Logan and Molly

Logan and I went to Montreal today to help celebrate my sister-in-law's birthday. Logan finally got to meet his cousin Molly (excuse the lousy cropping).

Duncan decided to stay home with his drinking buddy.

The Good Old Days

Not a very eventful night last night. Duncan and I just sat around with our knitting and reminisced about the good old days. It went something like this:

Duncan-the-DogCat (DDC): Remember the days when I would bring a mouse upstairs and knock it around the livingroom like a punching bag?

GeeSee (GC): I remember.

DDC: And remember when you would give me snacks and try to distract me?

GC: I remember.

DDC: And remember when the only thing that would REALLY distract me was a big can of tuna fish? Those were the good old days, eh?

GC: I miss Zoom Zoom.

DDC: Meow.

When the Girl's Away...

Picture this... I was playing Bejewled on the computer in the living room. Duncan was pawing me and meowing. I said "DUNCAN, NOT NOW!!!" The next thing I know he's playing with his catnipped mouse, swatting it across the floor the way he normally does and then pouncing, except he usually stops after a few swipes. This time it was going on for a while so I stopped to observe.

It was alive... the catnip mouse was alive!!!

It looked just like one of Duncan's toys except it had eyes that moved!!!

It was curled up in a fetal position and then he swiped it again. It rolled and quivered. Duncan picked it up and moved it across the floor and kept playing. I didn't know what to do. That poor mousey. I tried to give Duncan a salmon kibble snack but he wouldn't take the bait. I even shook his catnip container. That usually makes him excited with anticipation, but this time he only paused. He looked at me. He looked at Mousey. He looked at what I was holding. He swatted Mousey again and chased it across the living room floor ignoring the catnip. He was enjoying the moment. No point in getting stoned!

The way he handled that mouse, I wondered how Mousey could possibly still be alive. I had to DO something. I formulated a plan. I took 2 of Logan's poop bags out of my back pocket and doubled them up. I went to the fridge and pulled out some of Duncan's dental treats. I tossed them near Duncan and when he paused for a moment. I scooped up Mousey and put him on the back porch.

Then I felt doubly bad. I had taken away Duncan's pet and there was a mouse suffocating in a poop bag on the back porch. Duncan ate the treats and then looked everywhere for Mousey. I went out back and carefully emptied the bag in the laneway. I figured perhaps the drizzle might revive Mousey and he would live to tell the tale of the Monster Dog Cat... or another neighbourhood cat would cart him off as his own.

Duncan went back to the basement and sat in the bathroom staring at the hole in the wall in the cupboard. It's a fairly large hole. He just sat. I went to the computer and every 5 minutes I went back to check on him. Duncan was still there, just sitting and staring, occasionally glancing up at the ceiling. One time I went back and he wasn't there... nowhere. I looked through the laundry room, the storage room, everywhere. There was no sign and no sound. I figured he must have gone into the hole in the wall.

It was midnight... I was alone! My sweetie is away. How I miss her!!! There was a mouse on death's doorstep lying in the gutter in the back laneway. My cat had disappeared into the tunnels beneath the house. How could I possibly go to bed?!

I lay down and read. Eventually I drifted off. In the middle of the night, I awoke to Duncan licking my face. I remember thinking "Ewww, he had mouse on that tongue" and I pulled him away from my face and we gently snuggled ourselves back to sleep.

Spanning Two Cultures

Zoom hosts Christmas and Easter dinners with a roast turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberries, gravy and an assortment of vegetables. I host Passover and Rosh Hashanna dinners with matzoh ball soup, roast brisket, carrot tsimmis, kugel and an assortment of vegetables. Two cultures, lots of feasting!

"Tsimmis", a traditional Ashkenazi dish is a sweet vegetable stew and has become one of Zoom's favourite dishes from the Jewish fare.

Even though we just ate tsimmis days ago at the Passover seder, I offered to make another batch for Easter dinner at Zoom's house. It would be a test to see if tsimmis could hold it's own with a non-Jewish crowd.

Well it was such a hit that I promised to post the recipe.

Fruit & Vegetable Tsimmis*
3/4 cup pitted prunes
3/4 cup dried apricots
1/3 cup raisins
2 lbs carrots, peeled and sliced
1 sweet potato, peeled, quartered & sliced
1/2 cup honey
14 oz can pineapple chunks, drained (reserve 1/2 cup liquid)
1/2 cup orange juice
salt & pepper to taste
2 tsp margarine
1 tsp cinnamon

1. Soak prunes, apricots and raisins in boiling water for 1/2 hour, until plump. Drain well.
2. Meanwhile, cook carrots and sweet potato in boiling water until tender but firm, about 15 minutes. Drain well.
3. Mix together the drained prunes/apricots/raisins with the drained carrots/sweet potatoes. Add the reserved pineapple juice and all the other ingredients EXCEPT the pineapple chunks.
4. Place mixture in a sprayed 3 quart casserole and bake covered in a preheated 350°F oven for 35 minutes.
5. Stir in pineapple chunks and bake uncovered 15 minutes more, stirring once or twice.

*From MealLeaniYumm! by Noreen Gilletz.