Cat story (for Beth) + a recipe!

Yesterday Jay and I went over to my parents for an impromptu cookout to celebrate Mother's Day since I am working today. As we were sitting around the picnic table enjoying strawberry shortcake that I made (and turned out rather well if I do say so myself) Jason noticed the slinky form of Nico C. Cat trotting through the neighbor's yard bearing something brown and furry in his mouth. He proudly pranced through the hedges and presented us with the stiff body of a chipmunk. Henri was quite fascinated by this, most likely because he is not the hunter that Nico and Little Cat are (my parents think at some point he may have caught a grasshopper). So the poor chipmunk lay lifelessly between the two black monsters, one eyeing him curiously while the other looked around nonchalantly as he boastfully showed off his kill. My mom thought the chipmunk was possibly playing dead so I walked over to check it out and it turns out that he was still alive! Hooray! When I approached the scene he got up and raced past Henri who awkwardly but swiftly (for his portly sized) chased him down and picked him up in his mouth. I thought for sure he was then done for, if not from the cats's bites all over his body, then from the sheer terror of twice being chased and captured by the cats. But when I approached him again, he got up again and tried to escape. Henri proved to be far more cunning than I had ever given him credit for and caught the poor rodent several more times before my mom scooped him up (Henri, not the chipmunk) and took him inside. The chipmunk seemed to somehow escape the ordeal with no obvious wounds and after a moment he composed himslef and made a mad dash into the brush. Interestingly enough, while his brother was stalking and capturing his former prey, Nico kept his removed distant air he had when he first carried the chipmunk through the hedge, as if he were too cool to chase anything in front of us.

I totally accept that animals kill other animals, but who doesn't like it when the underdog comes out on top?

Speaking of underdogs, here's the recipe for the strawberry shortcake we dined on while we watched this little drama of nature play out before us. It's from The Angelica Home Kitchen cookbook. It's supposed to be served with a maple whipped topping but I didn't make it so I can't reccommend it. The shortcakes however were light, delicious and very easy to make, so make some!

Angelica Kitchen's Strawberry Shortcake (modified a bit by me)

The cakes:
6 Tbsp maple sugar (or any dark crystally sugar, I used demerara, my fave)
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup unbleached white flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 c fresh squeezed lemon juice, strained
6 Tbsp plain almond milk
3 Tbsp water
1/2 tsp sea salt
6 Tbps canola oil (the recipe actually called for olive oil but I didn't feel quite brave enough to try it, although my mom said she used it to make my sis's birthday cake and it turned out lovely)

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
-Combine flours, baking powder, baking soda, and sugar in a mixing bowl.
-In another mixing bowl whisk together lemon juice, milk, water, salt and oil.
-Pour liquid mix into dry mix and gently stir. Only stir long enough to combine wet with dry, otherwise biscuits will be tough.
-Scoop out about a 1/3 c of batter and place on lightly oiled baking sheet. Place the scoops about three inches apart.
-Bake 15-20 mins or until toothpick comes out clean-I found that it was closer to 20+ mins but my oven is goofy.
-Cool and enjoy with strawberries-I prepared mine with a little maple syrup and the leftover lemon juice from the lemon I squeezed.

I'd like to try the maple whip, I'll post the recipe for it if it's good. Jay and I topped ours off with vanilla Soydream and my parents enjoyed their's with regular ice cream and whipped cream. I'm really excited to make this again soon, especially since it is so easy and so good!