Mollie Hunt's Blog, page 16
April 25, 2023
Chilly Coon Kitty Strikes Again – From Katzenworld
As an author, I found this post from Katzenworld guest floridaborne too funny not to share! Funny because it’s true!
Read about the Maine Coon kitty who would not be ignored: Chilly Coon Kitty Strikes Again
April 22, 2023
CELEBRATE EARTH DAY
Once a year on April 22nd, we get out our green (not the St. Paddy’s Day green, but the one reserved for trees and plants to signify the Earth) and celebrate. But time has proven one day out of 365 isn’t enough. I know it’s hard to believe recycling a pop can or not buying a drink in a plastic bottle will do anything in the face of unceasing pollution from giant corporations, but amazingly, it helps.
By taking a stand against rampant pollution, we tell those around us we are committed to our Earth, and word trickles up to the politicians and manufacturers who can do something about it. (They still serve the people, believe it or not.)When we acknowledge the planet isn’t disposable and try to live within ecological limits, it makes us better people.We are butterflies* who cannot know what our impact might be on things to come. Let’s make it a good one.Earth Day is every day!We don’t have to do everything right to make a difference. We can figure out what earth-saving measures work for us, then “practice these principles in all our affairs.”
You can change the world!
Don’t toss it; Recycle anything you can. Most garbage services have a recycle program. Take full advantage of it. Then find out where things they don’t recycle can go. There are places that take electronics, plastics, furniture, and more. If your area has Ridwell recycling service, I strongly endorse it.
Try not to buy single-use plastic items or things with a lot of plastic packaging. If it’s recyclable and you know where to recycle it, that’s great. But not supporting those products at all sends a message to manufacturers. They can change their ways, too.
Drive less, smoke less, barbeque less, buy less, fart less (if you’re a cow). Try to buy sustainable products. Don’t buy from China (I know that’s impossible, but we can still try.)
These are only a few things I came up with off the top of my head. There are many more, both big and small. Check informational websites for more suggestions. I googled “How to Save the Earth,” and before even getting to the sites, I found a list of 10 Simple Things We Can Do.
Now go pet your cat!(Or dog, or degu…) Your actions can help keep the world safe for them too.
*The Butterfly Effect: (in chaos theory) the phenomenon whereby a minute localized change in a complex system can have large effects elsewhere.
April 16, 2023
RECIPES FROM THE GHOST BOOK: Beverages
What did people like to drink in the early 1900’s? I’m pretty sure it’s different than the beverages we think of today. The average family wouldn’t have had a fridge full of Coke*. (The average family didn’t have a fridge at all, only an ice box.)
On the Beverage page of “Recipes-My Friends and My Own,” you can see someone glued a newspaper clipping for Hot Spiced Cider. And what will we find next ?
Here’s a surprise! Cheesed Potatoes? Rice & Cheese Balls? Cheese Crumbs? Baked Cheese Tapioca? Looks like someone was a bit confused about what constitutes a beverage!
Okay, next page…
Rice & Cheese Balls (Copied as written)
1/2 grated cheese, 1 pt boiled rice
season with salt and cayenne pepper
add 1 well beaten egg; moisten with a little cream sauce. Form in balls, egg & bread crumb them & fry in hot fat.
Maybe we’ll find some enticing, old fashioned drink recipes now.
And… nope. I guess my great great grandmother wasn’t interested in beverages, because the next ten pages are completely blank!
I looked up popular non-alcoholic drinks of the early 1900’s and found Beef Tea, Tea, Coffee & Coffee Substitutes, Cream Coffee (whipped cream), Chocolate (made with scraped, unsweetened chocolate), and Cocoa. For cold beverages, Iced coffee, Iced tea (with or without lemon), Lemonade, Ginger Ale, Raspberry Vinegar Switchel, Carbonated water (soda water, with or without flavored syrups), and Mineral water*. (From the Food Timeline Library.) I don’t think I would bother to keep those recipes myself, although the Switchel sounds interesting.
‘A Harvest Drink. Mix with five gallons of good water, half a gallon of molasses, one quart of vinegar, and two ounces of powdered ginger. This will make not only a very pleasant beverage, but one highly invigorating and healthful.’—From Practical American Cookery and Domestic Economy, by Miss Hall, 1855,
*Here’s an interesting Coke fact from the Coca-Cola website: “On May 8, 1886, Dr. John Pemberton sold the first glass of Coca-Cola at Jacobs’ Pharmacy in downtown Atlanta. Serving nine drinks per day in its first year, Coca-Cola was new refreshment in its beginning. See the story here of how it all began.”
