Making Chicken Salad with Mom

Mom and dad went to a birthday pawty for our good friend, Vincent and his twin brother Ciaran! They turned 40 years old! Ciaran lives in Ireland, so his presence at the pawty was a major surprise to Vincent! This pawty was held in a barn that my dad and the Northford Timberframers raised last year for Vincent so that makes it even more special!
Mom and I decided to make mom's famous Greek chicken salad recipe! BTW, dogs won't be going to the pawty! It's just for the hoomans because they're thinking that a lot of alcohol might be consumed! That's okay with me! Making and tasting the chicken salad is good enough!

Here's the chicken all cooked and cleaned and shredded~

Mitch and dad are out in the workshop making chicken soup, so Mitch is tasting chicken too!

The cucumbers were next! I love cucs - nice and cold! yummmmmmm

Next the feta cheese got dumped in!

Mom has never given me that to sample before! It was pretty good!

Next the black olives! I love having those tossed to me so I can catch them! hehehe


And now for the broccoli! Doesn't it look like I'm about to swallow a tree?!



















And now for the taste test!



















It's perfect, mom!
Time to put the lid on the tupperware and chill it for the pawty!




















Mom wants to report that this salad was a bit hit at Vincent and Ciaran's pawty! It was one of the first dishes to disappear!

We're not going to print the recipe here. We're going to send it to Ivy instead! You all know that Ivy is involved in a cookbook project, right, and all of us at DWB are invited to join in and contribute a recipe and photos and be a part of this! It's for a great cause! So if any of you have a yummy recipe that you want to share, click on this link and it'll take you to where you need to go! Ivy has made the directions very user friendly (for computer dummies like my mom)! It was a breeze to do and lots of fun and all for a good cause!


So until next time...................

Love ya lots,

Maggie

Birthday Pawty at the House of the Seven Gables

We were invited to a Halloween/Birthday pawty that's being celebrated at the House of the Seven Gables in Salem, Massachusettes.
Our good friends Scruffy and Lacie are hosting it and they've been working real hard to make it the best pawty ever!

We've never been here before but we've heard that it's the scarest place on the face of this earth! Mitch is already shaking like a leaf!

Costumes are optional and I know we've said that we don't wear costumes - only bandanas, but we're trying really, really hard not to be poopers! After all - it's a birthday pawty and we do want to have a good time!

I asked mom if we couldn't please just make it simple and she said that would be okay with her so I grabbed my Mardi Gras beads and my grandmother's hat and voila - I'm going as an old lady! It's really not so far fetched seeing as I'm nine years old and I really am a mature older woman!

Mom asked Mitch what he thought he might want to be and he said a ghost! Hey that's easy! Just toss a sheet over him mom!

Is that really you under there Mitch?

Hey, I think your costume is more fun than mine! I want to be the ghost and you be the old woman!

We've decided that we're bringing popcorn balls!

So yesterday we helped mom in the kitchen so that we would have something fun and yummy to bring to the pawty! In case anyone else wants to know how to make them, here's mom's recipe:

INGREDIENTS:
2 quarts popped popcorn
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup water
1/3 cup dark corn syrup
1/4 cup butter (no substitutes)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
DIRECTIONS:
1.
Place popcorn in a large bowl; set aside. In a heavy saucepan, combine brown sugar, water, corn syrup, butter and salt. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Continue cooking, without stirring, until a candy thermometer reads 270 degrees F (soft-crack stage).
2.
Remove from the heat; stir in vanilla. Pour over popcorn; stir until evenly coated. When cool enough to handle, quickly shape into balls.

We'll be flying Aire-Ruby once again! It's the only way to go, ya know!

See you at the pawty!

So until next time................

Love ya lots,

Maggie

Pretty In Pink

My goodest and bestest friend, Putter sent me the most awesome book! It's called Pretty in Pink - why it's good to be a girl!

The author is Bob Elsdale ( did you happen to catch is last name -elsDALE) We have a rainy, dreary day here today and it's just the most perfect day to lay on the floor and read a good book! Mom is helping me when I get stuck on a big word!

This "pink" all started when Oscar sent me my beautiful pink color that I love so much for my birthday in July. Now I can't seem to get enough of "pink"! And everything is coming up pink roses!

Check out this pink toolbox with all of the pink tools! Mom and I use these tools all the time for projects around the house! I love the mirror in her tool box!

This picture is adorable. It says - daily maintenance can be fun. I don't have a pink toothbrush yet! I'm still under the impression that marrow bones and carrots work pretty good!This page is a wake up call for me to be careful how many cookies and how much ice cream I eat! It says - and if things get out of balance.................it's a picture of a piggy on a bathroom scale!

I love this page - to catch up with the girls! Yes, we do like to gossip, don't we girlz!

Putter even wrote me a sweet note! Mom needed to help me read this part!

Thank you so much, Putter! You're the bestest girlfren I ever had! I think I'm going to share my new book with Pricilla the pink pig!

So until next time.....................

Love ya lots,

Maggie

The Sweet Treat Award

We were given this sweet award by Sweety and also by Butchy and Snickers!

Thank you so much! We really appreciate it.

And now I'll pass it on to Dory and Liza, William Tell the WFT and my buddy Lenny!

Update:

My vet called this afternoon and all of my bloodwork checked out 100%! He said that I was one healthy girl! yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa Bring on the ice cream and pizza!

So until next time.............

