Purim: The Hamentashen Hunt

Purim commemorates Queen Esther's saving the Jews of Persia from extermination over 2500 years ago. It's a joyous celebration of survival, marked by special pastries called hamemtashen.

Hamentashen are named after the triangular hats worn by the enemies of the Jews. Theycome in  two types: the danishy kind and the harder, cookie type. I prefer the pastry version. They actually look like tri-corn hats (think Paul Revere) and are filled with apricot jam. Some bakers  add almonds and dates  to the mix, but since I don't like nuts and dates give me the runs, I stick with jelly.

Growing up, I got spoiled. One of our big supermarket chains, Stop & Shop, was owned by Jews. Their store bakeries stocked hamentashen. Who would think that these delicious bits of pastry goodness would be avilable year round in goyishe New England?But they were.

Then I moved down to Florida.With one of the largest Jewish communities in the country,I expected similar luck. There wasn't a hamentash to be found. Not in Publix, not in Winne-Dixie, not even on Purim.
So I decided to make my own. Disaster. The Pillsbury Doughboy and I aren't really on poking terms. Rolling out the dough, shaping and filling it doesn't seem too hard, but the reality was that every year they'd fall aprt. I'd wind up with shapeless rolls topped with apricot jelly. Obviously, this baking thing was harder than it looked.

After years of culinary failures, this year I surrendered. I walked down to Winne-Dixie and bought some apricot turnovers. They are triangles-isoceles triangles- afterall. I said a kiddish over them, and prayed for peace between modern-day Israel and Iran. Then I bit into one. Bliss. It wasn't Stop & Shop, but it beat my past culinary efforts. And it was nice to think of Esther and the survival of the Jewish people, o this day, rather than my latest culinary disaster.

Take care,
Tracy

Adventures in Thyroid Land

Hi Efurryone, Raja here.  We haven't posted in so long. I've really missed it. But Mommy had health problems.  A zillion years ago, before I came to live with her, before I was even a kitten, she had a bad disease called cansur.  The hooman vets cured her.  The treatment damaged  her thyroid, though. She takes pills for it.

Mommy explained that the thyroid is a gland in the throat. It's shaped like a butterfly. We kitties have one, too. If the thyroid doesn't work right your body doesn't run right. Some kitties take the same kind of pills as the hoomans do.

Well, Mommy was taking pills, but her thyroid stopped responding. She started not feeling well. She had mini panic attacks, rapid heart beats, nausea, lightheadedness and shakiness. She was so upset. She would hold me and cry. As long as she didn't use me as a furry kleenex, that was okay.

She finally went to the hooman vet. The lady upped her dosage of medicine.  Within two weeks my Mommy was back. She wasn't crying or worried anymore. I am so happy. But she wants to talk now, so I'll let her. I love her so much and was so worried when she was sick. We were all scared.

Tracy here. I just want to warn people that your thyroid influences your whole body. I should have paid more attention to my symptoms. The mini panic attacks, when a frisson of panic would repeatedly shoot through my body, should have been my first clue. The pounding heart  should have been another. I developed both symptoms when I became hypothyroid. Instead, I worried about my blood glucose level, fretted that I was going to wind up in the hospital ( and who would feed the kitties?), and blamed myself for being depressed and anxious. I even accused myself of giving into depression, just like my mother had. Instead I was just sick. 

I'm on a higher dosage of Synthroid now, plus Ativan for the panic attacks (which  I'm needing less and less). My heart still beats funny (I do have mitral valve prolapse), and next month, when I see the doctor, she may increase the Synthroid again. But I spent six weeks attacking myself for a medical problem that I should have picked up on sooner.

So, the moral of the story is, when your body doesn't feel right, check out the thyroid. It's not nice to scare the kitties...

Raja Reveals All!

Hi Efurryone. I thought I'd share some secrets about me (blushes,giggles,covers face with paw):

1.)  I hate sharing my house with other cats. I growl, I snarl, I swat them, but the little monsters won't go away. I stay because I love my mommy. She rescued me from the shelter. This is my home.

2.)  In addition to my regular food I like people food. Mommy always shares a few bites with me. Even vegetables are tasty. But not Coca-Cola. That's icky.

3.)  Even though I have a nice dish of cold water, I like to drink out of the toilet bowl. One time The Man  left the seat up. I didn't look before I jumped up and fell in. I didn't enjoy that.

4.)  I love,love,love the smell of Gain detergent. Mommy uses this hypoallergenic crap with no smell. She bought a sleep shirt at a yard sale and it'd been washed in Gain. I couldn't stop sniff, sniff, sniffing it.. It smelt so good...Where was I?

5.)  I know who peed on the couch, but I'm not telling.

6.)  I like to sneak up and cuddle with Mommy while she sleeps. She needs a bigger bed, though.

7.)   I'm not fat: I'm fluffy.

8.)  If I was a hooman lady I'd wear nail polish, jewerlry and hair bows.

9.)  Yesterday I ate a lizard.

10.)  SometimesI put Panda up to knocking over the trash. He's always happy to oblige.

That's all folks.

Raja