Fostering Love

I like to highlight specific dogs on my blog, but West Jersey Volunteers for Animals is desperate for foster homes for several dogs that should be in 1 animal homes. These are animals that may need a little bit of special attention, or may just need a place to be reminded how to live in a home. Fostering is a way to "test drive" having a dog, or a way to have a pet when you are unable to commit to providing a lifelong home for one. Fostering allows an ease-in period or a great opportunity for an animal lover who may travel a lot to give a dog a home part time.

A dog in a foster home is easier to adopt to a forever home. They are used to a routine, so their temperament tends to be better. A kennel is noisy and uncomfortable, so a dog in a foster home is well rested and less stressed. They receive regular exercise and play time, so they have a healthy outlet for their energy. They receive a consistent diet at regular feeding times, so they have a healthier weight and coat. They are observed in a home for health issues that may need treatment.

Fostering a dog isn't just feeding and providing a home for an animal that you will have to give up in a week or a month, or sadly, as long as a year. It's saving a life. It's saving the life of the dog you fostered for WJVA, allowing us to pull another dog from a local shelter and afford to house him/her in a private kennel, and freeing up a spot at said local shelter for another dog to live. 3 lives! That's 3 lives you're changing!

As I've said before, WJVA is a hands-on organization. Any health issues that may need to be addressed while in your care are covered by our vet. WJVA will provide temporary kennel homes for foster dogs, free of charge of course for foster families who may go out of town or need a break. WJVA will even provide food if necessary. Volunteers can pick your foster dog up for adoption events or you can come to adoption events and meet potential adopters with your pooch.

I've read and reread this post prior to posting it. My intention is to educate, not guilt. If you're thinking of getting a pet but would like to test it out first, this is your opportunity. If you're looking for a way to volunteer with an organization and have a love of animals, this is your opportunity. Do you have a warm home during this cold winter that could be the diving board these dogs need to make the leap to their forever homes?

The Truth About Spaghetti Sauce

I'm a different person today than I was in high school. See, I grew up thinking spinach and asparagus were gross. Nowadays, spinach and asparagus are 2 of my favorite veggies (don't worry Brussels sprouts, you're still #1 in my heart). You see, it turns out that I just didn't like the way my Ma "cooked" spinach and asparagus. I put quotes around cooked because the spinach came out of a can, and I didn't know asparagus could be anything but steamed (sorry to throw you under the bus Ma). While I avoided her spinach, asparagus, and meatloaf (That still stands, across the board. Not just Ma's. Blech. Its meat. Shaped like bread. Something's wrong with that.), there are many many things I loved that we ate when I was a child. Specifically, I was so excited when I'd come home and smell spaghetti sauce simmering away on the stove. To this day, I still picture my Ma's bright orange colander and white pasta bowl (with a chip out of the rim) filled with spaghetti whenever I make my own sauce.

The way I remember it, my mom tried to make spaghetti sauce for my dad soon after they got married. My dad, in a much more polite way than I ever would have expected, asked my mom if she would mind if he asked his mom what she put in her spaghetti sauce. Either I remember it incorrectly or I just stopped listening at this point. What I grew up believing, and telling people when they looked at me crazy because even as a college student in an apartment, I refused to buy bottled spaghetti sauce. I made my own, and proudly told people the story of the Micheli spaghetti sauce:

My mom isn't Italian and neither was my Granny. My dad's dad however, was the first of his parents' children to be born in the US. His parents emigrated from Italy with only the clothes on their back and a scrap of paper with the secret spaghetti sauce recipe. Ok, maybe that's not exactly how they arrived in America, but regardless, Nonna came with her technique and was poised to pass it to future Michelis. Or so I thought. 

