Frankenstorm, HMS Bounty,

I can’t believe it, we lived through lots of hurricanes when we live in NC – mostly we evacuated as we were living in a mobile home – but because the remnants of Hurricane Sandy are supposed to affect us in Southern Ontario, Matt wanted to go buy milk!!!! He was watching GMA at the time and they were emphasizing the dangers of this storm, telling people not to go on the beach and not to even go near the water. There was a picture of one of the GMA reporters being hit by a rogue wave and nearly being swept away. That happened to Matt years ago when we were in NC and it wasn’t even a hurricane but turned out to be a nor’easter. He was, luckily, close to the steps and could hang on. I was watching a storm cam at 9:30 a.m. on Monday morning and I would not have liked to be on the promenade where these pix were being taken. I was surprised to see an emergency vehicle of some kind going along the sea wall area because water had already been coming over the top of the wall. At least there weren’t any surfers!!!! Looking for pictures I found the one above taken in Florida plus pictures of people standing near the water taking pictures themselves, the caption was “Some people don’t believe the hype”. They’ll believe it fast enough when the waves really come at them. I am writing this on Monday morning, and the worst is yet to come.

The crew of the HMS Bounty a tall ship was abandoned on Monday and she was sunk by the storm somewhere off Cape Hatteras, NC. Such a loss. Two of the crew are missing. The ship was built in Canada.The US Navy fleet had all left the east coast prior to the storm in order to be out of the way. One thing I don’t understand, there was a cruise ship out there and apparently they were having a wonderful time with all the passengers being seasick. What the hell was a cruise ship doing out there in these weather conditions? Its not like hurricanes are a big surprise, we have known Sandy was coming for a while now.

At 6:30 on Monday: We heard earlier that the power was out in a nearby town, I dunno, there is a bit of a breeze here and that’s all and yet on the radio they are broadcasting hurricane preparedness messages just as if we were on the east coast. I think its nonsense, I just hope I am not proved wrong. apart from anything else, once a hurricane comes ashore, it usually decreases in power as there is no warm water to fuel it any more.

1:30 a.m. Here we have had some wind and rain, but so far very little from the remnants of Sandy. I hope all is well with those who were in the high risk areas. One person discovered from the Bounty, but the captain is still missing.

Here’s another treat for Hallowe’en. What with Broken Finger cookies posted last week and now Black Cats, should make good scary eating.

Black Cat Cookies

Source: Halloween Treats
Makes about 2 dozen 5- or 6-inch cookies

These cookies are big black cats that you definitely want in your path. They may look eerie but they make good eating! Kids can help mix the dough, cut out the cookies and then (what fun!) ice them!
INGREDIENTS

For the Cookie:
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground allspice

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

10 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

For the Icing:

2 egg whites

4 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Food coloring, black, yellow, and pink or red

Black licorice strings

DIRECTIONS

FOR THE COOKIE:
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, allspice, and nutmeg; reserve

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer set on medium-high speed, beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and beat well.

Reduce speed to low, add the flour mixture, and beat until the dough comes together. Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface and divide in half. Flatten each half into a disk, wrap separately in plastic wrap, and chill until firm, about 1 hour.

Preheat an oven to 350°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough 1/8-inch thick. Using a cat-shaped cookie cutter or template 5 or 6 inches in diameter, cut out cookies. Reroll scraps. As you cut the cookies, transfer them to the prepared baking sheets.

Bake until lightly browned on the edges, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove to cooling racks and let cool to room temperature before icing.

FOR THE ICING

Place the egg whites in a bowl. Using an electric mixer set on high speed, beat until soft peaks form. Add the confectioners' sugar and lemon juice and continue to beat until thick and shiny. The icing should spread easily. If the icing is too thin, add more sugar; if it's too thick, add a bit of water.

Scoop out half the icing and divide it in half between 2 small bowls. Tint the icing remaining in the large bowl with black food coloring (for the eyes) and the other small bowl with pink or red coloring (for the mouth).

TO ICE THE COOKIES:
Spoon black icing onto its center. Smooth with a small spatula or butter knife. Allow to dry for a few minutes. Using a paint brush or toothpicks (if you don't have a pastry bag or the inclination to use one), draw eyes onto the icing with the yellow icing and a mouth with the pink or red icing. Place 3 licorice strings, cut to fit, on each side of the face for the whiskers.

Have a great day