I stopped at two yard sales yesterday and bought nothing.  I did find a few things at the thrift store that I’m sharing along with a couple of other things that I bought a while ago but never took photos of.  Also, please meet the newest garden totem.  Click on the small photo for a bigger view of my junk, err .. I mean treasures.

My Nephew Andrew

My Dog Clover

Tug – of – War at the Summer Olympics – for real – no really – not kidding.

First off – this is not a commercial and no one is paying me to write this. I just want to share a product that my dogs are in love with.

I’ve mentioned before that Clover is a real chewer. I mean, after all, she’s eaten half of a house over the last seven years. When she was a puppy, I was constantly shoving a rawhide bone at her. Unfortunately, the rawhides caused havoc with her constitution, and then caused severe skin issues around the mouth and chin area.

I have bought Nylabones (doesn’t like them too much, not enough flavor?), raw bones the size of a cow (too messy), Booda Bones (like ‘em but they don’t last long and they’re expensive).

The nice lady at the pet store where I shop introduced me to Sam’s Yams. Ingredients: Dehydrated Sweet Potato. That’s it. No artificial anything. Just sweet potatoes. Nice orange color, they have a good veggie smell to them, and my dogs love them. And, one of the best things is that they don’t cause any stomach upset, just orange colored poop.

Cosmo likes to play with his food. He flips Sam’s Yams up in the air, catches it, runs around the living room, and after a few minutes will settle down to munch. He keeps an eye out for Clover, because even though she would never swoop down on him and steal his chewie, he doesn’t want to take a chance. Clover gets to business immediately – munch, munch, munch, done!

Sam’s Yams by Front Porch Pets, Inc. You heard it here first or second? or third? or am I late to the dance again? (I thought I would add, these are not Sam’s as in Sam’s Club or Wal-Mart. Click on the link for more info.)

This is not one of my dogs! I wish I could give credit to this Olympic Diving Dog, but can only share this with you because someone e-mailed me a link. Apparently, the owners would leave the house during the day and came home to water all over their patio and furniture. They thought the neighborhood kids were sneaking in and using the pool when they were out, so they set up a web cam to see if they could figure out what was going on.

I got to wondering recently, what search term are bringing readers to my blog?

WordPress makes it pretty easy to track this stuff, so I thought I would share. Links provided, too.

Dog : Well, that makes sense, since the blog is mostly about my dogs,

Garden Totems : Yep! number two on the hit parade are my fun garden totems.

Buy and Bail : Interesting comment on the times?

Hypermiling : Hypermiling got a LOT of searches, and a few comments, too. It makes sense when you consider the price of gas is still almost $4.00/gallon.

Dogs and Peanut Butter : Searches for this combination was right up at the top of the list, including “is it safe for dogs to eat peanut butter.” Well, according to my dogs its not only safe but essential.

Funny : Well, gee. Thanks. I’m glad someone thinks I’m funny. Or my dogs are funny. Or my blog is funny. Or the people that read my blog are funny.

Black Labs : Well, Duh!

Pyrex Patterns Catalog Blog : Interesting. I must go search and see how many times I used the word Pyrex on the blog.

Lisa Ling Puppy Mills : Sad, but true.

Sounds that Make A Dog Bark : Clover wrote the book on this!

Doug Deeds : My 2nd cousin currently playing for the Chicago Cubs (farm team).

(the word cloud above created at www.wordle.com)

The votes are counted! The drink is mixed! The cook is drunk! (Only Kidding.)

Here is the recipe that was chosen for last week’s cooking challenge. Not much cooking involved, well, none really. But I did have to peel the peaches and use my measuring cups, sort of.

Will full credit to the author and publisher:

The Passion for Peaches Cookbook
compiled and edited by Gail McPherson 2nd Printing – March 1977
Page 28

Uncle Gary’s Peach Daiquiri Thriller

In a blender mix:

4 or 5 White Hale Peach Havles Pared
1 tablespoon lime juice
10 glub, blub’s Karo light syrup at room temperature
1/2 cup light rum

Serve unstrained in old-fashioned glass.

Comments: This is a wonderful drink summer-time drink. I would, however, drink it all year round if peaches were in season 24/7 x 12. I used Bacardi Rum – because in my house we only drink Bacardi. I couldn’t find my blender, so I smashed the ice cubes and ran the peaches through a sieve then put everything into a cocktail shaker.

