The Sunday Afternoon Lap Cat

We had a really great Saturday, featuring a lovely lunch out and a hike along Spring Creek, in which there were muskrats. Another thing that worked out just about perfectly was that we were expecting a snowstorm, which was anticipated to arrive sometime between 2 and 5 pm on Saturday. The weather was expected to turn sunny and milder by Sunday afternoon.

We returned home from our Saturday adventures around 2:30 pm, just as the first snowflakes hit. What great timing! So we had lots of fun and then got to snug in at home, like a couple of bugs in a rug, while it snowed. I submit to you that there are few feelings cozier than enjoying a snowstorm with someone you love, from the comfort of one's own home.

My husband and I had talked about taking a long hike in the gamelands on Sunday morning, to enjoy the sunshine and fresh snow (with camera!), which sounded like fun. But the first thing we did was to shovel the snow from the 100-foot driveway and deck.

The sad thing about being an adult during the snowing time of year is that by the time you're done removing the snow from the places you have to, sometimes there isn't any energy left for the playing in the snow part! So we decided to hang out around our property for the day; we set up some yard chairs and tables in the snow, and sat and read our books in the sun.

The scene you see above is something that happened right after lunch. That Tabbycat has his own daily routines, which include a fair amount of napping. My husband had sat down in my chair in the living room, with a blankie and book, and - BOOM! - like a heat-seeking missile, there was the cat on his lap! So everybody say hi to Dexter. :-)

I occasionally share my cooking and baking adventures on Blip, and on this day, I made some pretty epic stuffing. My mom's fried-bread stuffing just might be my favorite part of the awesome chicken dinners she makes, and I have recently been trying my hand at making it.

I picked up a rotisserie chicken at Sam's Club last week (always just $4.99, which is very reasonable), and we had leftovers in the fridge. On Friday afternoon, I made my first attempt at making stuffing to accompany our chicken dinner. It turned out pretty well, but not nearly as good as my mom's.

Late Sunday afternoon, we decided to finish up the chicken, and I volunteered to make another round of stuffing. My husband offered me the two crusty ends of a slightly stale loaf of French bread to work with. Once again, it turned out to NOT taste exactly like my mom's, but it was the BEST STUFFING I EVER MADE IN MY ENTIRE LIFE! You may see a photo in the extras.

Here's how to make the stuffing. Take some slightly stale (not moldy) bread and tear it into little pieces, each about the size of your thumb. In a frying pan on top of the stove, fry the pieces in butter until golden. Use LOTS of butter - I used about half a stick of butter in mine. Yes, butter is the secret to making everything better! Did I mention that it should be golden? And crispy and buttery?

Add salt and pepper to taste. Add a sprinkle of celery salt to taste. Once the crumbs look crispy and toasty and golden, drizzle the stuffing with enough milk to make it all moist, just a few tablespoons. The skillet should start to sizzle when the cold milk hits it.

Stir it all around. The bread crumbs will look soggy now; yes, you're doing it right! Leave the heat up for a while, then reduce heat and let some of that moisture cook out of it. When it looks sort of like the picture in the extras, you're done! (By the way, in case you're wondering: no, we do not ever put the stuffing inside the bird, where I come from.)

My husband likes to make stuffing out of the box like they sell in stores. But you know what - that stuff is so salty and so overly seasoned. And it has all kinds of little hard crunchy things mixed in - ooh, yuck, what even IS that? The stuffing I just made is, on the other hand, NOT over-salted or over-seasoned, and there are no Mysterious Crunchy Hard Bits in it, hooray!

OK, so you get the picture that it turned into a mellow and very fine Sunday. Complete with cats on laps and books read in the sun, plus accomplishing a few things around the house, including making stuffing! Here is a song for a mellow, happy day, which I dedicate to my two fur-faced loves (both the six-footer and the two-footer) :-) . . . Harry Chapin, with Let Time Go Lightly.


I let time go lightly when I'm here with you,
I let time go lightly when the day is through.
I keep a watch on time when I've have work to do,
I let time go lightly with you.