Good family, Good Food, and entertaining kittens, and a good life!

It is a random Sunday in Longview, Texas.  The weather this April has been odd.  One day it feels closer to summer, and then days like today, you could mistake it for a cool fall day, except for all the green leaves.  We woke up this morning to 53-degree weather, and going down to 45 tonight.  Instead of leaving early for a long walk on a Sunday, it was a bit wet.  I spent the early part of the morning unloading the dishwasher, making coffee, and starting a load of laundry.  

Not a bad way to start the morning, as yesterday was a day for cooking as we were entertaining the family yesterday evening.  We are very lucky with Frank's sister Jennifer and brother-in-law Greg around the corner, his Mom a few steps further, and his sister Leslie, maybe 15 minutes away.  Jennifer and Greg have a great back porch, and we have enjoyed a few beers and dinners at their home of late, and it was definitely past our turn to have the family over.  Also, after so many months of back and forth to Savannah, having a weekend and a chance to putter around our kitchen was nice.

The menu was relatively simple.  The best cooking lesson in the last year is when baking skinless and boneless chicken breast and putting them in a brine for up to an hour is magic (FYI, a kosher chicken is brined by the kosher process).  (If you want to learn why this is a good episode by What is Eating Dan (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DivNnSNYOZE ) This brine was simple salt, some sugar, and Worcestershire sauce and the chicken marinated for about an hour.  Then I dried them off, sprinkled them with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and smoked paprika, sprayed them with olive oil, and baked them at 375 for about 20 minutes. 

Frank's Mom is a vegetarian. I made pasta with mushrooms. This was easy, except for coordinating the sauteeing of the mushrooms and pasta ready at the right time. We have an induction cooktop, and we get spoiled about water boiling quickly, but a large pot still takes time. I recommend this as a main dish.  I could have sliced the chicken breast and added it to the pasta.  https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/creamy-pasta-with-crispy-mushrooms.

I roasted green beans and grape tomatoes: simple, fresh green beans, grape tomatoes, and a good amount of sliced garlic. Mix olive oil, salt, pepper, and thyme in the oven at the same time as the chicken.

Last but not least was dessert.  I made Ina Garten's (The Barefoot Contessa) Ice Box cake.  This was a bit of a challenge.  The local Kroger did not have Marscapone cheese.  I was not daunted as I found a guide on Google that 12 oz. of cream cheese with some cream and sour cream could replace mascarpone cheese.  The other challenge was Kroger had Tate's Butterscotch cookies, not chocolate chip.  Nobody seemed to complain, and I would recommend this as it was quite easy.  It also needed to be made the day before, which took some pressure off yesterday.  https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/mocha-chocolate-icebox-cake-recipe-1923360

Dinner was well received, but the star of the night was the outdoor cat Gabby and her five kittens.  Gabby is a year old and was part of several kittens litters last year, and Frank and our neighbor helped raise a few kittens. There are a number of houses in a row here that provide food and shelter to these outdoor cats.  They are feral to a degree but truthfully appreciate human support, and some are more affectionate than others.  Some must have started life in someone's home.  Oreo, the father of some of the kittens a year ago, is very sweet. Frank was able to have him adopted out, and his quite happy back as an indoor cat. 

Gabby, the mother cat, has always been a bit more cautious and would eat very carefully and not allow us to get too close to her.

About 7 or 8 weeks ago, Frank suspected Gabby was pregnant. I being a bit dense, wondered if she

was eating too much. She carefully scouted out a number of yards, and then as her due date came about, she decided we were the lucky home.  Frank has set up a few boxes and carriers out back for the cats to shelter, especially in wintertime.  Gabby picked a box, and we woke up one morning to five kittens.  They are quite cute, and as they have grown, obviously are more curious every day about their surroundings.

The family came over for dinner and to spy on Gabby and her kittens.  Gabby reminds me how great mother nature is.  She is very protective of her kittens.  She keeps them safe and well-fed, and Frank and I ensure Gabby is well-fed.  Her aunt Cali is around a good bit, but all of the other cats know to stay away for now. The kittens are now about five weeks old.  Still small but almost double the size from birth, she is beginning to let Frank introduce them to kitten food.  She is still mighty protective of them.  When Gabby takes a break and goes away for a few minutes, Frank plays with the kittens to get them accustomed to human touch so they can be adopted.  I would do that, but we would end up with five kittens, which would not be good.  Once they are adopted, Frank will work with a local group to have Gabby spayed, and I hope she will continue to hang around our house.  She is not a good indoor cat candidate, but she is definitely sweet.

I am reminded this is about the age we got Lucky.  The idea that she ended up at our house in Austin, being dropped off by her human family at such a young age, is pretty sad.  She shows interest in Gabby and the kittens, but it is more curiosity, and she seems mighty grateful to be inside. 

Honestly, we live in challenging times.  We have global and local politics that are challenging for many.  We have a war raging between Russia and Ukraine.  Unrest in France over changing retirement ages and unrest in the USA between challenges against fundamental rights for women, transgender and gay rights, and rising racism and antisemitism. 

Not to mention the interesting developments in Artificial Intelligence and how it may impact culture and humanity.

It was quite nice to have an ordinary day at home.  Good food, good family, and a few kittens to help us marvel at the wonders of Mother Nature.  Humans think of ourselves as all-knowing and powerful, but on our back porch is a loving mother cat and her kittens that remind me about the good in the world beyond human control and wisdom.