December 16, 2012

Gideon the baby bobcat is our poster child for this year's bake sale!

After much planning, shopping, fretting, stressing, and finally baking, wrapping and packaging…the 2012 Bake Sale benefiting In-Sync Exotics is here! The only things left to do now are to sell like crazy, and pray, pray, pray!

I promised to talk about this year's goodies, but apparently I got too immersed in actually working on the goodies to get that done! I will absolutely put together a post-sale follow-up with a bunch of photos and results from the day.

Before I get back to sale preparations, I have to say again that we just can't thank our sponsors enough for their support.  We are very, very grateful to City Vet, Paper Mart and Venable Royalty. This event would definitely not be as successful without everything they do for us, so thank you!

Wish us luck. For the wild ones!!

~BigSis

December 6, 2012

Gideon: our 2012 Bake Sale Poster Boy! Is there a cuter baby bobcat?

Our 2012 charity bake sale for In-Sync Exotics is right around the corner on Monday, December 17th, and we are full of gratitude and excitement about it! It's the season to be thankful, so let me count the reasons!

• We have a brand new sponsor joining with us in support of this wonderful charity. Paper Mart – our favorite packaging source for years – has provided us with a generous discount on the incredible items we use to make our goodies look super cute. We know that cuteness helps things sell, right? And moving our goodies out the door is the name of the game at bake sale time. We could probably feed our cookies to the lions and tigers, but we'd much rather sell them to peeps and use the money to buy what the big kitties prefer to eat (and that's not biscotti). If you'd like to see some of our favorite Paper Mart products, check out my Pinterest Bake Sale Board. Thank you, Paper Mart!

• We are so happy to welcome back City Vet as a returning sponsor for the third year! City Vet provides us with tons of things to sell and awesome giveaway items. This year they've even donated a gracious plenty of the reusable shopping bags that we all love. These will be a big help, and a nice bonus for our shoppers who buy a bunch of goodies. We also have some gift certificates for exams and baths to sell; things that all of us animal lovers need! Thank you, City Vet!

• Last but not least, we are beyond thrilled that our employer is matching our sales, dollar for dollar, for the second year in a row. That means that we can totally leverage what we're doing. If we sell $4000 in goodies again, that magically turns into $8000 instantly! Thank you, our boss!

I have lots of baking to do, and ribbon to cut, and tags to make, and tweets and pins and instagram photos and facebook statuses to post, so I'm out for now. And yes before you ask, it is important that all of these tasks get completed, especially updating social media as this is one of the best ways to get the message across in this day and age. It's also definitely worth doing if it means that it will give me more followers in the process, but I always have the option of reading this Upleap and mr. insta review if I need another method to fall back on. I never turn down the chance to grow my following so updating my feeds is something that I should definitely do. I'll report back this weekend with our list of goodies to entice you.

For now, thanks, thanks, and more thanks to our supporters! If the wild kitties at In-Sync Exotics could thank you, they would, so I'll speak on their behalf. Oodles of thanks, chuffs and purrs to you all!

~BigSis

November 25, 2012

It's bake sale time, which means recipe testing time, and that means this update will be short and sweet! I'm up to my eyeballs in recipes, treat bags, press releases, and save the date postcards!

So let's get to it. One of my co-workers brought these Graham Cracker Pralines to the office, and I thought they were super delicious. Nabisco Original Graham Crackers are accidentally vegan, so I only had to swap an Earth Balance stick for the butter to veganize this simple little recipe.

There are lots of recipes for this treat online; I started with Betty Crocker's Quick Praline Bars recipe. Basically, you lay graham crackers out on a cookie sheet (I lined it with non-stick foil). You combine brown sugar with the Earth Balance, and let it boil for one minute. Then add vanilla, pour the mixture over the crackers, sprinkle pecans over it all, and bake it for 8 to 10 minutes til bubbly. Pretty easy, right?

Some of the reviewers online had various problems with this recipe, but I had none of them. Whew! They firmed up nicely, they didn't stick, they didn't fall apart, and they taste pretty darn good!

I think these are going to make the cut for this year's bake sale, which is scheduled for Monday, December 17th and benefits In-Sync Exotics. BTW, we're looking for individuals and companies to match what we raise, so let us know if you can help with that endeavor!

I'm off to try a new Almond Biscotti. I'll let you know if it gets to come to the party or not!

Note added later:  Nope, the Almond Biscotti has to sit out this party. That's ok though, we have plenty of winners to bring!