I must admit: I don't remember my Granny's sauce. I remember making ravioli with her from as scratch as scratch gets. I remember being able to stomach maybe 2 of them drenched in sauce and being stuffed and happy for hours. So I grew up trying to perfect the sauce that I thought my dad's Nonna had taught my dad's mom, who had taught my mom, who taught me. Within the last 2 or so years, I felt good about my sauce. I was getting pretty close to Ma's! Yes! Go me! And then the bomb dropped. 

My mom chose the day of our hair trial 6 weeks before my wedding to crush me. My stylist was asking for a good recipe for spaghetti sauce when Ma chimes in with her recipe. I don't know how she said it (I think my conscience is trying to block it out) but it surfaced that what I thought was the "Micheli sauce recipe" is in fact a recipe that my Ma pulled out of a cookbook! Not my Granny, not my dad's Nonna. My Ma. Within the last 35 years or so. I was crushed. Think of all those people I shadily denied fantastic spaghetti sauce because I didn't want to give them the whole recipe, thinking I was guarding a secret. (To you, I apologize) So today, I present to the world, my favorite sauce. If its published, it's for the world to have. To savor. To love. 

I had the ingredients on hand, and what better smell to have in our house on a cold snowy day than homemade spaghetti sauce?? The only effort I really needed to put forth was to chop an onion and open 3 cans. 

I made a double recipe, but really, all you need is a few tablespoons of olive oil, 1 or 2 cloves of garlic, a small onion, 1 little can of tomato sauce, 1 can of tomato soup, 1 can of whole tomatoes, 2 cups of chicken broth (my mom uses water and boullion cubes, and I've never done it but I'm sure you can use vegetable broth to keep this vegetarian) salt, pepper, and fresh or dried basil.

I'm notorious for burning garlic, so I start with a tablespoon or 2 of olive oil in my big cast iron soup pot, over medium-high heat. Once the oil is shimmery, I put in my chopped onion. When that starts smelling yummy and starts looking translucent, I add the pressed garlic. I let that cook a few minutes while I open all my cans. The first thing I add is the can of tomatoes. San Marzano tomatoes were on sale about a year ago, so I bought them. I'll never use anything else!

Before I add the soup and the sauce, I chop up the tomatoes with my handy dandy Mix 'N Chop. Yeah, they squirt a bit, but the clean up is totally worth the taste. Something about diced tomatoes just doesn't work.

Then I add the soup, sauce, chicken broth and basil. Stir it all together and bring it to a boil. As soon as it boils, put the heat on low and let it simmer away. Each time you get off the couch to refill your wine glass or hit the bathroom, give the sauce a stir, scraping up anything that may be sticking to the bottom of the pot. 

The sauce can really be ready whenever you are ready to eat. You can brown ground beef in a skillet and add some sauce to make a meat sauce. Add some shredded chicken to make my Ma's version of meat sauce (I guess the cookbook suggested that. Silly me thinking it was a Micheli tradition). Today's batch sat on the stove for about 4 hours and cooked down to this rich red color:

I was making another of our favorites for dinner, so we didn't actually eat this today, but it will be ready for us whenever we're ready for it!

Of note, I did compete in an Iron Chef-style battle with this sauce. I lost, but I maintain the stance that the judging categories failed to concentrate on the featured ingredient-the sauce. Well, that and my dear sweet hubby and his cousin hated my meatballs and caused me to lose. Of note #2: I don't suggest adding meatballs to the sauce in this post because Michelis don't make meatballs. That, I know, is a family tradition.

A Holiday Wish

I originally started this blog out of boredom and an idea of how I could help the rescued dogs of West Jersey Volunteers for Animals in addition to the various adoption events that Hubby and I participate in. Writing a blog has led me to read more blogs (maybe I'm classified as a blogger by now), and naturally I'm drawn to those about animals and food. While my love affair for Rachael Ray has faded a bit in the last year, my love affair with free things has not. So when my ALL YOU Free Sample a Day email led me to Rach's site with the promise of a free sample of her dog food (which I will donate to my local shelter since it's not the brand my dogs eat), I found my way onto her blog (which is also a collection of several other blogs...how do I get added to that?!) and read a bit about what she does for animal rescues and her theories about the dog food she markets. I knew that Rach is a huge advocate for the misunderstood breed of Pit Bull/American Staffordshire Terrier/Staffordshire Bull Terrier/etc, and I knew she had a pittie girl of her own. But what I didn't know, was that Isaboo is Buster's doppleganger!!

