The princess gains a new title
Katie here. Mama says she is just too exhausted to explain everything that happened when I got my new title yesterday. So I guess it’s up to me. Geeze. I have to do everything around here! Besides, my view is the accurate version of the day. No matter what anyone else says. Because I’m the princess.
So anyway, Mama never got anything in the mail about what time stuff started, or how many dogs were entered, so we didn’t know when to get to the big event. It was a HUGE show, about an hour away, where they had conformation dogs, and people in fancy clothes running around in circles with dogs who had their fur poofed up and hair sprayed. Huh. How silly is that!? I mean, Mama didn’t even poof me up and everyone said I was beautiful. Except for those people over on the other side of the building with their fancy shelties who were too busy spraying their dogs to notice me wandering around.
We go the the venue at 8 a.m. because that’s when the website said stuff started. Turns out they were doing stuff already! But our class wasn’t schedule to run until 1 p.m.! Mama was a bit peeved, but there was another person from our school already there, so we set up camp next to her and Dad and Mama and I hung out for 5 hours together. We went on lots of walks, and sometimes I stayed in my crate, but mostly I was content to lay in my Dad’s lap. That surprised Mama a lot because I’m not a lap dog at all.
Sitting with my Dad
Finally it was our turn. By then I wasn’t sure what we were doing there at all. I figured I was there to judge all the other dogs as they came and went. Sure were a lot of beautiful dogs and their crazy owners there! I was getting really sleepy and was all warm and snuggly when suddenly Mama plucked me off of my Dad’s lap and said we were on! On what Mama?
So we’re hanging out at the gate waiting for our classmate to finish her run, and the registration table is right there and there’s this really big lady sitting there, right next to me, and suddenly she laughed really loud and hysterically and that scares me a lot! And I jump up and try to get away from her and my Mama is telling me to sit, and the floor is slippery and I can’t sit and that lady is making a bunch of noise and my Mama is talking to me and the whole thing is just too much and then Mama tells me to heel and we’re inside the ring and I don’t want to be there, and the judge lady must be really tired because she asks Mama if we’re ready and I’m still looking over my shoulder and Mama doesn’t even get to ask me if we’re ready to work, and the judge lady says forward before we’re ready and Mama sighs and starts to move.
So. I figure when Mama moves, I move so I come along too…and that’s when I see it…a lovely jump about half way down the ring! Well. You all know how much I love to jump so I start moving faster, fixated on that jump. I just know Mama wants me to fly over it, to show off all my fur and how beautiful I am. But then my Mama is sort of pushing into me with her leg and saying Katie…KATIE! and back BACK!, and then she herds me! Can you believe it? Mama is herding ME the herding princess! She sort of pushes mes into this big circle left and right then I realize….we’re WORKING! OH! OK then Mama, why didn’t you say so? I thought we were just having fun, I didn’t realize we were working!
You all know I take my work very seriously, so from that point on I watched my Mama very carefully and did almost everything she wanted. OK. I sat crooked on one part but whatever. Everybody said I looked beautiful and I don’t think anyone else besides my Mama knows that I was going to take that jump early. We got either a 94 or a 97, Mama forgot to go read the scores after, she was too happy that the whole thing was over. We got first place too! Well…there were only two of us, and the other doggie walked out of the ring in the middle of his run…but still!
I stayed awake all the way home. Mama says my eyes were closed and my head was bobbing, but I was just resting my eyes. No sleep allowed for the princess. Cause I’ve got to do everything around here.
Mama says there will be video once she figures out how to upload it. Geeze. Mamas are so slow to learn stuff. I could probably do it myself, but I don’t want to upstage her.
A princess is always polite.
Resting my eyes at home.
Acorn squash soup
Devious squash
I just finished reading Forks Over Knives, a book about eating only plant based foods. It was interesting…but I don’t know if I could give up cheese. Still….several of the recipes looked good, so I headed to the store and picked up some stuff to make the acorn squash soup.
Who knew that peeling 3 acorn squash could be so difficult? The skin is hard! I finally figured out that if I cut the squash into sections along the valley in the rind it was easier to peel. But my fingers are still sore from gripping the vegetable peeler.
Katie was the unintended recipient of several small pieces of squash and peel. She loved both. I don’t know if that was because she doesn’t get people food and she thought this was special or because she really likes squash. Could be she likes squash because I know she loves cabbage, apple, carrots and just about anything else that hits the floor.
