Twenty-four little squares waiting to be filled with chicken bao
I think there are some definite parallels between the behaviors of kids and animals. Although I have no children, I’ve been around many of them and, of course, was once one myself. And I’ve many times heard parents say that when kids want attention, they’ll “act up.”
Well, Lucy wanted some attention today. She’s a funny little cat actually, and makes me laugh quite a bit. But when I’m in the midst of cutting and filling 24 squares of dough, the last thing I want is to have her jumping up on the dining room table. Although this is officially verboten, the cats will do what they want to when we’re not around. But when I’m home, right there in the kitchen, I expect a little respect. Yeah, right!
First Lucy sat on the floor, watching me roll out the dough. She meowed at me a couple times so I absentmindedly chatted with her. Apparently that wasn’t the type of attention she wanted. So she threw herself on the floor and rolled around on her back, looking for belly rubs. I used my foot to oblige. Then she wandered off and I returned to my task. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I see her jump up onto the table. “No!” I yelled. No response. This meant, of course, that I had to go and remove her from the table. Which also meant that I would have to wash my hands before going back to the dough.
Engrossed once again, I looked up to see her little furry butt back on the table. Stomp, stomp, stomp. Grab. Toss (nicely, mind you). Wash hands. Dry hands. Fill dough. Look up. Notice Lucy again. Back to the stomp, stomp, stomp. The little brat did this a total of seven times! (Husband was conveniently behind closed doors in the office, hearing nothing of my plight.)
We tell people that we named her Lucille after B.B. King’s guitar, but that after getting to know her, we decided that Lucy is really short for Lucifer. And occasions such as this one clearly demonstrate why.
Note: Today’s baking music courtesy of Chucho Valdes