A Dessert to be Thankful for...

Okay, so I owe the world...ahem, all 3, maybe 4 of my readers a true Thanksgiving Thankfulness post, but it just isn't coming to me.  That is not to say I am not thankful.  Heck, maybe I can be thankful for double negatives. ;)  

At any rate, no outstanding way to say how thankful I am for all the tremendous blessings in my life is coming to mind at the moment, so...instead I am sharing this yummy recipe.

Carmelized Upside-Down Pear Tart

This has become a holiday staple in our house.  It is so sinfully delicious, yet with a very short ingredient list and the star of the show is definitely the pears.  So there, you can feel half-way healthy enjoying a wonderful slice of this treat.  That is, if you can find it under the mound of homemade whipped cream.  Oh wait, that might just be me. ;)

I know this is wrong, but I have to start with the picture that blatantly reminds us that it is still a dessert and inherently...how do I put this...not health food?!  Yeah, that works.

Ahhh, but then you add the pears baby.  Mmmmmm.  Never mind the sugar that went in the pan first.  Just don't think about it, put it right out of your mind, no need to worry about it. Pretty, right?

If you're feeling adventurous, or rather, organized--haha--you use their pastry recipe and make yourself this easy and tasty dough.  Once the butter and sugar carmelize--I know, I said don't worry about the sugar, but I had to mention it to talk about the carmel, sorry--you place your lovingly rolled dough (or lovingly unpackaged dough if that is your chosen route) over the pears and tuck it in nicely, like your babe to bed. ;)  

Pop all that goodness in the oven and once the pastry is beautifully browned, take it out, let it sit a bit and then invert it onto a nice serving plate.  Preferably with a rim because there might be some carmel-y goodness seeping here or there.  

There you have it.  It is soooo good and it presents nicely too, if you ask me.  Even hubby who claims a deep-running hatred for cooked fruit desserts will gobble this tart right up. =)  

Oh, and Bugga-approved too.  Okay, that's not a stretch, nearly all food is Bugga-approved. ;)

Just some musings...

Is it a sign that the cats' diet has gone too far when the tiny one keeps trying to eat my fig bars?

And is it a sign that our laptop is, in fact and as suspected, officially going down the crapper when a muriad of internet windows open without our approval and my desktop shortcuts fade in and out like some bad movie effect?

And might it be a sign that I am a little too holiday-ready that I put eggnog in my tea today? (Sans the alcohol, in case anyone was wondering.)

And finally, it is a sign that I spend too much time on the internet (even with our computer sick as it is) that my first stop for sharing these delightful pre-Thanksgiving musings was to blog them?

Ahhh...affirmative on all counts I fear. ;)

At any rate, I will someday return with photos and other nonsensical (nonsensible? Hmm, too lazy to figure out which is correct at this point) ramblings in the possibly near future. Vague enough for you? I thought so.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING to ALL!!! =)

Brrrr...and Bugga-blog-love as promised

Pop quiz time, for my faithful bloggie pals.

I'm blogging, so Bugga must be...

a) hanging upside down from a ceiling fan
2) napping
iii) making me a snack
e) out with his friends

Ahhh...if you guessed 2, you are correct!!! *ding* *ding* *ding*

And what do you win??!! Why pictures of said napping beauty. ;) Aren't you glad you tuned in today. =)

Wearing Papa's slippers. Tummy hanging out, makin' a Momma proud.

Close up view, lovin' me some baby toes. Toddler toes. Whatever.

Just chillin' in his book box, which he emptied in a surprisingly organized fashion that day (hmmm, maybe he is my son afterall, despite the running and chocolate hating...).

So while I'm going about my business, I sometimes think about what I want to blog, what I want to say. It often includes all the fun things I was to report that Bug is doing these days, yet somehow when I sit down to actually write it, my mind draws a horrible blank. I think I'm going to have to go old school and start jotting down notes. Maybe it is becuase he is typically napping when I am blogging and my mind is taking a Bugga-break and refuses to conjure up all the fury and fun of him. But that doesn't make sense because I'm putting pictures of him up....Hmmm, whatever it is, I will try to remedy it and come up with more than just pictures some time in the near future. ;)

I will leave you today with a view of Oscar, our personal weatherguy.

