My family has recently become a “blended family.” Not with people but with cats. My mother-in-law passed away a year ago, and one of the last things she asked my husband was to please take care of her pets. Twice a day he has gone to feed her cat and dog. Pebbles is an outside dog and pretty much runs the neighborhood. You can see her making her rounds during the day to stop and visit, and I am sure also receive some treats.
Now, the cat is a whole different story. Abby is a solid black inside cat and, up until recently, not a very pleasant one. You never really knew where she was because she stayed in hiding most of the time. Occasionally, she would wander through the house and hiss at you when you spoke to her. In the last year, she has had a total change in personality. When she hears you, she comes to greet you. If you have the time to stay, she will sit with you and purr like a kitten while you love on her.
Steve and I are moving into his childhood home in the very near future. We have been doing some renovations and preparing for our move. After spending more time than usual there, Abby and I have become good friends. She follows me around and likes to be in whatever room where I am working.
We were discussing the fact that we have two cats of our own. The thought crossed our minds that perhaps we had better start taking them over to get acquainted with Abby. Our plan was to take them, one at a time, for just a little while, and then we would throw them all together. Robert Burns’ quote from “To A Mouse” quickly came to mind, “The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.”
We started off with our calm, docile but afraid of his own shadow cat Milo. To start off with, the short trip did not go well. It dawned on me that the only time this cat is in the car is to go to the vet. After I dragged her out from under the car seat, I took her in the den. She sniffed, purred and inspected her surroundings. Then, I saw Abby at the top of the stairs glaring down at her new feline companion. Her back was arched and her hair stood straight up. She looked like the scary black cat you always see on Halloween decorations. Then, Milo spotted her, and it was on.
The fireplace at the end of the den has bookshelves on both sides that reach the top of the ceiling. I did not know that a cat can scale bookshelves all the way to the top but believe me they can! Milo finally came down where she remained under the sofa until we moved it to pull her out and take her home. I’m not sure where Abby went, but we did not rock the boat.
Now our other cat, Gizmo, is a whole different story. He is black with white feet and would just as soon hiss and scratch you as look at you. One Sunday morning, Steve started to pet him, and he wasn’t in the mood. Gizmo gave him a right cross with his paw that ended up in five claw marks across his face and a black eye. With that in mind, we weren’t anticipating a pleasant meeting. We were right! We went to see the new movie “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom.” Those dinosaurs couldn’t hold a candle to the noises I heard coming from those cats.
After all the confusion of our cat blending, I looked out the den door. There were my granddaughter’s three cats — Little Foot, Pickles and Sox — staring in the door wondering what in the world was going on. Me and six cats — I’m going to be the “Crazy Old Cat Lady.”
We discovered that Abby is able to open a cabinet door at the bottom of the bookshelves and let herself in and out as she pleases. I have a feeling she will spend a great deal of time there. Bless her.
A friend recently gave me a bag of fresh blueberries. They also freeze well if you can’t use them in the next few days. I hope you will give this week’s blueberry recipes a try. Blueberry and lemon flavors are a delicious complement to each other. Thanks for reading.
LEMON BLUEBERRY POUND CAKE
1/3 cup butter, softened
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 cups sugar
3 large eggs
1 large egg white
1 tablespoon grated lemon peel
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups blueberries
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup (8-ounce) lemon yogurt
Glaze:
1¼ cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoon lemon juice
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 10-inch fluted bundt pan. In a large bowl, cream the butter, cream cheese and sugar until blended. Add eggs and egg white one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in lemon peel and vanilla. Toss blueberries with 2 tablespoons flour. In another bowl, mix the remaining flour with baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add flour mixture to creamed mixture alternately with yogurt, beating well after each addition. Gently fold in blueberries. Transfer batter to prepared pan, and bake for 55 to 60 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes before removing to wire rack. Cool completely. In a small bowl, mix glaze ingredients, and drizzle over cake.
BLUEBERRY LEMON TRIFLE
3 cups fresh blueberries
2 cans (15-ounce) lemon pie filling
2 cups lemon yogurt
1 prepared angel food cake (8-10 ounces), cut into 1-inch cubes
1 (8-ounce) carton Cool Whip, thawed
Set aside ¼ cup blueberries for garnish. In a large bowl, combine pie filling and yogurt. In a trifle bowl, layer a third of the cake cubes, lemon mixture and blueberries. Repeat layers twice. Top with Cool Whip, and garnish with reserved blueberries. Cover and refrigerate for at least three hours before serving.
GLAZED BLUEBERRY MUFFINS
½ cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
½ cup milk
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons grated lemon peel
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
Dash salt
2 cups blueberries
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place muffin liners in 12 regular size muffin cups. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in milk, lemon juice and peel. Combine flour with baking powder and salt. Add to creamed mixture. Gently fold in blueberries. Fill prepared muffin tins with batter, about ¾ full. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool five minutes before cooling on wire rack.
Glaze:
1½ cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon butter, melted
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
Combine all ingredients, and drizzle over muffins.
• Contact Lee Ann Flemming at lafkitchen@hughes.net.
