My main idea of posting daily was probably a bit, shall we say, optimistic. Ok, ok, it was more than a bit but you get my drift. I had the best of intentions, I swear. I’ve come to the conclusion that posting once, maybe twice a week would be better. That way I don’t have a daily ‘deadline’ over my head and I can just give you a weekly update of what crazy and possibly stupid thing I’ve been up to lately.

If you’ve read my entry for the Crème Caramel recipe you will have probably guessed that I had a horrific incident with hot caramel. Turns out I have 3rd degree burns on my foot that got infected and I now have to visit Wound Care once a week. It’s not really too bad. They’re really nice folks and my butt will not have the indignity of sharing its skin with my foot. I just have to keep it clean, covered with ointment and wrapped while I wait patiently for it to heal (the foot, not the butt). Down side is that 3rd degree burns just so happen to hurt until they’re fully healed…. especially when your nerve endings begin to grow back.

Another down side is that my activities have been severely cut back. Walking on a burnt foot is a bitch. That compost pile and garden I’m supposed to be working on are on standby. My poor dog needs to be shaved again at least one more time before the cooler weather begins. Shopping’s a pain in the ass but at least at the grocery store I can ride around in those electric scooters and pretend that I didn’t mean to bump into my daughter every 5 minutes or so. I found out those things can actually push a 100lb person while they sitting on the floor and not wanting to leave the book section. Hahahahahaha!

Not being able to do many things AKA lying on the couch with my foot elevated like the good doctor told me to has allowed me to discover a great joy. Although I’ve had to cut back on my extended cable TV package I still have the Food Network! Throwdown with Bobby Flay, Ace of Cakes, Iron Chef America, Barefoot Contessa, The Neelys, Chiefs vs. City, Challenge, and so much more! YAY! In case you didn’t get it, I love this channel! The foot has not stopped me from cooking and baking. I’ve made so many new recipes from my Smoked Salmon Cream Cheese Spread to Whiskey Cake and I’ve even made some herb/spice/etc infused oils. I’ll be sharing some recipes soon.

I’m also hoping soon to post my Summer Movie Review and Fall Movie Preview. I just need to catch up on my movie viewing.

The foot has also not stopped me from catching my favorite YouTube celebrities, ItsJustSomeRandomGuy and Gal in their BlogTV chats on Tuesday nights. If you don’t know who they are and love your Marvel and/or DC, check out their videos on YouTube. These two are amazing and the nicest people you’d ever want to meet. They love their fans and we love them!

Ok, I think I’ve typed enough for tonight. Throwdown is on and I haven’t seen this one yet.

Catch ya later!

I went to the Hotel the next day hoping to find another black female cat with green eyes just like my Alice…and I found her. A little ball of black fuzz with two green eyes peering up at me. I was so happy! I gleefully filled out the adoption forms and was told to come back the next day after she had been checked by the doctor and given her shots. When I showed up, a volunteer asked the woman where the black cat was. Imagine my shock when the lady told him, “Oh, the woman came by and picked her up already.”

I will forever have the distinct pleasure of being The Hotel for Dogs and Cats first screwup. Oh joy.

The poor woman was deeply apologetic, and when I say apologetic I mean she literally apologized every two minutes and even waived the adoption fee. She, of course, suggested that I look at the other kittens there to see if there was another I would want. Alas, I had my heart set on that little black furball. She then informed me that she had two pages of names and numbers of people who had litters of kittens to bring in but the Hotel just didn’t have room for them. She promised me one of those would have a black kitten and I would be allowing another litter of kittens to be saved just so I could get a black one. That helped.

I called Wednesday, no black kitten. Thursday, no black kitten. I finally went in Friday determined to adopt a kitten no matter the color. As I looked around I picked up a few, petting them, listen to them purr. None really really spoke to me until I picked up this little black and white kitten with yellow-green eyes. As I held her in my arms she reached up with her little paw and touch my cheek while rubbing her nose against mine. I knew I had just been adopted.

