Periwinkle Arrives
Stinky stands by the teleportation tunnel with paws poised to catch Periwinkle on her arrival. He doesn’t want her to go crashing into Twinkle’s tree. His mom upgraded Twinkle’s tree from a four foot tall one that Stinky’s fursibs knocked over at least twice each holiday to a 7 1/2 foot tree. He knew if Periwinkle went tumbling into that, she would hurt herself.
Stinky doesn’t have long to wait. He hears the familiar whoosh from the teleportation tunnel, and Periwinkle tumbles out into his paws. After several paw hugs and whisker kisses, she exclaims breathlessly, “I know we are staying at your house today. My mom read it on your blog yesterday and told me. I always enjoy spending time at your house, as I get to visit and play with your fursibs. And I cannot wait to see all the decorations. Are we going to help wrap gifts again like we did last year. That was super fun?” (Here’s a link to last year’s post if you missed it: Christmas 2022 with Periwinkle & Stinky.
“No, I have another plan for us. It too will help my Mom, and it is something we already know how to do!”
“Ooh what? We know how to do oodles of things!”
Gingerbread Decorating Day
Stinky tells Periwinkle they are going to help his Mom bake cookies, especially gingerbread ones. He continues, “Today in the USA is Gingerbread House Day and Gingerbread Decorating Day.”
“Do we get to build a gingerbread house?”asks Periwinkle.
“Unfortunately, no. Mom says they take a long time for the frosting to set up, and we wouldn’t be able to finish it. We’ll just make and decorate the cookies.”
“Well that sounds like fun. Let’s get started.”
“Good idea. We are going to make Sally McKenney’s My Favorite Gingerbread Cookies. If our friends would like to make them, they can click on the link,” Stinky tells Periwinkle.
“Have you made these before, Stinky?” asks Periwinkle.
“No, these are special because of Gingerbread Decorating Day,” Stinky explains. He then tells Periwinkle that his mom and some of her friends like Chewy Ginger Molasses Cookies, which his Mom will make another day. He leaves a link for those who would like that recipe.
Making the Dough
“Let’s get this dough made, Periwinkle. It has to chill before we can cut out our cookies. While it is doing that, we can look at all the decorations and maybe have a nap under Twinkle’s tree.” Stinky takes Periwinkle’s paw and leads her to the kitchen where they put on their aprons and chef’s hats and get busy mixing up the gingerbread dough.
“Wow, Stinky, the recipe said this dough would be sticky, and it sure is. I don’t think I’ll ever get it out from between my toes.” Stinky giggles and promises to help Periwinkle with that chore.
Once they have the dough mixed, they wrap it in plastic wrap and put it in the fridge. After getting help from Stinky’s mom to clean their paws, they head back to the foyer to check out Twinkle’s Tree.
Twinkle’s Tree
Periwinkle hops on the table to get a better view of the tree. “Wow, Stinky, there sure are a lot of kitty ornaments on this tree. I even see one of Mau. But I see other ornaments too.”
Stinky explains that Twinkle’s tree originally had metal ornaments with a variety of subjects, as well as snowflakes and clear plastic prisms. But as the tree is now bigger, his mom was able to add all her cat ornaments that aren’t breakable.
“I know our dough has longer to chill, Stinky, so let’s go hang with your fursibs for a while.” They find most of them in the bedroom, napping in sun puddles. Periwinkle wakes up Audrey and Kizmet for some girl talk while Stinky has a quick snooze.
When they hear Stinky’s mom call out that it is time to cut out their cookies, Periwinkle and Stinky hop up and head back to the kitchen. Mom Janet has everything set up for them. They make quick work of cutting out gingerbread kitties and putting them in the oven.
Bear Tree
While the first batch of cookies is baking, Periwinkle and Stinky check out the bear tree in the dining room along with the mantle where all the stockings are hanging.
“Stinky, this is another beautiful tree. I love all the different types of bears and all the other ornaments as well. Your mom sure has lots of ornaments.”
“She’s been collecting them for 50 years and has received lots of them as gifts from my dad and her friends,” Stinky explains.
Baking Progress
When the tabbies hear the timer on the oven go off, they head back to the kitchen. They get their cookies out of the oven, prepare another batch to go in and get ready to roll out more dough.
“Stinky, we sure are making good progress. Once we finish with the baking and cooling, we will be able to decorate our gingerbread kitties. Did you notice I made a couple without tails just for you?”
“I did, Periwinkle. That is so sweet. Thank you,” Stinky replies and gives her a whisker kiss.
After getting all their cookies baked, the tabbies leave them to cool. Periwinkle asks Stinky, “Can we check out the tree that Kitties Blue are not allowed near?”
“Yes, but we must be very careful to close the door behind us,” he replies.
The Off-Limits Tree
“Stinky, I definitely can see why Kitties Blue are not allowed in here. That’s a lot of breakable ornaments. And look, there’s one with my angel sisfur, Allie, and your angel brofur, Mau.”
“That was good spotting, Periwinkle. I’m not certain anyone else will be able to pick it out.”
“I bet my mom will be able to find it. I know it was a gift from her,” replies Periwinkle.
Decorating Cookies
“I guess we should get our cookies decorated, Periwinkle,” says Stinky, taking Periwinkle’s paw and leading her back to the kitchen.
“Yikes, Stinky, our cookies don’t look very nommy. I didn’t know we would be so bad at decorating. Maybe we should have asked Cooper Murphy to help us.”
“Mom says that it’s not our fault, Periwinkle. She didn’t look to see what she needed for the icing when my dad went shopping, so she had to improvise.”
“Well, I am super happy she is posting a very small photo of them,” Periwinkle exclaims.
“Let’s pack up some of the undecorated ones for you to take home. I know you and Mom Sharon can do a better job with decorating.”
“Thanks, Stinky,” says Periwinkle and gives him a kiss on the cheek. “I guess it’s time for me to head home. I sure had fun baking with you, visiting with your fursibs and seeing all the pretty decorations.”
After several whisker kisses and paw hugs, Periwinkle enters the teleportation tunnel, and with a final wave and a whoosh she is on her way home. Exhausted from his day of baking, Stinky retires to the bedroom to nap with some of the other Kitties Blue.
The End
Stinky and Periwinkle will hop over to Comedy Plus for Happy Tuesday. You can join them there, by clicking on the badge below.
Thanks for joining Periwinkle & Stinky today.
Please join Kitties Blue tomorrow for week #486 of our Sunday Selfies blog hop. I know, as Christmas draws near, the humans in your house are probably busy shopping, wrapping, decorating and baking but see if you can get them to take a few minutes to help you snap and post your selfie. All your friends will be here looking forward to seeing you as will whichever Kitty Blue comes forward and takes over selfie and hosting duties. Your guess is as good as mine with regards to whom that might be.
Sparks is the creation of Annie from McGuffy’s Reader. Sparks began as a blog hop, created by our friend. Annie stated when she began Sparks, “I believe we are meant to be lights in this world. If we allow our light to shine, we can see where we are going. It is then that we can begin to truly see each other clearly. Together, we can light up the entire world.”
You all know how this goes. It’s now your turn to show Kitties Blue, and all your other friends, your amazing selfie that shows how adorable you are. If your humans are as busy as I am with holiday preparations, I know you may not get here today. But, as always, that’s okay. Astrid will be waiting here for you through Thursday.