Exhibit A

Ok, ok, calm down. I know it's exciting to see, but lets focus on a more critical issue than how to get Buster a job as Isaboo's stunt double. I must admit, I'm a bit skeptical of the marketing, since I know Rachael Ray cooks people food for her pup Isaboo, but I also must admire her realistic viewpoint and use of her fame to market healthy diets for dogs staffed by humans who may not have the time/means to cook for their pooches daily. My skepticism and then rational thought led me to think about all of those animals just sitting, waiting, hoping for a human to come find them and lead them out of the shelter. Lets assume from here on out, this post will be my Holiday Plea for all the homeless animals out there.

Rachael Ray has the right frame of mind. While there are crazy animal people out there: those who cook daily for their pooches, those who climb out of their own beds at 2am to climb into their dog's bed to comfort him so he can go back to sleep (guilty), those who buy nicer sweaters for their animals than for themselves, I could go on... Pet owners don't need to go through all that trouble. Adopting a dog is, in most cases, easier than buying/acquiring a puppy. Most adoptable dogs are older than 6 months, most have lived in a home at some point in their life and have been housetrained already, and most will be happy with a bowl of food twice a day, fresh water daily, a few toys scattered throughout the house, and a pair of human feet to keep warm by curling up on them next to the couch (or to wait for by the door).

Sure, bringing a dog into your life usually means altering your schedule a bit. You have to go home to let the dog out before heading out for happy hour. You may have to find someone to watch the dog if you need to go away for a weekend. You may have to make room in your bed if you're a softie and will allow your dog to sleep in your bed. But the dog will always be happy to see you once you do return, and will be thankful that you left him alone all day so he could get a proper nap!

We can't all be doctors, nurses, paramedics, etc, but we can all save a life. There are so many animals out there hoping for a family, a home, and a second chance. By rescuing 1 animal, you make room for another animal to stay in a shelter until he is lucky enough to go home. Adjusting to life with a new animal is temporary yet life changing. Yeah, there's the adding of dog food/cat litter to the shopping list, and scheduling a visit to the vet about as often as you go to the dentist (hopefully not more often), the more frequent vacuuming you'll need to do, and additional lodging plans when planning a family vacation. But there's also the relief you get when you come home from a bad day and there's a pooch wagging his tail and licking your face or a kitty waiting to rub against your leg. Its as if they are telling you "It's ok mom/dad. Leave all that bad stuff outside and lets have some fun!" There's the entertainment you'll get when your animal does something silly. There's the companionship you'll feel when you can read your dogs ears and know exactly what he's thinking. There's the excitement when you come home from a great day and have an animal ready to tag along as you take a walk with a little more pep in your step, or throw the ball a little further because your excitement allows your arm to play that much more.

Owning your own pet puts you in contact with other pet owners. Of course this happens more often if you lack a yard sufficient for playing, therefore must walk your dog(s) several times daily, but as dog owners, we've met neighbors and friends because our dogs like to play together. This helps alleviate the dilemma of finding someone to take care of your pup when you are away....ready made playdates and sleepovers!

Consider saving a life this holiday season. Let a deserving animal say "I'm going home!" I guarantee it won't be the last time you give your pet a holiday gift.

Ribby and Buster are hoping for big things from Santa Claws.

