December 6, 2021
Mr. Bean Asks: Are We Done Yet?
Mr. Bean here. I want to tell you how COVID changed my life. Some for the better, some for the worse.
Mom was home most of the time during that period. Now, she’s still home a lot more than she used to be. That’s good, but not all the time. I’m used to getting my way with the other cats all the time, except for mealtime. At mealtime I have to have my food in a private room with a door that closes, because we have a feline vacuum cleaner in the house. I may be 17 pounds of love, but Mattie, six pounds of fluff, sucks up all of her food, then comes for mine.
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How Many Ways Can You Say Meatloaf? |
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This time of year, almost everyone looks to comfort food. Some, more than they should. Tiger Lily presents a series of four “meat”loaf recipes.
#2 of 4: Hamloaf
Ingredients, Ham Loaf
- 2 1/4 pounds ground ham (precooked ham)
- 3/4 pound ground pork
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tablespoons yellow mustard
- 1/2 cup ketchup
- 1 medium onion (chopped)
- 1 1/2 cups graham crackers (crushed)
- 3/4 cup milk
- 1/2 tablespoon paprika
Ingredients, Glaze
- 1 1/2 cups brown sugar
- 1/2 cup white vinegar
- 1 teaspoon yellow mustard
- 8 ounces crushed pineapple (with juice)
Instructions, Ham Loaf
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- In a large bowl, mix together the ground ham, pork, eggs, mustard, ketchup, onion, graham crackers and milk. Mix well.
- Spray a 9x13 baking pan with cooking spray.
- Shape the ham mixture into a loaf, packing the meat firmly.
- Sprinkle the top of the ham loaf with paprika.
- Bake the ham loaf for 20 minutes. During this 20 minutes, make the pineapple glaze.
Instructions, Pineapple Glaze
- Combine the glaze ingredients together in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook and stir until the sauce comes to a boil, then boil for 1 minute.
- Remove from the heat and set aside until the ham loaf is ready to glaze.
Final Instructions
- After the initial 20 minutes of baking, brush the top of the loaf with the pineapple glaze.
- Bake again for 70 minutes, basting the ham loaf 2 or 3 more times during baking.
- Serve warm with any leftover pineapple glaze drizzled on top.
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Nepeta cataria, or “catnip,” is an herb belonging to the same plant family as mint. Although it originated in parts of Europe and Asia, the plant is now common across several continents, including North America.Because, like regular mint, catnip proliferates easily, many cat owners grow the plant in pots as a special treat for their feline friends. As part of the mint family, fresh catnip also smells minty, though this is not the case for the dried catnip sometimes present in commercial cat treats or toys, which may smell more like dried grass.
Why is catnip such a special treat? People who share their life with a cat will know that this plant often has a marked, and sometimes very funny, effect on these beloved animals — not unlike the effect that a mild recreational drug might have on humans.
Do all felines react to catnip? Why does this plant affect cats, exactly? Is it really akin to recreational drugs? Read on to find out.
3 of 5: Does catnip affect other felines?
If catnip can have a striking effect on domestic cats, does it also affect larger felines, such as lions, jaguars, and tigers?
The answer is “yes” — and it seems to act, to a much lesser extent, on other cat-like mammals that are not actually felines.
An experiment conducted in the early 1970s at what is now Zoo Knoxville in Tennessee found that lions and jaguars were “extremely sensitive” to catnip.
Some of the tigers, cougars, and bobcats at the zoo also responded to catnip, though not at all strongly. The two cheetahs on site at the time showed no interest in the plant.
Other animals have shown curiosity about catnip, though to a much lesser extent than domestic cats.
Non-felines that have shown an interest in catnip include civets, which are carnivorous animals native to Asia and Africa that look like cats but belong to a different family, called Viverridae.
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