Food, glorious foooood

I have spent most of the weekend cooking. Yesterday I baked a lemon meringue pie, which turned out fabulous; made a baked cauliflower casserole; then took those to my dad's house where I finished off the meal by cooking the last of the salmon fillets. I left most of the leftovers with Dad so he could have them for dinner tonight. I brought home a little bit of the cauliflower and he got the rest. There wasn't a lot of fish although he did get the entire half of a lemon pie so that makes up for it.

Today I baked a half-recipe of baklava (didn't have enough phyllo for a whole batch, and the market was out) & put half of it in the freezer; a batch of putanessca sauce which I divided into two containers & froze that, too; a zucchini casserole; and I've got chicken breasts with potatoes, garlic, carrots, onions, celery, and green onions with a little broth added in the oven now. I plan on serving half the chicken for dinner tonight, and using the other half tomorrow to make a BBQ chicken pizza. Oh, fie, I just realized I didn't put any salt or pepper in with the chicken. Oh, well, we can put it on after it's cooked.

Haven't done a lot of knitting lately. I have several WIPs on the needles & just don't feel much like working on any of them. And, of course, that always makes me want to cast on a new project. Sigh. Just need to buckle down & finish what I've started. Maybe one more game of Bubble Town first. . .

A few things

Not a lot to talk about today. Last Thursday I stopped at a fast food place near my work. They were having a free fries promotion the following day, and I joked w/the clerk about them celebrating my birthday. Well, I went to the same place yesterday, and the clerk remembered about it being my birthday & gave me the employee discount on my meal. I told her she didn't have to do that but she insisted. Awfully nice, I thought.

On the way out, I saw a school bus, with students on it, that had been pulled over by a cop. I have no idea why it was pulled over, and all I could think was that a) the kids would be talking about it all day and b) that bus driver could be in a lot of trouble. I can't think of any reason for it to have been pulled over that does not bode poorly for the driver.

Lost dogs seem to be going around. KR at work sent out an e-mail; a friend of hers found a dog & is trying to find a home for it. I was a little surprised that she included me on it since I just spent nearly a month trying to find a home for Frumple/Zoey. Hope they find a place for the little guy.

Had one of the salespeople yesterday ask if I was going to be in this morning, then added "You can notarize some things for me." I told her no, I couldn't, my notary commission has expired, and at the same time was thinking, "Oh, CAN I?" I mean, she didn't ask, just informed me that I could do this. I don't think she meant to be rude, even though it really came off that way. Which reminds me, I need to either renew my commission or turn in my journal. I already destroyed the stamp.

Better picture of little Zoey

OK, that downloaded properly this time :-)

Just a quick pic

DB sent me a picture of Frumple sleeping on their bed. Or I should say Zoey, since that is what they have named her. I think it's pretty weird, them picking that name when we have a dog named Zoe too (although the spelling is different). And no, they didn't know we had a dog named Zoe. As you can see, she is already comfortable in her new home ;-)

Edited to add: Darn, the picture came out so small you can't really see her. I'll have to try for a better download. . .

Hooray!

Frumple has a new home! One of our sales agents, DB, has been looking for a new dog. We drove to her work in Palm Springs (a mere 110 miles away) so she could meet Frumple, then we all went to her house so the dog could meet her dog. All went quite well, so DB is going to keep her for a trial basis, and if it does not work out she will be responsible for finding a good home. I think it will work, though, even though DB's dog is much smaller than Frumpy. They got along nicely, and Frumple was very gentle with the little dog. Well worth the drive, and a weight off my mind knowing she's in a good place.

fie.

Bugger it. The people who said they wanted the dog didn't call. I have one last possibility, and if that doesn't work she will have to go to the pound after all.

Catching up

First and foremost, an update on the dog. One of my co-workers, MH, has a neighbor that recently lost a dog (hit by a car) & MH was going to see if she wanted Frumple. We had intended to take her to the animal shelter (Frumple, not MH) on Saturday but held off waiting to hear back. On Monday I find out that the neighbor had been away all weekend. In conversation it came out that this person has had THREE animals hit by cars, and that the longest she had any of them before the accident was four months. With that track record, I told MH, "No. Don't even ask her." I e-mailed Ralph to let him know & at that point we each secretly decided we were going to keep her.