~BigSis

November 18, 2012

Ashy Poo in 2009

If you had come to my door sometime in the last twelve years, my official welcoming committee – consisting of one rescued FlamePoint Siamese lover boy – would have greeted you with something like this:

“My name's Ashy Poo, what's your name? Do you have any cheese in that bag? Do you think I'm pretty? Do you have any dogs? Are you going to sit down so I can sit by you? What's that smell on your shoes? Do you want to pet me? Do you have any chips? Isn't my blonde hair stunning? Can you get me some treats? Can I play with your shoelaces? Did you know I used to live on the street? Have you ever seen a tail as long as mine? Don't you think my mom is nice? Do you want to brush me?” And on and on. Rapid fire, without a breath. Ashy Poo never met a stranger, and loved everyone.

Ashy showing off his blue mani

Ashy dealt with a LOT of challenges in his life, and I wonder what our attitude would be if we faced all of this in one twelve-year period:

• Allergies
• Asthma
• Bartonella
• Chronic gum disease which left you with three teeth
• Heart disease
• Out of control hyperthyroidism
• One blind eye from a cataract
• One displaced kneecap
• Early signs of kidney disease
• Anemia
• IBS
• Car sickness every road trip (involving both ends!)
• Multiple gunshot wounds from a childhood attack, which left a pellet in your hip and probably caused the cataract and knee problem too

Beautiful freckle-faced one

Just imagine how many doctor visits and how many medications were involved in all that! I can tell you my state of mind would probably be “poor, poor me” if that was my life, but Ashy Poo didn't feel that way at all.

God's handiwork

Life – according to Ashy Poo – is beautiful.

Ashy with Warren Bitey and Gaby in 2004

Ashy Poo had a pretty simple list of life principles, and no one lived them out like he did:

• Never stop purring, no matter what. No. Matter. What.

• No one is a stranger and everyone is your friend. Why wouldn't they be your newest fan? You're awesome!

• Trust everyone, even if people have proven to be untrustworthy. Even if you get hurt, keep trusting.

• Never let anyone see that you don't feel well. It only upsets your family if they think you're puny. Just hide under the bed for a little while and sleep til you can act well again.

• If you have to wear a silly hat from time to time, so be it. It's a small price to pay to make people smile. Besides, you look so darn CUTE in hats! Draw the line at wearing a sweater though.

• There's nothing to be afraid of! Not vacuum cleaners, not hair dryers, not car rides, not strangers, not even death. Just live and don't be skerd! Fear is a waste of energy and emotion.

• Don't give up. Fight through whatever comes your way…starvation, homelessness, illness, gunshots. Whatever. Just push through it and don't give up.

• Bounce back and be a trooper! When everyone gives up on you, you bounce back like the Energizer Bunny and keep on ticking. Prove the doubters wrong.

• Show gratitude for your family and your home. Not everyone is blessed with a safe home with a warm bed, yummy food and people who love you. Always be thankful and remember where you came from.

• Choose a mom with a couple of credit cards with high limits if you can. You never know what the future holds.

• Never get hissy or huffy with your mom. If she says eat, you eat til you're full. If she says go to the doctor, you go to the doctor and make new friends. If she says take medicine, you take medicine cheerfully and spit it out when she isn't looking. If she calls you, you come running. She might want to kiss you.

• Always remember that you're special. There's no one else like you. God made you unique and the world needs you to be you.

• Never lose your dignity. Dignity isn't dependent on your situation, it's dependent on your attitude.

• Rule your house with a soft voice and a velvet paw. Keep your brothers in line. Someone has to be the boss!

• Leave your mark on this world so no one can forget the difference you made. Leave blonde hair everywhere too.

• Love everyone. That's all.

Ashy with HayHay the day we brought him home from the Siamese Rescue in December 2000.

That's the walk that Ashy Poo walked for the twelve years he spent with us. His long list of challenges finally got to be too much for his fragile body, and we suddenly lost him last Monday.

We miss this boy like crazy. We invested so much hope, emotion, time and love into this precious soul, and we fought his challenges together for a long time. It's weird that all that is just gone now, and our lives feel off balance in every way.

I'm very thankful that he knew how much we were all madly in love with him, beyond a shadow of a doubt. He knew he was cherished, and as he was taking his last breaths I'm grateful that I had the opportunity to tell him that again and again.

Ashy leaves behind his lonely furry brother Gaby, and a huge extended family of hoomans who loved him and won't forget his sweet spirit and the lessons he taught us. We'll do our best to follow his example, and even thought we're beyond sad, we're going to purr again.

That's what Ashy Poo would want us to do. Keep on purring. Because life according to Ashy Poo is beautiful, and the life he's living right now is more beautiful than any of us can imagine. We'll see you again, Ashy Poo. We love you and we miss you, sweet baby. Forgive us if we can't find our purr just yet.

~BigSis

November 12, 2012

 “Freedom is never free.” -Author Unknown

“This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave.” -Elmer Davis

~LilSis

November 4, 2012

I may have just found a blowout product that's near perfect. Alterna Perfect Blowout Cream has lots of things going for it that my hair absolutely loves:

• Fighting humidity.

