Introducing Reese!

Christmas came early for me this year!

 

After months (years?) of not so subtlety hinting that I wanted a dog, John surprised me with the greatest gift ever.

 

We went to see our puppy one night about 2 weeks ago then made our final decision and brought her home on Friday November 1st!

 

So without further ado, I'd like to introduce you all to my little love bug and the newest member of our family.

 

Introducing:  

 

 

She's a 5 month old German Wirehaired Pointer.

She is just the sweetest. We've been on a bunch of walks (still learning not to pull me into traffic) and I finally worked up the courage to let her play off leash at the park. She understands 'come' and never strays too far from me which calms my fears that she'll just take off.

 

She's almost completely housebroken, just a few accidents here and there.

 

And she's a real snuggle bug.

She loves being hugged and curling up against me for naps.

 

I'm in love!

 

Still learning to love her is our boy Murray, who hid under the couch for the first two days but now has somewhat begrudgingly accepted her presence.

He lets her get pretty close to him now without growling or hissing.

 

 

Brie and Spinach Chicken

First things first. I think you're all upset over the lack of Murray pictures as of late.

Have no fear. Here's a new one for you.

He's such a ridiculous cat. He has the best life. I envy him.

He's currently curled up in my lap, clawing my legs to peices.

He's SO lucky he has such a darling face otherwise he'd be a little street cat.

Riff raff, street rat, I don't buy that....

My aunt Wendy - and potentially martha-in-training's most dedicated reader (you are too, mom) - was here for a few days this past week. She came over on Friday for dinner and after much consideration and brainstorming I decided upon:

Brie and Spinach Chicken

with chorizo and leek orzo in a rose sauce

& grilled zucchini

*Please excuse that errant peice of brie on top of the orzo.

To make the chicken:

1. Preheat the oven to 385 degrees. Butterfly the chicken breast open by cutting through the middle horizontally. On one side of the open chicken breast, place a line of about 1/3 to 1/2 a cup chopped spinach.

2. Cut brie into medium thickness slices and place over top of the spinach. Fold the other half of the chicken back on top of the spinach and brie and secure in place by poking toothpicks through both halves of the chicken.

3. Arrange chicken on a baking sheet lined with a silipat, with a sheet of tin foil, or with parchment paper.

4. Brush the tops of each chicken breast with light (5%) table cream. Bake for about 45 minutes or until the chicken is cooked all the way through. Serve while hot/warm to maximize the gooey-ness of the brie

To make the Chorizo and Leek Orzo:

1. Heat 2-3 tbsp of butter in a sauce pot over medium heat. Wash leeks and chop them into thin rings. With leeks you want to use the white and light green parts. Add the leeks to the butter and cook until the leeks are soft, about 5-10 minutes.

2. Meanwhile cut the chorizo into thin sections and add to the pot with the leeks. Allow the chorizo to brown for a few minutes then add tomato sauce and enough 5% cream to give the sauce a pink-hue.

3. For the orzo, bring a pot of water to a boil and then add the pasta. Cook for 7-8 minutes, or until at desired tenderness. Drain the water and add the pasta to the sauce. Serve and enjoy.

I hand in my last paper tomorrow!

Then I have one more assignment to finish up and a quiz next week and then that's it until exams!

16 days and 4 exams to go!

P.S. WENDY! I was right! It DID snow on Saturday! And you guys made fun of me for saying it would...... :)

Soft Pretzels ......and more of the cat

Hello!

It's only Wednesday but I feel as though the week is done...and it's definitely not. I had 2 midterms (Mon, Tues) this week and I have a simulations lab on Friday...not excited.

I am taking today off though because Murray needs to go to the vet and also because I don't feel so great. He's got his appt at 2 and the poor little fella's gotta go get his shots. There was also a little bit of blood in his litter box doings (poop) so I want to make sure there's nothing serious causing it. Google search alerted me to the fact that a lot of kittens get parasites which can be the main cause of blood in stool. Fingers crossed it's something non-serious and non-expensive......

Here's Murray enjoying the ski cross - he's a big fan of the winter olympics apparently.

And here he is enjoying John's glass of water.

Gosh, I love that little kitten.

