Emmy's nummy cheesey mushroomy turrrky wet stuff

Emmy's human needs lots of help and advice in the kitchen.  This is how Emmy advised her to make dinner the other night when she hadn't been to the grocery store and had very little to work with.

Emmy does not really measure, she cooks from the "hip" so to speak.  But we will do our best to let you know how much we used so you can make this same nummy cheesey mushroomy turrkey wet stuff.  This is what Emmy's human had on hand:

• some mushrooms, about 15 large white buttons
• some leftover soup made with turkey broth (1 qt, but mostly broth and few vegetables or goodies left in it)
• some bits of leftover turkey (about 1/2 c)
• grated cheese (8 oz or more)
• bits of leftover carrots and green beans (about 1/2 cup each)

For some reason Emmy's human wishes to stress
that this may not be the kind of mushroom
you should use.  Emmy thinks it looks very
pretty, but her staff say we should only use
mushrooms from the grocery store.
(How unimaginative!)

First we sliced and sauteed the mushrooms with olive oil in a nice big saute pan.  As they were simmering, we placed 8 oz. of the leftover soup's broth into a pint mason jar (this is why Emmy's human loooves containers) along with two tablespoons of flour and shook it vigorously.

When the mushrooms were nicely sweated (but not cooked down to little crispy critters) we added the flour/broth mixture to the mushrooms and stirred gently over medium heat.  We didn't want to boil this mixture, just warm it slowly.

As the mushroomy saucey started to thicken, we added lots and lots of grated cheese.  Not all at once, but a handful at a time, and stirred to combine.  When all of the cheese was added and the sauce was nice and thick, we added back in the rest of the left-over soup.

While that was warming, we chopped up the leftover turkey, carrots, and green beans, and added them in.  Now you can taste and see if the soup needs any seasoning.  Ours did not . . . the mushrooms were very flavorful and the soup had already been seasoned.

We served this to Emmy's human's husband with some Parmesan cheese and croutons added on top.  It was very hearty and flavorful, and just right for a cold almost-winter's evening.  (As we all know, winter didn't begin until 9.30 last night, so this was not yet a winter's evening).  This soup was a huge success, and resulted in lots of undeserved praise for female staff, but none for Emmy.  Doesn't he KNOW who is in charge here?

Fortunately for him, he scratched Emmy's head in just the right way and told her again that her fur was very silky.  This redeemed him somewhat.  After all, what can royal felines like me really expect from mere humans in her household?

Of course, you can also use this basic recipe to make new nummy cheesey mushroomy turrkey wet stuff, even if you don't have a lot of leftovers.  But Emmy thinks you should do the vegetables and broth and soupy bits first, and then make the mushroomy cheesey part like Emmy suggests.  Enjoy, and please leave Emmy a nice compliment below, because as we have noted, she got NO credit in her own home!

What kinds of nummy wet stuff do you make from your leftovers?

Emmy Cleans

Miss Emmy is a very fastidious young lady.  In fact, she spends much of her day grooming, which is partly why she has been extensively assisting her human (see here) in revamping and organizing the grooming zones of her abode.

But being fastidious with one's grooming also means being fastidious with one's home . . . that is if one is TRULY discriminating.

Over the years Miss Emmy has observed how humans clean themselves (the process is truly terrifrurring, and none of it involves licking the back of one's leg) and their homes.  While she can do nothing about human aversion to the superior technique of feline grooming, she can certainly assist in advising how to clean one's home.

After all, the royal litter box is an item of concern to both felines AND humans, and keeping IT clean is an absolute MUST.  It is perhaps the one area where both species are intimately involved (apart from feline-feeding), and it must be maintained in a way that is agreeable to both.

Miss Emmy should also mention the bird cage, which also requires maintenance.  The budgerigar of the household, Miss Guinevere, is a very messy individual who scatters her feathers and food in all directions, and who has no idea how to use a litterbox (enough said on that topic).  It is our considered opinion that this disorderly individual should be served with some fava beans and a nice Chianti, but for some reason our human discourages this route.

Therefore Miss Emmy has advised her human how to keep this cage clean AND do it easily. (After all, the less time our staff spend on maintaining other creatures, the more time it has to spend on US).

So in the next several days, Miss Emmy will advise humans on some basic cleaning steps related to these two items . . . and will quickly move on to other topics and challenges.  I am very busy here thinking in my retreat under the bed, and have much information to share.

