Juku and Kami's Birthday

When we wake up in the morning, Juku and Kami can be found curled up next to us. One would be on our pillow pressed against our faces and the other is somewhere at the foot of the bed under the covers. It's very uncomfortable but we've gotten used to it. I would try to annoy and smother one of them and whisper, "You're not a baby anymore, stop acting like a baby!" But who am I kidding. They'll aways be our babies even though they're both a year older this week.

Juku turned 6 last Sunday and Kami turns 5 this Friday. We've had a busy week so we wanted to have a small celebration for them celebrated yesterday.

We usually buy them a few pre-made birthday treats from a local pet store but I wanted to make them something this year. Looked online for recipe and found a Banana Peanut Butter dog cake.

I know it doesn't look appetizing but the girls really liked it. Kami started licking the cake before we had a chance to blow out the candles. Juku finished her slice in a couple of bites. 

After that it was time to open their presents. We took them to the pet store a couple of days ago and let them pick out whatever toy they liked. They obviously don't remember that as they were jolted with joy upon opening their gifts as if seeing the toys for the very first time.

Kami and Juku weren't the only ones who had treats. I also made something for Amado and I. Chocolate covered short bread cookies. The recipe needs some tweaking but Amado was happy with it.

Eggplant Parmesan

I started way too early preparing tonight's dinner. Since I had more than a few minutes to spare, I decided to document the steps which involved a lot of hand washing before picking up my camera.

Recipe calls for:

2 large eggplants, peeled and sliced into 1/2 inch rounds
1 bottle marinara sauce
1 can tomato sauce
1 cup breadcrumbs
1 cup grated parmesan (I prefer wedges, freshly grated at home)
1 cup fontina cheese or mozzarella
2 eggs
salt and pepper

Peel and slice the eggplants.

Combine 1 cup of breadcrumbs, 3/4 cups of the grated parmesan, salt and pepper. In a separate bowl, combine the marinara sauce and tomato sauce.

Beat the 2 eggs and add a couple teaspoons of water. Dip the eggplant slices in the egg mixture. Let the excess drip off and then coat with the breadcrumbs mixture. Bake the slices on a lined pan for 20 minutes each side.

Start with spreading the marinara sauce at the bottom of the pan. Layer the eggplant slices followed with a layer of marinara sauce then some sprinkle the parmesan and fontina/mozzarella cheese. 

Repeat until done.

Bake for another 20 minutes at 400 degrees. Let it sit for about 5 minutes. Then dig in.