took a month-long road trip through 7 different countries: Germany, Austria, Yugoslavia, Italy, France, Monaco, and Switzerland. One of my many memories of that trip is our stop at Hotel Sacher in Vienna, Austria. I remember my dad telling me that this was the home of the Sachertorte, a chocolate cake with a secret recipe that only the hotel pastry chef knew. One of the ingredients was allegedly apricots — APRICOTS! Brilliant! Of course this mystery left an indelible impression on my young mind (more so than the actual cake, which I can only vaguely remember eating).
Sachertorte Towers
I’ve begun to realize my 101 Things List is frequently about reliving bits of my past, and making Sachertorte is no different. When I saw that jar of apricot preserves left over from Amanda’s cherry-apricot tart, the planets came into quick alignment and the final phase of my quest began. A quick google search turned up the venerable Wolfgang Puck’s Sachertorte Recipe.
A Slice of Sachertorte
I don’t actually like making cakes all that much. Usually it’s a lot of frustrating mixing, separating, and folding for something that turns out denser and uglier than what you can buy. This one wasn’t too bad. The recipe used a lot of chocolate melted over a double boiler, both for the cake proper as well as the glaze. The only thing that went mildly wrong is that I didn’t combine the flour enough so there were crunchy white bits in the cake. The apricot preserves went between layers and also on the outside, so it had a lot of good flavor. Even though it doesn’t look pretty, it did turn out tasty and I’m proud to have recreated Sachertorte.