The Ugly Quiche

This Thanksgiving, I made my first attempt at baking a pie. Worried that genetics play a part in beginner baking skills, I made sure my Ma still made her traditional Pumpkin and Derby Pies. See, before Ma perfected her pies, she made an infamous apple pie that resulted in a crust that fused to the pie plate. Even though I wasn't even a glimmer in her eye when this occurred, she'll never live it down. Luckily though, through indirect intervention, I was enlightened and led to Trader Joe's frozen pie crust just in the nick of time. I'm happy to report that the resulting pie turned out to be delicious and in fact, the crust lifted beautifully from the pie plate. So naturally, I wondered what other works of magic I could create with this heavenly frozen pie crust....enter stage left.....quiche!

Hubby is a big fan of quiche, so I thought I'd give it a shot since I don't often let him pick the recipe du jour. I picked up a box of 2 frozen pie crusts on my way home one day and had the rest of the ingredients already on hand.

The wine didn't go in the quiche, but yes, it was essential to its success.

What I failed to realize though, is that the crust for pie attempt #1 was not pre-baked. What I also did not realize was the worth of pie weights and the purpose of covering the crust with foil when pre-baking it. Observe:

woops!

Once I stopped shaking my head at myself, I remembered what my friend said, "quiche is easy as pie!," figured no one would see the crust anyway, and since it wasn't burnt, I continued with my recipe. Ya know what? It was easy as pie! I mixed the egg, cream and scallions together, put the cheese and bacon on top of the ugly crust, poured the egg mixture on top and popped it in the oven.

so there's no crust around the side...what's your point?!

We were good and let the quiche set (probably because I was making a back-up meal in case the quiche was a flop), but once it was set, we dug in!

I know its more fun to read about things that don't go so well, but a) I wanted to brag about my yummy quiche and b) was hoping someone out there would tell me a way to keep the pie crust from sliding down the sides of the pie plate. Or is covering it with foil and putting pie weights on the surface the simple solution? On to the next adventure while I try to figure that out....

A Peace Offering

Last week, I submitted my resignation for my current position to take a step up in my career. While professionally, it's exciting and an opportunity that I can't pass up, personally, it's very sad. I have been in my current position for 3 years and have made some great friends out of my coworkers. Amina W.,  Grace K., (note: shout-out by name request fulfilled) and I all came to this department within a few short months and figured out what the heck we were supposed to be doing together. While this job isn't always easy (who's is?!), we've been able to keep it light and not take anything too seriously. We've developed a friendship that took us to eastern Europe, geological patterns that kept us there against our will, and will take us through many more years and countless cute baby pictures. So when I gave A and G the news that I am leaving, they replied with "we feel like we've been dumped."

Even though we all made nice and celebrated the holidays together at the division Christmas party on Saturday night, I still felt like I should bring them a treat to maybe win them over with food. Amina had fallen into the "I need anything and everything that uses pumpkin" cult this year (YES!! A new recruit!) and had passed along a recipe for Pumpkin Biscuits in her recipe search frenzy. I figured I'd try to win their love back with these delicious-sounding pillows of pumpkin-buttery goodness.

Purdy sure they still feel like they've been dumped. Only now they've already made it through the ice cream, vodka, and entire box of butterscotch krimpets and are stuck with the just-ok biscuits in the back of the cabinet. 

I threw the "I don't bake" conviction in the trash with the price tag that came on my new rolling pin and realized that baking isn't so bad after all, and there's always a stomach waiting to eat the sweet treats when the calories are staring me in the face. Unfortunately, I didn't purchase a pastry or biscuit cutter (aka: circle cookie cutter) to go with my new rolling pin. So I set to work making the coarse-meal-looking first step of the dough with my handy-dandy-hands before adding the pumpkin.

 Surprisingly, it all came together quite easily. Better than my first homemade pie crust attempt that had large chunks of butter scattered throughout.

So I got to this point and said "self, how are you going to cut these so they all bake evenly??" Since my head naturally turns to the wine/liquor cabinet in times of thought/confusion/wonder/24/7, I had a brilliant thought. When you're out of liquor, whats the purpose of having a cocktail shaker?? Biscuit cutting!

