R.I.P. Pepper

It came to me that every time I lose a dog they take a piece of my heart with them, and every new dog who comes into my life gifts me with a piece of their heart.  If I live long enough all the components of my heart will be dog, and I will become as generous and loving as they are.

Annoymous

This sweet baby came into our lives almost 17 years ago.  We had lost our beloved Bosco who was a Fox Terrier at 18 and our dog Libby needed some company.  We've almost always had 2 dogs and even at one time we had 3 dogs.  Working full time jobs back in the day we always felt like the dogs were company for one another and therefore got into less trouble.  For us...it worked.  No chewed shoes or furniture and easy peasy housetraining.  So when Bosco died we felt like we needed a companion for Libby. 
We waited all of about 3 months before we decided to start looking and I had decided that I wanted a Schipperkee.  Don't ask me why except that it just seemed like a good size and the breed seemed to have the personality that appealed to me.  In the past we've adopted shelter dogs and they have been terrific but this time I wanted to go with a particular breed.
Schipperkee (pronounced Skipper-Key) is a breed from Belgium.  Schipperkee is supposed to translate as "Little Captain". They were bred as watchdogs for the barges.  Supposedly in the beginning the dogs had full length tails but they kept falling off their patrol watch walkway and into the water so it was decided that the tail be docked and that is how you will find the dogs today. 
I can certainly attest to the fact that she was a water dog.  She LOVED to swim and when she was younger we took her down to the river all the time to swim.  In fact one summer she swam so much that she actually got swimmers ear and had to have drops applied to her ears before and after a swim.  She would stay in the water so long and we often felt she would swim until she'd collapse.  We never let it go that far but she did love to swim...hated a bath but loved the river. 
Pepper has a few alias', she was known as "The Peepster", "Schipperkee" and also "Black Dog".  I loved her deeply and will miss her forever but I've known for a while now that her time on this earth was coming to an end. 
The last couple of nights were extremely peaceful for her.  In the past 6 months or so she would often get me up to take her outside so that she could go to the bathroom.  Then there were the couple of times that I woke up to a surprise in the morning where she had pooped in her sleep.  Fortunately for me she'd been sleeping on her special bed that was centered on a shower curtain "just in case".   Worked really well as you can just hose off the shower curtain and replace it with another one while you wash the one that had the accident on it. 
I knew that something was up when she wouldn't eat.  She always had a good appetite so for her to be off her food was a considerable clue. 
I just knew that I would know when she was ready to go and I saw that look in her eye today.  I had always hoped that she would pass quietly in her sleep and when that didn't happen and I saw the look in her eyes today I knew that it was time.
My husband felt that it would be best for me to stay at the house while he took her to the vets and as it turned out she almost passed before he actually got to the vets. 
She simply closed her eyes and then the Dr. administered the shot.  She never even flinched when the Dr. inserted the needle into her leg.  It was peaceful.  I am at peace in knowing that I did the right thing.  It hurts a lot right now and will hurt for a while but I know that time will heal this wound. 
She was a great dog and I loved her deeply.

When God had made
 the earth and sky,
 the flowers and the trees,
 He then made all the animals
 the fish, the birds and bees 
 And when at last He'd finished
not one was quite the same.
He said I'll walk this
world of mine
and give each one a name.
And so He traveled
far and wide
and everywhere He went,
a little creature followed Him
until its strength was spent.
When all were named
upon the Earth
and in the Sky and Sea, the little
creature said
"Dear Lord, there's no name left for me."
Kindly the Father said to it
"I've left you to the end.
I've turned my own name
back to front
and called you, DOG, my friend."

Author Unknown

Tucson AZ. or bust

Not the best picture I must admit but I thought about this much too late as the stewardesses were telling everyone that they had to turn off their electronic devices.  But if you look at the tower it does spell out Tucson.