See him there, all bundled up, bracing for the cold. Oscar is our pal, in summer he looks like he's at a beach. Right now, he looks like he's headed for the north pole. Bummer, but we knew it was coming. Heck, I must be a true Minnesotan now (draw out that "O" when you say that, if you want to pretend for a moment that you are too, only without the freezing temps), because low 30s doesn't feel so bad anymore. You'll probably see Oscar again when he is frowning down at the -5 below him and trying to build a fire to keep himself warm. ;)

Off to enjoy what is left of sleepytime and try to keep myself from falling asleep too. Because I know that the moment I do, he'll just wake up. =)

Hi, I'm Bailey.

Meet Bailey. =) Our newest foster. An adult female. Yes, you read me right, I said female.

Those of you who know me and have listened patiently--or better yet asked questions!--as I go on and on about pit bulls know that generally speaking, for successful housemate matches, the safer bet is opposite sex pairings. So why would we bring an adult female into our house, you may ask?

Well, for one, we're not looking to make a successful housemate match. ;) We're looking to give a down-and-out dog a place to chill and enjoy life while they wait for their next (and hopefully last) family to find him or her. In this case, it just happened to be a her in need of our services. =)

Now, being the beautiful she that she is, we haven't introduced the girls to each other yet. I say yet because we fully intend to be able to introduce them at some time in the future, once Bailey is more settled. So far, they have seen each other through the baby gate and crate doors and all body language was positive, thank goodness!

Bailey is an owner surrender, she was actually adopted out from A Rotta Love Plus as a pup. Two years in, she is coming back into the program due to some rather bogus reasons on the family's part, to be quite honest. Their reasoning doesn't jive with the lady we're getting to know here in our house, that much I can tell you. To their credit, it appears they did do some solid obedience work with her and she loves to play (have you ever met a dog that didn't know how to play?! It is heart-breaking!).

To their discredit, her first day or so here, she was covered in a cloak of fear that caused a good amount of worry. Pit bulls are typically confident, people-loving pooches; to see one exhibit fear toward a human is an unsettling experience for sure, knowing how atypical it is of the breed. Of course, there is no way to know for sure what her life was like and if her former owners instilled that fear or if it is just the drastic changes in her life that made her wary (we were her third stop in four days since leaving her former family).

Still, watching that cloak dissolve and a happy-g0-lucky girl emerge has been one of the more rewarding foster experiences we've had in our short time as fosters (it was just 6 months ago that we took in our first foster, Pumba!). And lucky for all of us, it hasn't taken long for her to begin to leave her fears behind. =) She just came to us Wednesday morning and is already showing very steady improvement in that area.

Our former fosters were all pretty much in and out of our door within about a month, some much less, some a tad longer. Sadly, I won't hold out hope that the same will be true for Miss Bailey. Two things are stacked against her: she is all brindle (with dark "smudges" on her back, very unique) and she is an adult. =( For some reason, the all-brindle dogs tend to wait longer, just like black dogs tend to wait longer (black dog syndrome, ever heard of it?).

I want to take a moment to encourage any and everyone out there to consider an adult dog the next time you're looking to add a furry family member. Some worry--unnecessarily I might add!--that one would be taking a greater risk with an adult dog, that an unknown history and lineage is just too scary to consider. This is so untrue! An adult dog, appropriately temperament tested for stability, is less work than a pup and their temperament is already set, meaning that generally, what you see if what you get. The BAD RAP "monster myths" section discusses this well, if anyone cares to check it out.

Okay, I've gone on about dogs long enough I suppose. ;) Suffice to say, we're lovin' our new Bailey sweet and getting to know her has been a total treat so far. Hopefully a family will see all the benefits of an adult dog and all the sweetness she has to offer. Yes, pups are cute and fun, but if you don't want a dog, don't get a puppy. =) Might as well skip all that work and get to the good stuff if you ask me! HAHA.

