Fuzzy Feets.

Evil, of the luxurious pelt (even the vet remarked about it) had her vet visit today. She has a weird spot on her thigh that started out being about the size of a dime, no fur, I just figured she got in a fight with Alice or Amlette and got a chunk of fur torn out. But it's been a while, and the spot has actually grown to the size of a quarter, and it's quite ugly looking.

That started out being the reason why she had the appointment.

Then I found the easter egg in her belly ruff (she has always had a saggy belly), and last night I noticed she's peeing pink again. So thank goodness she was scheduled for 8:30 this morning.

Remarkably enough, she got into the carrier on her own- walked right into it, and was reasonably quiet on the 3 second drive. (She really, really hates "outside".) The vet poked at her scabby place, and didn't like the looks of it, especially with the matching easter egg. So, he checked bits of it under the microscope, and decided to opt for a biopsy. So I won't know what the lab has to say till Thursday or Friday. It could just be an infection that is draining into something inside her, hence the egg, or it could be something more sinister. I'm not going to freak out until I have to. In the meantime, I came home with Clavamox, and gave her that with a spoonful of canned cat food (because she was so unbelievably well behaved, and didn't bite me, or even make a noise when he was poking her, and because she has to eat with the antibiotics) and I've got my fingers crossed.

She's still active, (especially in the middle of the night, then again, sleep is for the weak, right?)and her normal wacky self, so I'm not going to worry too much till I hear from the lab.

And so this doesn't turn into one of those Cat blogs (not that there's anything wrong with them, and if I wanted to,I could find something on each of the five fuzzballs for every day, but... then I'd be inching even closer to becoming a crazy cat lady.)
I present: a recipe!

Resurrection Soup
(sure, I should be making this on TUESDAY, but... if I wait, I will peel back the tinfoil, and find nothing. The ham will have ascended to heaven, leaving its worshippers marvelling at the miracle, because each of them will deny having eaten the last slice.)

(Yes, I'm going to hell.)

Leftover Ham (however much you feel like sacrificing for soup, leaving some left for omelettes, sandwiches, and salads) Diced. Remove the cloves, if you used them.

Leftover Taters (preferably mashed, preferably made with my "mashed potatoes of doom recipe- with sour cream, cream cheese, and an egg) (Whatever didn't get thrown in a frying pan for breakfast the morning after)

Whatever veggies you have left over from dinner (green bean casserole? Bring it on. Plain beans? Woo! Carrots? The more the merrier)

Corn Frozen or canned, but not creamed, because that stuff is disgusting.

Chicken Broth one box, or so.

a bay leaf or two Use one if they're still new-ish, 2 if the bay leaves are a bit older.

an onion Optional. or half of one, diced up.

OK. Whip your diced onion into a stock pot with a little butter or oil, and cook it till it's almost no longer raw, or skip this step, and just whip in some dried onion toenails when you put the stock in. Whatever floats your boat.

When the onion's almost done, put in the diced ham, and let it get all brown and tasty, and leaves yummy brownness on the bottom of the pan. P

our in a little of the chicken broth, to get all the bits off the bottom of the pan. When the stuff is good and up, put in your taters, and get them warmed up a bit- they're easier to mix in with the rest of the broth if they're a little soft.

Put in the rest of the box of broth and the bay, and mix with the taters. You may need more broth- go until it looks like soup (thin, and runny).

Toss in the vegetables, heat through, and season to taste.

If you really want to clog your arteries (though you should be in decent shape if you used fat free cream cheese and sour cream) you can top it with cheese, or some cut up hard boiled egg.

Note: I wouldn't recommend using scalloped or au-gratin potatoes and expect to get the same thick results. They could turn out a very interesting soup, but it won't be chowder-y. Also, remove the bay leaf before serving it to others, you don't need your friends choking to death on you. (Of course, if your friend is named Judas, and he just told you three times that he didn't eat the last peanut-butter egg, even though you saw him do it, feel free to feed him the bay leaf...)