I took a little trip last week to visit my best friend of 40 years.  She and her husband had recently moved to Tucson, AZ. after spending 37 years in Las Vegas, NV.  They needed a change of pace after suffering an unconsolable loss.  I lost my mother but she lost her dad, a child and her only brother in a matter of about 18 months.  I can't even begin to imagine how one deals with that kind of loss.  I told her as soon as they were settled and I could break away...I would and I did. 

I left on a Wednesday and returned on a Tuesday and had the best time doing nothing but spending time with my best friend from High School.  Oh, we did a little sightseeing but the important thing for me and for her was to just spend some quality time together, talking, cooking, crying, eating, drinking and laughing. 

There is really not a lot to say about the trip other than I think that we were both able to open up about our losses and cry openly without feeling that we were a burden to one another.

This is what the countryside looked like...her house is about where those clouds are casting a shadow on the land below.  She also had an incredible view from her backyard.  You are looking right at those mountains and somehow it's an incredible peaceful thing. 

It was wonderful to get away but it was also good to get back home and make sure that all was well here.  My dog Pepper is having some age related health issues and I'm not sure that she will make the year.  So it was good to see that she was not any worse for the wear. 

Next Spring, Candy will come to visit me and maybe Bob and I can make a trip out there in the fall.
Whatever happens I know that we will enjoy it.

Update on my Father

Last week I accompanied my father to his PET scan.  The scan is pretty much a walk in the park but it gives us a little bit of quality time together.  We always go out to lunch which he loves and I love it because I know that he's eaten at least one good meal.  It's not that he can't cook, cause he can, but for him it's trouble so he'll do something easy instead of what is really good for him.

We had our follow-up yesterday with the Dr. and here is what is going on.  
There are two spots in the groin area that are lit up...that means that there is "activity" and that means he is out of remission.  It's not that his current treatment is not working...it's just not working as well as it has and so we have to change his treatment.

The Dr. wants him to have a bone marrow scan on the 7th of Oct.  If they find the cancer in his bone marrow then they want to do a new chemo treatment and then he'll go back to the Retuxan.  But instead of his Retuxan treatment being 4 treatments every 6 months he'll probably go to 1 treatment every 2 months or every other month.  That is still to be determined.  But this is all in hopes that they can once again get on top of this cancer. 

If they don't find any cancer in his bone marrow then they just want to do radiation.  No problem with that except that my father does not want to do radiation.  And that is because he is pretty sure that my mother's health really started to go downhill after her radiation treatment.  And it would be with the same Dr. who treated my mother and I tend to want to agree with him.  It's his life after all and he does have a right to decide how he wants to be treated. I think that he'd much rather (regardless of the outcome) just do the chemo and Retuxan. 

He's understandably disappointed in his results.  We had gotten use to "no changes" and so you sort of forget that he's sick other than his physical appearance.  And by that I mean weight.  He's pretty skinny and I think he would look better with about 15 more pounds on him and he agrees.  It's just hard for him to put on weight.  If I only had that problem. 

So that's where we stand right now.  I'm going to hope that the cancer has not spread to his bone marrow...I think there is a good chance that it hasn't because all his blood work looks good.  His Dr. actually said, if someone looked at his blood work they wouldn't be able to tell that he had cancer at all.   So fingers crossed, that this all turns out better than we anticipate.  Onward....

Cold Oven Poundcake w/ Apple, Pear and Plum Compote

Let me just start this post by saying that I am not much of a cake eating person.  For my birthday for as long as I can remember I have always asked for pie...Lemon Meringue Pie to be exact.  My mother just made the best and as good as a cook that I am, I have not been able to replicate the dessert.  I make a pretty good one but not as good as hers.  I think it has to do more with who you are making it for rather than who is making it.  So the love I cannot replicate but the ingredients I can.  Deep thoughts for a Wednesday afternoon. 
So why a cake and why a poundcake.  Heaven only knows, I just thought that it sounded good and I wanted to give it a shot.  I saw this on Trisha Yearwood's Food Network show.
I've made poundcakes before but this started with a cold oven and I was curious to see how it would all turn out. 
Poundcake takes its name from its classic recipe, which includes 1 lb. each of butter, sugar, eggs and flour; in France, the same cake is known as quatre-quarts, for "four quarters," because each of the four ingredients makes up a quarter of the batter.  There's your lesson for the day. 
So let's assemble our ingredients:

So we have flour, sugar, eggs, butter, whipping cream (although I had 1/2 & 1/2) and Vanilla extract and I happened to use Vanilla Paste.

