Chester the Big Red Cat

He was big. He was red. He was our cat.

He gave great tail-hugs, twining it around your leg like a vine, especially, let it be noted, at dinner time. His purr was like a bus rumbling by and could be heard through walls. His green eyes glowed like he was lit from within. My brother called Chester the most charismatic cat he'd ever met, and he wasn't alone in that assessment.

He died today at the ripe old age of 15. We'll miss him terribly.

A Bad Case

There are some things I have to avoid completely. Otherwise, I get sucked into the vortex and end up having to claw my way out every time. Certain food groups fit in this category (see oysters, below). Certain people, too. And there was that time I had my first vodka martini. But that was long ago and the lesson was learned.

But the one thing that gets me every time (and I haven't figured out how to avoid it) is puppies. And you have to say it like the Wicked Witch of the West. "Puuuuuuuuuuuuppies." Dangerously cute. Frighteningly cuddly. So infectious that I have only to see them at a distance to catch the disease known as puppy-itis.

This time it's little guy named Walker, a Cardigan Corgi about four months old. He has huge front paws, big wobbly ears and meltingly big brown eyes. "And he's house-trained, and Rosey likes him," I say to Dave, who just shakes his head, knowing I'm deeply in thrall with another canine infection.

The good news is that I've progressed enough at this point in my life to know that it's just going to take a few days (and nights) of togetherness for the magic to wear off and reality to set in. So before I jump into the vortex this time, he's going to be coming for a few days over Christmas to see how he does with Rosey and Chester, not to mention our shoes, since he's going to be at that chewing stage. I'm hoping that'll be the cure and the fever will pass.

But then again, if the honeymoon isn't over when it's time for him to go back? Well, I'll just have to keep you posted.

Fall Has Fell: Roast Chicken

About this time of year, when the temperatures start cooling down and I hear the leaves from our ash trees crunching underfoot, I start thinking about turning on the oven and making some of those favorite dishes that have been left off our tables all summer. What with all the barbecuing of large hunks of meat, the tomatoes (and tomatoes and tomatoes) piling up in the kitchen and the unbelievably fabulous fruit at the farmers markets, what else could we do but surf the avalanche?

So now that things have calmed down a bit, I bought a large roasting chicken at the store. I always ask for the biggest one, the better to have leftovers for other delicious dishes like enchiladas or chicken pot pie. I think the largest I've roasted was over nine pounds, more like a small turkey, really. But still not larger than Chester (right), our gorgeous hunk of 13-lb. marmalade cat. (Still unroasted.)

Anyway, about that chicken. I use James Beard's method, which calls for roasting the bird on a bed of vegetables, turning it every once in awhile to get a good infusion of aromatics of whatever kind. As usual, I mess around with the recipe, covering it with bacon during roasting (afterwards you can crumble the bacon over the mashed potatoes and gravy or use it in a salad), or stuffing the cavity with a half lemon and a bunch of fresh herbs like tarragon or thyme. And doggone if it doesn't turn out beautifully every time! (That's how it gets to be a favorite, you know.)

Jimmy's Roast Chicken Kinda
loosely adapted from James Beard's American Cooking

3 Tbsp. olive oil
1 onion, roughly chopped
2 carrots, halved and chopped
2 ribs celery, halved and chopped
1/2 c. white wine or dry vermouth
1 roasting chicken
1/2 lemon
Handful of fresh herbs (sage, rosemary, thyme or tarragon)
4-5 slices bacon, optional
Salt to taste

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Pour 2 Tbsp. oil into a frying pan and saute onions, carrots and celery (or whatever vegetables you might have) till slightly tender but not fully cooked. Put in 9" by 12" pyrex casserole dish (or your favorite Le Creuset roaster). Pour wine over vegetables.

Rub chicken with remaining 1 Tbsp. oil, throw 1 tsp. or so salt and the lemon and herbs into the cavity and place the chicken on its side on top of the vegetables. If using bacon, drape strips crosswise over the chicken. Place in oven and roast for 25 minutes. Remove from oven, turn chicken on its other side (relaying bacon, if using it, on top) and roast for another 25 minutes. Remove from oven, turn chicken so it is breast-side up (again draping bacon), baste with pan juices and sprinkle with salt. Roast another 15 minutes, remove and baste, then roast a final 20 minutes or, for our tastes, until an instant-read thermometer reads 160 degrees on the inside of the lower thigh. Remove from oven, allow to rest for 10 minutes. We cut it into pieces, but the breasts we remove whole and slice crosswise.