I'll be back with some Bugga-blog-love soon, I promise! He has been melting hearts and taking names around here lately. When he's not making us roll with laughter, that is. ;)

And to all you non-doggie-lovers and non-pittie-enthusiasts, thanks for hangin' in. =)

Just trying something...

Me, that is. Not the Bug, though it does look like maybe he's trying to wash my dishes here...if only there were dishes in sight and in reach. ;) My big blue gloves are a step in the right direction though, wouldn't you say?!

No, I am trying something new. I want bigger pictures, and a snazzy layout and some other fun stuff that I can do in my head, but evidently not with my computer. ={ Bummer, I really need some crazy tech-genius friend to come and save me from the thoughts in my head these days. Oh well. Lacking such a pal, I will go it alone and probably drag my feet and stumble a bit.

So if the blog seems wonky or missing all together--just a worst-case scenario, right?!--fret not. ;)

What else is going on, you ask? Because there must be something else, right?! Hehe. Well...let's see. Moanie-Bones is enjoying the good life, still on a trial visit though I'm pretty sure he's there to say (they've renamed him Hammer to boot, but I am sticking with Moanie for me and my memories). Paisley is enjoying the super-lazy life of an only dog for the time being. Bugga is just...well, Bug...more and more of everything every single day. If that means anything! =) Talking more, testing more, reaching more, running more, knowing more, doing more, MORE, MORE, MORE. It's crazy and fun and frustrating and trying and heart-warming all at once, or at least all in each day. ;)

I have to share this little funny because it was one of those moments where I about fell off my chair laughing because it was oh-so-J, but through the lens of the Bug. We were reading his nighttime books in his chair in his room last night and we got to this line in the book No Matter What:

"With time together, a smile and a kiss, love can be mended with things like this."

I stop, I say to Bug, "can you show me your smile?"

He leans in to the book and smiles a goofy-man grin, completely over-exaggerated and silly.

"And what about a kiss?" I say.

He turns around to give me a kiss and lets out a huge, noisy toot just as we smooch.

Lovely. Anyone who knows my sweet hubby knows just what I mean here. ;) I proceeded to laugh and hug him and laugh some more and he did a classic toddler fake-sounding laugh because Momma was laughing and it made the moment all the more funny to me.

I can't think of a better way to end the day with my boy than laughing before bedtime.

Well, it's snowing. And coffee is calling to me while Grady is refusing to nap, so I'm sure there's something else I should be doing other than blogging. ;)

Thanks to Leah, my one and only menu-helper from last week. She has inspired us to add lentils to our diet and we will do just that this week, we can't wait! 10,000 points for her! =)

Back to the real world not found in the depths of my computer screen--woa, such a thing exists?! ;) (Seriously, some days I need a reminder.) Later gators!

Help!

Okay people, I'm feeling horribly uninspired in the meal-planning department and today is the day I am supposed to plan and make my menu for the coming week so I can go shopping with the Bugga tomorrow. How's that for a run-on sentence. Anyway...

So, bring it on! Got a family favorite you'd like to share? A meal that always hits the spot? I'd love to hear it and TRY it. ;)

Bonus points or anyone that can incorporate beans. Yes, I'm keeping score on all of you...tsk, tsk, some of you are wayyyy behind, so it's time to step up.

HAHAHA, just kidding of course. =)

Tomato stack from this summer; sorry no pics of yummy fall food. I'd love to change that though..

Love beans, not big on meat, but like fish. Breakfast counts for any meal of the day. Desserts are yummy too, though trying to be a responsible parent I have relegated them to add-on status. ;)

Got a recipe that makes you feel all warm and toasty? Perfect, I heard snow is in the forecast! ={

Okay folks, get to it...INSPIRE me. =)

The nothing-new update

This little face charms me every day. It is getting increasingly hard to capture with a camera though, as he loves to run (hmmm...again calling into question his true identity...he doesn't like chocolate and he loves to run, huh???!!!).

