Team Lounging with Truffle an' Brulee!

Representing the Gamecock State, from Sweet Purrfections, we have a Team Lounging entry featuring those Southern debutantes, Truffle an' Brulee.  The ladies are sleepin' at the foot of the bed while their four co-competitors lounge at the top of the photo near the pillows.

This is quite a carefully executed effort!  Nearly efurryone in the photo is platinum/white with a single Meezer thrown into the mix for contrast.  Nice job!!

1.  Two or more competitors must be photographed lounging together in the same frame.   1 Point

2.  Grouping.   Seven total in the frame = 5 additional Points

3.  Costumed participant(s).  0 Points

4.  Unconsciousness.  Both live ladies are asleep 2 Points

5.  Unorthodox lounging platform.  Nope.  Highly conventional Lounge Platform. 0 Points

6.  Artistic displays.   Matching furs to Lounge Platform is clever (an' pretty).  1 Point

7.  Humor. Using some stuffed competitors is humorous!  1 Point

Total:  10 Points!  The scrappy girls from the Gamecock State are in the lead!

Stunning Keisha in Team Lounging!

The stunning Cathy Keisha, taking advantage of a loophole in the Team Lounging rules, has composed her team of four in a slighly unconventional fashion:  She an' her multicultural stuffy staff have entered together.  SMART!  Very smart!

Featured in this effort are, from left to right, the beautiful Cathy Keisha, an' her staff:  Autumn, the aptly named H.H. Gutt, an' Nicky.

You can visit the stunning Miss Cathy Keisha at her bloggie:  Stunning Keisha.  You'll certainly be astounded by her beauty an' elegance!

1.  Two or more competitors must be photographed lounging together in the same frame.  1 Point

2.  Grouping.  2 Points

3.  Costumed participant(s).  Multicultural furs = 1 Point

4.  Unconsciousness.   0 Points 'cuz efurryone's awake!

5.  Unorthodox lounging platform.  0 Points

6.  Artistic displays.   First use of stuffies  in this competition 1 Point

7.  Humor. 1 Point for cleverness

Total:  6 Points

Cat's Cats: A team of FIVE!

In a stunning effort, the boys at Cat's Cats are participating in a Team Lounging photograph featuring FIVE contestants lounging on the bed in a multi-colored (multicultural ... in the spirit of the Olympic rings) entry.  Fetured in this photo are:  Casper, Ben, Archie, Jimmy an' Kip.

How will our intrepid team of five place in the overall event standings?  Only the judge knows.  An' she's not ready to score any of our competitors' efforts just yet.

You can find our furriends at their bloggie:  Cat's Cats.

1.  Two or more competitors must be photographed lounging together in the same frame.    1 Point

2.  Grouping.   3 Points for this team of FIVE!

3.  Costumed participant(s).  0 Points

4.  Unconsciousness.3 sleepers = 3 Points

5.  Unorthodox lounging platform.  0 Points

6.  Artistic displays.  Matching furs to bed linens 1 Point

7.  Humor.   0 Points

Total: 8 Points

Team Lounging with the Furballs

Our cousins, the Furballs, live in Oregon with their mom an' dad, an' siblings Zoey, Cha-Ching, an' Tigger.  Their first entry is entitled "Kitty Jenga" on a dining room chair an' features all three of them:  Chewie (in the pink collar ... the girl) is on the bottom squashed by both boys, Gandalf is in the center, and Smoke (with the white face) is on top.

The second entry is the same competitors Team Lounging on the family room couch.  In front is Chewie, in the middle is Smoke, and at the top of the photo is Gandalf.  All are sound asleep.

Their blog is Zoey and the Furballs an' you can visit them HERE.

1.  Two or more competitors must be photographed lounging together in the same frame.    1 Point

2.  Grouping.   1 Point

3.  Costumed participant(s).  0 Points

4.  Unconsciousness.   3 Points

5.  Unorthodox lounging platform.  Using the kitty pile on the kitchen chair photo 1 Point

6.  Artistic displays.   Color coordinating uniforms on all the competitors 1 Point

7.  Humor.  I've actually met the Furballs an' they're really funny ... Plus, their sisfur, Zoey, looks just like me ... Gorgeous! 1 Point

Total:  8 Points

Splenda Chocolate Chip Cookies!