So I sampled a biscuit (because I learned in a very intense Iron Chef-like competition, that not tasting a dish can cause a loss due to undersaltiness) warm from the oven with a drizzle of honey on it.

Yes, I know it's sideways.

I enjoyed the pinch of cayenne pepper that my Thanksgiving sweet potato recipe called for. I did not, however enjoy the 1/2 tsp of cayenne pepper that the pumpkin biscuit recipe called for. It's overpowering and just odd. I don't like a fluffy biscuit that is spicy. I'll decrease that to a pinch of cayenne next time, and oh yes. There will be a next time. Viva la pumpkin!!

Sheba the Snow Angel

When Ribby was a homeless dog, he had a friend named Sheba. Sheba was down on her luck and wasn't ready to make many friends. She enjoyed Ribby's company though (come on, who doesn't?!) and they played whenever they had the chance. Ribby joined our family a year and a half ago, but his girly friend Sheba is still looking for a home.

We aren't exactly sure what mix of breeds Sheba is, but think she may have some boxer in her. Maybe some terrier? rottie? American bulldog? A medium-large girl, about 65 pounds, and about 4 years old, she's in great shape. She has been in a foster home for a few months now, following more than a year in a kennel. She picked right back up with perfect potty habits, and has the run of the house even while her foster mom is out for the day. She can be crated during the day, but doesn't get into any trouble when left alone out of a crate.

Sheba looooves her long walks and rides in the car. Her foster mom has a convertible that she rides in and lets the wind run through her ears. During her long walks, she'll take breaks to lie down and bask in the sunshine. She knows she's a beauty!

Now that the weather is turning cold, Sheba is looking forward to making snow angels. She just loves to roll around in the snow!! Even though Sheba doesn't get along with many other dogs, she's a love bug to her human friends. She is very shy at first but it won't be long before she's rolling over for belly rubs and leaning up against her human for security.

Sheba is looking to be the star of your home. Do you have a stage on which she can shine? ;

A meal worth crying over

I looked in the fridge last weekend and found beer, condiments, and leftover dipping sauce that I made for an appetizer and swore I was going to the leftovers as a salad dressing (hindsight is 20/20. not good on lettuce. excellent on chicken meatballs.) As I've tried to do so many times, I decided to make a shopping list specific to some recipes that I wanted to try. So this week we've been able to try the sort-of-carbonara recipe (not because I bought those items specifically to make that...bacon was bogo and pasta was on sale...can't pass up those deals!), an Americanized version of shepherd's pie:

Chili on the bottom, cornbread on the top, done in the microwave for the eternally busy American family, yummm all the way through.

Apparently I've been a morning person this weekend or maybe just a hungry-in-the-morning person, since our Saturday began with pumpkin pancakes and bacon (again, bacon was 2 for 1. don't judge.):

And Sunday morning, I put my dinner plans into action before breakfast!

Let me start at the beginning (ie-scroll down if you don't want the boring version). In April, 2 coworkers and I were lucky enough represent our department at an international convention taking place in Vienna, Austria. We made all kinds of plans to soak it all in in the 5 days we were there, including a bike tour of the city, palaces to ogle, a train ride to Prague, and a few cocktail hours at the courtesy of those who ultimately determine our job security. So here's how it actually panned out:
A bike tour that was awesome, minus the damp, freezing weather the day we had scheduled the trip. A trip to Budapest instead of Prague, since the train fare to Prague was double what we had seen online, and the travel time and fare to Budapest was half that to Prague. A volcano in Iceland that decided to spew ash and ground all air travel in, around, and out of Europe for days. In all, it was an incredible trip, and although it was stressful not knowing when we were going to be able to get home, we came away with countless memories, many of the edible kind...if only we could recreate them.

