Happy 20th Birthday Squirty!

Well, yesterday was a big day for my first baby Squirty. She turned 20! My family adopted her when I was 5, and we’ve been best friends ever since. She’s lived in my parents house for the last 10 years, and I just recently moved her to my apartment. She transitioned swimmingly and is loving her grown-up house. Here she is enjoying the sun and wind on her birthday.

And here she is trying to eat some mousse cake I made. I mean there were candles…and I was singing to her…so I can see why she thought it was her cake. Her cat-cake was a can of tuna and some special cheesy cat food.

It’s amazing what a blessing animals can be in our lives. Here’s to another 20 years together!

How unbearably cute is she here?!

the best oatmeal cookies

I know, I know…I just posted the best cake balls; how could I possibly have the best oatmeal cookie recipe too? Actually, this was probably one of the recipes that got me interested in baking. This was my go-to recipe as a kid, and even though I probably got it off the back of an oatmeal box, it felt like my own and I was always so proud to share it. 

My cat seemed to know that these are the best oatmeal cookies too, because she was all over the plate during the photo shoot.

Recipe follows 

Oatmeal Cinnamon Chip Cookies

yields:4 dozen

{1 cup (2 sticks)softened butter | 1 cup brown sugar | 1/3 c granulated sugar | 2 eggs | 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract | 1 1/2 cup flour | 1 tsp baking soda | 2 1/2 cups quick cooking oats | 1 2/3 cups cinnamon chips** | 3/4 cups chocolate chips}

1

. Heat 

oven to 350 F

. 

2. Beat

butter, brown sugar, and sugar until creamy

.

3. A

dd

eggs and vanilla and

beat

well

.

4. A

dd

flour and baking soda and 

beat

well

.

5. 

Stir

in oats and all chips.

6

. 

Drop

balls of batter onto ungreased cookie sheet.

7

. 

Bake

for 10 minutes

.

**The cinnamon chips can be unfortunately hard to find

. 

But I’m sure these would also be good with white chocolate chips

, 

toffee chips

,

 or caramel bits

.