TUNNEL TUESDAY (NEW YEAR'S EVE EDITION)

TUNNEL TUESDAY: NEW YEAR'S EVE EDITION

Well hello there felines.  So I goes to my tunnel in the wee hours of the morn...and what do I find?  There waiting for me was a Betty Crocker cake mix!  Can you believe it felines?

Neytiri promptly arrived on the scene and insisted that the Betty Crocker cake mix and measuring cup was for her, since she is the baker in the house!  

Now since it is New Year's Eve, this was the purrfect gift from the tunnel to her...as it gives her an opportunity to once again put her Martha Stewart baking lessons to the test.  But she looks a bit puzzled...she thinks that a very important ingredient is missing from here...She decides to test the knowledge of her baking Assistant and Mancat Archie who took the red-eye in from Tarrana to spend New Year's Eve with his sweetie! 

Now theese is not Archie's first rodeo baking lesson...he learned how to make red velvet cupcakes for Valentine's one year.  Archie gets up from his comfy viewing spot and studies the scene intently...

...and he identifies the missing ingredient!

...Catnip!  Neytiri is very proud of her student/protege/Mancat and happy that the missing ingredient has now materialized!

Neytiri requests the easy bake oven to bake the catnip cake and asks me to preheat it...

At the stroke of midnight, to celebrate the New Year, catnip cake will be served to all the Audience!  

We have so appreciated your friendship in 2013 and want to thank you all for tuning in to our adventures, leaving us sweet comments and supporting us with purrs.  You all are very special to us!  

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

~In this new year, what do you hope to leave behind and what do you hope to find?  Here's to the possibilities.  #welcometomidnight~

TUNNEL TUESDAY

TUNNEL TUESDAY: EASY BAKE OVEN

Hello there felines! Thanks for joining me for another "Tunnel Tuesday"...OK, theese one is excellent! I arrives at my "tunnel" early this morning...(I has to admit I was a bit nervous after finding the "tunnel" shut down for maintenance last week)...and lo and behold...there sits a brand new, fancy Easy Bake Oven. The "tunnel" has really outdone itself on theese one. Seriously. For all newer Audience members, you may not know it but I depends on my Easy Bake Oven to make my infamous catnip brownies that have won awards on cooking shows. You can read about it on a previous post of mine http://bit.ly/fzn3oV . Neytiri also uses the Easy Bake Oven for staff training and to prepare food for functions at Headquarters. Therefore, our old Easy Bake had quite a lot of miles on it and was quite an old fashioned model, if the truth be known. So we are both happy to have a new top of the line Easy Bake with a good warranty. Does anyone else out there have an Easy Bake Oven that they take pride in?

Join me each TUESDAY felines for other magical and mysterious appearances in my "tunnel".

PIERRE DU PORT & "DUCKY" ROCK THE EASY BAKE

Cloon: Hello there Audience. We gots an exciting event going on at Headquarters. It's the final module of the "Office Management" Bootcamp: "Using the easy bake oven". The kitchen of Headquarters is abuzz with excitement as two of our Bootcamp trainees Pierre Du Port and "Ducky" have been busy at work in the kitchen all day. It appears that the Cockatoo from Australia is sitting theese module out...here with the update is the Secretary of Clooney Credit Canada and the official Bootcamp Leader.

Neytiri: Yes, Cloon. As it turns out our liability insurance at Headquarters does not cover the potential hazards of mixing "feathers" with electrical appliances. Thus, the Cockatoo from Australia was given a pass on this module leaving Pierre Du Port competing against "Ducky" in the bake-off.

Cloon: Understandable. Now can you bring the Audience up to snuff with what is going on in the Bootcamp?

Neytiri: My trainees are about to graduate from the "Office Management" component of the Bootcamp and must compete in an Easy Bake Oven Bake-Off. I spent the morning doing a seminar on the ins and outs of the easy bake oven: demonstrating how to plug the apparatus in, using the various knobs and settings, adjusting the temperature correctly, safety procedures during use, testing the food to ensure it is fully cooked and finally, cleaning the unit after its use. For their final exam, I have given them the creative freedom to choose their own type of pie to make and then bake using the oven.

Cloon: And I guess that's where I come in... I'z the official judge of the contest and will assign the passing grade to each of the trainees and declare the winner of the bake-off.

Neytiri: That's correct. Now there is one interesting twist in the contest. Each of the trainees has used their own "secret ingredient" in their pie, which you alone must identify and then judge the overall synergy and balance with the rest of the ingredients.