My little Mitsuki has now made my home hers and follows me everywhere! Whenever I stop she has to be up in my lap, in my arms, snuggled up against my neck, riding or snoozing on my shoulder or any various combination of the above.

She’s finally getting used to the big monstrosity (at least to her) that is my dog, Shane. He’s really just a big baby himself.

Natural Shampoo Recipe

Shampoos, conditioners and other hair products can be expensive, not to mention loaded with harsh chemicals that can have a dire effect on your hair. So once in a while, you can treat yourself to an all-natural shampoo- not to mention that you can make it yourself.

In just a few easy steps, you can have your own homemade natural shampoo with these ingredients.

1 oz. olive oil
1 egg
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

Now all you have to do is combine the ingredients together in a blander. Blend well and use like regular shampoo. Not only will your hair smell great, but you’ll also get healthier, shiner looking hair.

For basic cleaning, simply use a palmful of baking soda and work through your wet hair. It will remove any residue of hair care products without stripping the natural oils from your hair.

Volumizing Conditioner

If you want your hair to have more body, mix 1 tsp. of almond oil, 1 tsp. olive oil, 1 tbsp. honey, 1 tbsp. lemon juice and 1 egg yolk in a bowl. Apply to your hair from roots to end and massage into scalp as well.

Banana Conditioner

To make a conditioner that will leave your hair soft and silky, mix 2 cups mayonnaise with half a banana (mashed). Massage the mixture into your hair, leave 10 minutes, then rinse and shampoo out.

Creamy Conditioner

Whisk together 4 tbsp. unflavored yogurt and 1 egg. Apply after shampoo, massaging thoroughly through hair. Leave in for 5 minutes, then rinse out with lukewarm water. A conditioner for dry, frizzy hair.

Deep Conditioner

Pour 1 cup hot water over 1/2 cup rose petals and let them sit until they wilt (approximately 10 minutes). In a blender, combine 1 peeled and chopped banana, 1 tbsp honey and 1 tbsp almond oil. Slowly add the rose mix and blend into a cream. Apply to hair and leave on for 20-30 minutes (put on a shower cap to avoid drips), then rinse well.

Apple Hair Rinse

Combine 1 large cored apple (peeled and cut into small pieces), 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar and 2 cups water in a blender and set on High for 15 seconds. Strain to remove solid pieces. Pour liquid over hair, massage in, and rinse with cool water.

Herbal Hair Rinse

For added shine and condition, take 1/8 cup of dried herbs (1/4 cup if it’s fresh) and cover in 2 cups boiling water. Cover and leave to steep. Add a tbsp. to your rinsing water every time you wash your hair. Use rosemary, sage, parsley or catnip if you’re a brunette, chamomile or marigold if you’re blond.

Sources:
The Herbal Yearbook
Naturally Beautiful, by Dawn Gallagher
Natural Beauty From the Garden, by Janice Cox

Citrus Anti-Frizz Spray

If your hair is frizzy and staticky, mix 1/2 tsp. lemon juice, 1/4 tsp. lime juice and 1/2 cup water in a spray bottle. Shake well. Spray in your hair whenever you have the frizzies and store in the fridge.

Sunshiny Highlighting Rinse

Inspired by Natural Beauty Basics, by Dorie Byers (Vital Health Publishing, 2005).

Simple Solution:

Shiny hair sparkling with radiant highlights is a real crowning beauty–but some of us could use a little help in achieving that sun-kissed look. That’s where this simple rinse comes in. Even if you can’t spend a lot of time outdoors this summer, Sunny Highlight Rinse will make it look as if you had.

The formula calls for only one ingredient besides water, but that one has been known for centuries to help remove dulling residue on the hair shaft, adding shine and lights to your tresses. Here is the secret:

INGREDIENTS
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup water

Strain the lemon juice to remove any pulp, then combine the ingredients. After shampooing, apply to wet hair and allow to remain for 10 minutes. Rinse thoroughly.

For a video demonstration of this recipe see itsyourturn’s video on YouTube.

