Friday 28 October 2011

Minnie Moo: Minnie Moo the cat bakes a birthday cake for M

Minnie Moo: Minnie Moo the cat bakes a birthday cake for M: Reading the recipe for Banana Friskie Cake Phew I'm so tired now. I had to walk to the supermarket and even though its just "over the ro...

Minnie Moo the cat bakes a birthday cake for M

Reading the recipe for Banana Friskie Cake
Phew I'm so tired now.  I had to walk to the supermarket and even though its just "over the road" it was hard work walking home as my grocery bags were chocka block full of cake making stuff.

You see this morning I got a reminder message on my snazzy super dooper mobile phone thingy that tomorrow its M's birthday can you believe it she's turning 84 yet doesn't look a day over 48.  

Oops I think I got my numbers all muddled and back to front!

Anyway M's at work so I'm going to get busy and bake her a surprise birthday cake my favourite, a Banana Friskie Cake!

I'm going to sign off now to get all the ingredients together, turn the oven on, put my pinnie (apron) on and start baking.  

In case you're curious, here's the recipe I'm following:

BANANA FRISKIE CAKE
(adapted by Minnie Moo the cat)

INGREDIENTS
125g butter softened
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs (free range please we love happy chooks)
1 cup smashed ripe bananas (they've got to be that yucky dark brown colour)
1 cup filled to the brim of FRISKIES (yummo scrummo)
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons hot milk (if you're like me use lactose free)
2 cups standard plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
Chocolate Icing
2 cups icing sugar
1 tablespoon cocoa
1/4 teaspoon butter softened
2 tablespoons water
1/4 teaspoon vanilla essence

Ok here's what to do to put it all together to make one delicious-can't-stop-at-one-piece Banana Friskie Cake.

Turn oven to 180 deg. celcius (make sure no-one or nothing is hiding in the oven).
Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy (like me when I was a kitten).  Add eggs from the happy chooks, add them one at a time (the eggs not the chooks) beating well after you've added each egg.  Add smashed banana and FRISKIES (one for the bowl one for me!) and mix thoroughly.  Stir baking soda into hot milk and add to the creamed mixture.  Sift flour and baking powder.  Fold into mixture (I use my tail or paw). 

Turn into a greased lined with baking paper 20cm round (that's at least 3 times bigger than my Friskies bowl) cake tin. 
Bake at 180 deg Cel for 50 minutes (wow that's 3000 seconds) or until cake springs back when lightly touched with your paw.

Leave in tin (repeat after me, I must not eat the cake) for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack.

When cold ice with yummo chocolate icing.

Sift icing sugar and cocoa into a bowl.  Add butter.  Add sufficient water to mix so its easy to spread.  Add vanilla essence for that extra yummy flavour.
Sprinkle extra Friskies on top.

Put candles on top, serve and sing really loudly
Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday to you!
It's your very special day
But make sure you save a piece of cake for me too!


Yours in Friskies Minnie Moo

Thursday 27 October 2011

Minnie Moo and Mr Tuxedo

A few days ago I talked a little about the sneaky tuxedo wearing cat who would always casually wander over to my place and then make a move on my Friskies.  It was like his life-long wish was to munch his way through my favourite food group.
Now who's Friskies can I eat?

Regular like a Swiss clock with one of those  charming (scratch that pesky) cuckoo birds Mr Tuxedo would arrive on my doorstep (note my not M's) slowly sit down before hitting a low lying crouch position ready to slink his way over to my bowl.  I think he thought he was invisible but believe you me it's hard not to see a cat in a tuxedo, black and white with I'm so guilty look all over his face!

After looking right then left, then left and right again, his eyes would do another quick scan of he area to make sure no one was looking when the coast was clear (or so he thought) he'd "slink" his way over to my bowl.  Eyes always on the prize.

Little did Mr Tuxedo know that in one of my other lives (if I remember it was number 4) I trained as a "Guard of the Friskies" and still have my uniform, sorry no photos to prove it, I tried my uniform on but either its shrunk or I've grown.  Wider.  Plus I have a certificate that I've stored in a safe place for safe keeping, that's code for, I don't know where it is, could be anywhere.

Anyway as Mr Tuxedo was slinking his way to my bowl I was planning my moves from my secret hide-y place. I did a little two step shuffle, followed by a shimmy, a triple cha-cha-cha and a quick-ball-change before Mr Tuxedo knew it I'd performed my best dance moves and was blocking his direct pathway.

Staring him squarely in the eyes I said in a very polite and cultivated voice "Hello, I see you meet our minimum dress requirement and your tuxedo is most becoming however as this is a private dinner party (for one I might add!) may I see your invitation please?" and Mr Tuxedo would reply "Good evening sir, it appears that I've forgotten my invitation, I'll just head home to get it."  Slinking back into the night he would never return with his required invite but sure as the cat jumps over the moon, the next evening on the dot at 8pm Mr Tuxedo would be back on the door step and try again but as you've guessed he'd never remember that magic piece of paper, his invitation. 