Several people asked for this recipe for chocolate chip cookies that come out crispy and chewy and thin.  After several false starts and ruined cookie batches, this recipe has been created.  The cookies come out perfect.  The recipe isn't adjusted for altitude or for foreign markets where the metric system of measuring in used.  Splenda is used for sweetening the cookies and for brown color.  Note that it does NOT keep blood sugar low.  Diabetic eaters beware of this if worrying about a fasting blood sugar. 

These are really delicious cookies, too!

Crispy, Chewy and Thin Chocolate Chip Cookies (Tollhouse Style)

Ingredients

• 1 1/3 cups all-purpose white flour, sifted well
• 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3/4 cup Splenda brown sugar blend, firmly packed 
• 1/4 cup Splenda granulated white sugar blend (for sweetness)
• 1 large egg, room temperature
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips, best quality
• 1/8 cup pecans or walnuts, optional

Directions  Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper

In a stand mixer, cream the sugars and butter until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the egg until well incorporated. Add the vanilla.   Sift flour, then remeasure to insure that only 1 1/3 cups flour is measured.  Incorporate salt and baking soda.  Slowly add to the butter mixture. Mix on low until the flour mixture is incorporated, and then mix in the chocolate pieces.  Fold in nuts.

Scoop out the dough onto the prepared cookie sheet keeping two inches apart for spreading. 

Bake until golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes, rotating the trays halfway through. Remove from the oven and cool. Remove the cookies with a flat spatula to prevent breaking.

Cook's Note: The recipe does yield a lot of dough, but it's a great freeze and bake cookie. Once you have scooped all the dough and placed them into the freezer, you can pop them into a zip top bag and just bake off as many as you want when you need to!

It's June 20th: Charmee's BIRTHDAY/Gotchaversary!

It's Charmee's NINTH birthday/gotchaversary!  Once he was a little ball of bitey who weighed 11 ounces an' had very sparse furs.  Now, he weighs about eighteen pounds an' has thick, plushy furs ... but he's still furry bitey.

I wanna take this opportunity to wish him a furry happy birthday AND gotchaversary!  He's a pain an' a pest, but he's the only brofur I have left.

Happy NINTH, Feline American Lucky Charmz ... An' many, many more!
DMM

Our first contestants: Representing Zee & Zoey!

 A famous author an' blogger, Deb Barnes, who represents Zee & Zoey Partners, entered two photos of contestants in the Team Lounging event.  You can find them at their blog:  Zee and Zoey.

First are Mia an' Harley (Harley's the one in the inverted lounge position at the back with all four feets in the air (in the spirit of Cat-O-Lympics, Harley's wavin' 'em ...).  Certainly a worthy entry in this challenging event!  How will the judge score this dynamic purrformance?

Not to be outdone, once again we have the versatile Mia lounging this time with co-competitor Jazz in a suitcase for BlogPaws (takin' advantage of the 'unorthodox lounging places' aspect of the competition!) for a synchronized lounge attempt.  Gotta give props to the feline prints included in the photo!  Those leopard prints certainly enhance Miss Mia's stunning stripes and Jazz' silky furs.

What's the score on this devastating entry?  Only time will tell ...

1.  Two or more competitors must be photographed lounging together in the same frame.    1 Point

2.  Grouping.   Just two kitties fails the grouping category 0 Points

3.  Costumed participant(s).  Exotic furs 1 Point

4.  Unconsciousness.  2 Points

5.  Unorthodox lounging platform.  Definitely! 1 Point

6.  Artistic displays.   1 Point for the pretty Lounge Platform an' clever timing of this effort

7.  Humor.  Furry cute entry 1 Point

Total:  7 Points

Happy XY Chromosome Day to reproductive-type doods!

Today is Fathers' Day an' we're honoring our grandad and our Uncle James.  Happy Fathers' Day, doods!

It's International BOX Day!