The soup has the squash, a sweet potato and carrots plus ground ginger and sage. It’s simmering now.
We’ll see.
Katie here
Hello everybody!
Hey you guys! I bet you’ve been missing ME. ME ME ME ME ME ME…oh wait. I get carried away sometimes but you know it’s all about me. My Mama has been soooooo busy that I hardly ever see her. And when she comes home from work she’s usually too tired to play. But I make her play anyway. She can’t ignore me….not me! I don’t give up either. I have an endless supply of toys to drop at her feet. And while she’s at work I practice the BIG EYES and sharp whine so that I can make her crazy when she finally shows up.
Guess what? It works! And for the small fee of a few dog biscuits I can teach all of you doggies the skill set. Oh wait. You say you already have that down? Well! Doggies rule!
So anyway….Mama and I are going to do a big dog show this weekend. On Sunday we’re going to try to get our Advanced Rally title! Mama says she’s stressed again. Sigh. I don’t know why she gets like this. It’s just another day to spend watching people and doggies do stuff. I like to go to these, and when we’re in the ring I watch my Mama very carefully. If she can just read all those crazy signs correctly I promise to do what she asks. So it’s all up to her.
Me? I’m just having a good time with my Dad while my Mama is at work. And I’ve been dreaming about Mama and me going camping next spring. It’s almost spring, right? Well it should be. After all I’m the princess…and I decree it’s almost spring!
Cause it’s all about me. Yes it is.
Looking for sweet potatoes?
Some of you were asking for the recipe for the Cranberry Glazed Sweet Potatoes. So here you go!
3 TBS dry sherry
1/2 Cup orange juice
1/4 Cup maple syrup
1 can whole cranberry sauce
1/4 teaspoon powdered ginger
2 TBS butter
3 pounds sweet potatoes, cooked, peeled and sliced.
Cook the sherry, orange juice, maple syrup, cranberry sauce and ginger over low heat 10 minutes. Stir in the butter until melted. Arrange the sliced, cooked sweet potatoes in a greased 9×13 pan (I use a glass pan) and pour the sauce over them. Bake in 350 degree oven 25 minutes. Servies 6-8.
And here are my notes:
1. I used water instead of sherry because I don’t have any sherry.
2. I used 6 medium sized sweet potatoes, boil them with the skins on till they are just fork tender (they’re going to cook in the oven, so don’t over cook them while boiling). Let them cool, then slice them up. You could cook these the day before and slice them later.
3. I tried this with imitation maple syrup once…it wasn’t as good. Just saying.
4. Probably could use grated fresh ginger, but the powdered stuff is fine.
5. I have also made this totally the day before, including putting the sauce over the potatoes, and just heated it up for the 25 minutes in the oven before company arrives.
6. This also make excellent leftovers! 🙂
Enjoy Karen and everyone else!
Wordless Wednesday (click on photos to see detail)
The press conference
I caught a little bit of the Sandy Hook parents’ press conference today, a month after the horrific deaths of their children. I was walking through the living room when I saw them on the television, one of them speaking, the spouse holding the picture, the rest of them sitting behind, holding their own child’s photo. It stopped me cold. They are us.
I’ve stood right where they are, speaking into the cameras. I’ve sat behind the podium holding Dad’s photo. I’ve tried to make America see how important my private pain was, how relevant it was to everyone else. I know their pain and I know the strength they get from that pain. I know that every single parent there wants something, no, demands something good to come from that pain.
Their fight is so similar to ours…they are fighting big money of the NRA while we fight the big money of the ATA. They are individual families just like us, riding the grief roller coaster and fighting a fight so large it seems impossible. But all they are asking is for dialog. They recognize that all guns can’t go away just like we realize that all semi trucks won’t and shouldn’t disappear.
All they want is honest dialog from both sides of the discussion. Honest, nondefensive dialog and some compromise for the good of everyone. That shouldn’t be such a difficult thing to do. For the kids. So that the loss of the kids and their wonderful teachers wasn’t just a waste of humanity. A little honest dialog. It’s not too much to ask.
David Wheeler, whose son Ben was murdered said “What I have recently come to realize is that I am not done being the best parent I can be for Ben.” Exactly Mr. Wheeler. You will always be Ben’s Dad. Always.
And I am not done being the best daughter I can be for my Dad. My siblings and I will never be done being Dad and Mom’s kids. We know we’ve made a difference. That means a lot to me.