Enter my choice out of my slow cooker cookbook....Sweet Beef Goulash with Smoked Paprika. If you're looking for a "chop a few items, toss it together and forget about it" crock pot meal, this recipe isn't for you. But if you're willing to put just a little additional work in the morning before you plan to enjoy this for dinner, it's totally worth it. As the title of the recipe states, this called for smoked paprika, but noted that if you can't find smoked, sweet paprika is fine and actually, more authentic. I wanted to re-live the goulash we had for lunch in Hungary, so I didn't even bother looking for the smoked variety. Here's the entire collection of what went into this recipe:

The legwork in the beginning involves browning the meat and roasting the onions. But before you roast the onions, you need to slice them. Now, give me credit. I warned Hubby that I was slicing onions and he may want to stay upstairs for a bit. Poor guy cries at the saute' of a shallot. But he stood strong and remained downstairs. I pride myself on my ability to cut and cook onions without shedding a tear. My first attempt at homemade French Onion Soup involved 5 pounds onions and I didn't need a tissue! Well. Either those days are over, or these onions were sent by the devil! I was slicing away, and felt a tear coming on. Before I knew it, I had to abandon my knife and cutting board and head for the other room (which technically, is the same room, only several feet away from where I was already standing). Several tissues, nose blows, and hand washings later, the onions were put into the oven to learn their lesson. Never make a girl cry. She'll roast ya for it.

Yep. 6 onions. That's what I got.

Anywho....moving on, tears won't get in the way of my reminiscing. Those onions, the browned beef, and the pan sauce I made to get the yummies on the bottom of the pan went into the crock pot, and I went to meet some people and sign them up for Pampered Chef shopping sprees.

Before

After (I promise these are both my goulash. I don't know what's up with the changing color of the crock pot in the 2 photos.)

So when I say I wanted to go for the authentic, I wasn't kidding. I wanted my goulash with spaetzle. I don't know what they call spaetzle in Hungary, but what they served our goulash with was as close as it gets if not the same thing. I've made spaetzle before, but obviously I forgot how much elbow grease goes into actually making the dumplings. It was totally worth it though. Check out this progression:

Batter: a little thicker than pancake batter

Plain spaetzle

Butter makes everything better!

Goulash over spaetzle.

SUCCESS! Although I'm not willing to make spaetzle again until I have a spaetzle maker or a colander with large holes spread far apart (according to Hubby, it was illogical to register for 4 colanders), this meal was completely worth it. The whole time I was eating it, I was picturing the restaurant (and the ginormous beers they served in Europe) where I first enjoyed authentic Goulash.

This meal doesn't require much skill, but it does take time and planning ahead. Worth every minute!

Bake is not a noun

I hate it when recipe writers name a dish after the method or vessel of cooking. "Broccoli and Orzo Skillet" "Chicken and Zucchini Saute" "Chipotle Chili Cornbread Bake" I don't know what it is about it, I just don't like it. So although I followed the recipe titled "Chipotle Chili Cornbread Bake," I like to think I ended up with an Americanized version of Shepherd's Pie. Again, no peas in this recipe, which is probably why I don't cook real Shepherd's Pie. Just can't adhere to the pea requirement.

I had and awesome lunch with a friend the other day at Bobby's Burger Palace. Although the temperature is sub-freezing, the company and the LA turkey burger were totally worth it. (Honestly, I tried to chicken out and suggested the Irish Pub or Chinese restaurants closer to my office. I would have been completely disappointed.) But my point is that even though I came home a little late, I wasn't hungry. Hubby wasn't hungry either, and will be quick to tell you about the spread he sampled at the company holiday party that afternoon. So we watched the extended episode of Top Scallop from last night and by the time that ended, it was 7:15. I figured I better make something to eat or I would regret it when my grumbling tummy wakes me up at 3am. I had all the fixins for the dish we ended up eating (we'll return to the name debate later) and knew 2 things: it'd be quick enough that we'd eat within the hour and I wouldn't have to pull utensils out of the packed dishwasher to accomplish this task. So I got started. Once again, my photography is off; I kept forgetting to take pictures. I must get better at that!

