Roxie Practices Her Balancing Act Atop Jean Claude's Back
Category Archives: Cooking
Purr-fection
A Drink From A Certain Fountain
There is an old “Twilight Zone” episode, “A Drink From A Certain Fountain” in which a man wishing to impress his younger wife takes a youth enhancing drug to most interesting consequences. Recently I had the opportunity to visit with friends, there was wine but also afterwards it felt like I had been slipped a mental “Mickey.” Dizzy and a bit disoriented I went to CCL’s house where I took a quick nap. Still, today trying to regain my composure. I guess the lesson is to always be careful from whose cup you drink. Encouragement, mental support and love are served up by friends but not always As humans we sometimes serve up confusion, discouragement, complaint and maybe envy. Always forgivenss is the answer – then it is also up to us to whether we want to take what someone suggests or infers about us with a grain of salt.
Christmas Meow
The Tree
I just let Jean Claude off th back porch. I was in the kitchen cooking and he went out to the porch pantry to play with some fake garland I got out of the garage for CCL’s house. Of course I forg0t he was out there and after I got my cooking supplies closed the porch door. But he’s back in the house now. JC and Roxie always enjoy the Christmas holiday. They like the decorations and the music especially, Roxie. Last night I saw them cuddled together on the sofa just watching the Christmas lights. Just quietly watching. Today I had Bing Crosby singing “White Christmas” on the Ipod. Both cats sat perfectly still just relaxing. .
Roxie and the Roach – A Tale of Her-roism
I pride myself on a clean and mostly odor free home but despite regular visits by Terminix I admit to the occasional appearance of a fly or an insect. Yes folks this morning I saw a large roach crawling on my bedroom ceiling. I was not excited and not inclined to get out of bed either. Shortly after the siting however, Roxie jumped on my nightstand, actor – there it was– the roach which Roxie quickly maneuvered to the floor and dispatched of in a playful fashion. Poor creature never had a chance. Roxie is one of my she-roes. Had the pleasure yesterday of talking with another one of my, a wonderful sister friend who is also a work colleague as well. Americans owe her (and her colleagues) for leading the charge on numerous issues, but this blog respects her anonymity and it’s not about work. That said she and her husband raised five foster children. However, shortly after the last child graduated high school they had to take in their four grandchildren who were living under rather severe circumstances. My friend admits the ups and downs of raising young children once more sometimes gets to her. Yet she and her husband don’t want any publicity or extra attention. Clearly the reward for her is in the gifts she provides. Like Roxie, she is the real deal.
The Brazilian Edition
Brazil is a country of contradictions like any other country. But it’s fabulous! Bahia is fantastic and I love Sao Paulo. I didn’t expect to love it.
However, as always, cats follow me everywhere and I saw the cutest kitten at an outdoor nightclub. He found some food and then started meowing so loudly. I wanted to buy him food, but at that point I was out of treats so I pray that God will take care of him. The kitten started showing out, but unfortunately I could only take one picture of him.
When you travel, who you travel with is just as important as where you go. Travel with those who like to travel like do you. Some people like to relax and just chill. Some need their days to be packed. .
What Cats Teach Us
Cats teach us a lot. People who don’t like cats tend to say that they don’t like them because they are sneaky or aloof when nothing could be further from the truth. Cats are loving creatures who love those who have shown that they deserve love. Cats are also loyal, knowing who are the people who mean them good. Dogs will cuddle up to anyone who walks in the house. Just like in life, we should be open to allowing new people in our lives, but we shouldn’t let every person who crosses our path into our lives.
For the last three weeks, I’ve had the pleasure of having the cats at my house. It’s been a good journey, complete with Roxie running away, Jean-Claude demanding to go outside and me running out of wet food (a big no no).
I’ve also played with them, combed them and watched them fight and this morning saw the evidence of a pretty big fight downstairs.
Gotta love those cats.