Utensils Needed:
Large Mixing Bowl
Small Bowl (for the leftover egg whites)
Whisk
Small Pot (for the caramel)
Large Pot (for the milk)
Oven-Safe Bowl
Large Baking Dish (for the bain marie)
Strainer (Optional)
Something to make hot water in.
Measuring Cups and Spoons
Serving Plate

Caramel:
1 cup sugar
Water (enough to soak the sugar)

Cook in a pot at high heat for 5-10 minutes. Once the mix is darkening, pour in a large oven-safe bowl and spread around the bottom about an inch up the rim until it hardens.

**SAFETY NOTE***
Please use a bowl that is oven-safe. You do not want the experience of having the bowl explode and the broken glass and boiling hot caramel splatter all over you. It’s extremely painful….trust me. That and cooled caramel is a bitch to clean up off your counter and floor.

Crème Caramel Mixture:
11 eggs (6 whole eggs, 5 egg yolks)
1 liter (or quart) of milk
¾ cups sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract. (I used 2 cause I love vanilla)

Preheat oven to 350.
In a large bowl, mix the 6 whole eggs, 5 yolks and sugar with a whisk until it lightens in color. In a pot, warm the milk with the vanilla until hot and take off the stove. Gradually incorporate the milk with the eggs as to not create lumps in the mixture. This process is called ‘tempering’. You can use a strainer to make sure no ‘milk skin’ gets in the mixture. Once all the milk is mixed with the eggs, pour in the bowl that has the caramel in the bottom and put in the oven in a ‘bain marie’ or, simply, a baking dish filled halfway with hot water. Bake for 1 hour.
Cool and store in fridge for at least 3 to 4 hours (overnight is preferable).
Flip over in a serving plate and serve.

Tempering – To gently heat egg yolks before adding to a hot sauce by adding a small bit of the sauce and beating well. This technique prevents curdling.

Bane Marie – A utensil and a cooking technique. One container with food to be cooked is placed in another, larger pan containing water that is at the simmering point. This method of cooking surrounds the food with very gentle heat and is used for cooking delicate dishes like custards or white sauces, or melting chocolates.

Definitions courtesy of busycooks.about.com</a

After Hurricane Ivan, my sister and her roommate moved in with me until they could find another place to live. My sister, Teresa (to add to the confusion, her roommate is a Teresa as well. I’ll refer to her from now on with her nickname, Red) has seizures and has to take medication. The medicine is cherry flavored….you can see where I’m going with this.

Teresa was sitting on the couch watching TV when it was time to take her medication. Red went to the room to get it and they left it sitting on the end table. Shane, ever searching for new and exciting food to eat, sniffed out the cherry scent and proceeded to chew his way through the bottle to all 99 pills. It was a brand new prescription of 100 pills and my sister had only taken one. One was left in the bottle so Shane ingested 98 seizure medication pills. Teresa and Red were panicked and called me on my cell phone-I was out and about when all this happened.

I rushed home and immediately loaded Shane into my van and took off towards the vet while Red phoned in the situation. Luckily, my vet is also a hospital so I didn’t have to wait for a referral somewhere else. When I got there, they immediately took him to the back and got to work on him. Of course, they wanted me to pay up front as they didn’t think I would pay to get a dead dog back. I went home and waited for the call to tell me the bad news.

When I got home we remembered that the pills were delay-released, meaning they gave the body the medicine over a slow period of time. We thought that was important information so we called the vet to let them know. They let us know that they had given Shane charcoal to help absorb the drugs but that they also had to sedate him because he started having seizures and his heart has stopped several times. They told us they would treat him through the night, make him as comfortable as possible and do what they could then call after the shift change in the morning to let us know what happened. I told them to call us at any time whenever any development happened-even if it was bad news.

None of us slept very much that night. Teresa and Red were depressed, sure that they had killed my dog. I woke up about an hour after the shift change and called the vet, because they hadn’t called us, and waited for the verdict.

The doctor came on and told me she went to check on Shane, expecting to find a dead or, at the least, comatose dog. Instead, Shane was awake, walking around and wagging his tail as if nothing had happened. The office started calling him ‘the miracle dog’.