First I chopped a green pepper and sliced a bunch of scallions. Just the bottoms of the scallions went in the magic pot along with the chopped pepper and 1 pound of lean ground beef.

I popped the dish, covered, into the microwave for 7 minutes. I forgot to take it out and chop up the ground beef 1/2 way through, but eh, no biggie. When I did take it out, I crumbled up the beef with my mix 'n chop (Nothing worse than a big chunk of ground beef when I'm looking for a mix of flavors in each bite). Then I simply added a cup of salsa, a can of chili beans in sauce (I had no idea what these were until I had to make another recipe last fall that also called for them), and 2 tablespoons of chipotle seasoning. I mixed that all together, put the lid back on, and microwaved for another 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, I mixed 1 box of corn muffin mix, 1 egg, and 8 oz of sour cream together with the tops of the scallions I chopped earlier. (Can you hear Rachel Ray saying "chop once, use twice?" Yeah, I threw something at her in my imagination too.) So when the beef mixture came out of the microwave, I spread the corn muffin mix concoction over the top of the beef and bean mix. Back into the microwave for another 7 minutes. In the time it took to "bake" the cornbread topping, I washed the dishes I had used to make the dish!
This is what we ended up with:

It doesn't look like much, but here's why I say it's an Americanized version of Shepherd's Pie:

Look familiar? I've made this recipe several times for Pampered Chef Shows and rarely do I get to try it to the point where I know if it's really good or not. (Ettiquite says when lots of people need a taste, I can't take a generous portion. Nope. Apparently not even if I made it and it's for quality assurance.)

 I must say, it was quite tasty! Lots of flavor, not too much beef, not too much sauce. Hubby approved. (Good thing he didn't see me put the mushrooms in there!  kidding! kidding! relax. there were no mushrooms.)

So this recipe naming thing. Not only is naming the dish after the method of cooking a cop-out, this one is down right wrong. I didn't "bake" this dish. All of the cooking was done in the microwave. So if we want to get technical, this should be a Chipotle Chili Cornbread Microwave. But lets get creative instead of technical. I'm going to call this success in the kitchen Chipotle Chili Shepherd's Pie.

Wanna play fetch with me?? Huh? Huh? Come on! I'm a fun guy!

I'm gonna go with the shot to the gut right away.

Seriously. How cute is he?! Meet Langley. Langley's fallen on some hard times recently. His owner passed away and no one in his owner's family wanted the responsibility of a pooch, so he ended up at PSPCA.

We obviously can't ask his previous owner what is in his mix of breeds, but the folks at the SPCA and our rescue seem to think mayyyybe there's some pit bull in him, although he has short legs, so maybe its bull terrier? He has a wirey coat so there's some kind of wire-haired terrier in him as well (duh, Amy; way to state the obvious) and is buff and white in color.

He's about 40 pounds, but like I said, with short legs. He's put on a little bit of weight since the photo above was taken.

Langley is about a year old, but still has a lot of puppy in him. He is very active and will need a family that can give him sufficient exercise. The first time I picked Langley up for an adoption event, we bonded immediately (his paws and belly were soaking wet from trying to catch the water coming out of the hose; don't tell Hubby I let him in the car without drying him off ;). Once he got over his very brief shyness at our introduction, he was very excited to be headed out on an adventure! I let him sit in the front seat since Hubby was unavailable for the adoption event that day. He is wonderful in the car! Like I said, there was some excitement when we first hopped in, but nothing that made me regret putting him in the front seat. (Ok, well, maybe I wasn't watching the road as much as I should have. Did you see his face? I couldn't stop looking at his cuteness!) By the time we reached Petsmart, only about a 5-10 minute drive, he was sitting in his seat with his front paws on the center console staring at me.