Ignore the wacky hair. Both of ours, though his is cuter. ;)

He loves this book Tippintown. He particularly enjoys pointing out the dog on every page. He knows this book, I merely mentioned it this morning to J and he heard me and went running for the crate of books, searching for this current favorite. Yes, he found it. I couldn't be more proud; it is always the small things that amaze me. =)

So, in revisiting an old idea, back to the nothing-new referendum of '09. ;p HAHAHA. Before embarking on something so ambitious as a full year of no new purchases--save of course food, personal care items, medicine, and the like--we decided to just do a trial month. This is defined by credit card period...in case anyone was questioning our place in this consumer-driven society. ={ Ugh. Anyway, that point withstanding, we are tweaking and honing the idea to make it our own. You know, creating loopholes for possible splurges. ;) One loophole goes like this: every dollar less than x that we spend in a month goes into our "wishlist" account, as the wishlist fund grows, we can decide if and when to spend that money on an otherwise disallowed new item. Make sense? No, I'm not sharing what amount x might be, but it is both appropriately challenging and entirely possible at the same time. ;) Makes for a fun little game, don't you think?!

Of course, for this month (roughly October 20th-November 20th) we don't have time for games. It is crunchtime people, nothing new. But wait, the laptop is circling the electronic drain...hmmm....enter new CD/DVD drive. =( Grr...the laptop won't recognize it...woohoo...return it and pretend we didn't slip so quickly. Problem solved, right?! If I wasn't so dependent on the laptop, it might just be. If.

Anyway, we have already begun finding solutions to other issues of want that have cropped up:

* An old military wool blanket strategically placed between our flat sheet and down comforter (in lieu of a new wool comforter. Oh just typing it felt cozy, darn it! Okay, NO, I'm fine without it *repeat as needed*)
* A ripped up old sheet to function as curtains in the Bug's room since the sun blesses us so cruelly early now (in lieu of fancy shades I've been eyeing for about $50 a pop).

Now if only I could rig me up a functioning laptop out of crap laying around my house. ;)

And once again, I wasted a rare and coveted Bugga naptime on blogging. Hmmm. At least I wasn't shopping.

Oh my!

I am just cuddling on the couch with my Pai girl and enjoying election coverage. This is just beyond exciting...and I am not one that finds politics interesting usually. How can you not be excited this year though?! =) Wow!

Check out my funny face...

J took this and yes, it's a little on the wonky side as far as representations of the Bug go. ;) Makes me giggle though, how about you???

In other news, Timoni-Moanie is enjoying his trial visit thoroughly, playing with his potential new sis Pinkerton (who has very similar coloring to Pai, only about 20 lbs heavier!) and charming people everywhere he goes. Is it any surprise?! =) They are taking it nice and slow, being extremely thoughtful and honestly, you just can't ask for better adopters than that. It leaves us hanging a bit, but I think I can call this one...hehe...I think Moanie has found his family. ;)

So we're down to one pittie for the time being...isn't that a pity?! ;) HAHAHA. I'm sure there's a dog in need waiting in the wings somewhere. =) In the meantime, Paisley is enjoying her status as the only dog again for a little while, and we certainly don't begrudge her that.

A shout outtonight...HAPPY belated BIRTHDAY to our friend Justin! We thought of you on your day, and evidently that is as far as we made it. ;)

Today was a good day and seeing my toddler with an "I voted" sticker on will stick in my mind for some time, as well as the vision of Bugga in J's arms in the voting booth. And I can't forget the nervousness on the face of the election worker as the Bug booked it for the ballot-counting machine. ;) Ahhh, the fear. Welcome to my world mister. ;) I relied on hope that my parental voice would stop his potentially destructive motion. Hope versus fear. Which do you think won out? (Well you didn't hear any reports of toddler-ized vote-counting machines, did you?!) It was a great voting experience. =)

Back to the big news...g'night all!

By the way, I hear the president elect might be looking for a dog...I think I have some ideas. ;)