April 9, 2023
HAPPY EASTER and A LOOK BACK
Today is Easter, 2023.
No more lockdown, no more masks (though the wisdom of that decision is still debatable). But we mustn’t forget, on this day of hope, what it was like three years ago when things were bad.
Sun, Apr 12, 2020
From my memoir, There’s a Cat Hair in My Mask: How Cats Helped Me through Unprecedented Times
It was Easter, but no one was having parties. Children, already bored and flustered by being taken out of school and forbidden to play with their friends, were destined to have their Easter egg hunts alone. Jim and I have no children in our house anymore, but I still felt sad, remembering those times when kids ran through the spring grass and flowers to discover chocolate and painted Easter eggs on that day.
I’d been sitting with my foster cat Lydia in the foster room when I heard an idea on the radio that was catching hold throughout the community. People were putting pictures of painted eggs up in their windows for kids to count on a neighborhood walk. I thought to myself, How fun! then proceeded to forget all about it.
A few days later, I found my sweet tuxedo cat Blaze sitting on the ledge in the front window. He was staring straight at me, as if to say, Something’s happening here.
Blaze and I had a connection. I’m not sure it could be called telepathy, but I always knew when he was trying to communicate something of import. That was one of those times.
Suddenly I remembered the Easter egg idea. Grabbing scissors, tape, a few pens, and a handful of colored paper. I began to cut and draw.
Blaze helped me tape them in the window by pawing the panes where he thought they should go. Or maybe he was just chasing a spring fly. Either way, the colorful shapes, as well as the thought of making the day just a bit happier for some children I don’t even know, was fulfilling.
“Thank you, Blaze,” I told the tuxie, for I was certain it had been his reminder that had spurred me into action.
Easter Eggs 2020
However you celebrate (or not), enjoy this day, and please keep hope alive in your heart.
April 4, 2023
CATS ON THE KEYBOARD: Cats and Cat Writing with Mollie Hunt
Ready or not, tonight I’ll be giving a talk for the Portland Chapter of the Willamette Writers.
Join me Tuesday evening, April 4th at 7:00 pm at 1336 NW Flanders St, Portland, Oregon, or on Zoom to hear about writing and publishing cozy cat mysteries.
But writing an animal hero can be more than a lighthearted read. In, Cats on the Keyboard, Mollie Hunt will tell how she brings a greater meaning to the cats in her stories. Can a Cat Cozy inspire, educate, and change the world? She thinks, yes! Mollie, the author of fifteen books in multiple genres, will also talk about her beginnings as a writer, her writing process, and why she decided to independently publish. (She doesn’t call it “self-publishing.”) She will gladly take questions from the audience about craft and cats, though she may not know how to solve your cat’s litter box issues.
You can find more information about this meeting and register for the Zoom Meeting here! https://willamettewriters.org/event/cats-on-the-keyboard-cats-and-cat-writing-with-mollie-hunt/
Meeting Place, Date, and Time
Where: 1336 NE Flanders St Portland OR
When: Tuesday, April 4th at 7:00 pm
Zoom Registration Link: Register for the Zoom meeting here or at the link above.
April 2, 2023
RECIPES FROM THE GHOST BOOK: Breads
The first section on my grandmother’s cookbook, “Recipes-My Friends and My Own,” is BREADS. Saying I’m not much of a baker is an understatement. When I was a hippie on the commune, we ground our own flour and baked all our breads. That’s where I learned substituting all rye flour for white did not make the bread healthy- it made a loaf heavy enough to be a doorstop.
My grandmother, however, took a different approach. Instead of plain bread (healthy or not), the recipes that greet me on the first page are Orange Coffee Cake, Banana Tea Bread, Jam Fritters, and Orange Loaf (headlined as “A Tested Recipe” in the magazine it was clipped from).
On the next page, prefaced “Boston 1913,” is a handwritten recipe for Maple Sugar and Nut Biscuits, Cornmeal Scones, Nut Bread, and Crisp Waffles. These are all written with a fountain pen, some blue and some black. The black ink has faded to brown.