I hope and pray that the Sandy Hook parents find that bit of peace too. We can give them that if we pressure our legislature to sit down and talk. Honestly. Open to change. Willing to give a little. And if we can join the dialog too. Let’s listen to the other side. Let’s consider each others beliefs. And lets come to a middle ground for the good of all of us.
And to honor those 26 lives and all the lives lost before. Let’s honor them all. We can do this. We have to do this.
Change is hard.
Mishmash Monday
Play time!
Food blogging
Karma challenged us to photograph our meals for a week. You’d think that would be easy, but it turned out to be quite the challenge. Who remembers to photo dinner before shoveling it in after a day at work? So I have, over the course of two weeks, taken photos of some of my more favorite meals. And, because I had a huge family meal right in the middle of the two weeks, you’ll get to see some food that only shows itself once a year. Enjoy!
At the beginning of the challenge we had just cooked a ham, and I was looking for something to do with the leftovers. My cousin suggested escaloped potatoes and they turned out wonderful! I didn’t get a photo of the finished product, but I did them in the crock pot and they were spectacular.
The wine didn’t go into the potatoes…but it was good.
Then later that week I did crock pot stew. See a theme here?
Good on a cold night after a long day.
Then it was time to get ready for the big dinner. Two of my favorite things to make are do ahead mashed potatoes….
Yukon gold, cream cheese & sour cream.
…and orange cranberry sweet potatoes that can also be done the day before. Both just get heated up the day of the meal, leaving you less stressed and more available to your guests.
You’ve got to try this one. Easy and amazing.
But the star of our big meal was the rib roast.
Yummy!
We had a wonderful time, and ate leftovers for a couple of days.
No we don’t eat like this every day!
After that we settled down to more normal meals. I forgot to take pictures of the night we ate hamburgers….or the night we went out to eat at a local eatery and I had chicken with dried Michigan cherries. Or the night we wolfed down a frozen pizza. After I heated it up.
I did remember to document the night we had scrambled eggs…which I thought would be boring, so I added sauteed onions, leftover ham, and cheese. Filling and quick.
Who says eggs are only for breakfast?
And Saturday night we had marinated chicken (you can buy it already marinated or marinate it yourself in Italian dressing for an hour or so), more onions (you can never go wrong with onions!), stuffing bought already prepared from the grocery store (Bob Evans) and peas. Pretty darn good and fast.
No leftovers.
So there you go….a week or so of meals. Oh. What did we have for desert? Well. We definitely didn’t take time to photograph that before we ate it. But it involved chocolate.
Thanks Karma, for making me think more about what we eat. AND for picking a perfect couple of weeks when I was really cooking. Versus any other two week period of the year when you’d see a lot more of this.
Healthy and fast. Perfect.
If anyone wants to recipes to any of this let me know. It’s all easy. Trust me on that.
Confused weather
People down in Phoenix Arizona are suffering through unusually cold weather with temperatures at night hovering near freezing (32F, 0C). I hear there is snow near Los Angles California and this morning I saw it was -6 degrees F (-21.1 C) in Denver Colorado. Yet here in Michigan we took down our Christmas lights on a balmy 50+F (10 C) afternoon.
Though the sky was overcast and the air felt damp we enjoyed our afternoon of packing away the lights. Normally we are doing this with frozen fingers, bundled up in layers complete with hats and gloves. Or worse, in blowing snow while tromping through drifts up to our knees. We commented as we worked that it felt like we were in midwinter Alabama. And we smiled.
Yet…there is this niggling worry in the back of my mind. Though it’s easier to deal with outdoor winter tasks when it’s warm, it just feels wrong. We had an unusually warm day when we put the lights up this past November too…and now are blessed with an easy dismantling. Something just isn’t right. Maybe I’m feeling unsettled because I just read Barbara Kingsolver’s latest book, “Flight Behavior” which revolves around the warming of our earth and the consequences wrought by barely discernible changes. Maybe it’s because I remember winters as a kid where we dug snow caves and argued about whose turn it was to shovel the sidewalk. So far this winter we’ve only used the snowblower once. I don’t know if we used it all last winter. Don’t get me wrong, part of me is grateful that I’m not driving to work in blizzards or shoveling the driveway. But something just feels wrong.
Now I’ve probably gone and jinxed it, and likely tomorrow’s cold snap will feel more familiar. And I suppose now there will be 6 or more inches of snow falling on Monday just in time for the morning commute. But I think I’d be OK with all of that.
Remind me I said this later on as the winter wears on — won’t you?
