This is not what we're sipping and nibbling on! But the pets are. :) We had a wee little scare. Our "solid as a rock" cat Leo refused to eat yesterday. The dogs get into everything, they eat grass, dirt, sticks...Jack even fancies Kleenex - so when they lose their appetite, I never worry too much unless it lasts longer than a day. But the cats are indoors and there is very little they can snack on in the house, since it's very catified and dogified! Leo must have gotten into my vase of wildflowers, which I thought was up high enough...but we found some petals this morning with little cat teeth marks in them. All I could think of was that I poisoned our cat because I didn't keep these flowers far enough away - anxiety kept me sick all day yesterday. I spoke with our new vet (she's wonderful and even speaks to me in English!) and she gave us a lot of advice. She said wait 24 hours, then see if he'll eat his favourite food, and he did! Of course, if you give one pet some tuna, you must give all of them tuna!!
"My ball!!" Here's Leo back to normal...with Jack looking on while chewing his ear. My fear is based on ignorance and worry. I can figure out what to do when the dogs need home care, but I'm clueless about cats. Thankfully all turned out well! The wildflowers will either stay on the porch or up on the highest inaccessible shelf in the house!!!
So on to the nibblies....
So on to the nibblies....
Aaah, the joy of pizza. This has become one of our favourites: apricot jam, prosciutto and Blue cheese. We had leftover pita bread to use up so we made some little pizzas for dinner.
Another Rain and Alex favourite: Mozzarella, Old Cheddar and olives.
For dessert/after dinner sipping, we made strawberry milkshakes - using the homemade ice cream!! Alex splashed a bit of brandy in each shake and the flavours were unbelievable! We had these on the porch, trying hard to ignore the whining dogs on the other side of the door!
Since I'm playing the waiting game with the rainy weather these days, I've been in the kitchen a lot more. This morning for brunch I made Huevos Rancheros with Refried Beans. Ooh yum!
This is my version without the yolks. You may note the itty bitty little amount of cilantro on each dish? My cilantro is NOT growing much this season. I'm sure it's the lack of hot days. At least we're getting a little bit though! Mexican food isn't Mexican food without cilantro (in my opinion!)!
Our sweet little house guest Pavlov will be leaving us in a few days, sigh. This makes me sad. He is the sweetest little dog and he's been clinging to me, even to the point where Jack walks between him and me lol...Our friend is coming some time over our long Canada Day weekend for a few days to visit and then Pavlov will be gone, we're really going to miss him! Sniff! :)
oh Rain! i have had to call my sweetest internet friend, Sweet Sandy, a b*stard a few times! i have also had to call one of our dearest internet friends, Harry Flashman, a b*stard a few times! but you take the cake lady! yer nothing short of a b*stard and you are in good company with the above listed people!
ReplyDeletethose pizzas are to die for! i would kill for just the smallest piece of any of them!
cats are funny creatures eh? they are in some ways so hard to read whereas dogs tell you everything!
your little man is leaving for a forever home...just think of how that will help him in his life. i know it's hard.
sending much love - you b*stard! bahahahahahah! your friend,
kymber
Haha! The photo of your cat holding the ball. Everything belongs to the cats. So glad to hear that the health scare turned out okay. Oh, Pavlov looks so sweet. Look at that face!
ReplyDeleteThe pizzas look delicious.
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear the health issues are okay now. That cat photo with the ball is funny. As always, the food looks great.
ReplyDeleteGlad to read that your cat has recovered, various flowers are poisonous to cats, one of the worst are Lillies. Much as I love them there are none in the garden as we have visiting cat. I had planned dinner but those pizzas with blue cheese have made me change my mind. I have everything but the apricot jam so will use my homemade rhubarb.
ReplyDeleteOh, those pizza toppings! They almost make me want to whip up a (tasteless) GF pizza crust! I am with you on cat ailments - I thought my Slimmie was a goner, but it turned out he had vertigo! Who knew? I was a wreck. I will have to say that those milkshakes sound absolutely evil good. Ack! What a cutie, that Pavlov is - I bet Jack will be relieved to have you to himself again. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Kymber (I guess? lol) :) The cats are all good now, but you're right, dogs show us more when they're hurting or uncomfortable. I'm glad it was nothing serious! I have a bad streak of sick pets on long weekends...
