Bovine + Flour = Miet Mache

Fine readers, I'll have you know that I prepared my taxes evening last. It took me about 2.5 hours, and the cats seemed to understand my need to remain undisturbed. Usually, when I sit down that's an open invitation to my lap and whatever may or may not be on it; dinner, laptop, magazines, etc. Last night, the kittens were given strict instructions not to jump on my lap, and for the most part they followed them to a tee. Occasionally, their instincts had the better of them and they found themselves being thrust from my lap, but they seemed content to sit on the couch and snuggle with eachother. Ahh, kittens. So cute, yet occasionally so obnoxious.

After finishing my taxes, I treated Nano to a game of Blue Mouse. It's a very similar game to Green Mouse, with the only distinction being the color of the mouse. If you aren't familiar with Green/Blue Mouse, here are the rules... I throw the mouse in his vicinity, and he catches it. If I slide it along the floor, he bats it around until he reaches a wall. Traditionally, the game is closer to the canine sport of "fetch", but now that Nano's reached the ripe old age of 5, he is no longer interested in returning the mouse to me. But I'll be damned if I can get the mouse past him. You might almost describe his reflexes as "catlike". And the pride he takes in catching (literally) the mouse out of the air, I can only assume, is equivalent to a parent watching his/her child win an Olympic event. [Tear]

As I lay in bed last night, circa 10:00 in the PM, I was awoken by the thought that I had to make my breakfasts for the rest of the week. I dragged myself downstairs and put together my oatbran/strawberry/flax seed/butter/water/honey concoction. Done!

Shit, I also wanted to make beef stew for dinner tonight. Knowing how angry Morning Coot would be with that lazy son-of-a-bitch Evening Coot, I conceded and set to work preparing all of the ingredients. The bonus here was that I got to put my kickass Wusthof knife to work. That thing will cut your whole arm off if you aren't careful.

I chopped and I chopped and I chopped some more until I had three bowls of meat and veggies assembled. I coated the meat cubes in a flour mixture per the recipe and put everything in the fridge.

ERROR! ERROR!

Some of you might recall a little arts and crafts project commonly known as Papier Mache. Well, I made Miet Mache (French for Meat Mache) as the flour mixture formed a nice tight bond between the cubes of deceased bovine. This was certain to make one terrible stew, so I had to painstakingly separate each cube from the pack. An inconvenience sure, but when Afterwork Coot is enjoying his stew, it won't seem so bad that Morning Coot had to do all of that work.

Sniff, sniff. Yup, that stew is going to be delicious.

I must bid you adieu whilst I begin digesting a delicious grilled reuben sandwich.

Over and out,
Old Coot