Cookie’s Ready to Start Baking: From A Year Ago Today
Posted: February 13, 2012 Filed under: cat photographs, cookie, cookie in the kitchen, my household of felines, photographs, senior cats, tortoiseshell cats | Tags: cat photographs, cats in the kitchen, cookie the cat, feline photographs, kitchen cats, pet photography, photography 2 Comments
Cookie's ready to start baking!
Well, look at those bright eyes! I remember this day, a wonderful winter Sunday afternoon with, of course, Cookie in the kitchen as well as everyone else. I think I’ll include this in the series of “In the Kitchen with Cookie”.
Good, let her peel those apples and pears!
Cookie continues her kitchen exploits as I get things ready to make an apple and pear crisp this morning.
Cookie did what most cats do when they want to be a part of something you’re doing—she sat on the nearest piece of reading material, in this case the big old binder of copied and handwritten recipes I keep. I know she’s unaware she’s hanging off the counter, but I don’t think she really cares, she’s ready for action! I could just picture the fruit and enamel pan suddenly flying into the air as Cookie and the cookbook headed for the floor. Didn’t stop me from grabbing my camera first, though.
Cookie naps on the cookbook.
She fell asleep long before the crisp was done, though, enjoying a nice nap in the warm sunny kitchen. I used a different recipe, mostly from memory. Heaven forbid I move her when she’s settled.
Five cats just hanging around.
She set a bad example for all the others, though, as they all gathered around the counter where I work; Kelly is on the refrigerator and Mewsette is on one of the cabinets. I also ended up working on a very small space next to my sink since every time I turned around there was a different arrangement of cats on the counter and table and I felt black cat hairs wouldn’t take the place of the raisins I thought I had. Cookie, though blurry, looks a little annoyed at the others taking a part of her turf.
Actually, we all had a lovely morning in the kitchen as I made the crisp and finished putting things away into the new cabinet I’d moved in the night before. There’s something about a weekend morning kitchen that’s welcoming and comforting with a warm oven, fresh baked goods, watching the birds outside, just spending some relaxed time. I enjoy cooking and being in the kitchen as working with my hands is usually a prelude to creative work, and I’ve always noticed that whenever I spend time cooking or baking, listening to a recorded book or singing along with the radio all the cats have always joined me. It’s a wonderful memory.
Later I had a nice warm piece of the crisp and Kelly shared my vanilla ice cream.
You can see Cookie interacting with my kitchen activities in other photos:
Cookie in the Pasta Bowl
A Cookie in Every Pot
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Cheesecake
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To see more daily photos go to “Daily Images” in the menu and choose “All Photos” or any other category.
All images and text used on this site are copyrighted to Bernadette E. Kazmarski unless otherwise noted and may not be used in any way without my written permission. Please ask if you are interested in purchasing one as a print, or to use in a print or internet publication.
Cookie…Cake?
Posted: December 23, 2011 Filed under: cat photographs, cats, cookie, cookie in the kitchen, daily photo, my household of felines, photographs, senior cats, tortoiseshell cats | Tags: cat in kitchen, cat in mixing bowl, cat photographs, cats, feline photographs, pet photography, photography, tortoiseshell cat 4 Comments
Cookie just fits in the mixing bowl.
I’m glad I look before I add ingredients to the containers Cookie chooses to test for approval for use by kitchen cats.
In this case, a Cookie covered in dry cake mix would be a total change in plans for the evening and for the event for which I was to bake the cake.
Of course, the first part of Cookie’s process of testing and approving bowls, pots, pans and other containers used in the kitchen involves verifying that a complete bath can be taken in the container; in the background Kelly is having a drink of water.
The all-important bath test for kitchen containers.
And then that a comfortable position can be found with all, or nearly all, parts contained inside the container. Apparently, this bowl has met with Cookie’s approval.
View from above; I couldn't get the usual view from directly above this time.
I am glad I have a number of other mixing bowls and can move along with my cake.
