Cat Tales: Abby

Name: Abby

Nicknames: Dabs, Gritch (Grey Bitch), Grinja (Grey Ninja), Queen, Queenery, Smokey

Origin of his name: I have always loved the name Abigail and it seemed approbriate.

Likes: Laying on people's chest (especially Micah's), bathing her brother Biggie, catching bugs of all kinds, looking out the window, investigating into anything out of the ordinary, sleeping on her chair, beating up whoever gets too close, Men.

Dislikes: Other cats especially Maddox, being picked up: "She must chose you." 

One word to describe Abby: Temperamental

Abby Quirk: Abby is physically beautiful, her markings are perfect and she is very cute. She is friendly most of the time however she is very protective of her younger brother, Biggie. She will growl, hiss, and swat whoever bugs him. Though breaking up cat brawls kind of sucks the love of her brother is endearing. 

Easter Time is Here

He is risen! He is risen indeed!

Working in a church there is a lot of build up to Easter and Christmas. So much so that you sometimes can forget to get into the spirit because you get wrapped up in the details of preparing for everyone else. This year for Easter we stayed in Palm Beach and spent time with my nieces and nephews. It is always fun to see the holidays through their eyes. We dyed eggs, hid eggs, and enjoyed the rare, unseasonably cool weather.

Our eggs

Only my sister-in-law would have egg tye dye kits. It was fun to help the kids create. 

Yes I am "Ant Amie"

I am trying to be more artsy with my photography. I don't know if I'm achieving it but I love this picture of my nephew!

I love any opportunity to bake and cook so of course I volunteered to make a desert. I started off wanting to make a bunny cake but decided that a strawberry pie may be easier and more delicious. Martha Stewart, my home girl, provided a wonderful list of strawberry themed recipes. If you ever need a fail safe recipe check out Martha Stewart's website because her ideas are always solid.

Strawberry Icebox Pie

• 10 graham crackers (2 1/2 by 5 inches)
• 1 cup sugar
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cranberry juice
• 2 quarts strawberries, hulled and thinly sliced (a few whole berries reserved for garnish)
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup heavy cream (or cool whip)

First thing is to make your graham cracker crust. Crush 10 to 15 crackers and mix with 2 tablespoons sugar and 5 tablespoons melted butter. Pressed into a pie plate and bake in the oven at 350 for 10 to 15 minutes or until brown. Remove and cool

Cut and thinly slice 2 quarts (roughly 1 and half packs of strawberries). In a medium saucepan combine 3/4 cup sugar, cranberry juice, cornstarch, salt and 2 cups strawberries, Mash the ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook, STIR FREQUENTLY because it thickens quickly. It only takes 1 minute for it to congeal and thicken. Remove from heat and stir in the remaining berries. Put this mixture into the crust. Place in the fridge overnight. You can top with whipped cream, I opted for cool whip because it was easy. Very fresh and delicious. A splash of lemon juice may be a nice touch.

(sigh) After Easter Summer is officially here with its thunderstorms, heat, and peace and quiet. Being a native  Floridian I don't like summer to much so I am savoring these last few days of "cool" weather. 

Cat Tales: Biggie

Name: Big Dog
Nicknames: Mr. Bigs, Biggie, Bigs, Hydrocat, Senor Grande
Origin of his name: I have had Biggie since he was born, literally I was there the day he came into this world. When he was a brand new baby kitten his markings made me think of a puppy dog. I named him Big Dog for the time and it stuck. Though now, he mostly goes by Biggie or Mr. Bigs.
Likes: Being bathed and petted, sleeping, yelling at the top of his voice, spilling water out of the water dish and licking it off the ground, licking the condensation off glasses, snuggling, the sound of water being poured into his water dish, invading personal space
Dislikes: Sharing attention, being shut out of rooms, his fellow cat room mate Maddox
One word to describe Biggie: Needy
My favorite memory of Biggie: Biggie was the runt of 6. He was a little guy (now he lives up to his name, BIG) but when he was a little kitten he use to sit on my lap and watch his brothers and sisters play. Imagine: a kitten roughly the size of your hand, sitting peacefully on your lap just taking in the environment. Pretty precious. It was then that I knew he was special

And of course...

no meal is complete without desert!

Oven Roasted Tomato Sauce with Beef Meatballs

A recent love affair of mine began after I got married. It's a love affair with the kitchen. In my post collegiate life, baking and cooking offers me a challenge and the product of my labor is delicious. For my first post, I tried my hand at a recipe by Martha Stewart and perfected by my sister in law: roasted tomato sauce with handmade beef meatballs.

• 3 pounds tomatoes (beefsteak or plum, I also opted to use traditional vine riped)

• 1 medium onion, halved and sliced 1/4 inch thick

• 4 cloves garlic, peeled

• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• Coarse salt and ground pepper

Core and half the tomatoes and spread over a pan. Add onion, garlic, salt and pepper, and thyme.

 Bake in the oven at 425 until the tomato skins are brown. Pull off the tomato skins and put the entire pan's contents (juices and all) into a blender and puree. The resulting sauce will be an orange shade but will have a smoky, delicious flavor. My sister in law's version had some more spice so I will have to play around with it but for a first attempt I was happy with the results. 

 

Next I made the meatballs. I made fresh breadcrumbs by chopping up bread in a food processor and added this to a large bowl. I added 1/3 cup water to the crumbs and mixed in a pound ground beef, 2 cloves garlic, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, 3/4 teaspoon oregano, 1 slightly beaten egg, and mixed with my hands. I used a deep, stock pot to cook the meatballs. It wasn't the best idea because I couldn't easily turn the balls and I suspect a skillet would work just as well. The recipe called for 1 teaspoon olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan but I used more because my meatballs started to burn. I cooked them for about 7 minutes on each size before putting half in my half and storing the other half for another meal.

My final product was pretty good but I would like to add some more zest to the sauce next time. If you're looking for an easy, alternative to store bought canned pasta sauce. I'm not snobby about using canned sauce but its fun to try new things!