Then came Monday night. In play, our other three dogs got her cornered--much as I imagine they did to poor Hoover last December--and Ralph had to go rescue her. We agreed that we could not keep her if she was going to be in danger from the other dogs & made plans to bring her to the shelter on Thursday morning, the shelter being closed on Tuesday & us having no way to get time off on Wednesday. Then lo and behold, we got a call from a woman who had called previously expressing interest, and she is coming by tonight to pick up Frumple!! I am so glad she's going to a real home (with kids even) rather than the shelter. It's a big weight lifted off me, let me tell you.

Got an e-mail from our friend MS last night. His group is doing two performances of his wonderful play, "Oedipus Rex," a 20-minute, musical comedy version of the great Greek tragedy, on Mother's Day. He wants Ralph & me to be part of the band again. I have to make sure that Ralph doesn't have other plans, and make sure I get my Faire clothes back from Lizard right away after Duh's wedding. Oh, and practice so that I don't suck. Hmmm, I think I have a copy of the music; maybe I'll bring it to work today & play at lunch.

Went to dinner at my FAVORITE restaurant in the whole world, George's Greek Deli, on Sunday night with Ralph, The Boy, and The Girl. I ate way too much: split a halumi appetizer with Ralph; a bowl of tomato soup so thick that when you take a spoonful out, it leave a little valley; half a combo-appetizer plate (kalamari, spanakopitas, dolmethes, and dolthes); and half a dessert that I can never remember the name of but looks like shredded wheat topped with chocolate sauce. YUM! Plus of course there were the leftovers for Monday breakfast. I did discover one scary thing, though; when The Boy signed his credit card slip, I noticed that except for being half the length, his signature is virtually identical to mine. Weird!

I also learned how much Harry Potter has been absorbed into our culture. I'm reading two books right now. In "Sweater Quest," the author makes a reference to Voldemort. In "Monster," one of the characters accuses another of thinking she's a muggle (the other character laughs and says that "Only muggles use the word muggle"). "Sweater Quest" is just OK, however I'm really enjoying "Monster."

Oh! There's a new "Daily Grind" in downtown Long Beach, in a retail space that has been many different places. Oddly enough, it is almost directly across the street from a long-established "Starbucks." When we went by after dinner on Sunday, I noticed that the DG was very busy & the SB almost deserted. Should be interesting to watch the coffee-battle progress. Not this weekend, though; it's the Long Beach Grand Prix & downtown will be jam-packed.

Might go to the Pet Expo this weekend; haven't decided for sure. We had planned on it, then when it looked like we'd have to take Frumple to the pound I lost the heart to go, and now that she's going to a home instead it sounds like fun again. We'll see.

Just a few photos today

Some of the goldfish in our pond. the black/silver one & the really yellow-y gold one are the only actual koi that we have; all the others are just feeder fish that grew up.


Halitosis, the queen of our castle.



One of my current WIPs, ruffled wristwarmers to go with my new hat. I used stitch dictionaries to find both the ruffle & the eyelet pattern, converted them to be knit in the round, and added a bit of ribbing at the top. I will be posting instructions on my Ravelry project page.



Frumplestiltskin stretching with her paws on my let. She's not supposed to do that of course, but it made a cute picture. Obviously we have not yet found either her owner or a new home.



Our amaryllis is in bloom! An extreme close-up of one of the blossoms.

Bound to happen sooner or later

The unthinkable has happened. Yes, I actually made a recipe from the Gilligan's Island cookbook that was not good. I know, I know, hard to believe, but the "Giant Gilligan Burger" was icky. I think the basic premise is good--a big burger-shaped meatloaf with a cream cheese filling--however it is not well-executed. If I make it again, I'll leave out the mustard & horseradish, replace it with ketchup and a little milk (to thin the cream cheese), and top it with some sort of sauce so it doesn't dry out so much in the baking. Oh, and reduce the salt in the meat also.

