Feline Friday: Late Night with Lily

 It's like clockwork: I sit down to watch Late Night with Craig Ferguson and Lily makes a beeline for my lap! She enjoys Craig while he checks the tweets and e-mails...

...and she tolerates Geoff...

 But who wants to see a pretend horse? What a bore! Time for a nap!

 

Feline Friday: Corn Cat Returns!

For today's Feline Friday, I thought we'd re-visit one of my all-time favorite Lily videos, CORN CAT! Turns out there are tons of corn-eating cats on the internet (Google it) but Lily is my favorite. She'll eat corn anytime she can get her hands -- I mean paws -- on it! Enjoy this 13-second treat! :)

Feline Friday: Chair Wars

Blogging friends: Please continue to bear with me in the next few weeks as I make final preparations for my parents' estate sale. I hope to be back to my regular blogging routine in October. 

Thank goodness for our kitties! They are such a help and comfort during this rough time. Never a dull moment with them! This week, I brought home an antique chair from my parents' house. Tinsel hadn't seen it in years but remembered it immediately, hopping up on it the minute I carried it inside. I had to lift her up to put a protective towel on the embroidered seat.

All was well until Lily discovered the chair and claimed it for her own. Now we have intense competition for seat time, complete with growling and hissing.

Seriously, girls. It's not THAT comfortable!

 

Feline Friday: JAMMED!

 Naughty Lily! I recently bought her a very basic automatic feeder to use when we have to be gone overnight. Lily is not one of those kitties who will pace herself and nibble at her food over an extended period of time. Nope, not Lily. Her weekend allotment of food would be gone before we're out of the driveway! (I'm not exaggerating -- this has actually happened!)

So I put the feeder out for a trial run just to be sure it worked as planned. But would Lily leave it alone? NO! She was determined to figure out how to open it!

 

 She smelled the food inside...

 

...and she tried to fit her paw between the containers.

 

Then she decided to work from the front side.

 

She worked and worked, pushing the container around the floor with her nose. I'll admit it was pretty cute at first!

 

 Then she got out those naughty claws! I was worried she was going to destroy the feeder before its maiden voyage!

 

She picked and scraped...and scraped and picked...

...but ultimately the feeder stood up to her shenanigans!

 

So on a recent trip, I thought I'd give the feeder a trial run. I had arranged for a cat-sitter to stop by and take care of the girls, but I put a little "extra" food in the feeder for Lily.

Well, Naughty Lily JAMMED the feeder while we were gone! Do you see how the tray is pulled out in the photo below? She pulled both trays forward, while the lids were closed, which JAMMED the mechanism and prevented the lids from opening! Good thing I had arranged for the cat-sitter to feed her, or she would have had a hungry couple of days!

 

Next time, I'll have to put duct-tape along the front side of the feeder. You'd think we have a puppy in the house! Gotta love  our Lily! :)
jp

Paring Down the Holiday Stuff

Now that it is September, I have less than a month until the estate sale. I could not be more anxious to put all of this behind me. Although the sale preparation has allowed me to mentally process everything, it is a very emotionally draining process. For that reason, I'm looking forward to October!

 Since starting on this task back in May, I've learned a lot about how to approach the process of clearing out a house. One thing I've tried to do is to figure out which task would give me the most relief if it were checked off my list, and focus on that task next. For me, one of the tasks plaguing me was dealing with my mom's holiday items.

Being a sentimental person, holidays have always been hard for me but when my mom passed away, they became exponentially more difficult. As a result, it has been very painful for me to look through her holiday decorations and I was dreading seeing them out on display at the sale. I saved a few of my favorite items, like her huge set of holly dishes...

and boxed up the rest for the auction. 

 Then one day the auction guy told me that holiday stuff doesn't sell well, and I couldn't imagine seeing my mom's beloved decorations languishing at the sale. The thought of no one wanting them made me sick.

So I contacted a small local thrift shop which supports the hospice system and found out they gladly accept holiday decorations. I've donated a lot of household items to this store in the past and feel really good about taking Mom's leftover stuff there.

I took the opportunity to sort through all of my own holiday items (how did I get so much stuff?) and, after keeping many of my mom's decorations, I pared back my own decorations by 50%. My SUV is full of very nice holiday things which will soon find a new home.

 On the day of the sale, I won't have to look at those holiday decorations. They'll already be on their way to new homes. This makes me feel better already!
jp

Feline Friday: The Stalker

  Lily spends each day pursuing one goal: GET NOMS. Any avenue is acceptable: Breaking into the pantry cupboard, whining at the dinner table, and especially stealing Tinsel's food.

Because she's skittish by nature, poor Tinsel is an easy target. Let's take a look at Lily in STEALTH Stalker Mode.
 
In this first picture, we see Lily in Modified Meatloaf position (paws out, not tucked) on the back of the chair. She knows that Tinsel eats on the floor below that chair and positions herself there well in advance of dinner time.

Enter Tinsel. Yes, her food dish is elevated on a box lid, by request. :) She is especially hungry on this occasion, making her completely oblivious to The Stalker watching her from above.