Click here to pull together other posts featuring Cookie’s Kitchen Escapades or click on any of the links below to read individual posts:
My Inspirations
So Much for the Apple Crisp
And a Bag of Rotini for a Bed
Cookie Dough in the Salad Bowl
Sweet Dreams, and a…Tomato for Your Pillow
Cookie in the Pasta Bowl
A Cookie in Every Pot
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Cheesecake
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All images and text used on this site are copyrighted to Bernadette E. Kazmarski unless otherwise noted and may not be used in any way without my written permission. Please ask if you are interested in purchasing one as a print, or to use in a print or internet publication.
My Inspirations
Posted: December 4, 2011 Filed under: cat photographs, cats, cookie, cookie in the kitchen, daily photo, my household of felines, photographs, senior cats, tortoiseshell cats | Tags: cat in kitchen, cat photographs, cat with coffee, cats, feline photographs, pet photography, photography, the starry night, tortoiseshell cat 7 Comments
My Inspirations
Coffee and a Cookie?
More than that!
Inspiration No. 1: Cookie, ready to start the day! She’s always been the one to happily accompany me in whatever I do and wherever I go around the house.
Inspiration No. 2: my morning coffee, fresh ground, French-pressed.
Inspiration No. 3: my favorite mug featuring one of the paintings I’ve always found most inspiring “The Starry Night”, by an artist I’ve always found inspiring, Vincent Van Gogh.
Even though Cookie isn’t climbing into my coffee cup or even drinking my coffee (I think she’s waiting for it to cool off) I think this qualifies as a Cookie’s Kitchen Escapades photo. Click here to pull together other posts featuring Cookie’s Kitchen Escapades or click on any of the links below to read individual posts:
So Much for the Apple Crisp
And a Bag of Rotini for a Bed
Cookie Dough in the Salad Bowl
Sweet Dreams, and a…Tomato for Your Pillow
Cookie in the Pasta Bowl
A Cookie in Every Pot
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Cheesecake
—————————————
All images and text used on this site are copyrighted to Bernadette E. Kazmarski unless otherwise noted and may not be used in any way without my written permission. Please ask if you are interested in purchasing one as a print, or to use in a print or internet publication.
So Much for the Apple Crisp
Posted: November 6, 2011 Filed under: cat photographs, cats, cookie, cookie in the kitchen, daily photo, my household of felines, photographs, senior cats, tortoiseshell cats | Tags: cat in kitchen, cat photographs, cat sleeping in baking pan, cats, feline photographs, pet photography, photography, tortoiseshell cat 16 Comments
Cookie in the fruit crisp pan.
I set my favorite enamel pan for fruit crisps on the table, and Cookie immediately stepped into it and did her thing, fitting herself into it at different angles, having a little bath, then finally having a nap. The pan meets her exacting specifications.
This position came after a few other tests, such as the first and most obvious fit. This left too much room in some areas and was therefore unsatisfactory.
Cookie's first attempt at fitting into the pan.
One of the most important tests of any pan is whether or not one can bathe in it. Apparently this pan passes the test as Cookie gave herself a full bath.
It's adequate for bathing.
“Could you just leave me alone to have my nap now?”
Naptime.
I’m sure there will be more, in the meantime, here are other posts featuring Cookie’s Kitchen Escapades including the most recent:
And a Bag of Rotini for a Bed
Cookie Dough in the Salad Bowl
Sweet Dreams, and a…Tomato for Your Pillow
Cookie in the Pasta Bowl
A Cookie in Every Pot
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Cheesecake
—————————————
All images and text used on this site are copyrighted to Bernadette E. Kazmarski unless otherwise noted and may not be used in any way without my written permission. Please ask if you are interested in purchasing one as a print, or to use in a print or internet publication.