Do you have any advice to share with my staff on creating a more fastidious and discriminating environment for its CEF (Chief Executive Feline)? If so, please comment below!


(As always, Miss Emmy is grateful to the Graphics Fairy for her elegant images.  The silhouette of the human cleaning and the bird cage are both here courtesy of Miss Fairy.)

Terrifurrcation for Kittys

Dear Subjects,

This is truly a terrifurring day.  There are huge, huge paws tromping on top of my palace, making noise and tearing things away.  These paws must have enormous claws, because pieces of roof are falling down everywhere. 

Emmy would have suggested to her Human that something should be done?  Perhaps under these very unusual circumstances, we might consider bringing in back-up, (maybe a Rottweiler?) to do some purrtection services? 

Emmy retires majestically.

Of course, Emmy would have to retire majestically to some quiet place of contemplation should it become necessary to hire such staff . . .

But Emmy was unable to give her human orders, having experienced a sudden, immediate need to quietly contemplate under the bed. 

This is truly the best location for planning our next projects while thinking of what we shall do once these big paws stop whatever it is they are doing up there.

In the meantime, perhaps we will see if our Human has discovered any new space for Emmy to inspect (purrrfurrrrably quiet and dark). 

Once things quiet down, Emmy must go up and inspect everything, and then purrrhaps she will acquire some MoonDust for dear Miss Graphics Fairy.

Emmy's human speaks

Occasionally Emmy must allow her human to speak.  Emmy knows that this intrusion must be jarring to her many legions of fans and followers, but sometimes we must allow the "help" a little latitude.

I appreciate Emmy for allowing me to step into her space this morning.  I just wanted to write about how grateful I am for my friend Gayle, and for my daughter Jennifer.  They visited me for critique group yesterday, and we had a wonderful, productive session.  Gayle's writing is ethereal, enchanting, haunting.  Jennifer's writing is so good and so promising, and she endures critique from two "old hands" (or old "paws" as Emmy would say, possibly), like a pro (visit Jennifer's blog, "Just a Girl in the World" here).

Further, they both stepped in and counseled me to get to the heart of what was stalling me in my blog, Addicted2ContainersAndSpaces.  I realized I had so much more to say, and did not know how to fit that into the constraining "space" of containers and spaces, even though there was much to say there as well.

We finally determined that a new "space" was necessary to "contain" these additional thoughts (much as I have dreamed of finding a new closet or room in my home), and then brainstormed together what this space should be.  My new inspiration, Emmy Dickins (who is settling in to managing her home and her humans very nicely) channeled her thoughts and made her desires clearly known.  Each of us realized that Emmy ultimately had a lot to say, and much advice to give.

With delight and excitement, we began exploring titles and domains, and noted that Emmy has many recommendations, or proposals (purrposals, as she would say -- thank you Gayle!) for crafters, cooks, homekeepers, petkeepers, and more.  We consulted her and she agreed that Emmy Dickins Purr-poses was her blog title of choice -- and things immediately got rolling.

Emmy created two pages last night and has been mulling topics and organization.  The two of us must leave you for now while we go back to our project of this morning -- creating never-ending Christmas cards.  Emmy plans to document this process for her readers, and we will tell you more about this on her crafting page.

But before we close, we both wish to say how grateful and thankful we are that Gayle is with us today.  She went from being the most accomplished and energetic outdoorslady this time last year to suffering the most life-threatening and deadly illness you can imagine.  There were weeks and weeks through last spring that we feared she wouldn't be with us past summer.  But she is -- she has scored a magnificent victory, and is well on her way back to being the inveterate hiker, cyclist, cook, and entertainer she has always been.  And she has done so with the most excellent form of Grace.

God bless you, my friend!

Emmy's Human

Note from Emmy:  Although I spend my time snoozing under the bed when my human has any company, I am also delighted at Gayle's miraculous recovery.  

 

Emmy appreciates Cathe Holden at Just Something I Made

  for sharing this purrfectly delightful button with her readers.  

Emmy knows with great certainty that because 

she is an artist, Cathe Holden is a svelte Abyssinian,  

the noble cats depicted in ancient Egyptian statues.

Emmy Dickins advises her human

It is sometimes purrfectly baffling to me how humans continue to survive.  I mean, have you ever seen a human clean her face with her paw?  Ever?