Tinsel continues to eat, pausing to look around for Lily as she has sadly learned to do. Looks right -- no Lily. Looks left -- no Lily. Okay, the coast is clear! Continue NOMS....

 

Had Tinsel looked up, this is what she would have seen: The Stalker waiting for the purr-fect opportunity!

 

But Tinsel continues to enjoy her delicious NOMS...

 

Finally The Stalker can wait no longer and makes her move. She jumps down and Tinsel runs away, leaving the food dish open and fair game!

Well, until Mama took it away!

 

Feline Friday: Mine!

Many kitties have little habits which come and go, but Tinsel's routines are the same day in and day out. Anytime I'm putting on my make-up or doing my hair, she's right there on the counter or rolling around on the bathroom floor keeping me company. I blogged about this endearing little routine a couple of years ago.

Until recently, Lily had been completely oblivious to the special time which Tinsel and I share every day. When she noticed that Tinsel was getting a lot of attention, Lily decided that she'd put a stop to it! 

Lily sauntered into the bathroom during Tinsel's "girl time", and flopped down on the floor...in Tinsel's personal space!

 She batted at Tinsel, aggravating her until...

  ...Tinsel stormed away, rightfully angry!

 

 Once Tinsel left, Lily stayed for a minute or two and then went off to do something else. She didn't really want any "girl time"...she just didn't want Tinsel to have any!

 

These girls are worse than...well...girls!!! :)
jp

Recent Finds

 As I've mentioned in recent posts, my parents' house is like a time capsule. Many things are just as I remember them from back in high school, and even elementary school. Each box I open, each closet I explore seems to have some object (sometimes even a treasure) which takes me back to those days. In today's post I thought I'd share a few interesting things I've found lately.

Recently I've been going through some boxes which belonged to my grandma who passed away in 2004. When she died, my mom packed up a lot of her belongings and stored them to sort through at a later date. For whatever reason, that never happened, so I'm doing it now. In addition to being an only child, I'm an only grandchild and have only one aunt (Grandma's remaining daughter) who can help me figure out what to do with Grandma's things.

 I recently ran across Grandma's sewing box. I'll be honest...I was hoping my aunt would take it. But it was too painful for her to even look at, let alone keep, so I told her I would take it. I thought about it for a few days and wondered what I would do with it. I already have a sewing basket...and I don't sew anyway!

 But the more I looked at it, the more I saw. My grandma was an excellent seamstress and worked in the upholstery and fur business for many years. She sewed clothing and made countless stuffed animals, many with their own wardrobes. Her sewing box is filled with measuring tapes, thimbles, chalk, googly eyes...all of the tools she used for her beautiful, imaginative creations.

How could I not keep this box? I've never liked my sewing basket anyway. :)

 

 Here's a box of beautiful, intricate tissue paper roses my grandma made. There are countless treasures like this.
 


Not everything I've found should be saved. Remember Lawn Darts? They're illegal now, plus this set was in poor shape anyway. I took a picture and let it go. :)

 

Oh, look...a poster of Bobby Sherman! Did you know that after he was a teen idol, he became a paramedic? I gleaned this useful tidbit of information on one of those middle-of-the-night "Where are They Now?" shows. Should I frame this???

 

 Last week I unearthed a box of Christmas decorations which belonged to my Grandma. I already have her Shiny Bright ornaments, so I was happy to find a few more pieces. Unfortunately this set had been stored in a box in the garden shed, and mice had chewed up a few of the reindeer. But as you can see, some of the pieces are just fine.

 

I got very excited when I found Grandma's "bottle brush" and cellophane wreaths which hung in her windows at Christmas. (So excited that I didn't stop to focus this picture!) I couldn't believe that they were still in perfect condition. Rest assured that I'm not letting go of these treasures!

My aunt was thrilled to take home this little set which she remembered from her childhood.

 

Oh, my goodness...I was so upset when I found these elves (like the current "Elf on the Shelf" elves) in such a sorry state! Mice had made them into amputee elves! My aunt was equally distressed and took them home to create new bodies and outfits. I hope they'll soon be able to join the other elves already at my house. 

 

Remember Captain Kangaroo? I watched that show every morning. This "Presto Slate" was in fine shape, despite being stored in a box out in the garden shed.

And then there's my napkin collection. I don't think I've ever known anyone else who collected paper napkins. In retrospect, it might not have been such a great idea.:)

I got them out of the box and spread them on the floor. This is just a sampling of the 12-inch stack of napkins packed into that box. In my defense, I will say that even back in high school, I was always intrigued by color and design, and most of the napkins I kept reflected current styles or images I liked. Of course, there are a fair number of ugly or plain wedding and anniversary napkins packed in the box, too, given to me by people who knew I had a napkin collection. I remember thinking at the time, "they don't get it" as I dutifully packed them away.

 

All of these discoveries make me wonder why we choose to keep the things we keep. They're often significant only to the person who owned them. But I'm happy to have a few of these treasures. For me, they're connections to people, places, and times past. 
jp

Summer Ends...Fall Begins!

