Boom De Ya Da

From The Best People I Know Are Dogs file:

Every morning, immediately after the three Girlz go out for the first time, as soon as they come back in, I  give each a MilkBone.  They get very excited as I open the cupboard, reach in blindly and rattle around those biscuits in the dog "cookie jar."  We have an order, always the same...Taffy first, the Rico and finally the baby, Poncho. Each dog has their habitual, self-selected, private eating spot.   I noticed today that Poncho's MilkBone had one end broken off.  I thought about replacing it with a whole biscuit, but he was spinning and wagging his tail and begging so I gave him the broken biscuit. He took it, tail wagging and ran to his spot.  He never whined, "Hey mine's broken! Mine is smaller!  They each got an whole one, a perfect one!  I got cheated!  I want another one!  You love Taffy and Rico more!  You favor them over me"   He just ate his biscuit, happy that he had gotten one. This is just one small example of why dogs are the finest people I know.

 

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I've lived on this side of Florida since 2010.  Every single day of those four years, summer, winter,spring and fall, my allergies have  slammed me.  Today, I found a photo of our house on Google Maps.  Our house is the one with the white screened pool cage to the left of the house with the red dot.  After looking at our back yard and the other side of the lake, I now "get it" about the non-stop allergies...all that green and no frost to kill anything off.

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An Earworm for my friends...you can thank me later

Lobster Grapefruit Salad

 
Quite a few years ago, a friend who is French, served a starter of lobster and pink grapefruit salad with a home-made aioli. She served it atop soft, beautiful Bibb Lettuce. I am not a big fan of mayonaise, but the combination of lobster and grapefruit was enticing.  Last week I decided that I wanted to use lobster and pink grapefruit in a salad.  After a bit of web searching, I discovered that the lobster grapefruit combination is a French classic.  I decided to cobble a version without the aioli binder.

Process: 
Step one was  procuring either a live lobster or a steamed lobster.  Our local grocery had had a leak in the live lobster tank necessitating a qucik steaming of all tank residents.  They were offering the cooked lobsters at five dollars each...what a deal.

We shredded the lobster, peeled and removed all pith and membrane from pink grapefruit, chopped grapefruit, pushed it with fork in sieve to collect juice and then shredded it....

Halved, peeled and cubed an avocado.

Grapefruit juice equaled 1/4 cup, added 1/4 cup fresh orange juice, 1/3 cup white balsamic vinegar, 1 1/2 cups olive oil, finely diced shallot, salt, pepper, dijon mustard, tige of Lea & Perrins, tige of honey. Let it sit for a while, then emulsified.

I tore up the lettuce, mixed the shredded lobster and grapefruit together. I divided lettuce between 2 salad bowls, topped with lobster/grapefruit mix, sprinkled in avocado and drizzled with dressing. It was delish and My husband, who is nobig fan of salads, raved about it and he is not a big time salad eater. I would make this again and would serve it to guests. I might add a bit more honey. I prefer sweetness in my dressing

 

Spaghetti Squash Au Gratin With Caramelized Onions

    

Prep: 45 minutes

Cook: 30 minutes

Serves: 3-4 as a side, 1-2 as main

1 medium spaghetti squash

1 medium onion, diced

2 tbsp butter

3/4 cup plain greek yogurt (or sour cream: let your conscience be your guide)

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 + 1/3 cup sharp white cheddar cheese

1/2 tsp salt (+/- to taste)

1/2 tsp black pepper

Preheat oven to 375.

Cut squash lengthwise, scoop out seeds, drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper to taste. Bake for 45 minutes.

While squash is baking, caramelize onions.

Heat a heavy skillet and add butter and onions to the pan. Cook on medium, stirring frequently, until onions are brown and caramelized. Add garlic and cook for 2-3 minutes. Stir in spices.

Once squash is cooked, cool and using two forks, scrape out the strands of squash.

Stir the greek yogurt into the onions and then add the squash and 1 cup of the cheese. Stir until combined.

Top with the remaining 1/3 cup cheese and pour into a baking dish. Bake for 30 minutes. If the top isn’t browned, broil for a few minutes until the cheese is brown and bubbly.

Taffy Turns Twelve

    

A dog comes to you and lives with you in your own house, but you do not therefore own her, as you do not own the rain, or the trees, or the laws which pertain to them ...

A dog can never tell you what she knows from the smells of the world, but you know, watching her, that you know almost nothing. . .
― Mary Oliver

Banana Coconut Upside Down Cake

Ingredients

• 1 box yellow cake mix
• 3 whole eggs
• 1/4 cup oil
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup water
• 6 bananas sliced 1/4 inch thick
• 1 1/2 cups shredded coconut
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 2 Tablespoons lemon juice

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray 2 (8 inch) round cake pans with cooking spray.
2. With an electric mixer, beat cake mix, eggs, oil, water, and sour cream on low until combined. Beat on high for 2 minutes.
3. Place banana slices evenly on the bottom of the two cake pans.
4. In a small saucepan melt butter. Add brown sugar and lemon juice and heat until dissolved. Pour half of the brown sugar mixture into each of the 2 round cake pans over the bananas. Sprinkle coconut over brown sugar sauce.
5. Pour cake batter on top of the coconut into the two pans, dividing equally.
6. Bake 35-40 minutes or until toothpick in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and let sit for 5 minutes. Invert onto serving dishes. Slice to serve.