Two Barking Dogs

Clover:

Goodbye :: Oh no! She’s leaving me! I’m going to faint! Oh my, make her come back! Let me redecorate while she’s away so she’ll be happy when she comes home!  Let me bark at everything that passes in front of our house!  I have to go hide in the closet now.
Cage :: Ain’t never gonna happen, so don’t even go there.
Buddy :: My Person, My Person’s Father – The Old Guy, and Cosmo and Misty.
Magic words ::  Biscuit.
Favorite Food :: I’m a Lab, I’ll eat every thing!  But my absolute fav is hot tea (sugar & milk) with buttered toast.
Tense :: The way I feel when I’m left alone.
Work :: Guarding the house from burglars.
Empty :: My Food Bowl.
Heat wave :: Hate it. I’m wearing a fur coat, after all.

Cosmo:

Goodbye :: See ya later! Have fun! I’m going to nap now.
Cage :: I thought we were done with that! Whatsamatter? You don’t trust me all of a sudden?
Buddy :: Clover!
Magic Words :: W*A*L*K
Favorite Food :: Cheese
Tense :: Huh?
Work ::  Squirrel Watcher Am I.
Empty :: Clover’s Brain When She’s Barking.
Heat wave ::  Woohoo!  Get the wading pool out and fill ‘er up!

I made my way out for a full morning of yard sales yesterday — the first time in months that I got my big butt out of bed and on the road with maps and CL ads.  My purpose was as many yard sales as possible and to completely fill the truck and empty my wallet.  Ok. Maybe I’m stretching it a bit.  But I did it all.  And a first for me, I wrote a check at a yard sale.

There was a very weird thread to today’s yard sales: dead husbands, no cookbooks, and not a lot of buyers.  First, there were three (late-60’s) ladies having to leave their McMansion homes because their husbands had passed away recently.  All three women had friends helping with their sales, and all three were selling their deceased husband’s stuff.  It ranged from “all things golfing” to books and clothing.  At one sale, I arrived after noon and everything was marked half-price.  The woman asked me if there was anything in particular that I was looking for.  Hmmm.  Pyrex?  She headed back inside and came out with a perfect set of bowls in graduated sizes.  They had about 10 men’s leather briefcases that would have been a great deal, but no one knew what the combinations were and they were all locked.  Personally, I would have popped the locks to make sure they were empty before selling them.  When I was done, I ended up paying her with rolls of quarters that I had left over from my own yard sale in July.

I didn’t find many books today at all, and no cookbooks.  I think that that was a first for me.  I always find a cookbook or two or fifteen during a full day of yard sales.  I also noticed in the past, many sales would be pretty cleaned out by 11:00 or 12:00, yesterday it seemed that there was just as much stuff out late as what the sellers had started with.  Oh. Yeah.  And if anyone ever needs to buy any kind of kid’s toy, please come to Virginia and save these people from burying themselves in Fisher-Price.

I bought for myself a set of stainless steel Towle Bros. steak knives, a whole bunch of DVDs that I separated into sell and watch (then sell) [I listed half last night on Amazon, and have already made back the whole amount of money I spent on everything yesterday.  Woohoo!), a pretty tropical style framed mirror for my bathroom, two Leo Ward Bluebirds, three civil war books.  All of this stuff got put away before I got the camera out. Sorry-o!

Here are a few pictures of some of my other finds:

My two dogs may just be the exception to the rule.  They both like baths.  For crying out loud, Clover sleeps in the bath tub just for the heck of it (or if hiding from the big bad thunderstorm). They like the water (warm) and the suds (as long as I keep it out of their eyes), and the rinse down (warm, again).

Both Clover and Cosmo have been known to jump in the shower with me when I’m least expecting it (and scare the hell out of me).  Its not unusual to be in the shower, and have one or both of the dogs come check to make sure I haven’t turned into a prune.  While Cosmo doesn’t like to swim, he doesn’t mind getting hosed down or lathered up in the tub.  Both will jump in the shower, but won’t go out if its raining.  Go figure.

