Musings

"Musings" just means I don't know what I'm going to put in this post yet. Miscellaneous just sounds so boring.

Five of the kittens (of 6) are still here. 3 more leave Friday. Then I have to find a home for the remaining 2 quickly. I need my house and my life back. They are like guided fur missiles the way they careen around the house. Their claws are still sharp. They're eating me out of house and home. But they are the softest little things I ever saw and they're all turning into lap cats. Their new owners will appreciate that, I'm sure. Oh, and if anyone ever asks you if cats can get pregnant while they're nursing, the answer is yes. We're right back where we started with her. Grapefruit belly again.

I'm going to a talk tonight about salmon in Alaska. I'm so interested in the incredible impact they have on their environment. A woman wrote a book about it, "Salmon in the Trees." She's a conservation photographer and will be showing lots of photographs so I invited brother Steve. Sister-in-law Anne is coming, too.

Marie...I know you check in here hoping I've written something. And I know you want to know about my progress with the house. Not much to report. Kittens have put major work on hold. As soon as they're gone, I can tell you the very first thing I'm going to do is have the carpets shampooed about a million times. Then boxes of papers that need attention will get some attention. Haven't planned beyond that. Will be going to Brooklyn for gramma duty in December and think I should wait til after that. 2011 sounds good to me.

I'm going to give you all a recipe here that I got from a great cookbook called Falling Cloudberries. I happen to like garbanzo beans and feta so I loved this.


Chickpea, Feta and Cilantro Salad
Serves 6
From Falling Cloudberries cookbook

1 ½ c. dried chickpeas soaked overnight in cold water OR
1 can chickpeas, 14 oz.
1 c. olive oil (divided)
1 large red onion, chopped
5 garlic cloves, very finely chopped
1 or 2 red chiles, seeded and finely chopped (I left this out)
1 2/3 c. crumbled feta chees
4 scallions, green part only, chopped
½ c. chopped cilantro
1 c. chopped Italian parsley
juice of 1 lemon

If using canned chickpeas, bring to boil and simmer a couple of minutes. Drain and let cool. If using dried, drain the soaked chickpeas and put in saucepan. Cover generously with water. Bring to boil. Decrease the heat slightly and cook for 1 to 1.5 hours, until soft but not falling apart. Add salt toward the end of the cooking time. Cool, drain and put in a large bowl.

Heat 3 T. olive oil and fry onion gently until cooked through and lightly golden.

Add garlic and chile and cook a few more seconds. Let cool completely.

Add feta, scallion, cilantro, parsley, lemon juice to chickpeas and season with pepper and a pinch more salt, if needed.

Add the cooled garlic oil and remaining olive oil and mix well.

Enjoy!