• Creating lots of shine. Lots.

• Protecting the hair from heat damage.

• Enhancing smoothness, softness, and straightness.

• Reducing frizz.

• Never getting crunchy, stiff, sticky or goopy.

That's a lot to love! There's just one thing that keeps Alterna Perfect Blowout Cream from being completely perfect. Alterna says their products are not animal tested, and I've seen comments online from people who have emailed Alterna for confirmation, and have gotten it. I thought Alterna's products were not animal-tested, and that's why I've been comfortable buying them.

However, PETA's Caring Consumer web site doesn't list Alterna on the “does test” list or on the “does not test” list. That means they're one of the many companies in-between. Maybe they don't test and they haven't documented it yet for PETA. Or maybe they outsource their testing so their hands don't get dirty. At this point, I don't know why they're in limbo land.

I haven't contacted Alterna directly myself yet, so I don't have any first-hand information. I'll report back with anything I find to give us a comfort zone with Alterna products.

If indeed Alterna does NOT animal test, then yes, this blowout cream would literally be perfect. Utterly, astoundingly, stunningly perfect. It's that good. I really hope I can keep using it.

~BigSis

October 31, 2012

Happy Halloween from BigSis, LilSis and our Firkids!

(Not just Cats in Hats anymore since The Donald joined our family.)

New kid on the block, “The Donald” diggin' Tom's witch hat!

No one can rock Tom's favorite witch hat like he does!

Sweet Ashy Poo Poo looking handsome in his Cowboy gear.

Gaby makes a perfect pirate in this ensemble.

Have a safe and Happy Halloween!

~LilSis

October 23, 2012

This quarter's QVC New Beauty Test Tube that arrived a couple of weeks ago, came just in time! I had recently run out of both of my Wen Cleansing Conditioners and was using something else that I didn't like as much.

I was also in desperate need of a new eye firming product since my crow's feet seem to be getting worse by the minute and there's no room in my beauty budget for some much needed botox! 🙂

The QVC New Beauty test tube always include great products that I've never tried before and some that I've never even heard of.

Here are the eight awesome products in this quarter's test tube.

• Wen Cleansing Conditioner  (I received the Tea Tree formula.)
• Perricone MD High Potency Eye Treatment
• philosophy full of promise restoring cream
• Living Proof Full Thickening Mousse
• bareMinerals Marvelous Moxie Lipgloss
• Smileactives Tooth Whitening Pen
• Perfect Formula Daily Moisture
• Mally Evercolor Automatic Eyeliner

Of the products I've tried so far, my favorite is the philosophy full of promise restoring cream.

A 2 oz. jar sells for $65.00 which less than the $90.00 for a 2 oz. jar of the Algenist Firming and Lifting Cream that we both loved from last quarter's test tube. I'm still not sure, though if this one works quite as well as the Algenist.

I also love the Perricone MD High Potentcy Eye Treatment because I do notice a little tightening around the outside of my eyes, but at $98.00 for a .5 oz. bottle, I don't think I'll be buying this any time soon. I'm going to try to make the .17 oz sample last as long as possible.

I really like the Living Proof Full Thickening Mousse, too. I had never heard of this brand before, but this stuff really works! In looking at the QVC site, I noticed that this product has won several customer choice and best of beauty awards. If you have thin or fine hair; this mousse is definitely worth a try. Since I have quite a bit of hair already, I use it sparingly and only put a little at my crown for some added body. It retails for $26.00  for 5 ounces.

I really like the way the bareMinerals lipgloss feels and I love the scent, but like most lip glosses, it doesn't stay on for very long.  I'm also going to start using the Nail Daily Moisture soon and will report back if I see some improvement in my sad little fingernails.

Thanks again, BigSis! I can't wait to hear what your favorites are from this test tube.

Note from BigSis: I'm glad you're enjoying the Test Tubes, LilSis! I haven't tried many of the products from this quarter's treasure trove yet, but I have used the Dr Perricone Eye Treatment and I absolutely LOVE it! It's a serum rather than a cream, so it melts in immediately, and it WORKS. Also, I've never used a product that cooperated with under-eye concealer as well as this treatment does. There's no pilling or caking at all. This is a winner!

~LilSis

October 7, 2012

• Testing new recipes for this year's charity bake sale, starting with these Double Chocolate Oat Cookies from Isa Chandra Moskowitz's “Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar“. So far, every recipe I've tried from this book has been awesome.

• Shopping for cookie scoops for the bake sale. I bought this 2-ounce stainless steel disher from Ace Mart Restaurant Supply.