I started taking Clover, and then both of them, to a local Dog Day Care to use their self-serve dog wash a while ago.  Let’s face it, its tough on the old back and creaky knees to wash the dogs in the bath tub.  Not to even mention how freakin messy it can get.  Their self-serve dog wash is a real professional set-up.  The place I go to has one giant stainless steel tub that has fold out stairs and a rubber mat in the bottom of the tub.  There’s also a great sprayer with hot and cold water and the most crucial thing – a short lead that keeps the dog from wiggling around.  I bring my own shampoo, but use their set-up including clean towels.  One of the best things is the fact that THEY clean up!

Neither of my dogs need any coaxing to get into the tub.  One day when I was setting up .. you know, putting my purse up on the table, getting the apron on, getting the towels lined up, I turned around, and both of my mutts are sitting in the tub.  They both climbed up the ramp, and were waiting for their bath!

Being that both of my dogs are wash & wear labradors, I tend to hose them off more often then give them a full blown bath which they get about twice a year.  But when they do get bathed, its not that big of a deal anymore.

I have always been trilled by looking through boxes of old photos.  Looking at the people and their clothing, hairstyles, facial expressions, their surroundings (furniture, tableware), etc.  I bought a scanner a few months ago, and began scanning some of my parents’ old black & white photos for posterity.

As a result, I thought I would start another blog specifically for photos.  The concept is simple.  I will post a new “vintage” photo every day, thus “The Daily Vintage Square.“ There may even be some vintage post cards to share, also.

The problem at the moment is, that I have so many fun things to share, that I could list 5 or 10 or 50 photos a day!

Daily:

Vintage:

• The period of time when something appeared or began, or when somebody was born or flourished.
• Characterized by excellence, maturity, and enduring appeal; classic.

Square:

• A rectangle with all four sides equal.
• A place where everyone gathers consisting of shops and whatnot.
• The usual shape of a photograph.

Leave a comment and let me know what you think.  There are only a couple of photos up at the moment, so come back often and scroll through the photos.  If you have an old photo that you would like to share, please e-mail me.

Here’s the link for the other/new blog:

DAILY VINTAGE SQUARE

Photo taken in Ireland (near Schull, Co. Cork) by my mom during a visit in 1999.  We had to slow down for some sheep in the road, and about jumped out of our skin when this donkey popped up over the fence.   The funny thing is, this has happened to me about four times over the years in different locations around the country.  I wonder if the donkey and the sheep are working together so they can get a good look at the people?

Sorry to all that have seen this before, but it STILL makes me laugh out loud.  This is Clover telling Puppy Cosmo What’s What!  And Cosmo, talking back to his elder!

I am sharing this recipe (as it is) with you all because it is one of my favorites.  I’m not sure where I got it from, or when I first made it, so sorry-o to the originator.  Its mine now!  And, since its mine, it really is a road map for a meal and not a recipe.

Simple Lunch or Dinner Pasta with Goat Cheese and Sun Dried Tomatoes

1 box of Barilla Pasta (shells, bow tie, corkscrew – any kind you like – just not spaghetti or linguini because it will glump together.)

1 bag of Arugula or Baby Spinach Leaves or a mixture of both.  Even though the bag says its “washed three times” … rinse it anyway.  (I even used a bag of mixed lettuce once, and it worked!)

6-8 ounces (or a small log) of creamy goat cheese.  I like the goat cheese from Trader Joe’s.  Just because. You can use whatever brand you can find or like.  My dad doesn’t like the taste of goat cheese, so when I made this dish for him, I used cream cheese instead.

Sun Dried Tomatoes in Oil.  You need a little of the oil that clings to the tomatoes so don’t rinse them off.  And you can use as much or as little of the tomatoes as you like.  If you don’t have sun dried tomatoes, you could always use a couple of nice fresh tomatoes all diced up.  But it really is better with the sun dried tomatoes – the flavor is more intense.

Grated Parmasean.  (And, I don’t care if it comes from the green shaker jar.  This dish needs some parm if that’s all you have, use it.)  Not a lot, just a good sprinkling.  Maybe a tablespoon or two or three.  Depends on how much you like Parmasean.

