And a healthy dose of feline insanity
It’s been a while. Have you missed me? Probably not, but I know you’ve missed Crouton. I don’t have much time, but she’s been doing a little shopping and learning how to play the piano lately. Really — I have proof. I promise.
She’s also been doing some slow-cooker cooking. Oh, wait, that’s me. Well, Crouton helps by rubbing against my legs, attempting to trip me, and climbing up my clothing whenever possible. So, same thing basically.
We’re finally past the disaster that was last week, and this weekend definitely made up for it. One of my very best friends from college recently moved back to the East Coast after a year-long stint in Chicago. I did manage to make it out there over Labor Day weekend last year to visit here, but New Jersey is definitely easier to handle than Chicago is! She came down to visit on Saturday, just for the night, and we had a relaxing and fun evening cooking dinner together.
Crouton thinks she rules the house. So does David. This sometimes creates a problem.
So, they occasionally have stand-offs, like last Friday night.
They begin by staring at each other. Crouton is an excellent starer.
I actually can’t handle when she stares at me because it means there’s a good chance she’s about to attack my face.
Whenever I come home from the grocery store, you can bet Crouton is waiting for me in the kitchen, ready to “help” unload the bags. From what I’ve seen, there are two reasons for this. One, she knows that I’ll probably be leaving the refrigerator door open, so she can go foraging for food. Like this:
I adore Asian food, but I always have trouble cooking it at home. Either my husband, always the critic, claims it’s too salty or I find it to be too bland. As in “blah.” As in “blah, why am I bothering to eat this?”
But last night, I got it right.
I recently created a Facebook page for this blog. One of my best friends, who sadly lives in Chicago right now, shared this photo of Crouton with the following caption.
I just also wanted to add my own personal memory of Crouton, as she decided eating my Ipod cord was a good meal when I visited her last.
Yup. Don’t know what to say about that.
A couple days ago, Crouton threw a fit about her food (isn’t that all she throws fits about?) While her bowl was in the dishwasher, I put her dry food in one of the regular (read: pretty) bowls that us humans use. Well, I guess she doesn’t handle change well because I come home from walking the dog and the bowl is in pieces on the floor with kitty kibble scattered everywhere. And my husband is on the couch, just hanging out, not much to say other than “Now that we’re putting tile down in the kitchen, things will break a lot more easily.”
Well, it’s his cat. So it’s his mess to clean up. But then I get home from work the next day, and there’s still kitty kibble all over the floor. And beyond that, Crouton is weaving in and out of my legs, begging for more food. So, once again, I question David, who then explains that he’s punishing her for pushing her food bowl off her perch and wasting good food. That she needs to clean up her kitty kibble mess before she gets any more food.
And then he asks me to fill up her (now-clean) bowl with food while he goes to buy me a bottle of wine.
Anyway, tuna-avocado tacos, anyone? I served these bad boys with a side of zucchini sauteed in a random green sauce made from cilantro I picked out from the Mexican aisle (is that the right term? I can’t even remember what they call it there). When my husband finished his allotted two tacos and zucchini, he returned to the kitchen with a question that makes me want to die: “That was a great appetizer. What’s for dinner?”
This, my friends, is what happens when you marry someone who is 6’6″.
Prior to this dinner, I had never tried shiitake mushrooms. This was mostly because they can be slightly hard to find or more expensive than portobellos. However, this weekend, I did run across a package that was only 40 cents more expensive than portobellos, so I jumped at the chance to try them. After making this dish, I realized that portobellos could easily be substituted for a similarly delicious and decadent dinner.