• Cleaning up the DVR, and loving ABC's new drama “Last Resort”. I'm hooked with the first episode!

• Satisfying a craving by snacking on extra crispy tater tots, and wondering why they aren't more appropriately labeled as extra tiny tots instead. They're so teeny!

• Loving this new fall pedicure color. It's called HRH (I think for Her Royal Highness), and it's from Butter London.

• Planning dinner of quinoa with shitake mushrooms and something with kale from Nava Atlas' “Wild About Greens“.

• Looking for a new iPhone 5 case. Any recommendations for a cool but sturdy one?

• Enjoying/spoiling my sweet little healed-by-the-hand-of-God boy who used up another life last weekend. Wondering how much I can sell a kidney for to pay for his medical bills and the only thing he'll eat right now.

~BigSis

September 15, 2012

If you've been vegetarian for a while, you're probably like me. You've eaten a lot of tofu scrambles; some good and some less than great. Ok, some are downright horrible.

The worst ones are boring, bland, mushy, and total dullsville. Since tofu has essentially no flavor of it's own – that's why we can easily transform it into Kung Pao or chocolate cream pie with a flick of the wrist – you have to ADD goodies to it to get awesomeness.

In my opinion, the best tofu scrambles are spicy and flavorful with a little veg thrown in and a nice firm texture with some crispy bits. That's what I was going for with this recipe, and I think I made myself pretty happy.

I should probably call this a tofu saute rather than a scramble since I kept the cubes pretty chunky and didn't break them up much. I'm mostly calling this delicious though. It's not only the best tofu scramble/saute I've ever made, it's the best one I've eaten. Here's how you make it.

Hatch Chile Tofu Scramble with Spinach and Avocado

1/2 cup mild hatch chiles, roasted, cleaned, and chopped
3 large cloves garlic, pressed
1 package firm tofu, diced chunky
3 Tblsp water
1 tsp Braggs Liquid Aminos
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp Penzeys Forward Seasoning
1 Tblsp Frank's Red Hot Sauce
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 cup baby spinach, very firmly packed and roughly chopped
2 Tblsp chives
1 large avocado, diced
Olive oil as needed for sauteing

In a large non-stick skillet, saute the chiles and garlic in 2 tblsp of olive oil for about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper while they're softening. Remove from the skillet and set aside while you prepare the tofu.

Add another bit of olive oil to the same pan, and add the chunky cubes of tofu. Arrange them in one layer so that all of the cubes are in contact with the pan. Toss them around every few minutes to get a golden color on all sides. This may take 10 to 15 minutes.

While the tofu is browning, mix your wet sauce ingredients together in a small bowl: the water, Braggs, onion powder, Forward Seasoning and Frank's Red Hot Sauce.

Once the tofu is evenly browned to your liking, add the chiles and garlic back in, sprinkle in the sauce, and stir to distribute evenly. Add in the nutritional yeast and the spinach, and mix together.

Cook over medium low heat until the spinach is wilted and the sauce is absorbed into the tofu. The sauce, yeast and chiles meld together to make the most incredible coating that I wish I had more of.

Add the chives and serve immediately with the diced avocado and a tiny touch of salt on top. Serves 3 or 4.

Notes: 

• Hatch chiles are available for a short period of time at the end of the summer, so if you don't have a stash in your freezer, don't despair. The Hatch flavor is amazing, but there are acceptable substitutes. I would probably add in a jar of diced green chiles from the mexican aisle in the grocery store, along with a finely diced jalapeno or two. Just add any chile you like. Chipotles would be good too, and you can find them on the same aisle packed in a jar with adobo sauce. Just be careful and start with a tiny amount, since these dudes can be super hot.

• I used Trader Joe's super firm tofu, and froze it and defrosted it to get a firmer texture. If you like more of a scramble, just skip the freezing/defrosting step and use a firm tofu. Break it up a little bit as it's cooking.

• I like the flavor of Braggs, but you can easily substitute tamari, soy sauce or plain ol' sea salt.

• Add in any other veggies that you like. I think that onion, asparagus, broccoli, kale and mushrooms are all super happy in a tofu scramble.

• Penzeys Forward Seasoning is amazing (and salt-free), but don't fret if you don't have it. It's a spicy little blend of black pepper, onion, paprika, garlic, turmeric, thyme, basil and rosemary. Just substitute what you like. Pepper, paprika, turmeric and thyme would be a good start. Cumin is also found in lots of tofu scrambles; I'm just not a huge fan, but you use what you like. It's your dish! Make it delicious and make it your own!

Note from LilSis:

I think this looks scrumptious and I would definitely make it for myself, but unfortunately, if I tried to serve this to my meat and potato lovin' guys as a meal; they would probably laugh, thinking it was a practical joke!

~BigSis