Wow!  It's Charmee's favorite day ... EVER!  A day to celebrate how important boxes are in the lives of cats efurrywhere.  An' it's only one day until Charmee's ninth birthday/Gotcha Day!  Oh, an' our Grandma an' Grandpa have their anniversary in one day, too!  An' our Uncle Jer is taking a furry important exam tomorrow to become a certified nurse's assistant tomorrow!  How important these days are!

Team Lounging in the Cat-O-Lympics

In honor of Feline American Sparky Fuzzypants, nicknamed "Spark-o-Lounger," 

who went to the Bridge on May 30th, 2012, 

we'll be hosting an event in the 2012 Cat-O-Lympics this year:  

TEAM LOUNGING! 

Since cats are natural loungers ... and lounge with such style ... and are in a constant state of event preparation an' training ... any cat is already a world-class lounger! 

And since we're all naturals at lounging, how will our event be judged and how will winners be determined?  Well, it's a TEAM event, so multiple participants must enter TOGETHER after being photographed TOGETHER to be considered (an' no, your source-of-opposable-thumbs CANNOT Photoshop all of you into one photograph or you'll be disqualified!).

We have stolen appropriated a screenshot of Paul Klusman's famous movie-cats Ginger Cat, Zoey Cat, and Oscar Cat lounging on his coffee table as they illustrate the concept of Team Lounging.  Should he get upset with our stealing appropriation, Mom will certainly apologize an' delete the photo.

The photo above would NOT qualify for entry because Lacey Bunns went to the Bridge in 1995 an' although she IS lounging in an unorthodox medium, she is alone in the photo, and therefore, does not qualify for entry.

MEDALLING IN THE EVENT!  Competitors will earn points toward medal qualification in the following manner:

1.  Two or more competitors must be photographed lounging together in the same frame.  One point

2.  Grouping.  Competitors numbering three or more will be awarded one additional point for each participant in the photo frame exceeding the requisite two participants (EX:  Four cats lounging = three points)

3.  Costumed participant(s).  One point per costumed participant

4.  Unconsciousness.  If any participant in the frame (humans included) is asleep (both eyes closed), one point is earned

5.  Unorthodox lounging platform.  One point is earned for lounging on something odd, uncomfortable, or precarious for the act of lounging (EX:  windowsills, ledges, non-flat objects)

6.  Artistic displays.  Additional points will be awarded at judge's discretion for competitors who display innovative lounging techniques, inversions, funny expressions, etc.

7.  Humor.  Mom The judge likes humorous photos.  She tries to be objective, but humor is her Achilles heel an' you SHOULD exploit that if you wanna medal in this event.

Here's how to enter: You must submit your entry to me no later than Friday, July 13th, by midnight PDT. You must email me your picture, together with the name of the competitor(s) AND a link to your blog (if you have one) by sending it to daisymaemausATyahooDOTcom.  Competing in this event means that you are giving me permission to use your picture for the Cat-O-Lympics 2012. Your picture does not have to be a new one, but you must not have used it in the previous Cat-O-Lympics 2010. Each cat or dog can enter each event once. Entry is open to all cats and dogs (even though this IS the CAT-O-Lympics). You do not need to have a blog to enter.

Here is a list of the other events being hosted during the Olympics (links can be found at Huffle's blog):

1.  Allie, Ellie, Tamir, Cubby and Clifford are hosting Smackdown.
2.  Wally, Ernie and Zoey are hosting Synchronised Snoozing.
3.  Cory and her family are hosting Balance Beam.
4.  The Katnip Lounge kitties are hosting Counter Surfing.
5.  Penelope and Kozmo are hosting High Jump.
6.  Callie and Sassy are hosting Competitive Nip Bliss Out.
7.  Kashim, Othello and Salome are hosting Fierceful Yawning - give us your biggest yawn.
8.  Cat-O-Lympics hostess and mistress of ceremonies: Huffle.
Finally, if anyone would like to host an event, just let Huffle know and she will add you to the list.

The Zoolatry girls made us this graphic of our dear, sweet Sparky Fuzzypants. Thank you, ladies! DMM