The Joys of Puppy Ownership

Guess what I came home to tonight after critique group? A very happy puppy, greeting me at the door. She was just so excited to see me. She was all smiles and puppy wags. Only problem is, I locked her in her crate before I left for group tonight. Somehow, she figured out how to open the door, and oh my, did she have a good time. Yes, she pooped and peed all over the place. But she was very selective. She only pooped and peed on the rugs. She completely avoided all the linoleum. Thankfully, she did not tear anything apart.

And she got into the cat's water, so she tanked up really well. The throw rugs are now in the washing machine. I’m so glad they are machine washable, because they are expensive rugs. I'm going to have to tear out both carpets in the library. I know from long experience that it's a lost cause trying to save them with urine smells in them, and the bottom carpet is old anyway, so out it goes. The top carpet is relatively new, but it's already had a few previous accidents on it, and though I took it outside and hosed it down really well when it happened, and let it air dry in the sun for a week, it's now toast. I'm not supposed to be doing any heavy lifting, but this can't be helped. The carpets have to go. Too bad, because the top carpet was practically new.

Things could have been much worse. She could have destroyed the furniture. Terrorized the cats. Gotten into the living room with my pale oatmeal-colored carpet (a sturdy puppy gate prevented that). Now the little blighter is in her crate sawing logs after I cleaned up all the messes around the house. I guess all I can do is laugh. *g*

Here are some pictures I took today of Asterisk and Christopher playing hide & seek. For a cat, Christopher is so good natured about the puppy. He doesn't use his claws at all. Are these cute pictures or what?















(Top) Christopher on the other side of my desk, tempting Asterisk with The Paw of Death.

(Bottom) Christopher has just leaped out at Asterisk from behind the footstool with an, "AHA!"














(Top) Ready to play patty-cake

(Bottom) A pounce ready to happen

This picture cracks me up. Asterisk had been jumping at Christopher when Christopher suddenly whipped out his paw to slap her face (notice his claws are sheathed). Asterisk stopped so fast her loose puppy skin accordioned about her neck and shoulders. Too funny!

When the Warranty Runs Out

Just when you need all your body parts the most, they wear out and the warranty expires. I went to see the doc about an annoying little problem and they discovered a much more serious problem while I was there. No, it's not the Big C or anything fatal, but it is just worrisome.

I've always been healthy as a horse, so it was a shock to find out that my body is succumbing to the ravages of time. I see a specialist (actually, 2 specialists) in a few weeks, but it looks like I'll be getting a hysterectomy. I'm still shaking my head in disbelief. This sort of thing happens to other people, not me.

So I'm going into high gear with the ol' positive attitude. I'm not dwelling on the problem, but dwelling on having a healthy body. I know from long experience that the mind can work miracles, and I'm just going to keep on imagining myself healthy and whole and happy and smiling.

And that's going to be a whole lot of fun!

Puppy Shenanigans

My new Boxer puppy, Asterisk, is making overtures of friendship to Christopher the Assassin, my cat. Christopher likes dogs, and was best buddies with my old Boxer, so he's tolerating the pup pretty well.

The picture above Shows Asterisk under my desk, trying to reach Christopher. And Christopher knows that the puppy can only get her head and front feet through that little hole at the bottom, so he is sitting tantalizingly close, just to tease the puppy. Animals are so entertaining.

I happened to have the camera on the corner of my desk today, so I was fortunate enough to catch a cute picture of Christopher sitting atop the desk, peering sneakily down at Asterisk, who was under the desk. A moment after I took that picture, an unsuspecting Asterisk moseyed out from under the desk and suffered the indignity of a series of rapid-fire slaps to the head (no claws) from Christopher, who'd been hovering like a vulture waiting for the chance to nail her.

Christopher thought it was great fun, but it startled the daylights out of Asterik, who thought the demons of Hell had landed on her head. It was hilarious watching Christopher planning his attack and waiting in tense expectation for Asterisk to get in range. I love my animals. They're better than TV.

An Ordinary Day

Today I cleaned the barn, which was very satisfying. The horses hung out with me and offered advice over their stall doors. Asterisk (my Boxer) and Nova (my Doberman) played King of the Mountain on the bales of hay. It was hilarious, and had me laughing out loud several times. The dogs were having such a good time playing like silly kids while I laughed at them. I wish I'd had my camera with me.

It was fun puttering around in the barn. I had the radio going, and it was (for once!) almost like spring outside. We've had so much rain, snow, sleet, and hail since January that any day we get dry weather is a treat.