And a Bag of Rotini for a Bed
Posted: June 25, 2011 Filed under: cat photographs, cats, cookie, cookie in the kitchen, my household of felines, photographs, senior cats, tortoiseshell cats | Tags: cat in kitchen, cat photographs, cat sleeping in salad bowl, cats, feline photographs, pet photography, photo of seven cats, photography, seven cats in the kitchen, tortoiseshell cat 12 Comments
It's a little small, but it will do.
It’s a little small, a little noisy and maybe not all that comfortable, but Cookie managed to turn an errant bag of rotini pasta into a makeshift bed.
Yes, Cookie has owned the kitchen lately, happily interacting with everything I happen to set down on the table or cabinet. She’s always been curious, though, so it’s not surprising and it’s always amusing to see what she’s decided to do.
In the meantime, here’s a little slideshow of Cookie turning the pasta bag into a bed along with her commentary to me. At one point Kelly comes over to look at her but makes no comment, and Mr. Sunshine sniffs her to make sure she’s okay.
I’m sure there will be more, including on of her nestled in my enamel fruit crisp pan, in the meantime, here are other posts featuring Cookie’s Kitchen Escapades including the most recent:
Cookie Dough in the Salad Bowl
Sweet Dreams, and a…Tomato for Your Pillow
Cookie in the Pasta Bowl
A Cookie in Every Pot
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Cheesecake
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If you enjoy the articles, photos and artwork you find on The Creative Cat, please nominate me in the Petties 2011, Dogtime’s Pet Blog Awards. You can nominate for more than one category, but The Creative Cat seems to fit in the Best Designed Blog because there is no life without images, all those photos and artwork and visual ideas I love to share. You could also nominate me for Best Blog Post if there is a particular blog post you find memorable. I would send any award money to FosterCat for all they do in finding foster homes and permanent homes for cats who have no other chance. Here is the information you need for nomination:
Name: The Creative Cat
Nominee URL: https://portraitsofanimals.wordpress.com/
Nominee e-mail: bernadette@bernadette-k.com
Click here to go to Dogtime’s Petties 2011.
Cookie Dough in the Salad Bowl
Posted: June 23, 2011 Filed under: cat photographs, cats, cookie, cookie in the kitchen, my household of felines, photographs, senior cats, tortoiseshell cats | Tags: cat in kitchen, cat photographs, cat sleeping in salad bowl, cats, feline photographs, pet photography, photo of seven cats, photography, seven cats in the kitchen, tortoiseshell cat 9 Comments
Cookie Dough in the Salad Bowl
Just to prove that Cookie doesn’t have to spend her entire day as my nursemaid, I wanted to show you the other things she does to pass the dull time between emergencies.
Yes, she’s sleeping in the salad bowl. Judging by the other things she’s chosen to curl up and nap inside, she seems to like round things; perhaps it’s because Cookie has always been a little round thing herself most of her life. That’s what you get for choosing the name “Cookie” (she really did, read Cookie and Me, Our 18th Anniversary!)
Where's Cookie?
There were no salad greens in the bowl; under Cookie’s supervision I had begun making a salad from the last of them and washed and rinsed the bowl, dropping a little dishcloth in the bottom to soak up the last of the water, then the phone rang. I set down the bowl and answered, coming back a few minutes later to continue my salad, looked around the room and wondered where Cookie was since she’s nearly always on the cabinet where she also eats.
Then I looked a little more closely at the scene and discovered Cookie Dough in the salad bowl. You have to know that Cookie Dough was one of the first nicknames I found for the the roly poly little speckled kitty, especially for her propensity to curl up in round things and look like a lump of cookie dough, chocolate chips and all (her first was Chocolate Chip Cookie).
Because I was out of salad greens and didn’t want to disturb her, I left her there. Every time I went to put the bowl away until I went to the market, Cookie was in it, so, of course, I continued taking photos!
Cookie Dough swirls in the bowl
And from the back she really looked like Cookie Dough, or perhaps a nice dark bread dough, rising in the bowl! This reminds me of the cartoon by B. Kliban entitled “How to tell a cat from a meatloaf”.