Finally on page five, we have a recipe for an actual bread, Brown Bread, baked in a coffee can:
Paging through this book is like treasure-hunting.“Put one cupful and a half of small pieces of stale bead into a basin, add one pint cold water and soak over night. Rub through a sieve, add three-quarters of a cupful of molasses and one cupful and a half each of Graham flour, cornmeal and rye meal, one teaspoonful and a half of salt, three teaspoonfuls of soda and one cupful and a quarter of cold water. Steam for two hours.”
Even better, because there is treasure on every page! The next has a folded article from 1926. I can only read the last half of the headline: …Fire Hazards in the Home. What does that have to do with bread?
When I unfold the article, I find inserts from a “Thermax” and a “Gem” waffle iron. Did my grandmother buy a new waffle iron? Is it the one we used for Sunday morning waffles made at the dining table when I was a kid?
In the end, the article folds out to a full page from Better Housekeeping: Summer Desserts Via the Waffle Iron. Strawberry, chocolate, gingerbread, and coffee, plus sponge cake waffles. Yum!
NOTE: But look closer at the illustration on the original 100-year-old article about fire safety!
I still haven’t tried making any of the recipes, but you can. If you want a photo of any of these recipes, email me at molliehuntcatwriter@gmail.com with “Recipe” in the subject line. All I ask is that you send back pictures of your cooking journey as well as the finished item along with your thoughts on the recipe to be posted on this blog.
Happy Cooking!
March 30, 2023
BLOGS I LOVE: Walk Through the Web Wednesday, by Feline Opines
As you can guess, I subscribe to lots of cat blogs and read even more that I come across on the web. There are all sorts—Cat advice blogs, cat memes, cat pictures, cat behavior, cat books, and more. I enjoy several on a regular basis, but one that always stands out is Feline Opines, Walk Through The Web Wednesday.
The Feline Opines header reads, “the world from a feline point of view,” and this is carried out nicely in the first part of the post which is filled with sweet photos of the blogger’s cats, accompanied by their anthropomorphic opinions. These are cute, funny, and engaging. Did I mention pictures of pretty cats, Lily, Alberto, and Oliver?
The second portion of the post is made up of current events involving cats. This is done in a thorough and easy to read format with links to further information. I always find something I didn’t know or hadn’t seen before.
The Human behind Feline Opines is Anita, calling herself “the purrrsonal assistant to a feline Tribe of rescues.” She is a fellow member of the Cat Writers’ Association and published author who considers writing for and about felines as one of her greatest passions. Besides the blog, her website gives info on Feline Approved Stuff, Cat Cafés, Causes, and Feline Music!
Anita writes, “My blog started when I was published in my first Chicken Soup book and they told me I needed a blog. I didn’t want to mimic something others had done, my favorite writing genre is fiction (I love creating characters) and I realized that I had furry characters in my own home. That’s how Feline Opines started because I still believe the world is more fun from a feline point of view.”
Check out Feline Opines for your self here.
March 24, 2023
RECIPES FROM THE GHOST BOOK
In fact they are family ghosts, those of my great aunt Nellie, my grandmother Ethel, and my mother Mary Elizabeth. These ghosts don’t appear as spirits, but their recipes live on in a 1910 cookbook I found among my mother’s things.
“Recipes-My Friends and My Own,” is a blank book with prompts for various foods. As I opened the well-used volume, the first thing that caught my eye was an article pasted on the flyleaf, “Twenty-four Uses for Lemons.” Did you know a cloth soaked in lemon juice and bound around a cut stops severe bleeding?* How about a spoonful of lemon juice in black coffee will cure bilious headache?*
*Try at your own risk. Our grandparents weren’t always right about everything.
On the opposite page is a handwritten recipe for Strawberry Cake and a clip from a newspaper, How to Remove Spots and Stains. But the thing that means the most to me is the declaration at the top:
With best wishes. To Ethel, from Nellie – April 26, 1910
As I thumbed through the book, I not only found recipes from the early 20th century, but later ones as well. It looked like my mother had added some things of her own. In the bottom corner is a handwritten note referring to rationing during WWII: May 4, 1942 – Sugar declared … 2 lbs per person… Oct. ’42, 5 lb per person. On the next page are Cake Frosting recipes cut from a magazine, then entrées on browned newsprint: Tamale Pie, Pilaf, and Italian Spaghetti with Liver (?).
The artwork in this volume is absolutely stunning! Both illustrations and text are thoroughly Art Nouveau. Done in black and red line drawings, they seem so representative of the times- over a century ago! Can you imagine yourself as this lovely young woman in her kitchen whipping up a cake or a loaf of bread for her family? So far removed from the kitchen of today. No microwave, Instant Pot, food processer (or even an electric mixer), no refrigerator, freezer, or dishwasher!