So this morning on Martha she made soft pretzels and I thought, "hey, I LOVE pretzels especially the really salty ones with the mustard dip or the cheese dip" so I decided to find the recipe and perhaps attempt to make them! I don't have rapid-rise yeast though and I doubt Murray wants to be toted to the grocery store in his cat carrier after the vet.....unless the shots make him sleepy.....hmmm.....

Soft Pretzels

Photo courtesy of Marthstewart.com

1. In a medium bowl, mix together 2 cups warm water, yeast, and 1/2 cup brown sugar; let stand until foamy, 5 to 10 minutes.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, mix together 6 1/2 cups flour and 4 tbsp coarse salt using your hands. Add 1/2 cup butter (cut into small peices) and continue to mix with your hands until mixture is crumbly. Add yeast mixture and, using your hands, mix until a shaggy dough is formed and water is absorbed.
3. Using the dough hook attachment, mix dough on medium speed until dough is tight, elastic, and smooth, 6 to 8 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap and transfer to refrigerator; let chill at least 8 hours and up to overnight.
4. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
5. Roll dough out into a 14-by-12-inch rectangle. Cut dough into one dozen 12-inch-long strips, each about 1-inch wide. Transfer to a large baking sheet and cover with a clean kitchen towel. Transfer to refrigerator and let chill for 15 minutes.
6. Working with one piece of dough at a time, roll out each piece into a 30- to 33-inch-long rope (about 3/4-inch thick), starting from the center and working toward the ends. Make a "U" shape with the rope and cross the ends over, pinching at the bottom of the "U" to form a pretzel. Return to baking sheet and repeat process with remaining dough.
7. Spray a large baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray. In a large saucepan, combine 8 cups water, 1/2 cup baking soda, 1/2 cup beer (pale ale is best), and 1/4 cup brown sugar; bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Simmer pretzels, one at a time, until pretzel floats, about 30 seconds; transfer to prepared baking sheet using a perforated spatula. Don't be alarmed when the pretzels look droppy - they're supposed to. They aren;t supposed to fry in this pot. Repeat process with remaining pretzels.
8. Sprinkle pretzels with pretzel salt; transfer to oven and bake for 5 minutes. Rotate baking sheet and continue baking until pretzels turn a chestnut brown color, 4 to 6 minutes more. Remove from baking sheet and transfer to a wire rack to cool slightly. Serve warm with butter or mustard.

.....or cheese dip.

These don't look too difficult to make. If I can get my hands on some rapid-rise yeast I'll make 'em. In the meantime I'm going to get some school work done and then take ol' Murr-man to the vet!

Introducing....Bill Murray!

Are you ready for this cuteness?

My little boy Murray :)

I love his little Murr-face.

Red Velvet Chocolate Cupcakes & Kittens!

Ohhhh what a week.

It's supposed to be my reading week yet today is the only day this week that I feel as though I'm taking a break. I've worked everyday this week... which is good! Don't get me wrong. I definitely need the money but I've been craving a day like today where I wake up, make cinnamon buns (my week "off" includes diet and exercise) and lounge for hours.

So I'm ready for the laziness that is today.

Tuesday was my friend Marion's birthday so I made her some cupcakes which were inspired by Martha and also by my best friend who made a similar cake for valentine's day.

Red Velvet Chocolate Cupcakes

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl, whisk 2 1/2 cups flour, 1 tsp salt, and 1/4 cup cocoa; set aside.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer combine 1 1/2 cups sugar and 1 1/2 cups canola oil, and beat on medium speed until well combined. Add 2 eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add 1/4 cup red food coloring*** (I only added a few tbsp of it because 1/4 cup is like 2 of those little food colouring bottles) and 1 tbsp vanilla extract, and beat until well combined.
3. Add flour mixture, alternating with 1 cup buttermilk, scraping the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed.

If you don't have buttermilk use this substitute: 1 cup of regular milk with 1 tbsp of white vingear.

4. In a small bowl, mix baking 1 1/2 tsp baking soda and 2 tsp vinegar until combined. Add to batter, and beat for 10 seconds. Spoon batter into muffin cups or greased-muffin pans.
5. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes. Let cupcakes cool in the pans for 5 minutes. Remove from the pans, and allow them to cool completely before icing them as desired.

Easy!

And also very pretty and very tasty.

So, friends, I have big news.

