Look, we got a cat named Goldie!

Okay... April Fools. We didn't get a cat companion. Sad face.

However, my birthday is in two weeks time and you can bet your sweet ass that I'm doing my very best work to try to convince Todd that we need a companion of the feline variety. Fine, fine...let's be real, I've been trying to adopt another animal for quite some time. I'm not even picky! I told Todd a cat, dog, rabbit, goat, or even a hedgehog would be just fine. When my birthday rolls around though, I like to put on extra special pressure.

Today Todd texted me...

Todd: What do you want for your birthday, non-animal related? Me: Cat. Todd: No. Me: Goat. Todd: No, did you read above??

Disregarding the limitations of my future birthday present...I settled on this little one. The rescue says:

"Goldie is a darling little golden girl. She is super soft and super lovable.

Goldie has endured much in the past couple of months. Found freezing with her collar embedded in the skin under her left arm, she was taken in and given veterinary care. As a result of frostbite, she lost most of both of her ears and will likely lose most of her tail in the coming weeks. She is healing well and enjoys resting as well as a good stroll around the yard. She just has these endearing qualities about her that make her irresistible! She has even taken to hide and seek! She “ambushes” you from someplace like behind the toilet:) to get the game started and, when found, she scoots out and runs to another hiding place. It is hilarious and the look on her face says “keep the fun coming.” She is good with dogs and other cats.

Goldie is a special kitty who deserves a safe and comfortable home where she can enjoy life!"

God, isn't that awful! Breaks my little heart to pieces. So, give me all your tips to help me talk Todd into giving the a-okay on this little girl. She needs to come home with us and be Bailey's little sister!

I suspect the outcome will be the same as my last endeavor. Remember when I tried to convince Todd that we should adopt Oreo? I'll never give up, you guys!

I cannot believe Todd's 27th birthday was a few days ago! How did we get so...mature? I remember thinking when I was in highschool, that when I was married, had a house and a career that I would have it all figured out and I would know who I was. Yea...I was wrong. I'm still finding out who I am! We had a family birthday bash for Mr. Todd outside our tiny little house. I'm not a big social person and it was the first "gathering" we really had at our house, so it was a big day all around! For Todd, myself and our home!

I made some amazing veggie burgers and a wonderful herbed potato salad. Todd always wants an ice cream cake for this birthday, but seeing that we're vegan now and the fact that I've never made an ice cream cake before (god, what a task!), I couldn't just hop on over to Dairy Queen or wherever and buy one.

I do not like ice cream cakes. One, because they're usually bought pre-made and I like to actually make cakes from scratch and two, I don't like my ice cream and cake to touch. You heard me! No touchy-touchy! Anyways, feeling bad for Todd, this being his first year sans-ice-cream-cake, I wanted to make him something special.

The last cake I made was for my birthday I believe. It was a vegan chocolate "cheese"cake, aka cashew based cake and pretty much everyone told me it tasted like bread. I happened to like it quite fine but the non-vegans were less than impressed. And so I vowed to never ever make a faux-dessert anything again.

Obviously for this birthday, a straight up chocolate cake would be hard to bastardize. This cake however is no ordinary chocolate cake. It's super special because it is an Oreo cake...and it is vegan...and it rocked my world and surely the non-vegs as well. Who is seriously going about life hating Oreos? No one. This chocolate cake has Oreo cookies baked right into the cake itself as well as incorporated into the frosting and then crumbled on top too! But wait, I even used "Birthday Cake" Oreos.

If you haven't had these yet, I will need to you stop reading this post, drop whatever else important thing you're doing and go get some. They smell like what I imagine heaven would smell like, and they taste exactly like how they smell...like heaven. Birthday Cake Oreos are heaven on Earth. Yes, my health conscious friends...this recipe comes with a warning (yes, I did make that sign above, heh heh). What? I can't always be perfect. This cake is so delicious though, you should sneakily make it before your parents come home!

Here's the birthday boy with a new Jetboil camping stove! Um, awesomeness! We're super excited to have a new camping stove. One seriously cannot have enough. They're like wool socks in that regard.

For a little hermit like myself, we threw a pretty good bash! This cake was one for the books. Surprise your next birthday boy or girl with this beautifully delicious cake. Sorry about the scrubs, yo. Hey, I got frosting ALL over them so it's a good thing I never found time to change when I got home from work! All's well. Except that I seemed to have lost my glass cake stand during our move last year! Sad face.

Take notice to Bailey being in every damn picture. He's like the dog version of Where's Waldo. I need to get him a red and white striped bandana...and maybe we should start calling him "Baldo"?

Birthday Oreo Cake for Todd

Serves: 12 (makes 2 9" cakes to be stacked and frosted)

Inspired by Life In Limbo

This chocolate cake has Oreo cookies baked right into the cake itself as well as incorporated into the frosting and then crumbled on top. Use "Birthday Cake" Oreos for a birthday surprise!

Ingredients

-- For the Cakes --
2 cups coconut milk (Silk) - I used unsweetened, plain
2 tsp. apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 tsp. ground flaxseed
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2/3 cup canola oil
3 tsp. Kahlua or vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 heaping cup crushed Oreos - I used "Birthday Cake" Oreos...oh yes
-- For the Frosting --
1 cup of vegan butter, room temperature
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2 tsp. Kahlua or vanilla extract
1/4 cup of coconut milk (Silk)
1 cup crushed Oreos
5 Oreos - for topping
birthday sprinkles - for topping (optional)

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 F and then spray the crap out of two 9" cake pans.
First, whisk the milk, vinegar and ground flaxseed together and allow to rest for at least 15 minutes.
Meanwhile in a large mixing bowl (preferably an electric stand mixer bowl!), combine the sugar, oil and Kahlua. Beat very well.
In a separate large mixing bowl, combine the remaining cake ingredients except the crushed Oreos. Whisk well to combine. Now, add the milk and vinegar mixture to the sugar and oil mixture and whisk well to combine.
Then, slowly add in the dry mixture. Whisk well, ensuring that the batter is smooth. Stir in the 1 heaping cup of crushed oreos.
Divide the batter evenly between the two cake pans and bake at 350 F for 20-30 minutes.
After 20 minutes, check the doneness with a toothpick. If it comes out clean, the cakes are finished cooking, if not then allow to the bake another 5 minutes and then check again.
Once they are done, leave them in the pan and allow to cool on a wire rack.
Time to work on the frosting! Add the room temperature butter to that electric stand mixer bowl (wash it first!), and beat the heck out of the butter on high speed. Next, add the sugar slowly and then mix on high for about 3 minutes. Add in the Kahlua and milk and mix again on high for another 3 minutes, slowly adding in the crushed Oreos towards the end.
Once the cakes have cooled, carefully remove them from the pans. Use a flexible spatula and go around the edges beforehand.
Frost the top of one, then place the other on top of that one and continue to frost the rest of the cake.
Add some leftover crushed Oreos on top to finish! I also added a few whole Oreos and some birthday sprinkles.

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Birthday Oreo Cake for Todd

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