Happy Birthday Bumbe

April 1st is my cat Bumbe’s birthday! It is no joke, although he probably thinks we’re fooling him every year. Bumbe is 7 years old today! And I’d like to share with you 7 interesting facts about my cat.

1. Bumbe has a Chinese name, Juebalbal (珠波波). We call him that at home.
2. We adopted him from the SPCA, due to returning a sick kitten.
3. During his first year, Bumbe had another cat roommate named Tigey. Then mom and dad decided to live together.
4. He is a star in a college newspaper comic strip entitled, Bumbe the Cat.
5. Every night 10 minutes before midnight, Bumbe always remind me it is bedtime and cuddle time.
6. He is toilet trained!
7. Bumbe snores! Loud!

Here are some pictures from his birthday party. Usually we only have one other cat, Yun Yun the guest of honor, at the party. This time we included more kitty guests! Well…make believe ones. Anyways, Happy Birthday Bumbe!

Cute and awkward picture together:) They were extremely tolerant of the whole shenanigan. Perhaps years of posing in outfits for me. Cat party inspired by Oh Happy Day with lots of fun, cute party ideas and hats.

Happy Birthday Bumbe!

Take a look at my cat’s previous birthday looks from my very first post! Yip bought me and Bumbe an elegant lady cake to celebrate:D

Pumpkin Gnocchi

Last fall, when I made a bunch of pumpkin puree from our Halloween Jack o Lanterns, I was inspired to make all these pumpkin goodies. The recipe that caught my interest in my search was pumpkin gnocchi.  Gnocchi are soft dumplings usually made of potatoes and flour. It just so yummy. What’s funny is that we can never pronounce gnocchi correctly. Guh-noki?, Nyo-chi?  My bf, Yip gave up and by default he says guh-noogie

So recently, I bought a can of pumpkin puree and made gnocchi again, following Closet cooking’s recipe. I love the color and the hint of pumpkin flavor. The dough is really sticky, so I used more flour than what the recipe calls for. It takes a long time to shape the little pieces of dough, especially since I want markings on each piece. For some reason, I had a hard time rolling pieces of dough with the fork, but Yip picked it up really fast (he is the better cook) and showed me. Now I can whip through the whole batch and have the patience to finish the job. Warning…making gnocchi is very time consuming, so you may want to shape half the dough and the other half the next day. But it is a fun activity with the help of  little ones or big friends too.

Since it’s usually the two of us, we freeze the gnocchi separately and place them in a zip lock bag. When ready to eat,  place however much in boiling water and cook in a sauce. Gnocchi tastes so good and a great alternative to our usual boring spaghetti.

Pumpkin Gnocchi
2 cup pumpkin puree
1 egg yolk
2 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 pinch nutmeg (optional)

1 cup flour for working surface/ dusting

Directions:
1. Simmer pumpkin puree in a sauce pan to absorb some wetness and let it cool.
2. Mix egg yolk into the puree.
3. Combine salt, nutmeg, and flour together.
4. Add flour mixture into the puree to form a soft sticky dough.
5. Take pieces of dough and roll out into long ropes about 1/2 inch thick.
6. Cut the rolled ropes into 1/2 inch pieces and then roll the pieces in flour lightly shaking off any excess.
7. Roll the pieces with a fork (or gnocchi board) to give them the ridges.
8. Cook desired amount of  gnocchi in boiling water until it floats to the surface, about 2-3 minutes. Remove and drain.
9. Cook in a sauce or fry.

I made a tomatoe sauce with spicy Italian sausage, mushrooms, onion and  asparagus on the side, topped with cilantro and Parmesan cheese :9

Look at the cute little pumpkin hats I made for the cats:)

My Cat’s Birthday

Today is my cat Bumbe’s birthday. He is 6 years old. We adopted Bumbe at the SPCA when he was 6 months old. I fell in love with his big eyes and his chubby figure. This silly cat just made us laugh. He is a timid cat, but is the most affectionate once you gain his trust. All in all, Bumbe is very special to me. So on his birthday, I like to do something to spark up his normal sleep, eat, sleep, eat routine.

Every year on his birthday, I make him a birthday cone hat and throw him a little birthday party. Yeah I know…crazy cat lady! Hey, I get an excuse to eat dessert. Plus Bumbe has a guest of honor, my other cat Yun Yun. Kitten party, isn’t that a cute affair:)

To catch you up on the birthday boy, here’s a time line of his birthday portrait from age 1 to 5:

Today, 6 years old Bumbe, in a piggy theme birthday hat: