Wot did you doo for summer vacay?

by @winecountrydog Tilin Corgi

Wot did you doo durin' summer 2014 vacay? Hopin' you had bestest fresh og noms and good walkies!

When ourselves doo travel any pawlaces, Mumsy does pack emergency Go-Bags for all of us. . . . Ani Meezer maows: "Would you like to see my Hissaster Purrep Kitty Pack? MOL." . . . Mum sez: "Yes, Meezer, everybuddy should see your Purrep Pack. Please post pics someday soon."

Ourselves not travel often or furry far this summer. In summer 2013 da wildfire smokes got us many times. Nobuddy wanting to run into wildfires and smokes again.

In summer 2014, da wildland fires in Nor Cal forests and wilderness areas have been widespread and intense. Mum keepin' watchful and sometimes teary eyes on da fires. . . .Mum sez: "I try not to dwell on the suffering of animals and people caught up in this intense period of Western wildfires. But it's not easy to ignore the suffering, especially that of wildlife in the Siskiyous and Cascades."

You doo know summer 2014 is my ancient woofself's 17th summer? Mum did think mywoofself might not be up for big travels. Mum has da concerns bout my stamina effurr since myself's peeky OTRB in Feb 2014. But myself dooin' fine. Fooled you! BOL!!

Ani Meezer did make wee vacay at Jonny Cat clay quarry. Meezer maows: "Liked tour of giant litter boxes. MOL."

Mywoofself watched local campers tryin' to pitch tent. . . . Howl. Tis not MY craft beer. Methinks Mumsy set myself up to look like a doggeh lush. BOL

Furbro Jackie Nippers also watched campers strugglin' to pitch tent. Hiswoofself asked "Is that a pup tent?" . . . OMD BOL! Myself did snort.

Ourselves did roll on grass wit big BOLs. Da campers looked o'er at ourselves as if we be mad dogs. BOL!

Barkin' at Mum for more vacay! . . . But nobuddy need 'nother "vacay day" like earthquake day on 24 August 2014. *Paw prayers* for all folks and furriends in Napa area. . . . Pawleeze make da emergency Go-Bags for pets + everybuddy, as you doo neffurr know when next disaster comin' eh.

Ani Meezer's Anchovy Dressing

by Ani Meezer, Kitteh Queen of the kitchen

Anchovy? Oh my cat!

Do not furget to call me if you have anchovies!

Seems it is time to tell you how to make a lovely AV Dressing: Mediterranean-inspired Anchovy Vinaigrette Dressing for salads. Mymewself will narrate for Mum.

Aye do see Mum has placed dressing ingredients on kitchen counter.

INGREDIENTS
1/4 cup EVOO
1/8 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 clove fresh garlic, minced
1 anchovy, chopped finely
S+P to taste (Careful with salt! Anchovy is already salty.)

Mum is using "what's on hand" and making only small batch of dressing to test how well ingredients go together. If Mum does not like the brands of extra-virgin olive oil and red wine vinegar, she will seek other choices.

A few paw-notes about olive oil, vinegar, anchovies, and garlic.

In California, cooks are accustomed to finding fresh extra virgin olive oil (EVOO). You might prefurr a mild oil, like good old Bertolli. But whatever oil you like, you want good quality and freshness. . . . You know stale or rancid oils and fats are bad for human and pet health. (Kibble eaters, take paw-note.)

It should be easy for humans to find fresh organic wine vinegar in gourmet stores. It is not difficult for wine grapes and other fruits to turn to vinegar -- that is Nature's neat recycling trick. But it is not easy to find good wine vinegars. Mum needs to find a wine vinegar that's as great as her fave cider vinegar, Solana Gold, made with Sonoma County apples.

Anchovies are tiny fish of many diffurrent species that live in the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian oceans. Foodwise they are called an "oily fish." Mum finds them canned, packed in salt or in olive oil, usually including their little bones -- which we kittehs and some people eat along with the fish. (If packed in salt, brush all the salt off and store them in olive oil.) The typical brands seen in U.S. stores are marked "Product of Morocco." Are they high quality? Mum doubts it.

Mymewself finds anchovies purrfectly nommy. This is why, whenever Mum turns her back, the anchovy disappears, and so Mum has to get another one out of the can. ...

Do not let mymewself steal another anchovy before you get it in the jar. MOL

Appawrently some human cooks fear these itty bitty fish. Or purrhaps they just fear strong flavors? ... Fear not! A little bit of anchovy adds a "uniquely satisfying" flavor note to a salad vinaigrette or pasta sauce.

As for garlic from most supermarkets, it is blech. Often it is elephant garlic, and it has been in cold storage for about 1,000 years. Mum likes to use fresh garlic from a farmers' markets or food co-op. Garlic can be very mild and tasty, ourselves are told, though we cats and dogs do not eat garlic (or onions).

Put your dressing ingredients in a jar with a lid that seals well, so you can shake to mix. Mum is using a recycled pint-size Mason jar. If Mum wants a stronger-flavored dressing, she will play with these proportions, adding more to the jar until the mixture suits her. Then she will triple or quadruple the batch, and store any leftover dressing in the refrigerator.

Try this dressing on any fave green salad! And experiment with using it as a dressing for steamed or raw veggies!

Before you put the dressing on your salad, we hope you share some greens or veggies with your dog and cat companions.

Remember not to feed garlicky foods to us cats and dogs. A few licks are not toxic to most of us, but a larger amount of garlic is toxic to a pet's system.