I actually have a few kitchen items from back then. A biscuit press, a nutmeg grater, and an egg slicer spring to mind, but I know there are more. It comes from being the only child of an only child, as well as my inability to get rid of anything. I will dig some of them out and take a few pictures, but that’s for another time.
I’m looking forward to going through this ancient book, reading the many recipes, and even trying some out. Once past the odd little illustration of the serving boy falling on his face, the Table of Contents gives some idea of where we will be going. And since my ancestors didn’t always put things in the correct places, there may be some surprises along the way. (What will we find in “The Chafing Dish” category, I wonder?) This may take a while!
You can still buy an antique copy of “Recipes, My Friends and My Own” on Amazon or Etsy.
March 20, 2023
HAPPY SPRING!
This is the time of year when I rejoice and marvel that I made it through the long gray, and sometimes white, winter. Those dark hours – the sunrise of gloom with sunset coming all too soon – are receding, and from today on, we’re heading into warmer and lighter times!
Let’s celebrate!
Neighbor cat in the wheelbarrow
Would you believe these early daffys are only three inches tall?
Croci in the birch tree root.
Tinkerbelle contemplates spring from inside where it’s warm.
Little wishes you the best season ever!
March 16, 2023
LIFE WITH ANXIETY: THE COMIC CON
Photo by Adarsh Kummur on Unsplash
You may already know how much I love Comic-Cons and conventions. If you’ve never seen your favorite actors in person, answering your questions, talking ad lib, making jokes, and doing skits, you are missing a whole dimension of entertainment. For years, I attended a huge Star Trek convention in Las Vegas, plus many others. I even based one of my Crazy Cat Lady mysteries, Cosmic Cat, on an adventure that begins at a Comic-Con. My health hasn’t been good enough to travel to Vegas these past few years, but when I saw there was to be a local con with many of my favorite actors as guests, I jumped at the opportunity. When I made that choice, I was feeling fine. I couldn’t have foreseen that by the time the date rolled around, I would be deep into an episode of anxiety.
I have what’s called General Anxiety Disorder (GAD). I’ve had it all my life since I was a child. It comes out of nowhere, and blam, I’m deported into a different world, one of monsters and fear, of rapid heartbeats, of exhaustion, and one that makes every other thing on Earth seem not worthwhile. I have medication for it, which works for the most part, but sometimes that sneaky snake of anxiety outwits the meds and curls up in my head and heart. That’s what happened right before the Comic-Con.
For a while, I wasn’t sure I even wanted to go. Nothing is fun when I’m shrouded in anxiety. Still, I would feel bad even if I stayed home. So I went. I enjoyed it, but it was a challenge. This is what I wrote:
Sitting in the audience waiting for the next guest. Life is going on around me-people in costume, laughing and talking about the con. I’m here but not. I wish I were home.
When I first got to the con, I felt normal, like my old self. I walked a long way just to get in the front door, then more to check out the scene. At the guest panel, three stars from Star Trek: The Next Generation, I found myself laughing out loud… Lots! During that hour, as well as the next, a talk with Katee Sackoff who, BTW, is from my hometown Portland I was fine. It was great! I couldn’t remember why I’d felt so badly.
After the presentations, I started cruising the vendors’ area to look at all the cool stuff. That’s when I noticed I was getting tired. Then really tired. I drank some water, then went back to the auditorium and sat down. I ate a granola bar. It didn’t help.
The feelings continued, getting worse. Hard to breathe, headache, bone-crushing exhaustion. I wanted nothing more than to lie on my couch at home, and I had a hard time convincing myself to stay. I wanted to run but was too tired to run. Probably if I’d had my car, I would have left, but my husband was picking me up after the next panel.
The feelings scared me. I tried all the things I’ve learned- even breathing, focusing on one thing in the room, counting. I made it to showtime-one minute at a time.
This was the panel I’d been waiting for, two actors from Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, whom I’d never seen before. I felt better once it started. Was my medication kicking in, or it the program diverting my self-destructive thoughts?
I enjoyed the rest of the panel, then went home and fell into a dead sleep on the couch. The anxiety was back the next day, but I easier to manage because I was at home. Sometimes I just stop and wonder why it happens. If you know, please tell me.
