Do some of your friends or family members share their homes with cats?

Do some of your friends or family members share their homes with cats? Cat treats make great gifts, especially when given in an appropriately decorated bag, box, or tin. Before making any treats, find out whether your friend’s cat has any food preferences or sensitivities. This is easy enough to do if you plan ahead. Before the holidays, just make up a batch of cat treats—perhaps your cat’s favorite recipe—and share them. Then in conversation, talk about cats, cat foods, likes and dislikes, allergies, and so on. You can find out a lot in casual conversation because people like to talk about their cats. Once you have this information, you can choose a recipe best suited to your friend’s cat. Although many recipes can be frozen, most are better fresh, so make up the treats just prior to the time you want to give the gift. The week before is best. You can package the treats in an airtight container or bag and then place them in a decorated bag, box, or tin. Festive ribbon adds a nice touch, as do some seasonal silk flowers. Use the ribbon to add a catnip mouse, a large feather, or another cat toy. A gift tag on the tin could name the recipe and list the ingredients. (This is especially important for cats with food sensitivities.) The gift tag should also list the source of the recipe (this book!), and the gift package could even contain a copy of the book!  Christmas Cracked Wheat and Catnip As a catnip enthusiast, Simon, a 12-year-old blue point mixed-breed cat, rolled in these treats, played pat-pat with them, and when tired of playing, ate them. He purred as he munched on them. 1 14-ounce box Krusteaz Cracked Wheat Bread Mix
1 ⁄4 cup dried catnip 1 cup warm water
1 ⁄4 cup dried catnip, for sprinkling on treats
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
2. Empty bread mix and its yeast packet into a mixing bowl.
3. Add the
1 ⁄4 cup of catnip to the bread mix and yeast, mixing well.
4. Add the warm water and mix. The dough will be sticky.
5. Drop all the dough onto a greased cookie sheet. Flour or oil your hands so that you can handle the dough and spread it over the bottom of the cookie sheet until it is between 1 ⁄4 and 1 ⁄2 inch thick. 6. Sprinkle the dough liberally with the remaining 1 ⁄4 cup catnip. 7. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until the bottom of the bread is golden brown. Flip the bread over (don’t worry if it breaks) and bake for another 5 to 10 minutes or until both sides are golden brown. 8. Remove from the oven, let cool thoroughly, break into bite-sized pieces, and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.