Military Names for Kittens

Fostering kittens and you're stumped for kitten names?  Oh these many many foster kittens!  Or are you a Crazy Cat Lady?  Sure, I have lists of names but this is so much simpler.  Ready?  The Military Alphabet!  Yup, it was developed by NATO because sometimes you just can't hear over the radio or phone EXACTLY what someone is saying.  How does the NATO Phonetic Alphabet go?  I'll bet you already know some of it, whether you've been in the military or not!

• A-alpha
• B-bravo
• C-charlie
• D-delta
• E-echo
• F-foxtrot
• G-golf
• H-hotel
• I-india
• J-juliet
• K-kilo
• L-lima
• M-mike
• N-november
• O-oscar
• P-papa
• Q-quebec
• R-romeo
• S-sierra
• T-tango
• U-uniform
• V-victor
• W-whiskey
• X-xray
• Y-yankee
• Z-zulu

And when you get to the end, start over again! Or just use a few.  A kitten named Zulu is cool.  What about Victor and Oscar and I have a Romeo right now. 
I have a vested interest because my son is, against my wishes, dropping out of college to go join the Marines.  "Join the Air Force," I said. 
"The Chair Force?  Nope."
"Well, you only want to join the Marines to defy me because you know all the men on my father's side are Navy.  I might point out that they got out asap because it wasn't for them."  See, this way, maybe he'll, "jump ship," and NOT be the group who's always the first ones in to battle. 
Nope. 
We watched Battleship again and reminded him that if he wants to fight aliens, join the Navy.  He pointed out Aliens.  I reminded him the Space Marines all died.
And I thought I was winning when I easily talked him out of the Army, even though his best friend from high school is there now. 
Marines.  Sheesh! Worse, he wants to be a doctor but he's joining the Marines first.  Since they don't have docs, he won't even get experience!  If he survives, he'll be like 30 before he even gets started anywhere!  Life is too short, you know? 

Oh well.  What can ya do?

Here's a couple of things I've learned from a vet tech who also fosters (she has over 30 cats and kittens in her house).

She swears this totally works on cat urine smells!

and

Does you cat get sniffles and sneezes and runny eyes, or worse, conjunctivitis?  Well, every one of this latest litter of kittens had Feline upper respiratory infection (URI) and because my youngest cat plays with them, his eye went from drippy to swollen and nasty in less than 12 hours!  A lot of these eye things are a form of herpes and it's super contagious (even to humans, so wash your hands).  The cat rescue group gave me these:

And they help get them over these nasty URIs better than they can on their own.  If you catch it early, this might be all you need but if it takes off, take your pet to the vet.  I took my big baby boy in and the vet gave him 2 anti-biotic shots, cream for his eye AND twice daily anti-biotic medicine.  Even before we started fostering, my indoor-only cats, who's precious little paws never touched dirt, never had a flea, and never saw another feline in their lives would occasionally get runny eyes and start sneezing.  And it would go around to each one of them.  I always wondered if there was something I could be doing to help and this is the stuff. 
And yes, if you haven't tried lysine for your own cold sores, get some for next time.  It helps a lot!

Leftover Thanksgiving Turkey Recipe--Pumpkin Corn Soup

with Ginger Lime Cream

This is based on a Native American recipe from the book, 

and it goes like this:

Soup

• 3 cups corn kernals (I use a bag of frozen)
• 2 diced garlic cloves
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 3/4 white pepper
• 3 cups chicken stock
• 3 cups cooked pumpkin (I use 2 cans)
• as much leftover turkey or chicken meat as you'd like

Heat on the stove top or put it all in a crockpot.  

Ginger Lime Cream

• juice and zest of 2 limes
• 1 tbls grated ginger
• 1/2 cup heavy cream

Heat the juice and ginger until boiling.  Combine with cream and whip until stiff peaks form.  My main workhorse in the kitchen is this:

 

I don't know how I'd cook anything without the stand mixer and the Cuisinart. 