ReplyDeleteHi Martha :) Pavlov is such a sweetie...his mom Stella should be coming by with our friend, so we'll have FIVE dogs in the house for a few days lol...I can't wait! I wish we could have a dozen, but that'll have to wait for when we buy our property!
ReplyDeleteHi TB :) They are so good, but too easy to eat. We polished down 5 pita pizzas during that meal!
ReplyDeleteHi Kristina :) Leo loves that ball because it always smells like dog treats. We fill the little hole up with treats to give to the dogs when they're antsy so they can chew their energy out! I'm very relieved he's okay.
ReplyDeleteHi Pam :) We have a big problem in this village with feral cats. I'm ignorant on what is poisonous to them. We're renting and the previous/previous tenants planted a beautiful garden of flowers everywhere, so sometimes I don't even know what'll be growing when until I see it. We do have lilies, thanks for letting me know. I'll put a little fence around them. I have a Moon Garden growing with moon flowers which I know are toxic, so those are fenced too. I'm not a fan of rhubarb but I think that any jam that's sweet will really work with the salty prosciutto and Blue cheese! The original recipe called for fig jam but we found it much too sweet!
ReplyDeleteHi Susan :) Ugh, I keep forgetting you are GF!!! I remember my GF days...I was trying to figure out what was hurting my insides for a year...and I had a very tough time trying to find bread products that I liked. I know there are pizza doughs made of cauliflower, ever tried those? The milkshakes...we have a nice bar but we try not to overindulge, booze is expensive!! But a splash of something here and there really brings flavours out! Brandy goes with everything! :)
ReplyDeleteOh my, poor Slimmie with vertigo? That must have been awful for him! We've been really lucky with the cats so far...but all the pets are aging together...Jack is eleven, Dana & Leo the cats are seven, Marlene is seven, Charlie and Oscar the cat are three. We have a little "vet fund" we put money into monthly for aging pets...And I think you're right, Jack will be very happy when he has "mommy" all to himself lol...
Hello from Texas!
ReplyDeleteLove reading your cheery sweet posts, and love seeing what special creations you've made in the kitchen, how your garden is growing, and how all the fur babies are doing!
Cilantro is actually a winter herb. It grows better in the cold! Have a wonderful weekend. We will be celebrating the 4th of July here in the States!
Deena from Texas
Hi Deena!!! :) Thanks for the information about the cilantro! We've had such chilly weather though and it's STILL not growing. I think the plant knows its fate so it's not producing lol....thank you for your sweet comment! Enjoy your July the 4th celebration next week!!
ReplyDeleteHiya! Oh even the tuna looks good on this post!! Your pizzas made me hungry and its only 6:50 a.m.! I need to try the apricot jam one....I think I would like it. Its funny, I guess my eyes are still tired but I read old olives. I had a good giggle over that one.
ReplyDeleteNothing worse then a pet who is not feeling well. I am always on high alert for mine. I find for the dogs if they are not eating a bit of wet cat food in their kibble helps stimulate their appetite. For the cats its either tuna or salmon juice from the tin. Gets them going everytime. LOVE the snap of him holding his ball. And the look on his face! Precious. I love it when cats get their cranky face on....
I would have to sub parsley for cilantro. Not a fan of the taste of cilantro. I have parsley in my garden, and its currently housing 4 caterpillars that will eventually turn into black swallowtail butterflies. Next year I will plant more so they have more options. I also have them on my dill. Such a wonderful thing to see them go from this stage to flying around as a beautiful butterfly.
The house will seem more quiet once Pavlov returns to his own! A shift in the dynamics!
Hi Dianna :)
ReplyDeleteOld olives, lol...I haven't seen a caterpillar in a long time. I always wondered where they ended up, definitely not in my yard. But I do see butterflies which is really nice! It'll be sad to see Pavlov go, he reminds of me of one of my late pugs so much, I have really got attached to him!!!
I want one of those milkshakes RIGHT NOW !!! Man ... i wish u were my neighbour ... I would always invite myself for meals over to your house ... lol
ReplyDeleteGlad Leo is ok :)
Hi Nik :)) Lol...we've often said we'd make good neighbours. :) Those shakes were delicious, next ones I want to try will be chocolate shakes with the homemade chocolate ice cream!
ReplyDelete