sad gypsy.

(cat) feeding time in this household is kind of an ordeal.  they are all on meds.  amanda is on three.  and they are all food-obsessed.  seriously.  the moment my alarm goes off in the morning or i walk in the door from work at night i am surrounded by all the different mews just begging me to please save them from imminent starvation.  oh and on weekends did i want to sleep in?  HA.

in the rare event that i do walk in the door to a quiet apartment i IMMEDIATELY know something is wrong.  that something usually being gypsy has managed to open amanda's food container and eat SIX CUPS of food (for context, she normally gets 1/8 cup twice a day...).

that isn't actually the topic of the post, but you needed to know how much gypsy loves food for this story to make sense.

gypsy gets quarters of pills hidden in a delicious pill pocket which she eats directly from my hand before i can even walk over to her food station.  quartering pills usually leaves a nice bit of accumulated pill dust in the bottom of the pill vial.  so, in a moment of laziness, i decided to put that pill powder to use.  instead of giving her a pill i decided to just sprinkle an amount of powder that looked-ish like a quarter-ish directly onto gypsy's food.  i figured, she'll eat anything even remotely food (dairy) flavored, so there was no way she would turn down her food.

wrong.  wrong wrong WRONG.  well, kind of wrong.  she did eat it.  but SO slowly.  and all the while sadly looking up at me as if i were poisoning her.  i mean, there was no way she wasn't going to eat it, but she was real sad about it.  i'm sorry gyps!  i'll stick to pill pockets from now on!

so sad.
and yes, she eats on a plate.  under normal circumstances this
slows down her ravenous gulping and sometimes make her chew.

spaghetti with fresh mozzarella!!

cait and i went to the boston local food festival yesterday and it was quite an adventure.  (more on this later).  we watched Lourdes Smith give a demo on how to make mozzarella and it was GLORIOUS.  and then of course i bought some of the cheese.  which, by the way, i am going to support whole-heartedly in the future because it is spectacular.  fiore di nonno.  check it out.

ANYWAYS, cait and i wanted to eat it that day in something that really showcased its flavors.  we also had tons of csa tomatoes just begging to be used.  SO we made tomato sauce and put it on some spaghetti with the delicious mozzarella cheese and let it get all melty and delicious and feasted.


tomato sauce with fresh tomatoes.


ingredients
2-3 T olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 small garlic cloves, minced
7-10 tomatoes, seeded and diced
3 oz tomato paste
salt and pepper
fresh basil, chopped
oregano
parsley
and i'm sorry internet, there is a secret ingredient and i just can't tell you.  its nothing personal.  its just, you know, a family thing.  maybe in the future...  BUT it will still be delicious without it!

directions
1.  in a saucepan, saute the onions and garlic in the olive oil for about 5 minutes.
2.  add the tomatoes, tomato paste, salt and pepper and simmer for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3.  add the herbs, taste for salt and pepper and continue to simmer for about 15 more minutes or until the tomatoes don't taste raw anymore.

YUM.

anyways, here it is:

looks pretty dern beautiful.

OH and you know what else is beautiful?

lady and the tramp style.

if you can't tell what i going on here, let me be clear.  GYPSY AND I ARE SHARING ONE NOODLE.  she is really surprisingly fast at slurping them and it actually took a few tried to get this barely acceptable photo.  sweet dreams!

how 'bout some cats to go with that cooking?

SO.  i wanted to balance out all this cooking action with some cat action.  as you may (or may not) know, i moved into a new apartment in the much nicer brookline area.  the catminos are LOVING the new place.  seriously.  amanda ventures out of my room and into the living room and get this, KITCHEN.  gypse is just as happy as can be.  beeb is nice and confident and finding some new favorite places.  so get ready for some really catlady-y photos right now.


so i know this isn't a cat.  BUT i though it'd be a nice transition from the cooking and farms aspect of this whole thing into the cats part of it.  this is FRESH CATNIP.  my roommate cait brought it back from her garden in vermont.  so rad!

it is in the mint family!

WHY is gypsy so cute.  i cannot even handle this accidental photo.

please forgive my super awkward foot.

hey morgan, what is your patronus?  BEHOLD:
 

i just want to pet beeb SO much but she rarely allows it.

my new apartment has really deep window sills.  perfect for making a cat perch!!

pirate beeb?

and amanda.  her presence in my life is out-shined only by that of my mother.

her eyes are NOT usually that creepy.  have you ever tried photographing
a black cat?  because i do almost every day and its really really
hard to get it to come out okay.

she mostly sleeps all day, but really cutely!

oh yeah, you stretch that arm girl.

i know she is really thin.  also some other parts of her shape are just not normal.  but she is beautiful and i love her just the way she is and if you are mean about it i'll kill you.

even the oldest cats still love a good sun-basking.

OKAY and here is the gem of this post.  are you ready?  dug up from the archives in my grandparents' basement?  a real treasure.  this is some planet earth material right here.

yes that is me. and YES THAT IS AMANDA. the very same morgan and the very
same amanda.  just chillin' in the early 90s. 

gypsy LOVES lemon squares.

so it turns out gypsy loves lemon squares. SUCH a weird thing for a cat to love! i bought one from Clear Flour Bread to enjoy. i was sitting on the bed eating it and gypsy sprinted into the room, started rooting through my bag, jumped up on the bed, and manhandled me until i gave her a little piece. then she proceeded to lick every surface of the box and paper the lemon square came in.

i mean i love lemon squares. who doesn't...they are one of the best treats out there. but i didn't evolve as a meateatinghuntingmammal. also i'm pretty sure you can use lemon as a cat repellent to keep them off furniture you don't want them on....