Breaking Cat News by Georgia Dunn for February 25, 2021

Good question, Goldie. What are they doing?

I take it Goldie has never seen a coffee press.

(I mean, it’s not like they’re making instant coffee!)

They’re using their fireplace to boil water for coffee! Wow….just like the pioneers! Coffee does make life better.

Goldie, obviously, drinking coffee.

Goldie is ready to bat away any threat to her People and their tastebuds!

(Also, I can’t be the only one who heard “Don’t try this at home!” in a MythBuster voice…can I?)

Reminds me of roasting marshmallows in Grammy’s fireplace! Because we could, not because of a blackout, but still. You saved some hot water for the Girl’s hot chocolate, right?

Is the woman going gray or did Georgia miss a few spots with her brush?

Good Meowrning to all or no.

I’ll read today’s comic later. For what it’s worth, though, I just left a fitting link on yesterday’s …

Eh? Using the fireplace for making coffee? But why? Don’t cha Americans use LPG stoves or something?

Woe is they, if no coffee.

I see that, like me, the Woman has dull hair when she doesn’t have access to her full dressing routine. I sympathize!

I personally would heat water in the fireplace to make some instant hot cocoa (unfortunately no whipped cream to top it off since you shouldn’t open the fridge…. dang)

I love Lupin’s happy smile – and I see the boys have shed their sweats.

Goldie investigates! Finally the Sheriff is back at work!

Marvin Gaye with Tammi Terrell, Diana Ross, and others: Ain’t No Mountain High Enough

If you need some coffee

No matter where you are

No matter how far

…….

Just light a fire

We’ll boil water in a hurry

You don’t have to worry

Cause kitties there

…….

Ain’t no outage long enough

Ain’t no snowstorm cold enough

Ain’t no ice storm slippery enough

To keep me from brewing the coffee!

…….

Remember the day

We popped the corn

I told you you could always count the fireplace

From that day on, I knew for sure

We’ll make snacks, and then some more

Some way, some how

Cause kitties there

…….

Ain’t no outage long enough

Ain’t no snowstorm cold enough

Ain’t no ice storm slippery enough

To keep me from brewing the coffee!

I still have my glass Pyrex coffee pot (yes, the glass stem is still intact!) and a camp coffee pot. If the power goes out, I can still light the stove and make coffee with either, but if for some reason, the gas goes out (shouldn’t, but you just never know) I can put the camp pot in the fireplace. Might be considered old fashioned, but sometimes, those work best.

Does Lupin have the same attraction to fireplace fires that he has to candles?

Goldie, you don’t want to be around two People caffeine addicts who have been deprived of their fix. Or kitty addicts looking for a hit of catfeinated coffee (or decat, in Lupin’s case).

I never got the ’don’t open the fridge’ thing. It’s 10 degrees outside, 40 degrees inside (with the power out) and the fridge is only 40 degrees ANYWAY. I could leave it on the counter and it would be fine! If I put it outside, it would freeze, and there are people that have used the outdoors as freezers while the power is out.

Must be toasty! Lupin and Puck have shed their outer garments!

What’s with the excessive punctuation, Goldie?

Yes.

Goldie, they are filling a pressing need.

You could use any pan to make cowboy coffee in the fireplace. You don’t need a coffee pot. Just boil the water, add coffee, let the grounds sink to the bottom and pour. I’d also use a paper coffee filter to catch the grounds.

Wake me up with coffee & cocoa

Don’t leave me hanging on, that’s a no-go

Wake me up with coffee & cocoa

I wanna kiss that caffeine sky

Wake me up with coffee & cocoa

‘Cause I’m feeling sleepy & too slow

Wake me up with coffee & cocoa

Make my buzzy delight

I wanna hit that high, yeah yeah

(George Michael – Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go)

Feels like the first time…

“Don’t try this at home.”

… so it’s okay to try at a friend’s house, instead, then?

Ah, a coffee press. We have one in the closet. As I recall, we used it last during a week long power outage.

So, what I took for popcorn in the second panel must be steam from the water being heated for the coffee. It makes more sense, since popping corn without a lid is asking for trouble.

Do they live in Texas? No power? No clean water?

That’s one reason why we got a gas stove, so when the power goes out we can still make coffee!

“A day without coffee is like…” just kidding, I have no idea.

As a practical matter, this is almost impossible to do without some kind of stand or a long-handled pot. In an emergency you can brew coffee by pouring cold water repeatedly through a fine sieve full of ground coffee. It takes a lot more coffee and a lot more time but it does give you the caffeine stimulus to rub two sticks together. :)

All I had was Ovaltine and instant coffee. Kureg doesn’t work on grill or stove.

I have an old free booklet from Renyolds Wrap Aluminum foil (the company might have had a slightly different name back then) that has recipes and ideas for grilling at home with various themes. One of the sections of the booklet highlighting the uses of aluminum foil was an at Home Indoor Picnic. All the fun ways to use your home’s fire place to create a Picnic dinner indoors – hotdogs, popcorn, corn on the cob, baked potatoes, etc…

My mom would send away for any and all “give aways” that products offered back in the 40’s and 50’s. even if they weren’t free. That’s why I have this “advertisement” type booklet.

I have baked potatoes, toasted marshmallows, made “sandwich pies”, and popcorn in my fireplace. I pondered buying and installing one of those metal arms so I could hang a pot over the flames, but talked myself out of it. I have an old fashion fire place – wood only, no doors, and it’s got a nice large opening so you can build a roaring fire (or burn a sizable “yule log” )

If power outages are as common at the pink house as the kitties’ charts say they are, the humans need to invest in some camping supplies like a propane cook stove. It’s more than paid for itself in hot meals and instant coffee for me.

A few years ago we had an extended outage during an ice storm. We went out to a neighborhood restaurant and when we explained that we had no power, they fit us in despite being busy. AND when we left, they sent us home with one of those big insulated catering coffee thermoses. The next morning the power was still out and the house was quite cold, but at least the coffee was still warm! We still eat there a lot (well, these days get carry-out).

We joke that we’re their answering service since our phone number is only one digit away from theirs (and we always make sure to give people the correct number when they get us by mistake).

Now we do also have a small propane stove and an indoor-safe propane heater to get us through the inevitable outages. Someday… maybe a generator.

Those last 2 panels need to be a coffee mug!

I like coffee as much as my cats like citrus fruit.

Poor Goldie is so confused. I guess she has never been part of an annual winter power cut before. That would make sense given her background.

I am so glad I don’t like coffee. LOL

We have a propane stove for car-camping that we can use, and keep some Starbuck’s instant on hand for when we can’t power the grinder. For meals there is the grill outside. We had a power outage on Thanksgiving once, just brought out the lanterns and rolled right through it.

Thank goodness for gas stoves.

Time to abandonned the K-cup or drip filter machine and learn to make it on the stove or over the fire.

Anything is better with coffee!

When we lost power during an ice storm in 2000, I boiled water and cooked bacon and eggs on our charcoal barbecue grill.

And here I sit wondering if I should run the AC tonight…

With my Chemex and stainless steel kettle I am INVINCIBLE!!!