Right now it's 10:15 p.m. and I'm getting ready to work on a client's manuscript. The dogs are sacked out, tired after a hard day playing. All is right with the world.

Recipe: Sunday Spinach

I just finished a plate of creamed spinach that was divine. It's the first time I tried this recipe, and it's a keeper! Without further ado, here is the recipe.

SUNDAY SPINACH

Two 10-oz pkgs frozen chopped spinach

6 T finely minced onion

1/4 c. melted butter

1 tsp salt

3/4 tsp black pepper

2 T cream cheese

6 T grated Parmesan cheese

6 T heavy cream

Tabasco sauce (optional)

Italian bread crumbs

Cook spinach according to package in unsalted water. Drain well. Saute onions in butter. Add drained spinach, salt, and pepper to taste. Pour in cream. Add cheeses and Tabasco sauce. Mix well. Before serving, place in baking dish and top with buttered Italian bread crumbs and bake at 375 degrees for 10-15 minutes. Freezes well.

Note: when I make this again, I think I'll reduce the onions to 5 T. instead of 6, and increase the cream to 8 T. instead of 6. I like onions, but I thought they almost overpowered the spinach. Regardless, it turned out really superior.

Recipe: Sherrie's Creamed Chicken & Noodles

If you wonder why there are so many recipes with my name on them, it's because they are my own inventions. It's a bit egotistical, but hey, I want credit for my daring inventions! We won't talk about the epic failures, of course. And speaking of epic failures, check out the picture on the left. What happened to the broad's nose??? And I guess she's such a good cook she doesn't need to see what she's doing, because her eyes are obviously closed!

This is another recipe you can make, using chicken baked with my special chicken seasoning (see earlier posts). This is a very hearty and filling meal, with a trace of spicy hot from the Mrs. Dash seasoning. But only a trace. No burned mouth linings!

SHERRIE'S CREAMED CHICKEN & NOODLES

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts baked with Sherrie's Sensational Chicken Seasoning. Remove hot chicken from pan and set aside to cool a little.

While chicken is cooling, mix 1 pkg Country Gravy mix with 1 c. water and 1 1/2 c. milk. Add to pan drippings. Bring just to boil, stirring often.

Cube or shred chicken and return to pan/gravy. Mix well.

Serve over egg noodles or white rice. This will really stick to your ribs.

Recipe: Sherrie's Chicken Salad

After you have baked chicken using my chicken seasoning (see previous post) let it cool, then cube and place in bowl, along with all the pan drippings (mostly the seasoning that came off the chicken).

Mix with Best Foods Real Mayonnaise. Serve on toast for a sandwich, or on a bed of lettuce as a salad.

Optional additions to the salad: chopped celery, mild chopped onion (easy on the onion), Thompson's seedless grapes.

If using as a salad, the Thompson's seedless grapes (the green ones) are awesome. They provide a wonderful complement to the chicken.

Recipe: Sherrie's Sensational Chicken Seasoning

After much testing, I came up with my own kind of chicken seasoning, which I make in large batches and store in my spice cupboard in shaker bottles. I also give it away for Christmas because it seems to be so popular.

I'm sorry I can't give exact measurements. Seasonings are highly personal, so I suggest you do what feels right for you.

SHERRIE'S SENSATIONAL CHICKEN SEASONING

4 bottles Mrs. Dash salt-free seasoning, original blend

Kroger Spice Classics poultry seasoning. If you can't find, then substitute with sage, onion powder, & coarse ground black pepper, or use Kroger Grill Time chicken seasoning (go easy--salt is 2nd ingred)

Oregano

Granulated garlic

Empty all 4 bottles Mrs. Dash seasoning into bowl. Save the bottles. Then, add generous amounts of the other ingredients as per taste (go easy on garlic). Mix well and, using a funnel, refill the empty Mrs. Dash bottles. Replace shaker tops, screw lids down tight, and return to pantry. To avoid confusion, I use masking tape to cover the original Mrs. Dash labels and write "chicken seasoning" on the tape. I save my shaker-top spice bottles to re-use for my chicken blend, so I always have extra bottles around.

When using on chicken, I rinse boneless, skinless chicken breasts in water, and put in baking pan dripping wet. Then I liberally coat both sides of chicken with seasoning, add a little bit of water to the pan to keep the chicken moist, put a lid on the pan, and bake for 1 1/2 to 2 hours. I have waterless cookware, so the lids form a tight seal and baking the chicken that long doesn't dry it out. In fact, halfway through baking, I turn the chicken over and return to oven. When done, the seasoning provides a very tasty crust to the chicken. And because the seasonings are low salt, the chicken isn't overpowered with sodium.

