Cat Got Your Diamonds
Page 27
I didn’t like her.
“Yep.” He turned to me and let his lids fall shut for a long beat. When he reopened them, he formed a tight line with his mouth. “Lacy, this is Tabitha.” He glanced her way. “Tabitha, this is Lacy.”
My mouth dropped. “This is Tabitha?” The roommate? Dead Grandpa Smacker’s girlfriend? Holy gold diggers! Money bought at least one old guy happiness. She was even wearing gold. I snapped my mouth shut. “Nice to meet you.”
She scrutinized me. “This is the girlfriend?”
Um, what? I looked behind me for another woman.
Jack took my hand in his. “Yep.” He lifted our hands to his lips and kissed my knuckles. “Well, honey, I’m going to take Tabitha home. I’ll be back to pick you up when you call.”
He gently kissed my cheek, lingering his mouth near my ear. “Sorry. I didn’t see her coming. Please go along with this and let’s never talk about it again.”
He bowed away and zipped through the crowd with the life-sized, female Oscar statue.
My phone buzzed a moment later. A text from Jack.
That never happened.
I dropped the cell phone back into my clutch. Um, yes, that definitely did happen, and I’m going to find out why.
Furry Godmother’s Peanut Butter and Banana Pupcakes
Makes 6 full-sized cupcakes.
Pets love to party with their people, and these yummy treats are a safe way to include the furriest family members in every celebration.
Pupcake Ingredients
1½ cups whole wheat flour
⅓ cup rolled oats
2 ripe bananas
½ cup natural, unsweetened applesauce
½ cup natural peanut butter
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
Creamy Peanut Butter Icing
6 oz. of cream cheese
4 oz. of smooth peanut butter
1 tbsp. of extra-virgin olive oil
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Line a muffin pan with paper cups or prep your tin.
3. Mash up bananas. Add eggs, vanilla, applesauce, and peanut butter.
4. Combine flour, oats, baking powder, and baking soda.
5. Add flour to banana mixture and stir.
6. Scoop batter into muffin tins or paper liners.
7. Ask your dogs to clean the bowl. They’ll be great helpers!
8. Bake pupcakes for 18 minutes.
9. Remove the muffins from the oven and move to a wire rack until completely cool before icing.
10. Blend cream cheese, peanut butter, and oil in medium bowl until smooth.
11. Spread creamy peanut butter icing on cooled pupcakes and resist taking a big bite! These are for the dogs, silly.
Furry Godmother’s New Orleans Pawlines
Makes approximately 2 dozen pawlines.
No candy is more iconic to New Orleans than the praline. Much like Lacy’s family, pralines made their way to the city from France and grew into something uniquely New Orleans. Here’s an animal-friendly version of the praline that’s safe to enjoy with your pet.
Pawlines Ingredients
3–4 slices of bacon
1½ cups whole wheat flour
½ cup wheat germ
½ cup melted bacon fat
1 large egg
½ cup water
2 tbsp. all-natural maple syrup (optional)
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Fry bacon until crispy. Remove from pan and crumble. Set aside a small amount as topping.
3. Allow bacon grease to cool.
4. Add egg, water, and optional syrup to the bacon fat.
5. Mix in flour, wheat germ, and crumbled bacon.
6. Roll to ½ inch on a floured surface and cut into circles or use your puppy’s favorite-shaped cookie cutter and move to lightly greased cookie sheet.
7. Top with remaining bacon crumbles for crunch and sass.
8. Bake 20 minutes or until lightly browned.
Furry Godmother’s Tiny Tuna Tarts
Makes 3 dozen tarts.
Show your cat you care with these homemade treats. Made from scratch and baked with love, Miss Mittens will never doubt your dedication again, unless you try to feed her more of that store-bought stuff.
Ingredients
1 can tuna in oil, drained
1 egg
1¼ cups of flour
½ cup water
1 tsp. of parsley, finely chopped
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Mix tuna, egg, flour, water, and parsley into a sturdy dough.
3. Roll dough to ½ inch on a floured surface, adding flour as needed to handle dough.
4. Cut into 1-inch rectangle and move to a prepared cookie sheet.
5. Bake for 20 minutes. Tarts will rise as they bake.