This flavorful drink is making my root canal feel absolutely wonderful.

Cheers!

Check out Gail McPherson’s Web Page

Can someone explain to me the cookbook phenomenon? I have sold or donated about 50 cookbooks in the last couple of weeks. Yesterday, I bought 9 to help fill up the gap in the bookcase. Its a sickness I tell ‘ya.

I only stopped at one yard sale yesterday sort of by accident on the way somewhere else. The amount of junk still left at 4:00 p.m. was amazing. i can only imagine what they started with. And, how much they had to repack and put away.

The only things not pictured are a couple of Avalon Hill games ($2.00 each), a small ceramic flamingo sugar bowl, a couple of free books, and two Farberware knives, all of which I put away before snapping their photos. Oops.

Today’s finds:

I know that a lot of dogs are scared spitless by a visit to the veterinarian, but my two dogs actually like visiting the vets. Go figure.

The two latests visits to the vets, one for Clover and one for Cosmo, = way more than my car payment, five times the amount MY doctor charges for an office visit, and one-third the amount of my mortgage payment. Here’s a piece of advice to all of you out there raising children and hoping that that little cutie will grow up to be a brain surgeon or cardiologist: think dogs and cats and hamsters! Think Veterinarian!

I like the vet practice that I use: its very nearby, the techs and assistants are very nice and helpful, the doctors are all wonderful and competent, and my dogs like visiting them A LOT. If I went back to Day One and added up the money that I’ve spent on vet bills since 2001 when Clover came to live with me, and then more recently when Cosmo moved in, I would faint.

Having a sick dog is a lot like having a sick baby – neither can tell you where it hurts, how bad it hurts, or what the hell they ate to make them that sick. You would think that with the money you’re paying at the vets, that they would be able to figure that out pretty darn quick. Wave some veterinarian magic wand and pronounce, “Don’t worry. Its just a pair of socks. Some castor oil should fix the problem.”

Clover’s latest issues (consistent panting, fast heart beat, watery nose, and some twitching) turned out to be constipation that seems to have been sorted out with an increase of fiber in her diet. Vets: $365, Clover – More Fiber. Vets: Seizures? Tests? MRI? Epilepsy?, Clover: Mucilex and a food change.  (I actually figured this one out myself after noticing that the symptoms stopped after a walk and a poop.  I just hope that I’m right and we can move on to the next issue whatever/whenever.)

Cosmo’s trip to the vet this week – ear infection. $165. Can’t fix that with Mucilex, but I gave him some anyway. Cosmo is such a good patient. When I take out the ear wash and medicine. He will follow me to the chair and put his head in my lap. He never complains.

Whenever we go to the vets, Cosmo is always trying to escape through the door that leads to the “back rooms.” I’ve never figured that one out, except that he must know where they stash the dog treats, because if it were me I would have bad memories of visiting there one winter day intact, and coming out missing a couple of things.

Clover loves the vets because they love her. She can’t get enough attention, and every tech in the place will be slipping her a biscuit/treat from the minute she walks in the door. I’ve had to ask them to not feed her while we’re there .. she’s on a diet!

Speaking of which, both Clover and Cosmo, upon entering the vets offices, head straight for the large scale so they can get weighed-in. They promptly sit down and wait for the announcement which is written into their record by the desk clerk. Cosmo is down 4 pounds to 74, Clover is steady at 75.

One thing that I’m very proud of. My dogs have never started a fight at the vets, they’ve never pissed on the floor or anything else (Clover did throw up a couple of times during one visit), and they’ve never snapped at or bit anyone at the Veterinarians office, no matter what they were trying to stick in their ears or up their butts.

‘Nuff Said.

.

The peaches are in! They’re here! They’re yummy!

This week’s cooking challenge comes to you from “The Passion for Peaches Cookbook” by Gail McPherson which was printed in 1977.

You choose one recipe for me, and I’ll make it on Sunday, along with printing the recipe, and providing commentary and photos! I used Random to choose the pages, and this is what came up:

The results are in!

I flipped a coin to break the tie.  So Peach Daiquiri it is!

