The amazing Jazz&Gigi: September 2012

9/27/2012

A home without a cat...

"A home without a cat -- and a well-fed, well-petted and properly revered cat -- may be a perfect home, perhaps, but how can it prove title?"
Mark Twain

My little Jazz sleeping on my bed...

Anchovies and cats

Gigi's sooo happy when he eats fresh tuna

Today we start up a new label about recipes and food: Italian cooking (with cats). That "with cats" means that cats are my helpers. At least, they try to be my helpers.

This first recipe was meant to be posted on May, the 5th (Gigi's birthday), but on May this blog didn't exist, so wu post it now.

Anchovies with oregano

Today it's Gigi's birthday. He gets eight. It's not a little thing, if you're a cat.
I want to give him something special. Something to make him happy.
I know he doesn't know it's his birthday.
Cats don't care about birthdays and such things.
But I'm not a cat, and as I know it's his birthday, I will do something special.
Now, I perfectly know Gigi's favourite dish is fresh, raw tuna.
I can't really explain you how happy he looks like when he can taste it.
But woe!, today my fishmonger has no fresh tuna. Not even a single scale of tuna.
“No tuna, I'm sorry”, he tells me with his usual sad look, “But I have anchovies.”
Now, fresh, raw anchovies are Gigi's second favourite dish.
“That will do”, I answer. Then I think better: Gig's not the only one who likes anchovies. Jazz loves anchovies too. I love anchovies as well. It's pointless buying anchovies for Gigi only. I'll better take them for the whole family. “Ok, I'll take one kilo.”, I decide. One kilo is a little bit more than two pounds. Okay, let's say two pounds.
“Do I have to...”, starts the fishmonger.
“No”, I interrupt him, “I'll do it.”
“Thank you”, he answers with a sad smile.
My fishmonger is a nice, young man, but I'm afraid he simply hates fish. He's always afraid I may ask him to clean it. And I well could, because cleaning the fish is one of the services he should provide. But he doesn't like it and always hopes people will not ask for it.
He looks at me with his sad eyes (sadder than a spaniel's ones, and if you have ever lived with a spaniel then you know they can have extremely sad eyes), and asks me if I do really want my fish to be clean.
He's so sad I nearly never dare to make him face this hard task.
Like now, I'll clean the anchovies myself. It's not that hard after all. I hope...

My fishmonger looks like a sad spaniel

And now for the recipe...

Ingredients, for two people and three cats (one of which being Gigi)
1.    Anchovies, 2 pounds
2.    Dry, ground oregano, one cup at least
3.    Olive oil, one spoon
4.    Garlic, one or two cloves
5.    White wine (dry and still), half a glass
6.    White vinegar, half a glass
7.    Salt

Proceedings
First of all, I must tell you that this is not a recipe I invented on my own. It's an ancient Neapolitan dish that fishermen used to eat when they came back after a hard day on the sea. At least, I think I've read somewhere something of this kind.
Anyway, my family cooks it since immemorial age, so I'm quite sure it's an ancient Neapolitan recipe.
Ok, let's start.
1.    I start cleaning the anchovies. That's the harder task. I put them in the sink under a gush of cold water and start. But as soon as I unwrap their parcel, I hear a clear “Meow!” I know it's Gigi. Gigi's my only cat who can spell a clear “Meow!” Kara usually says “Chirp!” while Jazz says “Bahhh!”...
2.    I clean one single anchovy and hand it to Gigi. He sniffs it. He eats it. He likes it. Hurra! It means these anchovies are good. You know, Gigi is very demanding about anchovies: if they're not extremely fresh and extremely good, he won't eat it.
3.    Kara and Jazz reach Gigi. They all start meowing pitifully at my feet as if they didn't eat since centuries. I know it's not true, because I filled their bowls myself only a couple of hours ago. So I pretend I can't hear them and proceed with my cleaning.
4.    And now for the anchovies. Yes! I've been trying to put off this moment, but I have to face it in the end. Now I understend my poor and sad fishmonger: cleaning fish is not a happy thing to do. When they're alive, anchovies are slender and silvery little fishes, very elegant and charming. When they're dead, they become slimy little creatures that stare at you with blank, accusing eyes. I behead and gut them, and take off their bones, trying hard to swallow my guilty feelings. In the end my hands are all covered with blood and I feel like Lady Macbeth after the king's murder.
5.    I choose a certain amount of anchovies for my cats. I won't tell you how many anchovies I pick. You'd think I usually spoil my cats and this is not absolutely true. Suffice to say that in the end they're very, very happy.

Gigi's my only cat who can say a proper MEOW

6.    I chop up the garlic and mix it with salt, wine and vinegar. I whip them with a fork and medidate about to things. First, now I know that my fingers will smell like garlic for the rest of my life. When I have to chop onion or garlic I usually wear surgical gloves, but this time I forgot to do it. Woe on me! The second thought involves my milanese friends: I even think I can see their disgudted faces in front of my vinegar, because they're very sentimental and think that fresh anchovies can only be eaten marinated, with just a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil and a spray of extra-fresh lemon juice. But this is not a milanese recipe, so who cares?
7.    I pour my olive oil in a large pan, where I lay my clean anchovies together with my mixture of garlic-salt-wine-vinegar, then I light the fire. A slightly intense fire, if you know what I mean.
8.    Anchovies start cooking and I start sirring them.
9.    Cats come back to tell me they ate all the fish, and ask if they can have some more. I tell them the truth: there are no more anchovies for them. But they don't believe me and start crying desperately. Poor little souls!
10.    I fill again their bowl with dry cat food, then run back to my anchovies before they char.
11.    I stir them again and add my oregano. I have tons of dry oregano in my pantry, because my mother sends me every year a lot of it, and I never know how to use it. Do you need a bit of dry oregano? You only have to ask me...
12.    I stir again my anchovies until they're ready. When are they ready? When they're cooked, of course. Okay, let's say that they have to cook for about 10 minutes, until nearly all its liquour is dried up.
13.    You can eat them hot or cold, with or without a slice of bread. Or with or without your cats!
14.    Enjoy your meal!

