Friday is Cat Blog Day

A well-behaved Proustian cat. . .

We seem to be getting the knack of the injections (Thisbe and I). The secret seems to be don' t
swab her fur with alcohol. I suspect she knows the smell of alcohol from the vet and the Proustian memories it calls up are not the equivalent of tea and cookies in cat.

No, the latest crisis, well, mini-crisis, is the Eating Of The Christmas Cactus. Our Christmas cacti almost never bloom at Christmas. We've already had the Halloween cactus and the Veteran's Day cactus and now the Thanksgiving cactus. I hope these plants save something for the Holiday they are SUPPOSED to bloom for.

We've been out of cat grass for weeks, and both cats decimated the Baby's Breath that was part of a bouquet. I put the Christmas cactus on the library table where said plant will be easy to admire. Ooops! Thisbe admired it and ate a blossom or two. Probably a spent blossom. Eeek!

I don't wish to gross anyone out, but the vomiting from this little snack was profuse and disgusting and lasted several hours. I was beginning to think "Call Veternarian on a Holiday" when the cat appeared to be all right and stopped tossing her cookies, or in this case her cactus. She actually came upstairs and slept on the bed last night, and seems fine this morning.

Today I will brave Black Friday at the pet store (how bad can it be?) and buy cat grass. Yesterday when I mentioned "Black Friday" on this blog, it immediately received a comment which was actually an ad in not very great disguise. I guess that's why some blog sites make you copy the crooked numerals and letters before you can post. Not a bad idea.

So Black Friday! Black Friday! yada yada.

Apropos yesterday's food contributions: The Brussels-Sprouts-Cauliflower casserole was a winner. I took it from the oven just a few minutes before we had to be out of the house, neglecting to take a picture. It was toasty and brown and a little cheesy (in the good sense) and the pine nuts had turned a golden hue. If you ever need a holiday side dish that is not lo-cal, this one is a winner. And the veggies tasted so good.

The cheese cake was to die for and we probably will, with all that cream cheese and eggs clogging ye olde arteries. I dare not get on the scale today. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe next week. Maybe Jan. 2nd.

Shop till you Drop, but personally, I'm buying lunch and a couple servings of cat grass.

Meow!

Thanksgiving in Process

Tomorrow when the Pumpkin Cheese Cake is taken out of the pan, the gingersnap crust will be revealed in all its tastiness. The cake will have a topping of melted mini-marshmellows and sour cream, the yin and yang. I was feeling playful. And it even sounds good. The veggies are in the fridge ready for their topping and baking.

We forgot about the 2nd cheesecake and ate our fill at dinner (leftover stuffed pork tenderloin), so are waiting for digestion to occur such that some appetite for the cheesecake will appear. Dumb, huh?

Kitchen is full of good smells and the counters are heaped with Brussels Sprouts and Cauliflower, which is next to cook. I did the topping already. See links to recipes at the bottom of the blog.
Note: Do not substitute something "lighter" for the heavy cream or you'll have a runny mess. In fact, maybe cut down on the cream a tad.

I'll take a photo of the Pumpkin Cheesecake. It looks so good, and there was enough filling for a 2nd cake in a pie plate hurriedly lined with graham cracker crumbs.

I would like to speak up in favor of southern cornbread which has no white flour and no sugar and is made with buttermilk and stone ground corn meal. You need an oven-proof skillet and about 10 minutes to put it together and a few minutes to bake.

Please don't stuff your turkey with the overly-sweetened Yankee cornbread. Yuck! You'll get cavities and your taste buds will atrophy.

Here is the recipe which I found on the net with a long google search. It's the same one I've been using since God was a boy.

Grapeshot

Southern Style Cornbread (no Sugar Or Flour) Ingredients
2 cups cornmeal
2 large eggs beaten
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 cups buttermilk (no substitutions)
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons bacon drippings veg. oil or melted butter
Instructions for Southern Style Cornbread (no Sugar Or Flour)
Heat oven to 450. Grease a well-seasoned 9 inch cast iron skillet with 2 tablespoons oil or bacon drippings. Leave oil in bottom of pan. Place pan in oven to heat. Combine ingredients using the muffin method and mix well. Pour into hot skillet. Batter will sizzle. Bake at 450 for 35 minutes or until golden brown.

For a crispier bottom crust, sprinkle a little cornmeal into pan before adding batter. Serves 6 to 8 Muffin method: Combine dry ingredients, mix. Combine wet ingredients, mix. Add wet to dry and mix.

Pumpkin Cheesecake with a really cool topping
http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2008/10/pumpkin-cheesecake-with-marshmallowsour-cream-from-bon-appetit.html

Eat Your Veggies Casserole with tons of cream and cheese, so much, in fact, that you won't even realize you are eating your veggies:
http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2008/10/cauliflower-brussels-sprout-gratin-pine-nut-bread-crumb-topping-recipe.html