Although he does have a lot of energy, Langley seems to follow commands well. At adoption events with a lot of activity surrounding him, he will pay attention and "sit" with (just a wee bit of) prompting. He will need a strong leader to use his energy and intelligence in a constructive way. I bet he's got a whole slew of tricks just waiting to be honed. Because he does have a lot of energy, we feel Langley would be best suited for a family with older children, maybe 10 and older, who won't get scared or knocked down when he plays. I think a fenced-in yard is second on Langley's Christmas list (behind #1: a family to love, of course) since he loves to play ball!

 He loves other toys (or recyclables) as well:

and will allow his humans to take them away without any aggression.


Langley is neutered, up to date with vaccines, microchipped and will be heartworm/lymes tested before adoption. 


Whatdya say? Ya up for a game of fetch?? The only thing he won't fetch and return is your heart. He'll steal that forever!

A little less bacon fat, please.

This is a day old meal, leftovers, if you will, but I still wanted to write about it since I'm always excited when a new kitchen gadget works just as it's supposed to. So...I admit it. I loooove spaghetti carbonara. All of it. All the simple carbohydrate-bacon fat-cheesy goodness. But in an effort to not "let myself go" as I was led to believe I could do after I got married, I was looking for a healthier version than the one I found in Joy of Cooking. While Joy of Cooking is my go-to book for the jumping off point for anything new in the kitchen, a lot of times I look elsewhere to tweak the recipe initially found here. (Note: this tweaking is not applicable for the beef chili and tagine chicken with chickpeas recipes in Joy of Cooking. They are perfect.) When looking for a healthier version of a classic, I'm usually hesitant to follow the "alternative" recipe exactly, as though it may be a great recipe in and of itself, most often, it fails to duplicate the original recipe in taste (Insert fettuccini alfredo here. Its amazing creamy, cheesy, carbohydrate deliciousness, but there's no duplicate without using heavy cream). Lets face it. The reason I love carbonara is because it has bacon fat. Lots of bacon fat. So I found a recipe that looked good. I was a little bitter that it claimed to be carbonara by name while it didn't call for all the fat rendered from 6 slices of bacon, and it did call for peas (blech. Thank you Ma, for never making me eat peas.), but decided to give it a shot anyway. Besides, it's actually called fettuccini carbonara with poached eggs. No better time than now to test out my new Poach Pods!!

It figures, the 2 things I needed to pick up to prepare this recipe were the well, fettuccini and bacon. In this picture is everything I needed to make this dish.

That's it! Not only did I get to test out my Poach Pods, I also got to get a good seasoning session in on my medium bar pan. I've never made bacon in an easier way that was so perfectly crumbly. I think I'll only cook bacon in the oven from now on.

I made the bacon and cooked the pasta first so I could keep an eye on the eggs as they were poaching. When I've tried to poach eggs the traditional way, its resulted in scrambled eggs cooked in simmering vinegar-water. So I was pretty stoked to try these. So was Buster:

I re-read the directions at the prompting of Hubby when I mentioned whined that the eggs were taking a long time to cook.

Once I popped the lid on, they cooked to perfection! (Note: I did spritz a teeny bit of olive oil in the Pods before dropping the egg in)

Once I put the 2 tablespoons of bacon drippings (of about 6 or so that collected in the baking stone), the pasta, crumbled bacon, fresh Parmesan cheese, 2 cups of the pasta cooking water, and some parsley together, I could put my perfectly cooked egg on top and enjoy this more protein-carb-fat balanced version of one of my favorite dishes without the guilt that ensues when I see the hardened bacon fat coating the strands of spaghetti when I go to heat up leftovers for lunch.

YUM!

(disclaimer: This was NOT my portion. I kinda forgot to take a picture of the final product (I was too eager to dig in!) so I put the leftovers on a plate and took one after the fact. I apologize for the lack of presentation. Padma and Tom would not be happy)