How to tell Cookie from Cookie Dough (check for ears).
Cookie is always patient with me and my camera and sketch pad and other such things, but sometimes she just wishes she could get in a good nap.
The Tortie Look, translation not available on a family-oriented site.
But the truest test of any container in which Cookie might fit herself is whether or not it’s good for a bath. Not quite like the Renoir “The Bather”, but round and soft-looking nonetheless. Love the little pink paw pads.
The Bath
Just to note, I don’t actually let my cats hang out where I prepare food. The last thing I want is a cat jumping up into my workspace when I’m setting down a hot pan from the stove, or heading for the sink with boiling water to pour off the vegetables I’m blanching, plus there’s the matter of cat hair and other things I might not want in my food, but they need to watch what I’m doing when I’m cooking. The little stool I have by the sink isn’t enough when they all want to get into the act and Cookie can’t get up there, so I allow them to observe from the cabinet in the center of the room and the table. My seniors have always had their meals on the cabinet since I can guard the edges from starving juveniles trying to get at tasty senior food. I don’t mix uses for the cabinet by also using it to prepare my own food so that I don’t confuse them or me, although I do prepare their food there on occasion.
My Lucky Seven cats.
I do eat at my table, but since I’ve had as many as ten cats at one time I’ve tried to set down a limit that they are not permitted there while I’m eating, and if I ever feed them any of my own food, I never, ever feed them while I’m eating; usually they eat before me anyway! But ten cats descending on my plate does not seem like a good idea—trust me, it’s happened. Of course, Cookie gets away with a lot, as you would expect, in part because she uses a footstool, my chair and the table as her series of steps to get up onto the cabinet. I am also careful to wash any food-bearing containers she has chosen for a nap.
There are more to come, in the meantime, here are other posts featuring Cookie’s Kitchen Escapades including the most recent:
Sweet Dreams, and a…Tomato for Your Pillow
Cookie in the Pasta Bowl
A Cookie in Every Pot
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Cheesecake
_________________________________________________________
If you enjoy the articles, photos and artwork you find on The Creative Cat, please nominate me in the Petties 2011, Dogtime’s Pet Blog Awards. You can nominate for more than one category, but The Creative Cat seems to fit in the Best Designed Blog because there is no life without images, all those photos and artwork and visual ideas I love to share. You could also nominate me for Best Blog Post if there is a particular blog post you find memorable. I would send any award money to FosterCat for all they do in finding foster homes and permanent homes for cats who have no other chance. Here is the information you need for nomination:
Name: The Creative Cat
Nominee URL: https://portraitsofanimals.wordpress.com/
Nominee e-mail: bernadette@bernadette-k.com
Click here to go to Dogtime’s Petties 2011.
Sweet Dreams, and a…Tomato for Your Pillow
Posted: June 19, 2011 Filed under: cat photographs, cats, cookie, cookie in the kitchen, my household of felines, photographs, senior cats, tortoiseshell cats | Tags: cat in kitchen, cat photographs, cat sleeping on tomatoes, cats, feline photographs, pet photography, photography, tortoiseshell cat 9 Comments
A Tomato for Your Pillow
When a kitty is really tired, anything will do for a bed and pillow.
I was kidding Cookie about perhaps having had a little ” ‘nip” and being, um, a little out of sorts. She sat up, washed her face and had a drink of water, but later she was sleeping there again. Must be tomatoes aren’t such a strange pillow after all.
Cookie’s been otherwise acting up in the kitchen again as well; I’ll post those soon, in the meantime, here are other posts featuring Cookie’s Kitchen Escapades:
Cookie in the Pasta Bowl
A Cookie in Every Pot
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Cheesecake
Cheesecake
Posted: December 18, 2010 Filed under: cat behavior, cat photographs, cats, cookie, cookie in the kitchen, kelly, my household of felines, photographs, senior cats, tortoiseshell cats | Tags: cat photographs, cats in the kitchen, kitchen cats, pet photography, photography, tortoiseshell cats 8 Comments
Two Naughty Torties Eating Cheesecake Filling
Cookie’s at it in the kitchen again!