Spoon a dollop of cream into each bowl of soup, garnish with lime zest. Serve it quick before the cream melts!

Leftover Thanksgiving Turkey?

     I've been going over this recipe in my head a few days.  I'm using leftover roasted chicken.  Works the same with leftover Thanksgiving turkey, as you can imagine.

And THIS is 100% SCD diet compatible and absolutely paleo!

Now the recipe is loosely based on your personal tastes and how many leftovers you have.  Here's what I did:

• 4 cups of chopped cooked chicken/turkey
• 1 chopped stalk of celery
• 1 tbls sage
• 1 tbls rosemary
• 1 tbls thyme
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries
• 1 onion
• salt and white pepper to taste
• 3 eggs to hold it all together

Technically, I use this:

I send everything through and it comes out a nice diced mixed product.  But you can chop everything super fine and get the same results (but why would you WANT to?  Sheesh, that's a lot of work)!

Then I take 3 more eggs in one bowl, 2 cups of ground almonds on a plate (ground in the food processor) and I make flattened meatball shaped croquettes out of the turkey mash, dip into the eggs, roll it into the ground almonds.  After that, you just fry in coconut oil and there you have it!

My sauce there is just a raspberry BBQ sauce but think of the things you could be using!

Paleo Cran-Cherry Sauce
Cranberry Sauce – Paleo/GF/DF/EF/SF/NF
3-Ingredient Paleo Cranberry Sauce

London Calling

We celebrated Thanksgiving today by going out to dinner.  A day before the actual holiday (car show tomorrow).  Which makes me wonder, how many other people don't really celebrate Thanksgiving?  I learned in college that the major holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas only exist when you have families.  If you're on your own, well they're just another day of the week.  It took minutes, actually to put it together.  That Wednesday night, everyone in the dorm was leaving to go home for the holidays, our classes done, our bags packed for some much needed R&R.  FINALLY!  All the food I could eat!  Thanksgiving!  I wouldn't have to skip a meal for days, I could eat as much as I could hold!  I called my foster family to find out when they were coming and they told me they forgot about me and hmmmm...no, they couldn't come get me until maybe the weekend.  After all, it was Thanksgiving and they were leaving town to be with family.
Until that moment, I thought I was part of that family.  But if you think I was going to let them know they got to me, HA!  Ok then.  "Nevermind," I said.  "Maybe I'll see you for Christmas."  Which I didn't, of course.
So ever since then, it was just me, then it was 2 of us, now the 3 of us, and soon it'll be just the 2 of us again.  Thanksgiving is like swimming pools, an attractive nuisance.  After decades of cooking huge Thanksgiving meals, ugh, I just got tired of it.  3 years ago, we started going out to dinner and we have never looked back!  And since the restaurant is jam-packed as well as all the theme parks, I wonder, how many other people don't bother with Thanksgiving?

So, speaking of England (where did you think those religious nutter pilgrims came from, huh?), here are some pics:

 Tower bridge from the Tower of London.  Yes, I DID make a special point of seeing poor Queen Anne Boleyn's grave and Queen Jane Grey's.  Anne of One Thousand days and Jane, nine days a queen.  

Traitor's Gate

The London Eye.  Beware of Dr Who and The Fantastic Four

View from the top

And if you think this looks like toys...I played with some tilt-shift and...

 

 

 Westminster Abbey.  Been around since 1066, where William the Conqueror was crowned!  So many famous people buried there.  Everyone.  Elizabeth I and her sister, Bloody Mary.  Darwin, Isaac Newton, and Chaucer.  So this here is the special garden for the monks.  You know they run around barefoot in there?  Religious people crack me up.  Speaking of...

Yeah, no pictures allowed.  Shame no one can take pictures in there, isn't it?

 Yup, better just take photos from the outside, LOL

Why are the lids on Lipton green tea bottles so hard to open?