Ok.  So here goes:

• Cook the pasta in salted water.  When the pasta is cooked, drain the pasta but save some of the cooking water for later.
• Put the cooked/drained pasta directly into your serving bowl.
• Mix in the bag of greens.  The heat from the pasta will wilt the greens.  They will be al dente by the time you sit down to eat.
• Crumble the goat cheese on top of the pasta.
• Add the sun dried tomatoes
• Top with fresh ground pepper, and some parmasean cheese.  You can also add some fresh basil leaves if you have them.

If the dish is really dry, I add some of the pasta water to the dish and toss again.  This will help thin out the cheese and make it a little saucier.  Er, sauced.  Uhm, whatever.

Toss.

Serve.

Eat.

Lick you lips.

Don’t share with the dogs.  The goat cheese will make them gassy.

And, if there is any left, its wonderful cold.

I finally got my front garden cleaned out and mulched.  A little late for the season, but at least its done and the HOA won’t be dinging me for my “unruly and messy” garden.  I had a weed that was as big as a small tree, and found out later it was Poke Weed.   Now, I need to get a hammer and some long nails to fix the neighbor’s fence.  I was really glad to be able to save the rose bushes and lavender.  We displaced a family of rabbits that had burrowed under the fence, sprayed the tree for caterpillars, and added a new garden totem.

The first three photos, as you can tell, are the before photos.  The others are what things looked like after the work was done.  You can also see the new Garden Totem.  I know y’all know if you “click” on the smaller thumbnail, you can see the pictures in full glory.

My plans for the garden are not ambitious, just some new rose bushes in late-October, and in the Spring a whole lot of flowers.  I’m so glad that we were able to save the lavender plants and a couple of the rose bushes.

New promise to self: I will not let the garden return to seed the way I did before.  Promise.

This is my all-time favorite photo of my two mutts.  Clover on the left (she’s 7) and Cosmo on the right (he’s almost 3 now).  They’re both hams when the camera comes out and are known to pose for their glamour shots!  They’re my favorite Camera Critters!

I am in the middle of major dental work, and I really haven’t felt much like cooking anything that needs chewing.  Kind of lets out a few things, doesn’t it?  I’ve got three more weeks, and then I’m done.  Woohoo!  I plan to start up the weekly cooking challenge after the dentist is through inflicting pain on me.

In the meantime, I asked some online friends what their favorite cookbooks were, and why.  Thanks to these friends for providing me with some fodder for the blog today, because, it is raining hard (Tropical Storm Hannah) and I’m housebound until tomorrow!

My favorite cookbook is the The Good Housekeeping Cookbook that my mom got as a wedding gift back in the 1950’s.  Hers is old and falling apart and held together by rubber bands after decades of use.  I was in New Orleans in 1989 and found the same book in mint condition for $5 at a used book store.  It has great nostalgic draw for me, but does have great recipes and easy-to-follow instructions, too.  My other go-to book is the “old” Joy of Cooking which probably sits on every bookshelf in every home in America.  (Great recipe for bagels.)  And, my new favorite is Mark Bittman’s “How to Cook Everything.”

Here are some of favorites that were mentioned.  I’ve given links to Amazon where I could in case anyone wanted to check them out further.  (Not making any money here, just being nice and helpful.)

• The Good Housekeeping Cookbook by Dorothy B. Marsh (1940’s).  My Favorite!
• Martha Stewart’s Hors d’Oeuvres – Ofelia said that Hors d’Oeuvres are her favorite meal!
  
• Joy of Cooking (1964) by Irma S. Rombauer and Marion Rombauer Becker.  Hands-down this was favored by the majority.  (The “old” one, not the “new” one).
• Hometown Church/Community Cookbooks – Everyone has a favorite with memories attached.
• Costco Cookbook – Who knew Costco wrote cookbooks?  Not me!  Do they have recipes for making 25 pounds of frozen shrimp into something yummy? 
  
• Weight Watchers’ Cookbooks (There are so many!!)
• The  Sunday Dinner Cookbook by Phyllis Prokopp (1969).  This was Jen’s favorite.  I think I have a copy somewhere, too.  How can you not love a Sunday Dinner?
• The Pillsbury Family Cook Book – Definitely a childhood favorite with nostalgic draw for Bruce.
  