Tomorrow and the next day, I'll post recipes for using chicken cooked with Sherrie's Sensational Chicken Seasoning. *g*

My New Puppy

I have a new Boxer puppy! Since I run an editorial business, I wanted to name her something vaguely related to words, punctuation, etc. So I think I'm going to name her Asterisk (Aster for short). And what's really fun is that I can refer to her as * when writing to friends! She is a barrel of fun, as all puppies are, and she and my Doberman, Nova, get along great. Poor Nova puts up with a lot from Asterisk, who frequently insists on sitting on Nova's back.

They play a lot in the yard, and I'm thankful that the first week I had her, the weather was sunny and dry. That helped a lot with potty training. I could also leave her outside in the fenced yard with Nova to play with for an hour or so several times during the day. When I brought her in, after playing hard, she slept in her crate with no problem.

But now that it's raining cats and dogs, things have become more trying for Asterisk. She does her business on the deck *sigh* instead of going down into the yard, and unless Nova is out with her to encourage her to play, she sits huddled in a miserable mass in front of the door. So, like a trooper, I don coat and go outside with both dogs and hang out with them for 30-45 minutes or until my coat is soaked through. Once they get to playing, dogs don't care about rain. And I admit that once I am outside with the dogs, I don't mind it either.

It's been four years since Nova was a puppy, and I'd forgotten how much work it is to housebreak a puppy. In Asterisk's case, I had to section off part of her crate to keep her from peeing in it. The crate is a little too large for her, meaning she can pee in one end and then sleep in the other.

She was very unhappy with me after I sectioned off the crate. She can stand, turn around, and lie down, but if she pees, she has to sleep in it. I've also begun restricting her water after 9 p.m., and it seems to be working. Sort of. I also let her out once in the middle of the night, so I'm sure that helps.

All in all, I'm thrilled to have a new puppy. Do you have a puppy? Or a dog? If so, how did the housebreaking go?

Recipe: Slow Cooker Pepper Steak

I just made this recipe for the first time last night and it's divine. I served it over egg noodles, but it could also be served with rice. This is a hearty, juicy dish, and because the meat cooks all day in the crock pot, it is incredibly tender. The only thing I would change is to leave out the 1 tsp. of salt, or cut it in half. There is plenty enough salt with the bouillon and soy sauce, so adding more salt was overkill. Still, it was delicious!

SLOW COOKER PEPPER STEAK

2 lbs beef sirloin, cut into 2" strips
garlic powder to taste
3 Tbs vegetable oil
1 cube beef bouillon
1/4 cup hot water
1 Tbs cornstarch
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 large green bell peppers, roughly chopped
1 (14.5 oz.) can stewed tomatoes, with liquid
3 Tbs soy sauce
1 tsp white sugar
1 tsp salt (I would delete this salt)

Sprinkle strips of sirloin with garlic powder to taste. In a large skillet over medium heat, brown the seasoned beef strips in the vegetable oil. Transfer to slow cooker. Mix bouillon cube with hot water until dissolved, then mix in cornstarch until dissolved. Pour into the slow cooker with meat. Stir in onion, green peppers, stewed tomatoes, soy sauce, sugar, and salt. (Note: I mixed all liquids together first, then added to beef)

Cover, and cook on High for 3-4 hours or on Low for 6-8 hours.

Glorified Rice

This is a rice salad usually served with meals, but is so sweetly delicious it can also be served as dessert. It's almost like a rice pudding. This is my mom's recipe, and I have no idea if she made it up or adapted it from another recipe. Friends have mistakenly called it Heavenly Hash, but that's a different recipe that calls for marshmallows and fruit cocktail, while my recipe has neither. I don't normally use a recipe for this, so I've done my best to give approximate amounts of ingredients. Don't let the simple ingredients mislead you. This is really delicious!

GLORIFIED RICE

Cooked rice (1 small saucepan full?)
1-2 cans crushed pineapple
1 jar maraschino cherries, sliced in half
1 tub Cool Whip

Add 1 or 2 cans drained crushed pineapple to cooled rice. Fold in Cool Whip. Add cherries last (if you add them first, it will turn the salad pink). Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Sometimes the rice will absorb so much Cool Whip overnight that you'll need to add more, to keep things moist.

If used as dessert, serve in glass goblets and garnish with a whole maraschino cherry.