As you know our cat universe has a very complex set of rules written down in ancient big books and in beautiful paw-writing. 

Rule #1 is "what's yours is definitely mine" but I've secretly changed the rule and in my world it now reads "what's mine is definitely not yours and don't even think about eating my Friskies!"

Yours in Friskies Minnie Moo



Wednesday 26 October 2011

Minnie Moo eats dutch sausage for dinner


Practicing my Puppy Dog eyes

The memory is still fresh in my mind, it was 2008 and a scorching summers day.  Come dinner time the temperature was still heading north, it was sizzling and almost too hot to eat!  Did I just say that?  Ok I said, almost!

Called sticky heat, the air hung around me like a warm icky blanket. When I  went to walk across the street the pavement was so hot you could fry an egg on it.  To get to the other side I ended up doing this weird looking dance on my tippy toes yelling hot, hot, hot, hot, hot..." 

I decided it was best to stay cool inside and conserve my energy for eating, resting my eye-balls and cat-napping. 

Hot weather is tough on us we're furry and the only clothes in our wardrobe are summer and winter coats.  Wearing a furry coat all summer long is not very comfortable and even with our own internal air conditioning system it gets too hot under the coat.

Going for a quick cool swim is out of the question, water for most of my cat buddies, me included, is like eating a bowl of brussel sprouts, eeek!

Anyway back to that summers day the heat wasn't the only thing sizzling, I remember I was lazing-smack-bang-in-the-middle of the kitchen floor taking a little siesta when delicious smells wafted my way and bounced off my nose, the air was rich with beefy porky aromas with hints of a little salt and spice.

Holding my nose higher and sniffing madly I recognised the smells from my days of living on the street and eating left over pizza. Sausage. Not like your typical pizza topping one or the "I don't know what's in it" sausage this was a little more continental.

Round, brown and tied end to end with string, M was cooking dutch sausage, in her Mum and Dad's home country, Holland, they call it Rookworst, a smoked sausage, tasting like a BBQ sausage on the inside but looking nothing like a BBQ sausage on the outside.
Walking away after eating dutch sausage
I must admit at the time I did think it was a little odd that M was cooking dutch sausage on such a hot day.  I'd heard M's Mum say that Rookworst is a favourite treat eaten in winter with pea soup so thick your spoon stands up in it!

It was late by the time M sat down to eat her dinner, I sat on the floor right beside her and gave her my best "puppy dog" eyes and said, "hello! what about me! I haven't eaten anything for oh at least an hour and my Friskies bowl is empty."

My hearing was melting a little in the heat and confusing me a little so I think I heard something like, "sorry Minnie Moo I'm out of Friskies you're going to have Dutch sausage for dinner tonight, tomorrow I'll go to the store and buy you a fresh bag of Friskies."

Turns out I was confused as my hearing was fine I wasn't going to eat any Friskies but rather a bowl of sliced and diced dutch sausage.  That night as I slept (again) I dreamed of life in a far away flat land with windmills, tulips, loads of bikes, cheese and yoghurt, really tall people, cats that are allowed in restaurants and salty liquorice.

Yours in Friskies Minnie Moo



Thursday 20 October 2011

Minnie Moo the cat who's lactose intolerant

Resting my eye-balls
Wow, life at M's just kept getting better and better. Everyday I discover new and exciting places to snooze, the computer, bed, the lounge, table, footstool, carpet, tiles, bench top, table, chairs, cushions, blankets and well even the bathroom sink. A-mazing!

Just when I thought I was the cat who got the cream (btw I'm lactose intolerant so can't do cream) I found this thing at least three times taller than me on the carpet.

One thing that life on the street taught me was to NEVER talk to strange looking things. So I took small quiet steps, sniffed around and checked for danger signs, phew it was safe. It was then that I felt warm all over. Before I knew it I was conked in front of this thing letting off.  Heat.

My new happy place - the heater.

Feeling so relaxed I felt inspired to set up my little office it didn't take long to get connected, don't you love free wireless! I'm even thinking of doing the social media facebook & twitter thing, I know a lot of cats that are tweeting (now that's ironic).

All of this and fresh Friskies left me feeling a little overwhelmed, as you can see from my picture I'm zonked.

But if I'm telling the truth waking up at 3am also makes me very sleepy. It was the tummy growls that woke me up and one thing about us cats, if we're awake, you're awake too!

It's the first time I've seen M a little (scratch that really) grumpy, She was like "what's happening, why am I awake, why do you have to eat Friskies now?" I mean really, what kind of question is that.

Yours in Friskies Minnie Moo

Wednesday 19 October 2011

Minnie Moo spends his day staring at the wall


I feel a little woozy today as I've spent way too long staring at the wall contemplating life without those crunchy critters, Friskies.