 

Sometime in the last couple of years, Lipton decided to save a penny per flat by using less plastic to make their lids.  Which means for the last couple of years, I've not been able to open them without a piece of rubber or pliers.  Seriously! Well, the old piece of rubber I had finally rotted to a sticky mess and I had to throw it away but I was still thirsty.  Not to be outsmarted by a bottle of freakin' tea, I decided  that I was going to open that lid, no matter what, because this can NOT be as hard as it seems.  I ended up with 3 blisters on the inside of my hand. 

And I never did get that bottle open.     

 

"Melanie of San Jose, CA on Feb. 21, 2012

Satisfaction Rating1/5

Why are the bottles so hard to open now? I am so upset. My 70 year mother loves Lipton's 12 Bottle Pack of Green Tea and Lemon Tea but now when we buy this, no one can open these darn bottles. The machine that is tightening these bottles is tightening them way, way, way too tight. This is crazy. This must be changed."

"GuardGirl: 1 year ago

Why are the lids on Lipton green tea bottles so hard to open?

i mean i tried for like 5 minutes and still couldnt get it open! almost cut my hand too!" 

"CharmandHappyTellez: 2 months ago | Last edited at 10:19AM on 9/21/2013

I just knew I wasn't the only one. Dang! I Love the Lipton Green Tea but area between my thumb and pointy finger feel all tore by the time I can open. I've even had to pry it ope with a knife. I may need to get a wrench to keep in the kitchen.-- after reading others having same problem,one gal said she uses a plastic shelf line to easily open.Well... I don't have one, so > I inflated an 11" balloon then let the air out. put the balloon over top of the lip, et voilà OPEN."

 Uh huh.  So they've know about it.  Just to be sure, I wrote them a letter myself.  Lipton's response was,

"Thank you for contacting us regarding Lipton Diet Green Citrus Iced Tea. 

Thank you for responding to our email and providing the requested information. We are forwarding your comments to the appropriate staff and you will be receiving a complimentary coupon via postal mail within 7-10 business days.

Sincerely,

Your friends at Lipton."

Does it make you feel as if they care about customer service?  A coupon?  I told them I won't be buying their product any longer because I cannot open the bottles and they are sending me a coupon.  I'd be insulted that they think I can be bought off and all is forgiven if they wave money at me except I know good and well that it's an automated letter and no one ever read my complaint.  And doesn't that make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside?  Better yet:

"MatrixDodgeThis: 1 year ago

I went to the Lipton website: http://www.liptontea.com/help/virtualagent and typed in my own question in the box provided.You typed: Why are the lids on Lipton green tea bottles so hard to open? Information available: We apologize for the experience you reported. The caps are designed to protect product, be easy to open and close, resistant to breakage as well as convenient to use. We will certainly report your comments to Quality Assurance staff."

Notice, that was 1 year ago.

So I'm drinking this ice tea I made that's so good, I'd like to share it with you.  Have you tasted Adagio Honeybush Vanilla?   I used a heavy hand with the ol' stevia in this pitcher, but you know, it's really awesome that way!  I love Southern sweet tea and this is a delightful variant.  Like liquid candy, this stuff!

Need a recipe for Southern sweet tea?  Scroll down to the end of this link.

Paris, France

 

Paris, France

 

 I didn't think I'd like Paris, but in truth, I LOVED it and would gladly go back!

Why?