Cloon: Excellent, most excellent! I will grade theese pies according to taste for a total of 25 points, creativity for a total of 15 points and overall impression for a total of 10 points. Then I will assign the trainees a grade out of 50 possible points. The straws have been drawn for tasting order and Pierre shall present his pie first. Go ahead Pierre...Rock my easy bake...

Pierre: Bonjour Cloon! Today you will be tasting a Tourtiere, a French Canadian meat pie from Quebec. Bon Appetit!

Cloon: Mmm, this is quite tasty, I has to give you a full 25 points for flavor. And I do believe that I detect the "secret ingredient" to be num-nums... which is very creative on your part Pierre, so I has to give you a full 15 points for creativity. My overall impression is that I am very impressed, therefore I has to give you a full 10 points in theese category. Pierre has just earned himself a perfect score of 50 out of 50 for his num-nums meat pie! Now, onto the next one: "Ducky"...Rock my easy bake...

"Ducky": Quack, quack, quack...

Cloon: Excuse me, do we have a translator in the Audience? Does anyone speak "Stuffed Duck"?

"Ducky": Just messin' with ya Cloon! Today you will be tasting an "elegant" red cherry pie. Enjoy!

Cloon: Hmm, theese one tastes very, very interesting...I can't quite put my paw on the "secret ingredient"...I needs to have another piece...

(The Audience gasps in astonishment as Cloon starts rolling around on the floor...)

Cloon: (Getting his composure back) Brilliant! I believe that the "secret ingredient" is catnip so "Ducky" gets a full 15 points for creativity! I'm very impressed with his "secret ingredient" so he gets a full 10 points for overall impression. I must say I feel a bit "under the influence" so I will be awarding a full 25 points for taste. "Ducky" has just earned himself a perfect score of 50 out of 50 for his cherry catnip pie!

It's official...I declare a tie in the easy bake oven bake-off. Both trainees, Pierre Du Port and "Ducky" have been granted a perfect passing grade of 50/50 for theese module and will be awarded a certificate in "Office Management".

(Having a bit of the "munchies", Cloon saunters off in search of more num-nums pie...)

CLOON'S FAMOUS BROWNIES

WIN SPOT

ON FOOD NETWORK'S

ULTIMATE RECIPE

SHOWDOWN

Hello my fine little friends. How many in the Audience love brownies? I see all hands are raised. This is very good indeed as you are all in for a special treat. I shall reveal my famous brownie recipe to y'all and "Girlfriend" will hand out a freshly baked brownie to each in-studio Audience member. So let's get started, shall we? For the first time, I am revealing a photograph of my easy-bake oven. Theese one is where I experiment with many recipes at all hours of the night. Now I happen to use Betty Crocker Brownie mix as they are Canada's #1 Selling Brownie Mix Brand and I am susceptible to advertising and marketing. Theese one also has the frosting included in the package. You may also see a container of catnip in the photo. Theese one is my secret ingredient. I regret to inform you that I cannot disclose the brand as it is a secret. But I will say that theese one is organic, grown on a farm and is very potent. Next you will need water, vegetable oil and 1 egg. Here goes....

1) Heat easy-bake oven to 350 Degrees F. (Please use the interwebs for a conversion, if you happen to go by Celsius.) Grease a little pan that will fit easy-bake oven.

2) Stir brownie mix, 1/3 cup water, 1/4 cup vegetable oil, 1 egg, and 1/3 cup catnip in a bowl until well blended. Then put in pan.

3) Bake approximately 35-38 minutes in easy-bake oven. (Now, theese one is important Audience. Takes a toothpick and stick it into the brownies to test it. If it comes out clean, then theese ones are done.)

4) Knead the frosting package for 10 seconds. That's right felines, you heard me. We loves to knead things, don't we. ("Girlfriend" is the expert in theese category so she does theese part. She gets a bit carried away and sometimes goes way over 10 seconds. But don't worry Audience she wiped her paws before she started.)

5) After brownies have cooled, squeeze out frosting from package and spread over brownies.

And voila! "Girlfriend" is making her way around with her little cart and the brownies. In about 10 minutes from now, the Audience members will have incredible energy, start rolling around and gets a bit crazy. Theese is from the catnip. Don't panic, just enjoy the process. Now you gets to see first hand what all the fuss is about with us felines and our catnip.

Did I mention that theese recipe gots me a spot on TV? Yes, that's right. I competed in the dessert category of the Food Network's Ultimate Recipe Showdown. I lost out to a New York Cheesecake by 1 point. (Alot of people like theese ones.)

(Meanwhile the Audience gets a bit restless and Cloon pounds his little paw for "order in the court"...)