You also want to grease and flour the bottom, sides and tube of a 9 inch tube cake pan.

So take the butter and sugar and put them in the mixer and cream them until smooth.

The above picture does not show the mixture smooth but it's in the process and because I'm not an expert at this...I'm not always thinking about pictures and text going together....forgive me.

Then you start to add the eggs.  One at a time mixing well after each addition.

See all the eggs are added and the mixture is relatively smooth. 

Now you start to add the flour and the cream alternately, beginning and ending with the flour.

Then add the vanilla.

Pour into the tube pan and put in the oven.

TA-DA!!!  Isn't it lovely.   Now I realize that this post is called Cold Oven Poundcake w/ Apple, Pear and Plum Compote but I somehow wigged out and completely forgot to take pictures of the making of the compote so you'll have to use your imagination there but trust me when I say this...it's excellent and the perfect compliment to the cake.   Was that just the longest run-on sentence ever?  Yes, I think it was.  So here's the recipe.

COLD OVEN POUNDCAKE
*1 cup (2 sticks) butter, at room temperature
3 cups sugar
6 large eggs, at room temperature
3 cups all purpose flour, sifted
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS:
Do not preheat the oven.  Grease and flour the bottom, sides and tube of a 9-inch tube cake pan. 

Cream the butter and sugar until smooth.  Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition, but do not overbeat.  Se the mixer on slow speed and stir in the flour and cream alternately, beginning and ending with the flour.  Add the vanilla and stir well.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and put the cake in a cold oven.  Set the oven temperature to 325 degrees F.  Begin timing now and bake the cake for 1 hour and 15 minutes.  Test of doneness by inserting a toothpick in the center of the cake.  The toothpick should be clean when it is removed.  Cool in the pan for 30 minutes, then turn out onto a rack to continue cooling.
*this recipe does not specify salted or unsalted butter.  I always have unsalted butter in my kitchen and that's what I used. 

APPLE, PEAR AND PLUM COMPOTE

2 cups peeled Granny Smith apples, cut into 1-inch cubes (about 2 medium apples)
2 cups peeled ripe firm pears, cut into 1-inch cubes (about 2 medium pears)
2 cups unpeeled diced plums (about 3 large plums)
1/4 cup honey
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

DIRECTIONS;
In a large pot, combine the apples, pears, plums, 1/2 cup water, the honey, vanilla and cinnamon.  Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, cover and cook for 30 minutes.
Remove the lid and continue cooking until the syrup is reduced and the fruit is tender, another 30 minutes.  Cool completely, cover and store in the fridge until ready to serve.  Serve alone or on cake or with just ice cream.  It's delish...trust me.

My Dad

I just realized a couple of days ago that I have not given an update on my father in quite a while.  The picture above is his graduation picture from high school.  He was and continues to be a handsome guy in my opinion but that's because he is my dad.

So far so good.  His cancer treatment continues and he is in a "remission" state.  Which is interesting in itself because this was never supposed to happen.  Right now his treatment is every 6 months.  So he goes  for treatment every six months and he does 1 treatment every week for 4 weeks.  Then at the end of treatment he has a couple of scans to see how the tumors are responding to treatment. 