• The Alice B. Toklas Cook Book - Another Favorite of Bruce’s.  He says the “pot brownies” are very good, and he likes to use recipes from this book for their “shock value.”
  
• More-With-Less Mennonite Cookbook by Doris Janzen Longacre.  This is a very interesting book!  I’m going to be looking for a copy for myself.  The book was written to challenge Americans to consume less so others could eat enough, the book has sold an astonishing 830,000 copies since its release in 1976.
• Searchlight Recipe Books - I had never heard of these books before!  From the 1940’s and handed down from generation to generation.
  
• Betty Crocker Cookbook (Red “Pie” Cover, 1970s) – This book is right up there with Joy of Cooking as a favorite go-to book. (p.s.  it also sells well on eBay.)

Other favorites were hometown cookbooks published as fund-raisers by churches and schools.  Another friend is carrying on family traditions by referring to her husband’s grandmother’s hand-written recipes kept safe in a three-ring binder.  She likes to cook granny’s recipes as a surprise for her husband.

And, finally, a whole lot of people are looking to the internet for recipes as you would expect. Allrecipes.com is a favorite as is The Food Network, along with blogs by accomplished cooks that share recipes and reviews and how-to demonstrations.

If anyone has any other books to share, please post a comment.  You know how we “cookbook collecting fiends” are, we’re always looking for something new!

Ok. Gotta run.  I’ve got a big pot of beef stew on the stove, and must go look for the immersion blender so I can liquify the stew into soup.  Gads! What a waste.  I have one word to share with all of you “FLOSS.”

I have a lot to say about driving and talking on the cell phone at the same time.  First off, I think that anyone that does so should be arrested and thrown in jail for the rest of their life with only bread and water rations.

Ok.  Maybe that’s a tiny bit harsh, but I’m serious here folks.  I drive 50 miles round-trip for work every day on one of the most awful Interstates in the U.S. in one of the top worst cities in the U.S. for traffic.  It is a scourge on our society and it needs to stop!

What’s that, you say? You just have to make an appointment with your hairdresser while weaving in and out of traffic at 70 mph?  You must yell at your kid to do his/her homework while ignoring new traffic patterns because of construction?  I mean, seriously, what the hell did you do before the cell phone.  Oh, wait I know, you paid attention to traffic, drove more carefully, and waited until you got home so you could scream at your kid.

There is an intersection that I stop at every day before getting on the Interstate.  About a year ago, I started keeping track of cell phone drivers as they pass through the light past me.  The light lasts about 3 minutes, and on average 25 cars pass through the intersection on the green light.  Out of those 25 cars, the average is 18 cell phone talkers vs. 7 drivers paying attention and not chatting on the phone while they drive.  Ok.  Out of those 18 talkers .. the breakdown was as multi-cultural as a United Nations High-School Soccer Mom AARP Convention .  My favorite was a little old lady with curly white hair driving her big-ass Town Car .. she could hardly see over the steering wheel, but she could drive that 3-ton weapon of mass destruction while chatting to someone on her cellphone.

A few weeks ago, I was driving my regular route to work.  The little red car in front of me was going about 15 miles under the speed limit, and it was weaving from side to side outside of its lane to the left and onto the shoulder on the right.  I pulled over to pass it when I could, and as I went past, I looked over at the driver.  A young woman about 22, with the cell phone to her ear held in place by her head and shoulder, talking on the phone while she ate a McDonald’s salad — with the salad in her left hand and the fork in her right.  Now, I ask you, “What the Hell?”  If that girl got to her destination without an accident, I would be very surprised.

My next favorite is pulling up to a light at a major intersection next to a car with the advertising on top and the sides indicating it was a car being used by a driving school.  I look over to see a young man about 16 or 17 in the driver’s seat looking extremely uncomfortable.  I got a good view of the instructor who chatted away on his cellphone completely ignoring the young cellphone driver in training.

When did driving the car become secondary to talking on the phone while driving?

Garden Totem # 1 (click for photo)

Garden Totem # 2 (click for photo)