Mum says: "Thank you, Joyce Goldstein! ... No cookbook inspires me more than your classic, The Mediterranean Kitchen."

Élégie pour le chat moderne

by Ani Meezer, un grand fromage du WCD house

Très triste, la vie du chat moderne.
Apparaissant comme une forme flat, seulement un équivalent.
La vie dans une photo de Minor White.
Comme un tableu abstraite du Motherwell, sans color field.

Très triste, la vie du chat moderne.
Abandonnée au cours de la season de kitten.
La vie sans famille, sans pride, sans le kitteh clique.
Comme un eunuque dans un pays très cruel.

Très triste, la vie du chat moderne.
Enfermé dans la maison. Trapped.
La vie sans le cuisine français, sans les fresh noms.
Comme un worker de burger king sans pommes frites.

Pawscript: Vraiment que Henri, Le Chat Noir, did sell hismewself to multinational industrial ag food spawnsor? O très triste que Henri est compromisis seulement pour l'argent.

July birthdays!

by winecountrydog Jackie Nippers

I am the only four-legger round here whose birth date is known. Always when we celebrate myself's July 23rd birthday, we doo have a pawty for Ani Meezer as well.

This year we did pawty fur three days. Here is myself on the furst pawty morning.

And here is Ani Meezer. She is eating her birthday bouquet of wildflowers which we collected on walkies.

Mum did take myself and furbro Tilin Corgi out fur my birthday ice cream.

OMD deeelicious!

Furbro Tilin loves ice cream too.

Next day Mum did take myself on special wine tasting adventures. Just the two of us.

On the third day of pawtying, Mum did share some of her nommy Pinot poached salmon.

Then Mum did serve a doglicious dessert of blackberry Cabernet sorbet.

Myself and Meezer fell asleep on the bed together. We were full and happy and tired from pawtying.

A lovely time twas had by all.

The Cat Who Came in from the Woof

by guest author Ani Meezer

This story is set in the period of heightened pawlitico-military tensions during the Cold War era of the early 1960s, a time when effurryone fears the likelihood of a howlish war with the USSR. 

A lone Pawlish spy cat, Hans-Dieter Maow (nicknamed "Blackie"), is working under dipawlomatic cover as a dog in the Moscow countryside. Every day, Blackie barks to his furriends various plans in code. Over the winter, Blackie and his furriends risk capture daily to stockpile stolen caviar noms and hold spy meetups in a forest den.

(Here's where the story gets boring, so we'll skip the whole middle pawt.)

A bitey villain of a tom, Blackie Maow finally finds compawssion in the spring when he meets charming spy Lizzie Goldpaw. Goldpaw is an esteemed English librarian's cat who has swallowed secrets to help the West. Blackie Maow is assigned the mission of getting Lizzie Goldpaw safely back to England.

Blackie is so smitten with this kitten that he barks as he has never barked before . . . or since.

Early this spring morning, Blackie sits on his windowsill, barking coded orders to make sure Goldpaw is escorted safely out of the forest.

This is the last we see of Blackie. Does he run off and become the world's furst sustainable Pawluga caviar producer? Or does he manage to follow Goldpaw to England and write a best-selling spy novel? MOL

4 November: Cats who nom out loud

by guest author Ani Meezer

Tis November, a time of thanks giving and nomming. Tis therefur appawropriate to introduce you to animals who are pawticularly vocal in expressing gratitude fur their food.

Oh but wait a furry second. Allow me to introduce mycatself: I am Ani Siamese, aka Meezer. I do nom out loud occasionally.

Purrhaps you know me as best furriend of the WCD boyz, Tilin Corgi and Jackie Nippers Corgi.

This furst Nom Nom Nom Cat video came to us by tweet of Judy Dunn, aka twitter friend @CatsEyeWriter. We are grateful. We luv looking at videos of cats who nom out loud.

Grateful Nom Cat Number One (below): This cat does enjoy her sour cream and cannot quit raving about it. Nom nom nom!



Grateful Nom Cat Number Two (below): This cat is furry good at using her paw as a ladle. She does lovely nom-maowing while she drinks.



Grateful Nom Cat Number Three: This cat does not need to nom out loud. He just needs to roll around on the floor to show how furry grateful he is fur the watermelon. MOL!



Now tis time fur us to nom gratefully. The boyz and I are having steamed organic butternut squash, fresh green peas, and raw free-range chicken necks!

Paw-note: Sometimes grateful nom cats begin to growl. In catspeak this is a warning. It means "Back off my noms!" ... A word to the nomwise should be sufficient.

Our Siamese cat's latest mischief

by Jackie Nippers aka pawlitico

"What's that you're chewing on, Ani?" demanded my dog-ma. Our Ani Siamese continued chomping away.


"Hey, those are my new Sony earbuds you just destroyed!" exclaimed dog-ma. "Good thing they were really cheap ones."


Ani Siamese pretended to ignore dog-ma. "Oh, what a fun Halloween treat!" said Ani. "Let me bat the thing again!"


Ferocious Siamese kitty that Ani is, she decided to have another go at it.

"I can bite it too!" Ani purred.


Do kitties get bored easily? Ani finished chewing the earbuds awfully fast. Then she got distracted.


Later, Ani told me that dog-ma was awfully nice about her Halloween mischief.


I reminded Ani that we're lucky to have a furever home with someone who loves us unconditionally.

Paw-note: I'm pawing in fur Tilin Corgi, who's down and out with awful back muscle spasms again. We hope he gets well soon! We sure don't want him to miss trick-or-treatin' at Occidental Harvest Market Festival on Halloween.