This thought weighed heavily on my mind and brought me back to the days in the 'hood before I found M and took over her life.

I was on a diet of left over pizza, rain water was my drink of choice.  In the summer months I got creative and slurped from the local public swimming pool (yucko chlorine).  Funny how even in those tough lean times I still managed to put on a few extra kgs or lbs as my USA fiends (oops sorry friends) say.

So when M rattled the box and let those Friskies flow into an empty ice cream tub (still with a hint of hokey pokey, I know you'd think she could have arranged a "proper" bowl) I just knew my gourmet life was on the up.

Now all I had to do was wait for the tell-tale sound of Friskies falling out of the box, eat noisily & enjoy, but little did I know that in our animal kingdom not all food is sacred, the "what's yours is mine" mentality is alive and well, and before I knew it I was protecting my bowl from other cats (one was wearing a tuxedo), a hedge-hog and those crazy birds.

I know what you're thinking, why did M put my Friskies outside. I think it was because she didn't want the land-lady to know that I'd been adopted.  For some reason this guy M knows thinks she kidnapped me, that's insane, I mean wouldn't I have a ransom note or something, like give me a million bucks (at least) and I'll give your cat back kind of thing?

Anyway back to the point, Friskies.

So far, and I'm counting I've had at least 2,190 bowls of Friskies and at around 6 o'clock tonight it'll go up to 2,191

Yours in Friskies
Minnie Moo








Tuesday 18 October 2011

Minnie Moo sings Chinese Opera

Hi it's me again, Minnie Moo

This is my "I've just woken up" face.
I've just woken up from a long and lazy cat nap and as I stared (that's what we cat's do, stare) out the window I thought back to 2008, it was April and I literally had to sing for my supper.

There I was happily napping on my soft and cuddly cashmere blanket in the house I had decided was to going to be my new home. You see in my world that's how we cats do it, we find places, have a nosy around, eat some friskies and decide if we're going to upgrade and stay or only come back coz the food's so good.

The Spanish cats have it right "mi casa su casa" my place is your place.  This home was now my home, my place. 

My fur was clean, I had fresh breath, I was pretty darn good looking who was going to resist moi?  I had figured that the lady of the house (let's call her M) wouldn't mind if I stayed over for a bit.  Scratch that I mean stay for my entire nine lives.

Imagine my surprise/horror when M opened the door and said something like, "go on cat go home now".  I'm sorry I don't understand human speak.  Had M gone crazy? I was home, but outside my home and it was cold with a howling blustering gale (ok I made that bit up).

So Maestro Minnie Moo (that's me) hatched a plan, I was going to sing my little heart out to the tune of a Chinese Opera sung in F and B flat major (is that possible?) right outside M's bedroom window.  I should have made a CD and snapped up a recording deal.

I sung and I sung with more gusto than ever before and before I knew it had chalked up 15 minutes of hard-core high notes, really low ones, middle ones and plenty of off-key way out-of-tune notes. 

It must have been bad as the next day at our local cat milk (hold the coffee) morning a few of the cats remarked how this excruciating sound, like nails on a blackboard, filled the night air and went on and on and on. Smug as I was I said nothing.  

Anyway M eventually came to the window, she looked a little freaked out and mouthed something like, it's 11 o'clock at night people are trying to sleep.  I mouthed (mee-oowed ) back, my point exactly I'm trying to get back inside to sleep!

After another 10 minutes of singing from my heart and soul, M's magic words were heard....ok you can come in, but only for "one night" ......you hear. 

I was back inside, eating friskies and eyeing up the cashmere blanket, quicker that you can say, "one night, yeah right!

Three years later, I'm still here.

Yours in Friskies Minnie Moo

Monday 17 October 2011

Minnie Moo what sort of name is that for a cat

Hi I'm Minnie Moo and I can't for the life of me think why I'm called a name that's half mouse half cow.  I'm a boy cat (I overheard the vet say something like my boy bits are no longer there) and I don't like my girlie name.

Seems like I'm stuck with it.

My life began somewhere (can't recall this part) and took me from the streets and a diet of left over pizzas to one heck of a nice (and might I add) big house in this little town in New Zealand, Havelock North.

One day I saw this lovely lady move into a house opposite the pizza place, from what I could tell she was pretty busy and lived by herself.  Without any selfish intent (ha I hear you say) I thought a cat would really "add meaning" to her life.
So I made myself known, exaggerated the cat affection, revved up the purrs, took one step inside the house and that was the end of that, I never left, honey I was home! 

It took me all of five minutes to find my "possie", lucky for me it came with a cashmere blanket.  It was pure cat nirvana, my life had just stepped up a couple of thousand notches and I could tell by using one of my many senses that things were just going to get better.

That was just the first five minutes.....there plenty more to come.

Yours in Friskies Minnie Moo xx