I turn my back for a few seconds and what happens? Cookie leads Kelly astray and both of them taste-test the cheesecake filling.
I wouldn’t put this past Cookie, but she had been sleeping upstairs. I noticed she came in the kitchen, blinking sleepily, as I was mixing, but didn’t see her up on the table. Still I wouldn’t put it past her to be awakened by the smell the softening cream cheese and follow it down the stairs.
Kelly, however, is an extremely good girl, and it would simply never occur to her to taste the cheesecake filling unless Cookie had set a bad example.
And the first thing I do is take a photo. They didn’t get the chance to eat much. I use an “island” cabinet in the middle of the kitchen for preparing food and feeding senior kitties, and it’s difficult for anyone to get to without my seeing, but I thought the coast was clear. Never underestimate a determined tortie.
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Posted: November 17, 2010 Filed under: cat photographs, cats, cookie, cookie in the kitchen, my household of felines, photographs | Tags: cat photographs, cat with cookies, chocolate chip cookies, cookie the cat, pet photography, photography 8 Comments
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Cookie does enjoy her namesake food, as she shows here with a batch of fresh chocolate chip cookies, still warm from the oven.
I forget these things about her—who would think a cat would like cookies?! Turn my back on her and she’s tasting each one to choose the one she’s going to swipe.
Cookie chose her name from a list of babble from me. When my neighbor brought her to me I called her “Chocolate” because a tortie at that age really looks mostly brown, and she did have a sweet personality. Because she was small, I called her “Chocolate Chip”.
And what is the next likely iteration of that? One evening while calling her out from under the bed so that I could put her in the spare cat room for the night, I called, “Chocolate! Chocolate Chip! Chocolate Chip Cookie! Cookie! Cookie! come here!”
She immediately came out from under the bed with a very surprised look on her face. “How did you know my name?” It has stayed with her for 18 years, though she has plenty of other names too.
And just for the record, “Cookie” is her everyday name. Her show name is “Semi-sweet Butterscotch Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough”. You know how it is with these royal names.
A Cookie in Every Pot
Posted: September 20, 2010 Filed under: cat behavior, cat photographs, cookie, cookie in the kitchen, my household of felines, photographs | Tags: cat photographs, cat photography, cookie, cookie in the cooking pot, feline domestic goddess, feline photographs, pet photography, photography 7 Comments
A Cookie in Every Pot
Cookie continues her series of poses as Domestic Goddess (in addition to being “The Goddess”) by curling up in one of my enamel cooking pots. This time I had no garnish for her; though I would have been glad for a few carrots and stalks of celery, they’d already gone into another pot of soup. I may get some and leave the pot where it is in the hope that she’ll do it again.
This pot being a one-gallon pot, I now know that Cookie’s total volume is just about one gallon of tortoiseshell ingenuity.
Any place is good for a bath.
She is intelligent and self-aware, curious and inventive yet feigns humility, and this habit of crawling into kitchen items has always seemed to be a thinly veiled bid for a photo op. Until recently, she hated having her photo taken, and to my dismay would look away from me at the last minute as I tried to capture her many expressions. Her objection may have only been that she wanted to choose her venue and pose. She’s been very ostentatious about these kitchen poses, pausing to look directly at me, then arranging herself just so.
This is the second in a series, the first being “Cookie in the Pasta Bowl”. My kitchen has no lack of things to get into—safely, of course—the room being very small, and at this time of the year I’m cooking a lot because vegetables are ripe and ready for soups and such. I’ve brought all my extra pots and baskets and mixing bowls out from storage and they are everywhere. But even without all these extra props I’ve found Cookie curled up in the basket with the tomatoes, curled up on my dinner plate while I’m cooking dinner, and curled up next to a rustic loaf of bread on the bread board in imitation of its shape and color.
The Creative Cat 