Recipe: Sherrie's Pasta Salad

After trial and error, I came up with a pasta salad that I really like. The nice thing about this salad is that you can add or subtract ingredients per taste. I happen to like broccoli and cauliflower, so I include them. Whenever I make this salad, it disappears pretty fast. My brother-in-law really likes it, and when we have summer get-togethers he always asks me to make it.

SHERRIE'S PASTA SALAD

--1 small package corkscrew noodles, cooked in seasoned water

--Bernstein's Cheese Fantastico salad dressing

--raw broccoli, cut to bite-size pieces

--raw cauliflower, cut to bite-size pieces

--red peppers, chopped

--green peppers, chopped

--sliced black olives

--green onions, sliced (I used mostly tops)

--cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered

--Kraft grated parmesan cheese

Boil noodles in water seasoned with chicken bouillon and garlic powder. Drain and cool a little, then lightly marinate with Bernstein's dressing to keep the noodles from sticking together. Regrigerate while preparing vegetables.

Chop veggies and add to noodles. (To keep the green onions from overpowering the salad, I discard most of the white bulb and use the rest, including the tops) Add more Bernstein's dressing and parmesan cheese and toss. Optional ingredients: frozen peas, mushrooms, grated carrot, pepperoni, hard-boiled eggs, or whatever else you fancy.

12 Things About Me

I first found this exercise on Susan Wiggs's blog, The View From Here. I love her blog! Anyway, she talked about how on Facebook there's a program where you list 25 things about yourself, and send it to friends, who then list 25 things about themselves.

I'm always a sucker for these things, and it's one of the few (very few!) things I will pass on via e-mail. (Be forewarned--if you send me an e-mail that says to forward it to everyone in my address book, it automatically gets deleted)

But this one is fun, because it shows a side of yourself many people may not know. I don't have time to come up with 25 things about myself, however, so my list will be shorter. Without further ado, here is my list. I invite you to share 12 things about yourself!

1. I am artistic (painting, drawing, photography)
2. I am lost without my camera
3. I have a green thumb. I can make anything grow, even a seed from a store-bought grapefruit (now a 12" tree)
4. I like salty-or-sour/sweet foods
5. I love music
6. I'm a good marksman with a slingshot and a BB rifle
7. I was first published at age 11 when my poem was printed in my school district's teachers newsletter
8. I have no patience with companies that hire customer service people whose first language is NOT English, and who don't monitor the e-mails their CS people send out. How am I to know that when a CS person's e-mail says to click on the Lens Image that they mean the magnifying glass?
9. I secretly hate people who drive Hummers and other huge gas guzzling status symbols
10. I'm forgetful, and sometimes it's embarrassing, like going to the grocery store with a row of clothespins clipped to the hem of my sweatshirt from hanging up laundry. Or turning on the water in the shower and then forgetting to take a shower. Clue: no hot water.
11. I sometimes wear my tennies without socks
12. I have an extremely sensitive sense of smell and can tell when friends need to empty the garbage under the kitchen sink or when they are wearing musty-smelling clothes. As a result, I rinse food particles off everything before putting it in the garbage.

Okay, your turn. If you can't come up with 12, that's okay. Just list the weirdest. *g*

Recipe: Fruited Spareribs

I first tasted this at a friend's 34 years ago, where I'd been invited for dinner. It's delicious, and quite different from normal dinner fare. Men seem to really like it a lot, and there are seldom leftovers. The bananas and pineapple really make this a tasty dish.

FRUITED SPARERIBS

4 lbs. spareribs

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup catsup

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp ginger

2 green onions, chopped

1 13 1/4-oz can pineapple chunks, drained

2 bananas, chunked

Cut ribs into serving-size pieces. In shallow open roasting pan, mix brown sugar, soy sauce, catsup, salt, pepper, green onion, and ginger. Add ribs & coat with sauce. Bake at 325 for 1 hr and 50 minutes, occasionally basting ribs while baking. (Cover with foil last 1/2 hour if ribs get too dark)

Remove from oven and carefully spoon fat from pan and push ribs to one side. Add pineapple and bananas, brush with sauce, and bake 10 minutes longer.

Fooling Turkeys

I'm taking a break from recipes to post something hilarious I just heard on the radio. I'm listing to NPR, and they reported on a mail carrier who was unable to deliver mail in one of his delivery areas because of serious attacks from a flock of wild turkeys.

The solution: carry an umbrella. His bosses told him (rather wisely, I think) to carry an umbrella, and as the turkeys are flying at him, he should open the umbrella. This will make the turkeys think he is a dominant male spreading his plummage. I love it. How smart is that?!! A win-win situation.