There hasn’t been a lot of cooking going on in my kitchen this month. This will be a quick snapshot of what has been happening.
We have been eating a lot of sandwiches. So what you ask? Well, I am a bit old school about dinner and it’s usually more formal-ish. By that I mean it’s a full meal rather than something put together on the fly. Dinner is the time to sit down and call it the end of the day, maybe with a glass of wine. A sandwich is definitely more relaxed. On the other hand there are endless variations and I find it the perfect vehicle for using up whatever is leftover in the fridge.
But I have been busy, too busy for that photographable dinner. Why you may ask? Well, here she is…
Shanna at 9 weeks
Casey, Quinn and Shanna
What have you done Mom?!
Casey, Quinn and Shanna
Do we really have to put up with this?
Shanna at 11 weeks
I’m taking all of these toys…ALL MINE!
So, there it is. 3 dogs. Our friends think we are crazy. But, isn’t she adorable? Casey and Quinn think we have brought a monster into their life to disturb their peaceful and orderly existence. She has certainly taken over our schedule, disrupted dinner and upended the normal routine. She is smart though. In only 2 weeks she has learned to come when her name is called plus sit, down and off on command. She will be running circles around us in no time.
I have managed to make few things though. The garden is flourishing with slightly less attention.
In my kitchen I have the first of this season’s zucchini and cucumbers.
Grilled Zucchini from the Fort Bragg garden
Greek Salad with home grown cucumbers
The tomatoes are local but not from my garden. Hopefully that will be remedied in the next few weeks.
I also (finally) strained out last year’s brandied peaches. The sliced peaches didn’t have much flavor but the brandy was yummy. I cooked down the peaches with additional sugar, it will make a wonderful glaze or be delicious used as a quick fruit sauce. The rhubarb was also from last year, this time in vodka. I plan to mix a bit of the rhubarb vodka with sparkling water for a refreshing cocktail.
The past year has certainly been strange, it’s both crept along slowly and Zoomed past. Literally in the last case. I meant to strain both the peaches and rhubarb months ago and completely forgot about them. Meanwhile they were quietly infusing in the back of the garage.
Brandied Peach Glaze, Rhubarb vodka and Peach Brandy
I have lots of basil in the garden.
Basil
An Aperol spritz is a welcome award at the end of the day. We had them first on a wonderful trip to Italy a few year’s ago. They bring back lovely memories of sitting on a deck after a long day’s hike in the Dolomites with good friends.
Aperol Spritz – We got a taste for them when visiting Italy a few years ago
Thank you for joining me for a peak into my kitchen. This post is part of a regular gathering of bloggers from around the world. Join us to see what’s happening in other kitchens. Thank you Sherry for hosting us, you can read more here at Sherry’s Pickings.
Wow. You’re a little crazy! I’m sure I’m older than you, but I have sworn to myself that I’ll never have a puppy! Right now we’re down to two dogs, and they’re even a lot of work! But they’re so entertaining, of course. Your dogs are beautiful.
Thanks Mimi. I’m probably not any older, just more insane. It’s a little easier for us since we have about 2 fenced acres for them to run in. We don’t have to be constantly walking them as they get plenty of exercise chasing the squirrels away from the bird feeders. And we have lots of room for tossing balls and throwing frisbees. It would be crazy without the property.
Your local vegetables are really tempting.I think that tomatoes are just starting to ripen here in Michigan, and I’m looking forward to them. We don’t have enough sun or space to grow our own,but yours look lovely.
I have lots of green ones, the ones I can get locally are either hothouse or from the much hotter inland areas.
wow, beautiful pup!, Can’t wait to get Ollie up to Ft. Bragg to play with Shanna.
And she really needs another puppy to play with, she’s driving Casey and Quinn bananas.
Yay Shanna is here!!!! Ollie can’t wait to meet her, but since he just got snipped, it’ll have to wait a bit. So excited for you!😘💕
Poor Ollie, how is he doing? I can’t wait to get them together. They are probably the same size right now. Let us know.
hi liz
glad you could make it for IMK. That puppy! i am so envious and i know they can be a lot of hard work to bring up properly 🙂 but so cute… love the basil – looks so fresh. i did grow some bushes once but the possums ate them. the easterly breeze used to bring in the scent of it thru the house – so lovely. that greek salad is making me hungry too.
take care and see you next month.
cheers
sherry
We had a lovely lemon tree in our Oakland yard. One afternoon I came out to harvest some and they were all gone! We couldn’t figure out what happened since we had a fenced yard, then found a mama possum and her babies behind the wood pile. I think those poor little ones must have had horrible indigestion.
We had a black lab/husky mix (Humane Society) a miniature schnauzer and then we got a yellow lab puppy from a friend. Not the best thing to do to two older dogs! However, we had lots of land and a pond so we were able to get the puppy tired some of the time 🙂 Shanna is definitely cute! Love all your veggies – I recently made some strawberry vodka
How do you use the strawberry vodka? It helps having lots of dogs, bet the lab loved the pond. Our two older ones (10 and 12) are not overjoyed but we are giving them lots of attention. Once Shanna is fully vaccinated we will set up puppy play dates, and we are signed up for puppy kindergarten in August. Hopefully it will all work out, right now the older ones are being grouchy but the puppy is very good tempered about it and keeps trying.
I used the strawberry vodka in a Baileys Strawberries and Cream milkshake which I haven’t posted yet. It sure was good – I could easily drink a lot of them! Good luck with the puppy – I feel for you as I went through it years ago 🙂
Oh my gosh, that sounds amazing!!!