9/24/2012

New news

As we've already told you, being a professional ~~scribbler~~ writer, our human woman ~~is quite poor~~ isn't very rich.
So we cats always think about a way to earn some more cents to buy our daily tuna.
Therefore today we invented our official amazing store.
At the moment we only have one product (a very beautiful one, in our humble opinions), but soon there will be so many things that you will not know where to look.
And we really hope you'll like it a lot!
Thanks

Jazz&Gigi (+ Kara)

PS: the store is here!!!!

(Kara)

Feline Mobile

Old Mobile Technology

9/23/2012

Sniff sniff

Some people love sniffing books.

And some people love sniffing cats...

Rising sun

Some people wake up in the morning with the rising sun.
I usually wake up in the morning with a rising (and extremely loving) Gigi-cat.

9/22/2012

Litter-boat

Last year we changed our litterbox for the third time.
This one is quite pretty, being shaped like a small boat.
Well, as a boat it is small, but as a litterbox it's decidedly large. It's the jumbo sized one, made for large cats like maine coons.
I need it for Gigi, because he doesn't fit ordinary litterboxes.
Gigi's a bit large, yes.
Actually, as a maine coon he's not that large.
Only he's not a maine coon...

Gigi Potter and the wizarding dinner

Dinner time is always a magical moment ;-)

PS: the green stuff in the tin can is only spinach!

9/21/2012

Double Kara

No, they're not two cats. It's only Kara playing with a mirror...

Anna Karenina

I must confess: I love silly jokes and puns.
Now it's Anna Karenina's turn.
I simply couldn't help making jokes with her name and Kara's.
Please, forgive me...

Misunderstandings

This is quite embarassing, but I'm sure it's something that frequently happens among cat lovers.
Cat lovers consider cats as part of their family, not only pets.
I'm sure you understand.
Cat lovers carry their furbabes' photos with them. Now they do it thanks to their mobiles, once they kept them in their wallets.
And when they go out and meet people they love talking about their little ones.
But sometimes they happen to meet people who do not understand at once that they're not talking about human babes...

Today's menu

I know you will not believe it, but many cat lovers actually think that a pinch of cat hair will add a very special something to every dish they cook.
The truth is that if you have cats, you simply cannot cook without having cat hair among your ingredients.

Autumn leaves

No, my dear Kara. Autumn is not near: Autumn is here.
So it's time to grab my camera and go to parks and gardens to take pictures of dead leaves, bare trees, frozen soil and all this sort of season symbols.
How gorgeous!

9/20/2012

Shades of grey

Gigi and Kara: only two shades of grey. But the best ones...

My jewels

Feline earrings

Masterpiece

This summer we've visited Florence.
Of course, in such a city we've seen a lot of art.
And we just couldn't help admiring that worldwide famous masterpiece that is Michelangelo's David.
The very symbol of Florentine Renaissance, it is placed in the Accademia Gallery since 1837, but we can still see its copy in Piazza della Signoria.
Now, my cat Gigi has quite a high opinion of himself, so he believes he would look much more handsome than David.
But I'm afraid that Mr. Buonarroti would not agree...

Cats and the City

I had never been to New York before.
Well, actually I had never been outside Europe.
A bit of Switzerland, a bit of France, a bit of Greece. Nothing more.
I was sure I would never see NYC, but then... something happened, and this year I spent a WHOLE WEEK in the Big Apple. And it was quite awesome, I must confess...
I still can't believe I've really been there.
So, here I made a little drawing inspired by Sex and the City, which was the main subject of my holidays.
But in doing it I had a problem. Because I have three cats, but only one furry girl.
So I only have one Carrie Bradshaw, that in my case of course becomes Kara Bradshaw.
And Jazz and Gigi? They may be both Mr. Big.
Well, as you can see they certainly ARE big...

PS: as a background, I chose the Chrysler Tower at sunset. I'm very proud of this pic.

Splash

As I already told you, Kara loves playing in the bathtub.
But she doesn't know it's not something meant for lively kittens.
In this house sometimes humans use the tub too...
This morning it was my turn.
Usually I close the door, but now today the phone rang and I forgot the door open with the tub full of foam and water.
And Kara did not expect it...

Cheat

I'm afraid that sometimes Gigi is quite a cheat.
And Jazz quite a sucker...

9/19/2012

I'm calling you

You call your cat.
But he won't come.
Why?
Maybe there's something wrong... with you, of course!

Look alike?

Little Kara is somewhat puzzled by her paper doll...

I love you...

...don't you?

Alpha man

If you want to be an alpha man, a cat is not your pet: he will never let you be his boss.

9/18/2012

Spay, spay, spay (2)

If you love them, you spay them (part 2)...

Feline nail tutorial 2

1) Download, print and cut out the little cats .
2) Spread white polish on your nails.
3) Place and glue the little cats on your nails.
4) Cover them with transparent polish.
5) Ready.

9/17/2012

Spay, spay, spay...

If you love them, you spay them...

PS: we hope that sir Paul McCartney (a man we sincerely love with all our hearts) will not sue us for this... as we're so poor we could only pay him with a fishbone...