	Peach Daiquiri	4	33%
	No Crust Fresh Peach Pie	4	33%
	Fort Valley (Peach) Parfaits	3	25%
	Peachy Grapevine Salad	1	8%
	Peach Rum Sauce	0	0%

Check back later today or tomorrow for a (drunken) update!  Thanks to everyone that voted!

This has been a fun exercise! Check back again to vote for Sunday dinner (which Sunday TBD). Thanks to everyone that voted, too.

The recipe was easy to follow, and and some point I quit looking at it. I did make a couple of substitutions: I used cognac instead of apricot brandy, and I used canned apricots in lite syrup. I also seasoned the flour with some salt and pepper, and added a little more seasoning to the sauce before putting the chicken in to bake.

On the yummy scale of 1 to 10, I think this recipe is a 7. I would make it again, but would spice it up a little bit more (more ginger maybe some garlic, too). I also think this would be very good with peaches or pineapple, too.

I served this with some mushroom rice and green beans. Oh, and another glass of Pinot Grigio, too!

After 50 minutes in the oven ... Smells wonderful! Tasted pretty good too. I had some green beans and mushroom rice along with a glass of white wine.

		Votes	%
	Dizzy Chicken (The $25,000 Mardi Gras Cake Cook Book)	38	43%
	Stuffed Shrimp (Enola Prudhomme’s Low-Fat Favorites)	25	28%
	Shrimp Salad with Lemon Oil Dressing (The New Low-Country Cooking)	13	15%
	Creole Rice Salad (La Bouche Creole)	9	10%
	Chicken Liver Omelet (Brennan’s New Orleans Cookbook)	3	3%
		88

Thank you to everyone who took the time to enter my comment contest and vote for my Sunday Dinner! I’m going to do this challenge every week or two, so I hope everyone will come back to vote for future Sunday Dinners! And thank you thank you thank you for NOT voting for the Chicken Liver Omelet, even though it did have a few champions.

It looks like the publisher of this book is no longer in business. So, I am printing this recipe as written and with full credit to the book’s author and cook extrordinaire, Mrs. Eunice Surles of Lake Chalres, Louisiana and her book The $25,000 Madi Gras Cake and Other Prize-Winning Recipes Cook Book (1975) published by Legacy Publishing in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The ISBN # of the book is 0918784034.

DIZZY CHICKEN

Serves 6-8

2 3-3 1/2 pound broilers, cut up
3/4 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon each: salt and garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon each: ginger, celery salt
1 (1 pound+13 ounces can apricots drained. (Reserve liquid).
4 tablespoons flour
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2/3 cup apricot brandy
1 cup margarine

• In paper bag pour flour mixture.
• Shake chicken a few pieces at a time.
• Heat margarine in heavy skillet. If electric, heat to 350.
• Fry chicen until brown on all sides.
• Remove chicken to baking dish with cover. Foil may be used for cover.
• Pour 1/2 cup reserved apricot juice over the chicken.
• Drain all but 1/3 cup margarine from skillet.
• Add flour, remaining juice, soy sauce and sugar. Cook until thickened.
• Add apricot brandy, stir well. Pour over chicken.
• Place apricot halves on chicken.
• Bake covered for 50 minutes in large flat baking dish at 350 degrees.

I am going to cut this recipe in half … otherwise this single gal will be eating Dizzy Chicken every meal for the next three weeks. And, believe me, that is a sure fire way to kill any interest in a repeat performance no matter how good this turns out.

Read the rest of this entry »

I took 7 big bags of “stuff” to the favorite thrift this morning to donate, and as usual, I left with two (much smaller) bags of goodies. I then visited my 2nd favorite thrift and found something that I’ve been looking for since forever – a Salt Pig! Woohoo! It doesn’t make up for the fact that last time I brought a donation bag to my favorite thrift, I included a vintage red Furla handbag that I mean to take to the consignment store. Oh well. I looked for it at the thrift today, and it was long gone. I just hope they got more than $50 for it .. because it was worth way more than that. Sigh.

I also did some retail therapy at Kohl’s (Christmas presents) if I can keep my hands off of them and not use them for myself (designer purses/bags!).

Here are some photos of the thrifty finds for all of my friends wondering if the junk in Northern Virginia is different from the junk in their home towns.