 The summer has gone incredibly quickly. No different than usual, I suppose, but these days it really does seem like time is a freight train barreling down the track. 

Bailey has wrapped up her summer as a counselor at Blue Lake Fine Arts camp and had an incredibly wonderful experience. I was lucky to get to visit her for a couple of days. It's a beautiful place and I could tell that special things happen there.

 

She worked with college students from all across the country and made friends to last a lifetime. She gained great experience guiding middle school and high school girls. And she rode her bike over three miles each day on gravel pathways and only crashed twice! :)

We're all so glad she had this amazing opportunity!

 

 Now fall begins, and it's time to go back to Indiana University for the start of her first senior year. (Yes, there will be a "super senior" year after this!) Somehow all of this stuff has to fit into the back of my not-too-big SUV. We are meeting her at IU for the big move-in event!

 

Somewhere in there is a new recipe binder I've been compiling for her this summer. Nom, nom, nom...

 

Her percussion equipment is in that pile, too!

 

Oh, and there's a cat! No, Lily can't go this time!

 

Summer's done...let a new season begin!
Janet

Recipe: Slow-Cooked Jerk Pork with Caribbean Salsa

I've got a lot going on this week so I decided to break out the crock pot. As it worked out, I tried a great new recipe for dinner tonight. The house normally smells like apples (because every available outlet features an apple-scented plug-in!) but today it smelled like SLOW-COOKED JERK PORK!

I've tried lots of different ethnic foods but am not very familiar with "jerk" seasoning. Surprise, surprise...I found a bottle of it in my spice cupboard recently, an obviously forgotten part of a set from Penzeys Spices. Shortly after discovering it, I ran across this recipe for Jerk Pork so I figured...why not give it a try?

If you're not familiar with jerk seasoning, it is actually a blend of several spices. This one includes ginger, ancho chili pepper, brown sugar, garlic, paprika, allspice, lemon grass, thyme, nutmeg, Tellicherry (no idea what that is) black pepper, cumin, cayenne red pepper, and jalapeno. This list suggests that jerk seasoning might be spicy. I think that depends on how much you add to your recipe. We like spicy food, so I went a little on the heavier side, but even then it was not spicy.

If you want to look at my pictures (in a feeble attempt to be like Pioneer Woman...ha!), you'll find a few here. Otherwise skip to the recipe at the end of this post!

The first part of the recipe calls for making slits in a pork roast and filling them with garlic. Yeah, I should be peeling my own garlic, but I used what Daughter calls "Cheater Garlic" -- the pre-chopped kind. Tastes fine and saves me a whole lot of frustration.

 

Next, the recipe calls for making a dry rub with the jerk seasoning and the remaining garlic. I dutifully complied, although this part was pretty messy.

Finally, I mixed up the marinade (orange and lime juice) and poured it over the roast, turning it occasionally. I let it sit in the marinade overnight. In the fridge, of course. :)

 

Meanwhile, I mixed up the salsa. The recipe calls for mangos, but I used tomatoes instead because I'm not a fan of either mangos or mixing "sweet" and "savory" flavors. (I know...I know...I need to get over it, but not today!) I popped it in the fridge overnight. Disclaimer: The salsa would have had more avocados if I hadn't eaten so many pieces!

 

After 9 hours in the crock pot, I took out the pork and shredded it with a fork, then plopped it back into the liquid for another 15 minutes.

And this is the completed dish! I cannot tell you how scrumptious this is. Jerk is a very interesting blend of spices...with just the right amount of flavor but truly, not spicy at all! The lime and orange juice provide just a hint of citrus, giving the dish a very fresh, bright taste. I'll be making this one again!

Janet

Slow Cooked Jerk Pork with Caribbean Salsa

Adapted from Skinnytaste.com

Ingredients: 

3 lb boneless pork shoulder blade roast, lean, all fat removed
6 cloves garlic, crushed
2 - 3 tbsp Jerk seasoning
1/2 tsp coarse salt
1 lime, squeezed
1/2 cup fresh orange juice

For the Caribbean salsa:

1 haas avocado, diced
2 large ripe mangos, peeled, seeded and coarsely chopped (I used tomatoes!)
1 1/2 tbsp chopped red onion
1-2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
2-3 tbsp fresh lime juice 
salt and pepper, to taste

Directions: Using a sharp knife, cut slits into the pork and stuff holes with half of the crushed garlic. Combine the remaining garlic, jerk seasoning, and salt, rub all over pork (you may want to wear gloves). Place in a large container, pour the lime and orange juice over the pork; cover and refrigerate 5 hours or overnight, turning pork occasionally so the marinade covers all of pork.
The next morning, put everything in the crock pot and cook on LOW for 9 hours.

After 9 hours, remove pork and shred using two forks.

Remove liquid from crock pot and reserve. Add shredded pork back to the slow cooker. Add about 1 cup of the liquid back into the crock pot and taste for salt and pepper. Let it cook an additional 15 minutes.


Serve over rice with salsa on top!