John and I are getting a roommate.

!!!!!!!!!

After a year and a half of sad faces, pleading, idea-planting, etc, we are getting a kitten!

It's not quite the puppy we had been talking about, but a kitten makes a lot more sense and, having never owned a dog, I am a little biased in the feline direction.

I'd been looking online to see if there were any little babies that would want to come live with me at the apartment for a nominal fee (read: free) and found some darling ones.

If you also could track my google search inputs from this week this is what they would look like:

kittens; gray and white kittens; black and white kittens; "tuxedo" kittens; tabby kittens; 3 month old kittens; adorable kittens

Yes, I google searched 'adorable kittens'. Do it. There's one with a little hat on. Adorable!

Anyway, I got in touch with a woman who's cat had 4 kittens and she needed homes for them. 2 boys and 2 girls but since we picked out a male name already we're going to take one of the little boys. I bought the essentials last night: litter box, litter scooper, 5 kg jug of litter (my poor weak arms), food and water bowls, kitten food (awwww), and cinnamon buns for John.

I made the cinnamon buns this morning so that John doesn't use his golden power of veto today against the kitten. And I made him look at the search results for 'adorable kittens'. Just in case he had his doubts.

I will present him to you once he is home and confident enough to come out from under the bed or wherever he is bound to hide.

I'll lure him out somehow.

I almost bought this thing called a kitten mitten from the dollar store but I believe I could craft my own. It's essentially a yellow dish glove with mice on strings attached to each finger.

Doesn't beat the ACTUAL KITTEN MITTONS though.

Note: I've been pimping this clip out to everyone but I don't think anyone has watched it yet. Now you'll be so curious. Click on that link. You won't be disappointed.

My cousin Mike got John the 4th season of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia for Christmas and we're hooked. What a show. If you like laughter you will like this show.

Get ready for 1000 kitten posts in like T-minus 6 hours.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HAPPY 100th POST TO ME!!!

(picture taken from Sugar & Spice @ http://chelley325.wordpress.com/)

100 posts!

How terribly exciting.

I came on to post about something not at all exciting but now I feel like I have to hype it up a little to make the 100th post special!

But let me talk about what I wanted to post about first.

There is a resident of my building who has an English bulldog named Sophia. John as kind of fallen in love with her. This dog might be my only hope of getting a puppy. I wikipedia-ed bulldogs (because it is the most highly respected source of any and all information ever) and it told me that English bulldogs fall 77th on a list of 79 dogs ranked in order of smartest to dumbest.

Yeesh.

But they are kind of so ugly-they're-adorable, as depicted in the photos below:

That's actually just cute. Not ugly at all.

That one too. Adorable!

I added some fuel to the fire by getting John to brainstorm fun British names with me for our potential future apartment pal. Runners up were: Reginald, Elton, Tiberius, Brutus, Neville Longbottom, etc.

Final decision: Winston Churchill. Ol' smoosh-face Winnie. Although I may have to limit the vast array of nicknames if the dog is on the lower end of the obedience/understanding spectrum.

Please check out this website if you get a minute.

http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/Spring07/Coates/care.html

There are some great little stories on it.

This is the best part because it basically explains why a bulldog would be perfect for us:

"Care for adult English bulldogs involves the following:
-regular feeding in the morning and at night(some dogs require special food to prevent alleriges)
-light exercise once a day
-daily facial cleaning to prevent fold dermatitis
-regular vet visits
-a good couch to sleep on"

Without making it too obvious, a less active dog might be the key. We both have busy-ish schedules so laziness could be the golden ticket.

I know dogs eat shoes and slobber on things, and generally wreak havoc but I want a poooopy dog. A little Winston.

I'll keep you posted.

We're researching (I'm procrastinating proof reading my essay) other breeds of dog. If you have any suggestions please pass them my way.

Please keep in mind:

1. I live in a small-ish apartment but have access to a balcony and kind of really want to build a little square of lawn complete with fire hydrant for it.
2. I do not want a large dog. Small to medium sized suggestions only.
3. It has to be adorable.
4. It should be a lovey dog, not yappy, and not overly hyper.

Does that leave any dogs?

I know I promised an exciting 100th post but I really should get back to my essay.

And by essay I mean dog research and the Grammy awards :)