ONE HUNDRED AND ONE MICE

Maybe it was all the cute Edna Miller books I read to my children. “Mouskin’s Golden House” was their favorite. Perhaps it was Beatrix Potter’s, “The Tale of Mrs. Tittlemouse.” Or maybe it was the Brambly Hedge series. Or something by Arthur Scott Bailey. At any rate, our shelves are laden with cozy, endearing stories about mice. And I love them.

However. When a late night visit to the chicken coop revealed that there were 50 or more mice scrambling for cover at the flick of the light switch, I knew serious action would be in order. A hole had been chewed in the wood floor and feed was disappearing at an unprecedented rate. I was just glad the rats weren’t back, but something had to be done.

We decided that we would place live traps in the coop and, upon catching the mice, would move them to the field at the end of the driveway. That way we would avert killing them and they would be deterred from finding food and shelter with the chickens. After trapping nearly 100 in two weeks, I am pleased to report that all three traps were empty this morning allowing me to believe (though I have been scorned for my view that they won’t return) that they have sought a home elsewhere and I have a clean conscience regarding the demise of legions of mice.

I will say this, though. Even though I am hard pressed to kill a mouse in the out buildings,  I have a no tolerance policy regarding mice in the house. The old lake cabin harbored hundreds of mice over the years and I remember the smell and sight of everything mouse. And suddenly, mice lose their charm and all out war prevails. My heart is only SO soft.

CHOCOLATE MICE

4 squares semisweet chocolate

1/3 cup sour cream

1 cup chocolate cookie crumbs, plus 1/3 cup

1/3 cup powdered sugar

24 silver dragees décor for cookies

1/4 cup sliced almonds

12 pieces long red string licorice

Melt the chocolate in a saucepan. Stir in sour cream. Stir in 1 cup chocolate cookie crumbs. Cover and refrigerate until firm. When chilled, roll dough by tablespoonfuls into balls. Mold to a slight point at one end for the nose. Roll dough in powdered sugar for white mice and chocolate crumbs for brown mice. On each mouse, place dragees for eyes, almond slices for ears and licorice for tail. Refrigerate for two hours before servings.

FARM MOUSE COOKIES

1 cup creamy peanut butter

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

1-1/2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Peanut halves

Chocolate mini chips

Black shoestring licorice

In a mixing bowl, cream peanut butter, butter and sugars. Beat in egg and vanilla. Combine flour and baking soda; gradually add to creamed mixture. Cover and chill dough for 1 hour or overnight. Roll into 1 inch balls. Pinch one end forming a teardrop shape for mouse body. Place cookies 2 inches apart on baking sheets. Press to flatten. For ears, press two peanuts into each cookie near the pointed end. Press chocolate chips into dough for eyes. With a toothpick, make a 1/2 inch deep hole for the tail in the opposite end. Bake at 350 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes until golden brown. When cookies are still warm, insert licorice for tails. Cool.

CANDY MICE

30 Oreo cookies, halved

30 large maraschino cherries, with stems

2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted

30 Hershey’s chocolate kisses

30 almond halves

Red decorating gel

Split the Oreo cookies in half, reserving the half with cream filling. Unwrap kisses and set aside. Drain cherries and dry on a paper towel. Melt chocolate until smooth. Dip a cherry in chocolate until coated and set it on the Oreo cookie half with the stem going sideways for the tail. Place a chocolate kiss, pointed side out, on the opposite side of the cherry for the nose. Place two almond halves on top of the cherry for the ears. Put two red dots on the cherry body for the eyes.

DOG DAYS OF MY LIFE

I’ve had a lot of dogs in my life…at the present time we have four here at Cricket Meadow: Buck, Lily, Ruger and Nelli. I have a special place in my heart for each one. And, with advancing age and recent health issues for all but the latter, I am reminded that I may have to part with them sooner than later. Which reminded me of all the canine friends I have said goodbye to in my life.

The dog I remember best from my childhood was Smokey, a beautiful border collie mix with tan and white accents on his smoke-colored fur. He was really the mainstay of my youth in that we got him when I was four years old and he lived for almost 12 years.

We never had housedogs back on the farm. Our dogs were lavished with love, fed and sheltered well, but never set foot in the house. Smokey had a doghouse nestled in the lilac bushes in the backyard and was fed table scraps from an old iron skillet. He trailed us as we did our chores and followed us as we rode our bikes, always staying at the end of the driveway. My Dad had a  “no chasing cars” policy and somehow got the dogs we owned to refrain from tire biting and running in the road.

We all loved Smokey, who possessed a gentle personality but gave a firm bark to any stranger who drove in the yard. In the wintertime, Dad tucked his house right next to ours so he was sheltered from the wind and feeding him was easier when the drifts mounded up in the lawn.

One night during an ice storm, for some reason, Smokey sought shelter in the haystack near the barn. When Dad noticed him missing for morning chores, he discovered Smokey’s lifeless form under some fallen bales. We were as crushed as Smokey had been, and mourned for weeks over the loss of our beloved pet. Though we know going into pet ownership that it is a fleeting thing, it doesn’t make the loss any easier. We did have dogs that followed Smokey. But he was our first real dog love and none of us have ever forgotten him.

ICE STORM STEW

2 tablespoons flour

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper

1 pound boneless pork, cut into chunks

2 cloves garlic

1 tablespoon oil

3 cups vegetable broth

12 ounces beer

2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed

3 parsnips, peeled and sliced

1 medium onion, cut up

1-1/2 teaspoons thyme

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

4 tomatoes, chopped

2 apples, cored and cut into wedges

In a plastic bag, combine flour and red pepper. Add pork and shake to coat. In a 4 quart Dutch oven, cook meat and garlic in hot oil until meat is browned. Stir in broth, beer, sweet potatoes, parsnips, onions, thyme, brown sugar and mustard. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 30 minutes. Stir in tomatoes and apples. Return to boiling. Reduce heat and simmer, covered for about 5 minutes until vegetables are tender.

CANINE CRUNCH (FOR PET OWNERS)

1 cup rice cereal

1/2 cup golden raisins

1/2 cup dry-roasted peanuts

1 cup dried apricots, diced

16 ounces almond bark

In a large mixing bowl, melt almond bark in microwave, stirring until smooth, about 3 minutes. Add other ingredients. Combine well and drop by spoonfuls onto waxed paper. Chill. 

HAYSTACKS

1/2 cup chocolate chips

1/2 cup butterscotch chips

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup salted peanuts

2 cups chow mein noodles

Place chips and peanut butter in a large bowl. Stir. Add peanuts and chow mein noodles. Cover with plastic wrap. Microwave until chips are shiny and soft. Stir and drop by spoonfuls onto waxed paper. Cool until set.