Last night's dinner (pasta topped with Ginger's Sweet Red Pepper Sauce) was OK. The "sauce" is not the least bit sauce-like. It's a good start, but next time I will either add a can of diced tomatoes so it has more liquid, or mix it in with a jar of sauce, or add zucchini & yellow squash and serve it as a side dish.

Still trying to find a home for the stray dog, whom we have NOT given the name "Frumplestiltskin." We just call her that, or Frumple, sometimes. But we haven't named her because we Are. Not. Keeping. Her.

Fish!

Another new recipe last night, this time for Simple Salmon. It really was an easy recipe, and surprisingly good since normally I don't like salmon. I am trying to be open-minded about cooking, though, and thought I'd give it a try. Mind you, when I put "2 salmon fillets" on the shopping list, I didn't expect Ralph to come home with a 3-pound side of salmon. Thank goodness for the internet, where I learned how to turn that hunk-o-fish into proper fillets.

Started a pair of wristwarmers last night to go with the new hat. I found a "bell" edging which I used to make a ruffle at the bottom to go along with the pleats on the hat, then I'm going to use a diamond brocade chart for the main part. I really wanted something lacier but haven't found anything quite right in my stitch dictionaries. Oh, wait, I just remembered one I haven't looked through yet.

Just a couple pictures of my new hat

I love my new hat, but when I look at these pictures all I can think is, "OMFSM, I do look like Lizard!" Except the nose. She's got a cute li'l nose and mine looks like it belongs on Bob Hope.

Oh, now THAT'S cooking!

OK, so technically it's baking which as I've said before I'm pretty good at. Today I learned how to make baklava. It's amazingly easy, and very tasty when it's still warm from the oven. I was going to cook Chicken Dijon Gilliana for dinner tonight, but Ralph bought some shrimp & scallops which he's going to grill up. I'm still in charge of the side dish, though, and I'm thinking Mayflower Cauliflower Casserole, which is basically cauliflower baked in a Swiss cheese sauce. Should be simple enough.

I am almost done with my hat! The only thing left to do is to sew the hatband onto it. I know it will only take a couple minutes to do, however I don't care for sewing & after sewing the hatband, then the bow, then the bow onto the hatband, well I'm sewn out for the evening. It took a lot less yarn than I anticipated; I thought I'd use 3 skeins (~450 yards) and I ended up using only half that amount. So that means I still have 3-1/2 skeins left to make some matching accessories. I'm thinking some lacy wristwarmers might be just the ticket.

Still have an extra dog

It's Day 9 of Trying To Find the Dog's Owner. We went to Animal Control today & had her scanned for a microchip; no dice. It was a longshot at best--I can't imagine that someone who doesn't put a tag on a dog would go to the bother of having the chip put in--but we had to at least try. We entered her photo & info in the Lost & Found book while we were there.

Had a couple nibbles at least. We had a call from a woman who said she'd found the dog earlier & had been taking care of her. The dog had gotten away from her but she said she'd like to have her back. In the hour it took me to get home & call to make arrangements, her fiance had talked her out of it. Grrrr! Ralph talked to some kids who said the dog was theirs, and then backpedaled quickly on it. He told them to have their mom call, which she did. It's not their dog, however she might be interested in taking her as they are looking to get a dog. This was still early on when we thought there was a real chance of finding the owner, so Ralph told her to call back next weekend. Now, of course, we're wishing we'd given her the dog right off. I sure hope she calls again.

Bathed all four of the critters today. The bathroom is SOAKED and there isn't a drop of hot water left for Ralph & me to take our showers. The extra dog had so many fleas that I got Hali & Sadie completely bathed & Zoe halfway done before Ralph had finished washing that little pup. We Frontlined them, too, which should help.

Ordered pizza for dinner tonight. I feel too grubby to cook and in any case about the only thing we have ready to cook is fish. I don't feel like having fish for dinner. And that's about it for today I'm afraid.