Wait a second… this isn’t apple crisp…

We’ve been watching Pushing Daisies again.  We watched it when it was on Network television in 2007-2009 – loved it so much that we bought the boxed set.  Recently we introduced Rissa to it.  It has become one of Rissa’s favourite things ever…

“That, and Sherlock… ” Rissa quickly amends.  “Every time the theme song to Sherlock comes on, I get all goosebumply.  But with Pushing Daisies, you just don’t know what’s going to happen.  Ned and Chuck – they can’t ever touch!  But they’re in love… what’s going to happen?!?”

Pushing Daisies is chock full of quirk, humour, art direction, vintage clothing and… pie.   Watching an episode pretty much always makes us hungry.  Last night’s episode was particularly pie-filled.  Half way through we couldn’t take it any more.

“That’s it!  I NEED pie!” I exclaim.

“ME too,” David and Rissa chorus.  “What are we going to do?  Are we going to go buy some pie?”

The thought of leaving the house, even to run the 2 blocks to the grocery store seems impossible.  We are all pajama-fied.  Having to dress in proper pants once more is a painful contemplation.

“APPLE CRISP!“

My intellectual triumphance has us pausing the episode to bound to the kitchen.  A quick inventory ensues.  We have all the ingredients – cue happy dance.

“Can we use the fancy-schmancy apple peeler thingie?” asks Rissa.

“Most definitely.”

She lets out a burst of maniacal laughter as the first ribbon of apple peel hits the counter.  David and I put together the ingredients for the crisp: rolled oats, butter, brown sugar and (my valiant attempt to add healthy protein) 1/2 cup of ground pecans.

A half hour later, we have apple crisp.  We each enjoy two full dessert bowls topped with sour cream.  Our pie craving has been met.

This morning, I gleefully realize that we have leftover crisp in the fridge.  I skip to the refrigerator to extract it.

“Dessert for breakfast,” I sing.  “DESSERT FOR BREAKFAAAAAAAAAST!!!!“

“Having dessert for breakfast, are you?” queries Rissa.

“I AM!  And it’s ‘healthy’ !!”

“Uh-huh.”

“Totally is.  What with all these Omega whatzits in the pecan part of the crisp part.” I notice some dropped crisp topping on the counter, in my excitement I must have missed the bowl.  I pop the bowl in the microwave and grab the wee bits of crisp topping on the counter and pop them into my expectant mouth – an unwarmed sweet prelude to my formal dessert breakfast…

Chew… Chew…  This is not quite the texture nor the taste I was expecting.  It tastes less like crisp and more like something that is… off.  As I’m swallowing the pre-vomit saliva – I accidentally swallow whatever I had mistaken for the crisp.

“PAH!  PAH!!!”  I run to the sink for a glass of water.  “Not good.  NOT good.”  What was it?  What had been left out there on the counter, right beside the fridge… looking almost exactly the same as the crisp topping.  Kind of brownish – like the ground pecan parts…  Brownish… Beside the fridge…  Where we feed the cats … gag…  their wet food.

Cat food.  The taste had been cat food.  Expensive, urinary tract health, wet cat food.  The kind of food, that when you crack open the top,  forces a gal to control her gag reflex when the smell hits her nose.  I can now attest that cat food tastes exactly how it smells.  Good thing I had a full bowl of apple crisp to get it off my palate.