• The food is AMAZING! Their produce is 100 times better than ours. The closest I've had that can compare was in California, right where it's grown. Everywhere else in the U.S.? Farmers grow the varieties of produce that ship well. Taste doesn't even enter into it. So, in Europe, potatoes have a flavor. And they taste different in England than they do in Germany or France. Yes, they have a genuine taste! Carrots are phenomenal, and I HATE carrots! The meat taste just like ours, so does the frozen food (I accidentally ate at a touristy cafe and although it was not nearly as good as the others, but it was light years better than what we have at home). The chocolate isn't even comparable to ours and just the little things, like tea, is so much better in Paris. If you wondered why Parisian women are thinner while living in the same city as the very best pastries on the planet, it's because it's so easy to eat healthy when the food is actually delicious.
• The City of Lights is gorgeous! You can't beat that architecture. Charming beyond belief! And, like every big city, there are useful shops within walking distance anywhere you are. Cheese shops, little grocery stores, bakeries, restaurants, it's so convenient!
• The people are very nice! We were standing by the bus stop, checking the map to find the subway when a Parisian gentleman asked us, in perfect English, if we needed help. REALLY! I was gobsmacked!
• Every inch of the city is just steeped in history. The French Revolution, the Nazi invasion, Napoleon, Monet, Jim Morrison, movies like, "The Bourne Identity," and, "French Kiss," Funny Face," and, "The Da Vinci Code." There is no where in that city, that you can go where it hasn't already been done and been said, by generations of people before you stepped foot in that spot.
• You have not smelled perfume until you have smelled French Perfume. You know that rancid stench of day old perfume on your clothes? French perfume doesn't do that. It smells sweet and decadent and words can't even describe the rich combinations of scents because it simply does not exist in America.

THIS is the perfume I bought in a gift shop in the beautiful Versailles, France, were Marie Antoinette reigned, for a while. Let me tell you a secret about Versailles.  It is beautiful in it's marble floors and glass mirrors but it is colder inside than out.  And you know those fireplaces did not heat up those giant rooms!  I would bet that half the fashion of France was more about staying warm than looking gorgeous, back in the day.  Scent is closely tied with memories and this perfume now makes me think of winter (it was our winter temps, but their spring) clothes and beautiful sights. 

 

When I got back home, I threw away all my other perfumes. All of them, straight into the trash. My daily wear perfume now is all Dior. It is just as good as those heady wonderful scents in Paris and even London!  

 

Notre Dame

"Light My Fire"

Jim Morrison's Grave

View from the top of the Eiffel Tower

Monet's Bridge in Giverny, France

If you're planning a trip to Paris, please disregard all the nonsense you read from, "world travelers," who insist that no one in Europe wears jeans or sneakers and that scarves are practically mandatory for women. Nonsense.

Although I DID buy a scarf exactly like this one

at Monet's garden in Giverny, France!

My Pretty Green Shoes--"I bought them online."

I want you to know that I have been wearing these Dansko shoes, every day, since June. And EVERY SINGLE TIME I wear them, I get complimented on them. Every single time! And for every single woman I talk to, I keep thinking I'm not giving her enough information. I mean, how much can you tell a total stranger in a restaurant or in the grocery store? I can say that they're comfortable, but what does that mean to you? I end up saying, "I bought them online," but that's not really very helpful. So next time, maybe I should hand out a business card with a link to this post? If I've done this and your here about my pretty green shoes, I'm writing this for you!  

• Comfort: I've always worn sneakers. Good quality. Nike, L.A. Gear hightops, Kswiss, or Reebok. In no time of my life was I ever comfortable in heels or flats or even boots. I wore sneakers. Always. So yeah, when I say my Dansko's are comfortable, seriously, I can jog in these shoes. I have run across a parking lot in a Florida rainstorm more than once.  
• Heels: I have craptastic balance but I feel really secure in these shoes because of the wide strap and the heel isn't very high at all. I have worn these shoes all day long with no problems. I have worn them to car shows out in grassy fields. I have worn them for hours in the mall. The inside feels like suede so you're not slipping around in slick sweaty leather which means I had no breaking-in blisters either.  
• Color: The green works great in the spring and summer and sure worked great for Halloween, but I had to ponder for a long time between the blue and the green. Tough choice.

And for the record, I still wear sneakers.
 

I have these in blue and white and I wore them walking all over England, France, Italy, and Germany. My shoes have seen more castles and ancient ruins than should be legal for one pair of shoes! Matter of fact, I brought hiking boots with me. I ditched them in London because my Danskos were WAY WAY more comfortable!

Here I am wearing them in Pompei.

My Dansko shoes walked all over Europe and I never even got a blister.