The LookOut
Roxie and Jean Claude are on an extended stay at their other residence, CCL’s house. This afternoon I paid them a visit and my daughter made brunch. I water her plants . Yes, I provide landscape services for two residences. Lately Roxie has seen fit to leave CCL’s house unexpectedly and stay out for hours at a time – rumor is she has a man. So as not to worry about her tarting out, I lured the cats to the basement before going outside to water my daughter’s flowers. Finished with the task and ready to enjoy sausage, eggs and pancakes I entered the house , let the cats out of the basement and sat down. Oops !! CCL(my daughter) reminded me I forgot to get fresh thyme from the garden for the eggs. That meant going outside again. Roxie and Jean Claude were already waiting by the back door poised to escape. The basement trick would not work a second time in a row. What to do?? CCL quickly grabbed a spray bottle filled with water and stood guard in front of me as I carefully opened the door, went outside grabbed the thyme and came back in the house . Teamwork.
Soft Scrambled Eggs(I recommend finding more recipes at Cook’s CountyKitchen.com )
To scramble soft fluffy eggs, heat the pan or skillet, add butter, then eggs and chopped herbs, turn off heat and scramble. To prep the eggs I just beat eggs slightly and add a little water or cream and then pour into the pan before cutting off the heat. A friend also pours a lot of “Dash” straight into the heated butter and then adds the eggs – also tasty.
Preparation
Spent little time working my garden this weekend. Still too cold at night to plant annuals. My rosebushes seem to be staving off black spot for now. I have some salvia that is starting to flower a bit so I’ll let the rain and the sun do their work. Hopefully next weekend will be good for planting.
It’s been a week since I’ve had the pleasure of daily life with Jean Claude and Roxie. They’ve spent time enjoying their other residence with their mom CCL. Roxie did go missing for a brief spell. She was located behind the washing machine, a favorite hiding place.
This evening I started putting out some of their toys in preparation for their return this week. Later I’ll put out their water bowl(filtered of course) and their dry food dishes. It’s interesting how easy life is when we prepare for the good – not just the bad stuff . Busy week this week, so I made mac and cheese with three cheeses…decided to leave bacon and tomatoes out. Also made Mexican pork chops – The recipe follows:
Mexican Pork Chops
Ingredients
Three or four Pork chops (m’ais oui)
One yellow onion
One small can of tomato paste
One cup of water
One can of whole kernel corn
One can of red beans (drained and washed)
Olives(the big kind)
One cup Rice ( I prefer brown rice)
Preparation
Heat oven to 350 degrees
Slice the onion into rounds and cut them in half
Season the chops with season salt and chilli pepper
Brown the onions and the chops in a pan or a skillet ( I prefer cast iron)
Remove the chops from the pan and set aside, leave the onions in the pan
Add to the pan or skillet the uncooked rice, water, tomato paste, corn(undrained), beans(drained) – Stir, season mixture to taste and then place the chops on top
Garnish with olives(LOTS) and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes
Out All Night
So the first night I brought the cats to my house, it was a nice warm night. I let the cats out upstairs and Jean-Claude stayed out there ALL night. He came in the in the morning to get his breakfast. He is definitely like the the unruly teenage son except that there’s no downside to him staying out. He likes it, he doesn’t jump off and I still get the nice breeze.
They’ve been at my house where Roxie has been causing a bit of trouble, but they’ve settled down. Unfortunately, I’ve had to fly to Houston for a few days, but I’m hoping to get to go home early.
It’s been a long few months for me so I’m looking to get some rest soon!
So…where’s Roxie??
Well, the cats are at their other residence (their mom’s house) for at least a week. I went to visit them today. Jean Claude rushed to greet me and rubbed against me as I entered the house . Later he instructed me (with three simple pats to the blinds) to pull up the blinds to the front window of my daughter’s house. My daughter had a special cat seat built on the window and Jean Claude sat there for awhile. Roxie, who many of you know is always all over me when at her other residence (my house) was no where to be found. CCL told me later Roxie did make an appearance. I’ll go for a visit later this week.
