dogs on thursday

do take a second and send some well wishes to our good friend, beau. he had to have emergency surgery yesterday. scary time for the fabulous ms g and her mr.

our thoughts are with you guys!

check out the other great dogs on thursdays.

what is in a name?

a bunch of the dot crew are answering this question. saw it on chanknits first, then the fabulous ms g - lord those gals are making me want a basset hound in the worst way!
on to the question at hand: what's in a name?
let's start with the boys:

old man ruger was our third. third rottweiler, third ruger. ken used to be quite the marksman and one of his favorite pistols was a ruger. the name stuck. we liked it.

fatboy (the minpin) came with his name. interesting story though. girl-child had gotten an older female from a friend of ours who used to breed minpins. said friend's daughter came home from college and had a fit that her mother had given away her childhood dog so girl-child gave miss lucy back. she and her dad visited the pound on a regular basis. one visit, as they were leaving, a guy walked up to ken and said, "this is the perfect dog for you! his name is 'fatboy'!" (ken was wearing a harley shirt). fatboy hadn't even been inprocessed yet. he left with ken and one happy little girl-child.

turns out our friend who bred minpins used to give the all the litter pups harley names. and with there being only a few breeders in the area, there's a pretty good chance fatboy was one of miss lucy's pups. ashley calls him muffin or monkey. ken and i call him piss hound.

grizz got his name from an old black lab we dogsat when ruger was just a puppy. ken and i never forgot how much we enjoyed watching that gentle giant dog play with our sweet puppy. he's grizzly bear, grizzers and bubby.

and the girls:

we got sadie from another motorcycle friend. our first group ride was called a sadie hawkins ride. it was all about the girls. our friend brought her two remaining puppies to the park where we gathered afterward for a cook out. i knew as soon as i took her into my arms that she was mine. mostly she's just sadie. sadie-girl.

and gigi:

she came to us as ginger. cami gave her the middle name of mirabeau. so now, she's gigi beau beau.

turns out there's a whole lot in a name. :)

creativity

sometimes there's no making sense of creativity. it strikes at stranges times or worse, i sit and wait for it to come. she can be fickle, my muse.

last night at midnight, i was up creating this little gem. it's the tin my teeny gingher scissors came in, re-purposed into a random act of kindness for a fellow raveler. if you're not familar with ravelry, on the message boards, there are buttons you can click to show love(1), or if you disagree(1) with someone or think something is funny(1). i thought the love(1) was a whimsical touch. the recipient enjoys family recipes, so this tin will include some of our favorites. cute no?

paper and rubons are basic grey, font is quickutz zoey (i think).

who knew grocery shopping could be so fun?

my garden girls kidnapped me this week and introduced me to whole foods.

i might be in love.

i found everything i needed to re-create a very special meal: goat cheese, raspberry chipolte sauce, rice crackers and a bottle of chateau st. michele. my sister, robin may not cook but she can sure slap down a spread! love you robbie.

then we came home and raided the garden. they swear they harvested while i was away but they left with twenty pounds of tomatoes. 20!! and i found these, hiding down low:

cami gifted me with two hibiscus plants last fall. i took them home and promptly killed them (it's what i do) but not before harvesting the seeds! and look what i grew this year from those same small seeds. it's like a miracle, really.

summertime fare

thimbleanna posted these wonderfully simple kilbasa/veggie packs for a summertime grilled dinner. what could be simpler?

i have everything i need right here - smoked sausage, potatoes, zucchini, onions, peppers. YUM! time to fire up the grill, or even the bonefire! thanks anna!

and, a dog - because it's thursday:

girl-child has a boyfriend named jimmy (happy birthday, jimmy!) and jimmy has a dog named dude.

and dude has the longest tongue i've ever seen!

sydney's woobie

i have a new baby niece. and every new baby needs a woobie, right?
sometimes i find a project as a gift and sometimes the project finds me. that was the case with this blankie. this is the opart from knitty and it is fabulous.
a quick knit, done in a washable acrylic/nylon blend makes the perfect, drag around the house while i suck my thumb sort of gift.

happy baby, dave and lis.
love you.

friday fill in

1. sweet corn is my favorite summertime food.

2. My favorite John Hughes movie is a three way tie between sixteen candles, christmas vacation and ferris bueller's day off.

3. malibrigo is something I love to touch.

4. The full moon makes me smile.

5. my dog is drinking out of the toilet right now.

6. When daylight fades so do i.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to new netflix pics, tomorrow my plans include maybe going for a drive with ken and Sunday, I want to relax!

jim's peppered vodka sauce

tonight i made giada de laurentiis' vodka sauce recipe from her book everyday italian. i call it jim's peppered vodka sauce because my friend, trista gifted me with some of her husband's pepper infused vodka and that's where the peppered jim comes from.

this sauce is delicious. you'd think, because of the cream it would be heavy but it's not! a little goes a long way. the vodka give it a nice heat and depth of flavor. with penne pasta it was perfection. for me. ken had ragu. bet you mine was better.

vodka sauce

3 cups marinara sauce

1 cup vodka

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper, plus more to taste

simmer the tomato sauce and vodka in a heavy large skillet over low heat until the mixture reduces by 1/4, stirring often, about 20 minutes. stir the cream into the tomato and vodka sauce. simmer over low heat until the sauce is heated through. stir in the parmesan cheese until melted and well blended.

meanwhile, cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until al dente, tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes. drain the pasta and transfer it to the pan with the sauce, and toss to coat.

and because it's thursday:

picture by joni

it's grizz, waiting for his supper!

goodbye july!

i hardly knew ye!

apron done!