In the kitchen..what are you very good at and which areas of cooking not so?

[taxlady]

I have noticed that cats are very careful with cups and glasses that contain something that interests them and that they want to dip a paw into. To be honest, I don't remember seeing a cat knock over a glass when it wasn't intentional.

 

[Linda0818]

I have noticed that cats are very careful with cups and glasses that contain something that interests them and that they want to dip a paw into. To be honest, I don't remember seeing a cat knock over a glass when it wasn't intentional.

You're absolutely correct. And if they're not interested in it, 'swipe' it goes onto the floor.

 

[Andy M.]

You're absolutely correct. And if they're not interested in it, 'swipe' it goes onto the floor.

And people wonder why I'm not a cat person . . .

 

[Linda0818]

And people wonder why I'm not a cat person . . .

I used to be. But after living with 2 cats for the last 14-15 years, I can say that I do love my cats, but I will never have another one.

 

[dcSaute]

veddy ole adage:
cooking is an art, baking is a science.

if you're wanting to bake, get a scale, work in grams, take notes.
works out like a charm.
a bit of this, a bit of that . . . works for stews, does not work for baking stuff.
we went to a nice resto - they presented 'fresh made' pop-over "bread" - but only after a time lag that clearly indicated the pop-overs were made/baked to order....
yeah, got some recipes and a "specialized" pan - intending to produce similar for our home table . . .

as for cats.... DD1 recently lost her kittie (old age . . ); was here for Thanksgiving; spent more time with our cat than with us . . . there are "cat people" and there are "other people"
neither is remotely /can be a 'forced behavior' - you are, or you not are . . . there is no 'sorta' - I think Yoda said something similar....

 

[Jusa]

And people wonder why I'm not a cat person . . .

The only animals in my house are my husband and I...and the occasional field mouse or insect. And the dead carcasses in my freezer.

 

[taxlady]

You're absolutely correct. And if they're not interested in it, 'swipe' it goes onto the floor.

Only the rude cats swipe glasses onto the floor. The ones that have lived with me only swiped small, non-breakable things onto the floor.

 

[larry_stewart]

I never thought I'd be a cat person until I got one ( then two, three .....don't ask). The only thing my cat knocks over are small things on the counter just below the cupboard where we keep his treats. Especially when we are stitting down for dinner. He knows if he knocks things on the floor, we all go over there to pick them up, conveniently getting us closer to the cupboard with the treats, and ultimately giving him one. Yeah, he has us trained.

 

[dragnlaw]

Animals are a part of my life and I cannot envision not. Well, a few times... like when the cat knocked over the gerbil cage and it became the "Morning of the Hunt before the Massacre"
or the Christmas of homemade tree decorations, which included 'stain glass cookies' and popcorn. Dogs knocked over the tree and ate all the decorations.
My son had second thoughts on the gecko's in his bedroom, listening to crickets outside is not the same as listening to them in a cage! They were banned to the den.

 

[larry_stewart]

I stand corrected! There was this time we were watching tv in the den, and heard loud crashing sound come from the kitchen. I went to check out what it was. Sure enough, one off the cats (I think it was Lenore) got up on the counter, knocked a blender full of vanilla milkshake on the the floor, and continued to lick up the mess with a few of her siblings. To her defense , she didnt knock it over to be a jerk, but just cause she wanted some milkshake, but a big mess none the less. Needless to say, I wasn't very happy.

 

[Linda0818]

Only the rude cats swipe glasses onto the floor. The ones that have lived with me only swiped small, non-breakable things onto the floor.

You got lucky

 

[Linda0818]

Animals are a part of my life and I cannot envision not. Well, a few times... like when the cat knocked over the gerbil cage and it became the "Morning of the Hunt before the Massacre"
or the Christmas of homemade tree decorations, which included 'stain glass cookies' and popcorn. Dogs knocked over the tree and ate all the decorations.
My son had second thoughts on the gecko's in his bedroom, listening to crickets outside is not the same as listening to them in a cage! They were banned to the den.

Been there and done that, with a cat knocking over a critter cage. Not fun at all.

And my dog (a Mini Dachshund) and one of my cats (the troublemaker of the century) would play tag team with the Christmas tree. The cat would knock the ornaments off the tree and my dog would take off with them.

 

[Andy M.]

Your stories are proving my point.

 

[dragnlaw]

Aww Com'on Andy, where's your sense of humour for the past. Except one little gerbil we never got to in time, no real harm done and one else died from their antics.

What kind of stories do you reminisce about that makes for a chuckle in the telling.

 

[Andy M.]

Aww Com'on Andy, where's your sense of humour for the past. Except one little gerbil we never got to in time, no real harm done and one else died from their antics.

What kind of stories do you reminisce about that makes for a chuckle in the telling.

If I had a pet that INTENTIONALLY broke glasses and INTENTIONALLY spilled vanilla milkshakes, I wouldn't consider it a laughing matter. Sorry.

 

[Linda0818]

I can't even begin to list all the stuff my troublemaking cat does or has done. It's unbelievable. My cats are indoor-only, but there are times I'd like to tell her to pack her bags and get the heck out, lol. She is *THE* biggest pain in the butt cat I've ever owned. My son calls her The Obliterator.

Now, my male is quiet as a mouse and most of the time you don't even know he's there, unless he wants food. They're complete opposites.

Anyway, to get somewhat back on topic, I thought of something else I'm terrible at - making fried chicken. It either ends up too done or not done enough. So anytime we want 'fried' chicken, I make oven-fried.

 

[dragnlaw]

Animals are animals - don't make the mistake of thinking they can reason like you or I.

I've never made "fried chicken" the way I've mostly read about. Don't have a deep fryer dedicated to such stuff and don't really want one. The few things I've ever fried in deep fat has the smell lingering for days - blech.
So like you Linda - I've found that "oven fried chicken or fish" is the way to go!
Recipe Tin Eats has one.
Oven Fried Chicken try it you'll love it!

 

[Linda0818]

Animals are animals - don't make the mistake of thinking they can reason like you or I.

I've never made "fried chicken" the way I've mostly read about. Don't have a deep fryer dedicated to such stuff and don't really want one. The few things I've ever fried in deep fat has the smell lingering for days - blech.
So like you Linda - I've found that "oven fried chicken or fish" is the way to go!
Recipe Tin Eats has one.
Oven Fried Chicken try it you'll love it!

Now those look good. My son would love them. Thanks for sharing

I too hate messing with deep fryers. I actually have a pretty nice one, but I rarely ever use it. I have a psychological issue with dumping a ton of oil into deep fryers, knowing I'm only going to use it once or twice. Then I've just wasted all that oil, plus I have to find some way to dispose of it. Normally I just wait until it's cool, then dump it into a strong zipper bag. But I still always feel 'guilty' for dumping out all that beautiful oil, lol.

Weird? Yeah. Guess I am.

So when it comes to fried chicken (whole bone-in pieces) I plop the chicken parts into a zipper bag that contains flour, salt & pepper and paprika, then put into a pan that has melted butter in it, coat the pieces around in the butter, then shove into oven. It smells heavenly, that chicken 'frying' in the butter, and the chicken always comes out perfect.

 

[taxlady]

Thanks for the recommendation dragn. I have saved the recipe to CMT.

 

[taxlady]

Linda, I don't think it's the least bit weird to try to avoid food waste.