Hot tile roof + 90 degree sunny skies = one cat risking heatstroke
Vanessa had been in playing with Matthias in our bedroom, and when she left (after singing the baby to sleep), she forgot to close the door all the way.
Abby, being a curious cat, used that opportunity to crawl out our bedroom window onto the roof - probably hoping for a grand adventure of chasing birds and mice.
Unfortunately, the side of the roof she crawled out onto was in full sun, and none of the neighbors had their awnings down which she could use to jump down onto and get to ground. Consequently, she was stuck on the roof.
I first noticed she was missing after she'd been out for about a half hour, and we looked out the window and saw she was about 4 apartments down the roof and just laying there in the sun. Luckily for her, that particular neighbor was home and was herself trying to coax Abby out of the sun. Hubby went in and plucked the cat off the roof and brought her back here, where we doused her liberally in cold water until she stopped panting and drooling.
We called the vet to get advice and to see if they thought we needed to bring her in; but unless we could get a temperature reading from her (and I'll give $50 US to the first person brave enough to try to hold her down and put a thermometer up her butt), they couldn't be sure she needed to be brought in. They also didn't want to have to sedate her to take the temp, because if she DID have heatstroke, the sedatives could kill her.
So, she had to endure 10 minutes of being chased into the bathroom and subsequently drenched thoroughly until she looked like a drowned rat and could only meow at us as if to say, "ALL RIGHT ALL READY I'M WET!!"
In funnier news, Hubby had the girls do the dishes today, and Morgan piped up with, "I don't understand where all these dishes come from; we only ate once yesterday..."
First, they had 3 squares, 2 snacks and enough chips to cause a shortage of potatoes in Idaho. Naturally, they used a new plate each time for each snack, etc - and let's not forget the ice cream after dinner, too!
Dinner yesterday was a very nice pork tenderloin dish, I'd actually highly recommend it. I'll list the recipe below:
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Oven Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Braeburn Apple Puree
2 to 3 pork tenderloins, 3 pounds total weight, trimmed of excess fat and silver skin
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
3 tablespoons canola oil
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon packed light brown sugar
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Braeburn Apple Puree, for serving, recipe follows
Sauterne Wine Reduction, for serving, recipe follows
Place the pork tenderloins in a large non-reactive pan.
In a mixing bowl combine garlic, crushed red pepper, canola, soy sauce, ginger, vinegar, brown sugar, mustard and allspice and pour over the pork tenderloins, turning over to coat both sides. Cover the pork tightly and marinate in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours, and up to 12 hours.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and remove the pork tenderloins from the marinade.
Season pork with salt and pepper and sear on all sides in a hot, nonstick, ovenproof skillet over high heat.
Transfer to oven and cook to an internal temperature of 150 degrees F, about 12 to 15 minutes. Let rest for 5 minutes before serving with Apple Puree and Sauterne Wine Reduction.
Braeburn Apple Puree:
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup minced shallots
8 cups peeled, cored and diced Braeburn apples, about 6 apples
1 sprig fresh thyme
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground white pepper
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
3 cups apple cider
Set a 12-inch saute pan over medium heat. Add the butter to the pan and once melted, add the shallots and sweat until softened, about 1 minute. Add the apples, thyme, salt and pepper to the pan and saute, stirring occasionally until the apples begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Pour the cider vinegar into the pan and cook until it is nearly evaporated, about 1 minute. Add the apple cider to the pan and raise the heat to high. Bring the pan to a boil and continue to cook the apples, stirring occasionally, until they are very soft and the cider is nearly completely evaporated, about 15 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and remove the thyme sprig from the apples. Place the apples into a food processor and puree until smooth, about 1 minute. Remove from the food processor and serve alongside the pork tenderloin.
For the Sauterne Reduction:
4 cups or 1 (750-ml) bottle Sauterne wine
In a large heavy saucepan, bring the wine to a boil over high heat. Continue cooking at a low boil until the wine thickens and reduces to a syrup measuring 1/3 cup, about 20 minutes.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/oven-roasted-pork-tenderloin-with-braeburn-apple-puree-recipe/index.html
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Now, I made a few substitutions, as follows:
First, I didn't have a sprig of thyme, I used a pinch of dried instead.
I halved the amount of ginger and doubled the amount of Dijon. My pork marinated for 4 hours.
I didn't have shallots, so I used regular white onions.
I used a can of hard apple cider (Somersby's)instead of normal cider (you can't get apple cider like we're used to in the US here in DK - it's either apple juice, or hard cider - and I'm tempted to drive down to Holmberg's in December just to get a few gallons)
Since hard cider isn't spiced like the cider back home, I also added a Tablespoon of cinnamon, a half teaspoon of nutmeg and some freshly ground cloves, as well as a cup and a half of sugar, because I felt that the cider vinegar here was coming through a little too strongly - so you might want to taste before you add sugar to yours.
Oh, and I didn't bother with the wine reduction - none of us are really wine drinkers and to be honest, it was more work than I wanted to do (like I hadn't done enough already).
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