Aside from giving him liquid iron for a week for his temporary anemia Shane has had no remaining side effects from his little escapade. Keeping out of the trash however, still remains a problem to this day.

Here’s a simple recipe that you can make your own version of depending on your particular tastes.

For my recipe I used:

1 5lb whole chicken
1 cup butter, 1/2 cup softened
2-3 Tablespoons each of:
dried rosemary
dried thyme
dried parsley
onion powder
garlic powder
salt
pepper
1 medium onion, quartered
2 cloves of garlic
4-6 celery stalks, chopped
4-6 medium potatoes, cubed

If you’re not using a kosher bird you’ll want to brine your chicken before cooking. Dissolve 1/4 cup table salt (1/2 cup kosher salt) in two quarters of water. Double for larger birds. Immerse the chicken in the salt water and place in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour. Pour off the brine, rinse the chicken under cold water then pat dry with paper towels. If you have time, return the chicken to the refrigerator and air-dry for another hour. This will give the bird an extra crispy skin.

Preheat your even to 350 degrees then make your rub and stuffing.

Here’s where the variations begin. For my latest roast chicken, I used butter, garlic powder, onion powder, rosemary, thyme, parsley, salt and pepper as my main rub and stuffing ingredients. A rub is a combination of herbs and spices literally rubbed between the meat and skin of the chicken. Separate the skin from the meat carefully so you don’t poke holes and rub the mixture all under the skin.

When I made my rub is was more of a paste. I combined about 1 tablespoon of rosemary, thyme, parsley, a few shakes of onion and garlic powder and salt and pepper in with 1/4 cup of softened butter. I rubbed the leftover over the skin of the chicken. Search the internet for other rub recipes. You can find some for a Southwestern, Thai, BBQ, and many other flavor themes. Find one you like and/or experiment.

For the stuffing I took one quartered medium onion, 2 garlic cloves, 4-5 chopped celery sticks mixed in with the same herbs (minus the garlic and onion powders), spices and another 1/4 cup of softened butter. Take the mixture and stuff it into the cavity of your chicken. You can also add in wedges of lemon or oranges, chilies anything that will add to your chicken’s flavor theme. The stuffing and rub will infuse the meat of the chicken with flavor as it roasts.

Place the chicken into a baking dish. For my 5lb chicken I used a 9×13 dish. I spread my leftover stuffing around the chicken but that, of course, is optional. Cut up some potatoes and arrange them in the dish around your chicken. Add a little more butter atop the potatoes and sprinkle some more herbs and spices over them.

Bake your chicken for 20 minutes per pound. My 5lb chicken took 1 hour 40 minutes. Remember to pour the juices in the pan over the chicken a few times while cooking so the top doesn’t dry out. Then take out your dish and cover it with aluminum foil for 30 minutes to an hour.

The result is a very tasty, juicy and buttery roast chicken. Enjoy!

If you decide to try this recipe or any variation of it please let me know how it turned out!

So, Fridays are for traveling. Over the following weeks I’ll let you in on my various travels through the U.S. and the rest of the world. Or at least the very small portion of the rest of the world I’ve been to. After that I will share my dreams of the other countries I’m longing to see. Perhaps you’ll share with me any travels you have been on and we can explore the globe together.

For the U.S. I’ll have four individual blogs for the four cardinal directions then one for my international travels. I hope you’ll enjoy traveling back to these places with me and I do hope my memory doesn’t fail me.

Garden:
Resting under layers chopped weeds, hay mulch and one vinyl tarp. Currently waiting its 2010 comeback. Future plans include sunflowers and various vegetables.
Indoor Garden:
Being prepared for various herbs.
Trees:
Two Orange Trees – Bloomed but still awaiting fruit.
One Grapefruit Tree – Bloomed and producing smallish grapefruit.
One Lemon Tree – Bloomed and producing huge lemons.
One Apple Tree – Mourning its mate and recovering from a nasty lawnmower incident.
2 Kumquat Trees – Bloomed and produced a shitload of kumquats.
Future plans include preparing cherry, peach and plum seeds for planting.