He is also at the end of the protocol for his treatment.  What that means is that this particular drug has only been studied for a 3 year span.  ***(Interesting note here....this much of my post was published and I swear  did not click on the publish button)  As I was saying.....the particular drug that my dad is taking has only been studied with people taking it for 3 years.  But it appears to be working so his Dr. is recommending that he continue to take it every 6 months...for the rest of his life I imagine.  There shouldn't be any trouble with this unless his medical insurance doesn't want to pay for it because it has not been studied beyond the 3 year mark.  His Dr. is hopeful that insurance will pay because he is recommending it.  So fingers crossed.

His heart issues remain the same...there is no option for surgery because he is "too old" and he would probably expire on the table.  He can't run a 5K but he manages to keep house, run errands and go out to dinner with friends.  For 83 I think that's just fine.  He still drives and his eyesight is good and the longer he is able to take care of himself then the happier he will remain.  I'm fairly certain if we had to put him in assisted living that he would not last a fortnight. 

So there's the update.  I remain hopeful that the cancer will remain in remission for however long he wants it to.  And that his health remains in the state that it is in currently so that he continues to want to live on this earth.  I know that he misses my mother terribly but he is a practical guy and he knows that there is no amount of love that would bring her back.  He's faced the unthinkable and walked through the door and there is no looking back. 

Happy Birthday Mom!

Today would have been my mother's 83rd Birthday.  Time does indeed march on. 

This picture was taken at my wedding.  And she was 49 years old..her 50th birthday was just a month away.  I just knew that she would live forever.

"Now there is one thing I can tell you; you will enjoy certain pleasures you would not fathom now.  When you still had your mother you often thought of the days when you would have her no longer.  Now you will often think of days past when you had her.  When you are used to this horrible lthing that they will forever be cast into the past, then you will gently feel her revive, returning to take her place, her entire place, beside you.  At the present time, this is not yet possible.  Let yourself be inert, wait till the incomprehensible power..that has broken you restores you a little, I say a little, for henceforth you will always keep something broken about you.  Tell yourself this, too, for it is a kind of pleasure to know that you will never love less, that you will never be consoled, that you will constantly remember more and more."
-------Marcel Proust

Front and Backyard Update

I've been delaying the update on the front and backyard because I wanted to be able to show the before and after photos.  That way it would make more sense and you would be able to see the tremendous difference it has made.
So without further ado,

This is what the yard looked like originally, dull, dull and dull.  We always wanted to "do" something to it but it took us a long time to figure it out.

So much improved.

The planting is coming along, although we are in the midst of the hottest part of the summer and so planting will come to a stop for now.  It's just too darn hot and sometimes there is no amount of water that you can put to a new planting and make it live.  We are water misers as it is so we don't want to use any more than necessary.  

This next picture shows a real good before and after from relatively the same spot.  With the new path you can see more of the pond system and with the glider in place it temps you to stop and set a spell.
This is before.

And this is after.

I'm so happy with the way things have turned out and sometimes it's just hard to believe that it ever looked the way it did and it looked that way for such a long time.
The backyard before:

After:

 

Before:

 

After:

I think that we have a lot to be proud of.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Anniversary

36 years ago today, a first date for diner and a movie led to 33 years ago I married not only the man I could live with but I married the man I could not live without.  He's my best friend, my soft place to fall, my biggest cheerleader, my champion and my hunka', hunka' burning love.  Nobody can make me laugh like he can, understands me better or is the person that I would rather spend time with.  We are a team together and with him by my side there is nothing that we cannot accomplish once we set our minds to it. One of our most favorite things to do is still dinner and a movie. My, my how time flies when you are having a good time.  I love you Bob Pool and happy 33rd Anniversary. 

Fresh Strawberry Pie

 It's not "officially" summer by the calendar but the temps here in Central Texas are telling me it's summer so I've decided to make something cool and surprising light for dessert.  And of course to take advantage of the lovely strawberries that are fairly plentiful right now. 

