Crazy Cat Mom Stories

In honor of my cousin Danielle's newest family member and the 5 crazy cats I am Mom to, I have a funny story to tell. My cats are pretty good about not begging most of the time. They have their moments but ultimately they are old enough now to know if they don't beg, they'll get to lick the plate when we are done or I might let them share some nibblets of chicken. 

Nicky is the worst though. He has very specific tastes. He can hear you open a bag of shredded cheese a mile away. He wants spaghetti sauce but only if it's mine, no jar sauce for this cat! His all time favorite is Mac & Cheese though and he even recognizes the bowl we put it in.

Just by those stories, you'd think this story and recipe I'm about to share would involve him, but it doesn't. I just like telling stories about my cats. HA! My story is about when Wesley arrived in the Welker house. He was a total mooch, but mostly because he was very intimidated by his siblings (though he's much bigger than them) and didn't eat out of the food bowl that much. So, we babied him a bit and gave him people food to supplement. You'd never know now that he was starving. He's kind of a fatty! 

We made the following recipe for dinner one night and probably gave Wesley a bit of chicken and broth while we were cooking. It wasn't until we did leftovers the next day that there was a problem.

Before I get to that, here's the recipe so that you'll appreciate what happened the next day more.

Chicken Nut Puffs

Ingredients:

1 1/2 c. finely chopped cooked chicken    1/3 c. chopped almonds     1 c. chicken broth
1/2 c. vegetable oil                                    2 tsp. Worcestershire         1 tbsp. parsley     
1 tsp. seasoned salt           4 eggs            1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper     1 c. flour     

Directions:

1. Combine chicken and almonds.
2. In a large saucepan, combine the rest of the ingredients except the eggs and flour.
3. Bring to a boil.
4. Add flour all at once and stir until a smooth ball forms.
5. Remove from heat and let stand for 5 minutes.
6. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition until smooth.
7. Stir in chicken and almonds. 
8. Drop by heaping teaspoonfuls onto a greased baking sheet.
9. Bake at 450 for 12-14 minutes our until golden brown.
10. Serve warm.

Okay first trick in this story is when it asks for chopped nuts, get chopped nuts. We used whole almonds thinking it didn't make a difference. Also, always serve them warm. We tried one cold and weren't impressed, so we left them out while the oven warmed up to do a reheat. Mr. Wesley, as they warmed to room temperature, couldn't resist trying one or two on his own. We came back into the room as he scarfed his 3rd or 4th puff. He ate them whole too which makes for an even better story. We rescued the rest of our dinner and put it in the oven to warm. All of a sudden, we heard the most blood curdling screeching coming from the living room. There was Wesley trying to puke up whole nut puffs. And I mean trying! Since he ate them whole they weren't exactly coming back up easily, hence the screechin.

Our best guess was that the whole nuts were doing a number on him because the puff itself shouldn't have! Of course, at the time, we were just panicked at what could possibly make a cat make that sound. It's been a few years since then and Wesley and his appetite are just fine. We can laugh about it now but I always remember that awful feeling when I go to leave food out where he may get tempted. He was never in truly serious danger but cats have a way of exaggerating thing to get sympathy. Just ask my Xander who knew I had a soft touch and milked every case of sniffles he ever got!

All the craziness with Wesley aside, this is a pretty tasty recipe and well worth the time. It's also a great finger foodwhen you have guests as they are neither sticky nor drippy.

As always, have fun!