Preparations for both my garden and my future fruit trees require pre-planning that’s starting now. Soon I will be tilling my garden for the first of many times between now and when I start planting next year to prepare the soil. Soon I will be chilling my tree seeds to simulate the winter season that starts germination. That way I can start them indoors and get a head start on next year’s growing season. I’m currently building my new compost pile to help feed my garden and hoping that Shane doesn’t decide to dig it up. I had a compost ‘bin’ before made of my neighbor’s old wood slat fence that they fortunately took apart in perfect sized sections. Hurricane Ivan tore it apart in 2004.

In the upcoming weeks I’ll give you a little more insight into my preparations and, eventually, progress as the growing begins.

Ok, I wanted a dog but I didn’t exactly have the cash to go buy one. So I checked my email in the Freecycle category. Every now and then someone will have a dog or cat or other that they can’t take care of anymore and will offer to someone else to give them a home. At the time, someone offered a dog that they themselves had rescued off the street but could no longer give the care he needed. Perfect, I thought.

Shane is a Samoyed. If you don’t know what those are, they’re big, long-haired, pure white dogs. A lot of work, I knew, but it wouldn’t hurt to give him a look. So my sister’s roommate-they were both living with me at the time-headed out. She knew a little more about dogs than I did and offered her help.

When we got to the house and looked at Shane, I was in shock. I had in my mind’s eye a picture of what a Samoyed looked like; as I said before, pure-white long hair, etc. This pitiful creature before me had patches of hair, some long, some short, sometimes not at all. And he was brown. Rolled around in, stained, muddy brown and oh my god he stank!
The poor thing was left outside all the time-because of their cats- and he looked it. This is a cold weather dog who doesn’t do well outside in the summer. He was left out even in storms as evident in his fear of thunder and water. Any hint that rain is coming and he heads straight to the bathroom to hide.

We told the people that we had to talk it over for a bit and walked a few steps away for privacy. We both looked at each other and simultaneously said, “We have to get him out of here.”

Once we got him home-and I fumigated my van even after riding with all the windows down- we set to work trying to figure out where to start. We tried combing to begin with but soon found out that was a hopeless cause-as his hair was terribly matted-and we brought out the scissors. Teresa, the roommate, told me she would finish up the trimming and that I needed to get a set of shears to shave him….

I want to let it be known here, yes, I have read at numerous sources not to shave a cold-weather dog. Their long hair works as insulation against the heat. But if you had seen the condition Shane was in, you would know he need a fresh start with his fur. I have also notice in the hot days of summer that he is less lethargic and more active with shorter hair than with long. He seems happier with it shorter so I shave him in the summer. That and it’s also easier to treat his skin allergy with short fur.

….Hmmm where was I? Oh yes, brown, stinky dog. Well, we got his fur down to a manageable level and started shaving. Not only did it trim his fur, it stirred up the dirt and the stink. I never sneezed so much in my life. Now was time for the bath. I told you before that he didn’t like water. What we learned from this experience is that Shane’s a lazy dog. He didn’t so much as fight us as we bathed him but practiced the fine art of passive-resistance. If we wanted him to turn one way he’d go another. If we wanted his head up, he’d looked down and so on and so on. We also learned this with Sandy, Teresa’s dog, who was used to having the house to herself.

Sandy is a small dog, part Collie, part Jack Russell Terrier and all muscle. Even her tail has tremendous strength. She had also established herself as Alpha Dog. This was HER house and this brown stink bomb was an invader. We had no worries when Sandy’s hair stood up on end from her head to the tip of her tail and asserted her dominance. Shane just rolled over on his back and surrendered. No power struggle here. Both are good friends to this day.

Oh yeah, the bath. By the time we got done we finally saw that, yes, he was a white dog after all and he was standing in at least 3 inches of mud.

Shane, for all his stubbornness, is really just a big baby. He loves attention and will not hesitate to walk up to complete strangers to get it. He’s had his low points; tearing a tendon on his first full out run that required surgery, drug abuse (I’ll get into that next week), digging in the trash, jumping up on the furniture; but I love him and he’ll always have a home here.