Wordless Wednesday

Belly up!

I realized recently that it had been a while since I'd taken any pictures of Melly in her signature belly-up pose. I worried that maybe she'd outgrown it, but it turned out my fears were unfounded:

Scarlett on the Sill

Here is Scarlett, enjoying a bit of sun while keeping an eye out for the Melly Monster. You can tell when she's looking at Melly because her tail goes bananas.

Sleepy Melly

This is what we at chez Natalie have on the agenda for this weekend:

It's going to be lovely. Happy weekend!

Lap Kitty

Scarlett is a very determined lap cat. If one's lap is occupied with a book or a glass of wine or a computer, she is not thwarted. Here, Geoff was holding a glass of champagne, and when Scarlett jumped on his lap, he used her as a coaster. Scarlett wasn't pleased, as you can see by the airplane ears, but she remained glued to Geoff's lap anyway.

The Cat Behind the Curtain

The unfortunate red curtains are still up in the bedroom, but Melly doesn't mind them. She just hangs out between the curtains and the glass and watches the birds and squirrels hungrily.

Cute Snuggly Scarlett

And here is Scarlett, enjoying her turn on my lap.

In which Melly shows off her teeth

Here's a little behind-the-scenes shot from yesterday's adorable photo series.

Snuggle Bug

Work and life have been a little stressful lately, so I spent a good portion of the weekend recharging and relaxing... by which I mean, vegging on the couch in my PJs watching Doctor Who.

This, of course, resulted in lots of snuggle time with the kitties. For once, they were pretty good about taking turns, and not having knock-down, drag-out fights on my lap.

Scarlett

I had a friend over for dinner yesterday, and she'd never met the kitties before. Melly, unsurprisingly, was her usual charming and adorable self, and was pleased as punch to make a new friend. I warned my friend upon her arrival that Scarlett would probably be standoffish, and indeed she was. She even went so far as to take a few swipes at my friend, although she did keep her claws in. I was pleased that Scarlett actually hung around with us instead of hiding under the bed--I'll count that as progress!

Comment Troubles

I've gotten a couple comments from people having issues with the word verification, which seems to have been unhelpfully "upgraded." So, for the time being, word verification is turned off.

New Technology

"Oh, yes, I approve of this! Improved tech for you to broadcast my cuteness on the interwebs, and loads of cardboard for me to play with. Eeeeexcellent."

The Favorite Spot

As I've mentioned, Melly has claimed this spot on the bookshelf for her own.

But recently, while Melly was snoozing in the other room, Scarlett took the opportunity to check out the bookshelf. Unfortunately for her, it only took a few moments for Melly to sense the intrusion and come running.

"Seriously, can't I have 5 minutes up here in peace, you irksome tuxie fuzzball?"

"No, I did not say to come closer.

Let's try this again: go away."

"That's right. Off you go, floofybutt."

"Ahhh, much better."

Wordless Wednesday

Happy Valentine's Day!

I don't have a Valentiney cat post for today, but I do have a recipe for festive cutout cookies. Happy Valentine's Day, friends!

Meyer Lemon Cut-Out Sugar Cookies

Adapted from Recipe Girl
Yield: 3 to 4 dozen cut-out cookies

Ingredients:

2 cups unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs
4 tablespoons milk (use whole or 2%)
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 tablespoons Meyer lemon juice, freshly squeezed
zest from 2 and a half medium Meyer lemons
6 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. Combine butter and sugar. Beat until smooth but not fluffy.

3. In a small bowl mix eggs, cream, vanilla extract, lemon juice and lemon zest. Add this mixture all at once to the butter and sugar. Mix just until combined. The mixture will appear 'curdled.'

4. In another small bowl, whisk the flour, salt and baking powder. Add these dry ingredients to the liquid ingredients in the mixing bowl. Mix to form dough. This dough does not need to be chilled before rolling!

5. Flour a work surface. Knead the dough a few times to smooth it out and with a rolling pin- roll the dough. Add flour as needed, if dough appears sticky. Cut into desired shapes. The dough scraps can be re-rolled and cut several times.

6. Bake about 10 minutes, or until edges turn golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.

Icing recipe follows. You can also make sandwich cookies with lemon curd (recipe below), which is extra delicious!

Icing

Ingredients:

2 large egg whites
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice (regular or Meyer)
3 cups powdered sugar

Directions:

In mixing bowl, beat egg whites with lemon juice. Add powdered sugar and beat until smooth. Tint with food coloring if desired. The icing needs to be used right away or transferred to airtight container because it hardens when exposed to air. For thicker icing for piping or writing, add additional powdered sugar.

Meyer Lemon Curd

Ingredients:

1.5 ounces (3 tablespoons) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1/3 cup fresh Meyer lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon grated Meyer lemon zest

Directions:

Beat the butter with the sugar until it’s light and fluffy. Slowly beat in the egg and yolk. Beat for 1 minute more, then stir in the lemon juice. The mixture will look curdled. Do not panic.

Cook the mixture over low heat until it becomes smooth, then increase the heat to medium and cook, stirring constantly, without letting it boil, until it thickens enough to leave a path on the back of the spoon when you drag your finger through it. If you want to go by temperature, you’re looking for 170 F.

Remove from the heat and stir in the lemon zest. Press plastic wrap on surface to prevent a skin from forming and chill in the refrigerator.

Model Melly

Usually it's Scarlett with the blurry tail in pictures, but every so often Melly's tail gets a bit swishy too.

[swish swish]

"Oh, this being beautiful thing gets exhausting."

Pretty Tabby

Scarlett is such a sweetie. I love her stripey little face.

Ted left a comment on yesterday's post with info about Scarlett's toy:

Aha! I wasn't quite sure that was the one we sent. Yeah, that's the "KONG Cat Cozie Kickeroo Catnip Toy." Amazon link: http://amazon.com/dp/B0051BGO4E

They are awesome because they have catnip, crinkes, and soft bits. How cool is that?

Window Melly

There was a question yesterday as to what kind of toy Scarlett was playing with in the video, and the answer is, I don't remember. It was sent to us by Ted, so hopefully he can provide more detail in the comments. It is similar to a pink one sent to us by Cat in a Paw it Forward package forever ago, and this type of toy (crinkly body, fuzzy tail) is definitely Scarlett's favorite. She bunny kicks the bejeezus out of one of them, if not both, on a nightly basis.

Scarlett and the Crinkle Toy

Please excuse the background noise in this video. I have two air filters and a dehumidifier that run almost 24/7 so I normally pull the sound out of videos before uploading them, but I forgot this time. Sorry!

Mellybelly

Melly is utterly shameless when she hears a camera. She was calmly sitting on the desk when I snuck up to take a picture, and by the time the camera was on, she was like this:

She did humor me with one serious photo, though.

Spring

We had beautiful sunny weather over the weekend, and I celebrated by opening the windows in the apartment. The cats were very excited.

Cute as the Dickens

I was working on a couple of cooking projects recently that started with a whole chicken, and Melly was very fascinated by the butchering process. She hung around the kitchen doing her best to look adorable and shamelessly begging for chicken (which of course she couldn't have until it was cooked).

"I love chicken. Please give some to me."