So first off we'll start with the pie crust.  This is not your regular pie crust.  This pie crust would not hold up for an apple, peach, pumpkin, cherry or pecan pie.  This pie crust would be best for anything light and fluffy like a chiffon or Jello and Cool Whip mixture.  It's called "Pat-a-Pie Oil Pastry and that will become reasonably clear once we get further into the recipe. 

So lets assemble our ingredients.  We have flour, sugar, salt, milk and vegetable or canola oil.

 Sift the flour, sugar and salt together.

 Then measure out your oil

 Add the milk to the oil

 And whisk like crazy till it's all lovely and completely combined.

 Then just add the wet to the dry.

 And mix it all together with a fork till it's too hard to mix anymore and then go in with your hand or hands. Till you have everything combined together.

See how that all works together.  Now get out a 9 inch pie pan and start breaking off pieces of dough and patting them into place.

That picture is a little blurry, must have gotten something in my contact.  But you get the idea.  Just keep working with little pieces and soon you will have the pie plate completely covered.  Keep pushing till you have the "crust" up and over the rim and then you can crimp in your favorite style.

Once you get it all crimped, put in a preheated 425 degree oven and bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown.  Let cool completely before you fill it.

RECIPE:

2 Cups sifted all purpose flour

2 teaspoons sugar

1 1/4 teaspoons salt

2/3 cups salad or canola oil

3 tablespoons milk

 

 

Now let's assemble our ingredients for the filling.  This is also called mise en place (MEEZ ahn plahs) A French term referring to having all the ingredients necessary for a dish prepared and ready to combine up to the point of cooking.

 

 So we have Cool Whip, Strawberry Jell-O or Strawberry-Banana Jell-O, fresh strawberries and sugar.  See how simple that is!

Add boiling water to the Jell-O.

Then take out 1/2 cup of the Jell-O and chill it until slightly thickened.

Cut about 1 1/2 cups of strawberries in 1/2 all the while keeping aside about 8 perfect berries for decorating.

 Once the 1/2 cup of Jell-0 is slightly thickened. you want to fold in the sugar and whipped topping.  If it's not pink enough then add a couple of drops of red food coloring.  I have never found this necessary but go ahead if you want it pinker.   

 

Put this mixture back into the fridge and let it set until it will mound.   Put the other Jell-O into the fridge and let it get cold enough until it resembles runny jelly.

Once the Cool Whip/Jell-O mixture mounds then you can begin assembly.  So first take some of the mixture and spread some on the bottom of the cooled pie crust.

Then place your halved strawberries on top of that mixture. 

Then spoon your jelly like mixture on top of the strawberries.  Just spoon it over until all the berries are covered. 

 Finally take the rest of the Cool Whip/Jell-O mixture and put it into a piping bag and pipe it around the sides and add your perfect berries to complete the assembly.  Wa-la....beautiful,. perfect, light summer dessert. 

RECIPE:

1 pkg. (3 oz.) Jell-O Strawberry or Strawberry-Banana Gelatin

1 2/3 cups boiling water

2 Tablespoons sugar

2 cups (or one 4 1/2 oz. container) Cool Whip Non Dairy Whipped Topping, thawed*

Red Food coloring (optional)

1 baked 9-inch pie crust

1 1/2 cups fresh strawberry halves

*I have never found a 4 /12 oz. container of Cool Whip and we can always use it so I just buy the 8 oz. and measure out what I need. 

 

Dissolve gelatin in boiling water.  Remove 1/2 cup and chill until slightly thickened.  Fold the slightly thickened gelatin and sugar into the whipped topping.  Add a few drops of food coloring. (optional). Chill again, if necessary, until mixture will mound.  Line bottom and sides of crumb crust with the whipped topping mixture, mounding high around edge.  Chill.  Meanwhile, chill remaining gelatin until thickened.  Stir in the strawberries or just place the strawberries on the Cool Whip mixture and spoon the runny jelly Jell-O mixture over the berries.  Add the rest of the Cool Whip by piping the mixture around the pie and then decorate with the perfect berries.  Chill until firm...3 hours or overnight.