Love ya lots,

Maggie

Mitch's Trip to the ER

This story actually happened last Monday and we just didn't mention it because basically there was no diagnosis!
Scruffy and Lacie made me realize that maybe we should post it so here goes!

Last Monday we left our house at 7AM to go on our normal walkie and about 1/4 mile into it, Mitch picked up an acorn or it may have been a hickory nut shell and he swallowed it. He started to choak and it wouldn't come up. Mom shoved her fingers down his throat and it didn't help at all! He was in a wee bit of distress but he was breathing fine and wasn't in any danger. We actually walked back home, gave Mitch a drink of water and it still didn't clear it out! Mom had just watched a video at Johann's blog about a choaking incident and a CPR hero and it scared her to death (if you haven't seen it - check it out! It's a real eye opener!) so Mitch was loaded into the car and mom and dad took off!
They sorta forgot to take my harness off because they were in such a rush! Hey, what about me??!!
Once they got to the animal hospital, Mitch was seen right away. The vet tech didn't see anything but she wanted him checked out by a doctor. Oh, Mitch had vomited 3 times by this time and we still thought something was stuck! He did have an x-ray and it didn't show up anything - but an acorn isn't metal, it's a nut! And he was sedated and he did have a scope down his throat. The end result - nothing was found but they think that whatever he swallowed irritated his throat and tummy. He was given antacid-type pills to take for 4 days to help him out. So alls well that ends well with Mitch. They did trim his toenails and that had to have been the most expensive toenail job in history!
So the moral of the story is - we pay strict attention to what Mitch picks up and eats on our walkies from now on!

See, he's back to his old self - touching what's not his!

And guess what? I had a vet appointment today too! My yearly - with a rabies shot and that nasty thermometer up my butt - the whole works! I had blood drawn for testing and results aren't back yet. We expect that everything is just fine! So today was a quiet day for me.

So that's the scoop about both of our doctor visits.

So until next time................

Love ya lots,

Maggie

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Mom and I were in the kitchen first thing this morning, right after our 3-mile walkie, hard at work on making the frosting for dad's cake.

Here's the frosting recipe again~

Frosting for Pina Colada Cake:

1 cup cushed pineapple, undrained
1 small package instant coconut cream pudding
1/3 cup Malibu coconut rum

1 container ( 8 or 9 oz.) whipped topping

I have never had pineapple before so I'm gingerly tasting it! Do any of you carefully taste stuff too that you're having for the very first time - like your mom is trying to poison you?

It actually wasn't too bad!

Hey Harry, guess what? Malibu is rum!!! And you knew it all along!

Mom and I were so taken with the pretty bracelet around the neck of the bottle that we didn't even read the small print! I guess this tells you how much my mom is into alcohol! hehehe

She'd rather to use the liquor to bake with!

This is the whipped cream being mixed up with the first 3 ingredients! It's looking VERY yummy!

Mom is getting silly here and smearing whipped cream frosting on my nose! Do it again, mom! This is the BEST stuff!

I've got to get every little drop off the spatula! This is good frosting with quite the kick! Dad is gonna love this cake!


We did put the cake in the refrigerator to chill, just like the recipe said.
Dad decided to go for a spin on his Indian motorcycle right after lunch and mom looked at the both of us and said, "Ya know, that first piece is such a pain to get out of the pan. Let's help dad out, shall we?!" yes, yes, yes, yes!!!!

Isn't is beautiful and it tastes as good as it looks!

Okay, now it's my turn, Mitch!

Dad is going to LOVE his cake! It is sooooooooooo good!

Missy (my hooman sissy) and Jim (her hubby) are coming over today to help us celebrate and mom is making lazanne and a big salad, so it's time for us to head back out to the kitchen and hopefully snitch a piece of mozzerella and maybe a cucumber slice and a radish!

So until next time.................

Love ya lots,

Maggie

Baking Dad's Birthday Cake

Mom and I have decided that this is the cake that we're going to make for dad's birthday.

Pina Colada Cake

1 package white pudding cake mix ( 2 layer cake size box)

1 cup coconut

4 eggs

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup rum (we plan on getting dad bammed up so he takes us out for ice cream! shhhhhh)

1/2 cup water (gee, is this counter-productive???)

Frosting:

1 cup cushed pineapple, undrained

1 small package instant coconut cream pudding

1/3 cup rum ( I think this might work- hehehehe)

1 container ( 8 or 9 oz.) whipped topping

Combine cake mix, coconut, eggs, 1/2 cup rum and water at medium speed for 4 minutes. Pour into greased and floured 9" X 13" pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes. Do not underbake! Cool in pan for 15 minutes and remove and cool on rack. (We didn't remove the cake from the pan)

For frosting, beat pineapple, pudding and rum until well blended. Fold in whipped cream. Frost cake and chill!

We made one slight change! We found this coconut flavored stuff and thought this might be even more flavorful than rum and check out the bracelet around the bottle's neck! Can I wear that while we bake mom?!

Here's our prepared pan - all buttered and floured. We're just waiting for the batter to mix for 4 minutes!

Oops! Sorry I stuck my nose in the pan and messed it up mom! I'm sure the drool will add that extra special touch that we need for dad's cake!
I'm testing it to make sure it's just perfect before the batter goes into the pan! It's perfect mom! Dump it in!

Mom let me have a full beater of batter for all of my hard efforts!

OMG, but that's good! I wonder if cake batter helps beards to grow too! I'll let you all know real soon!The cake is in the oven baking away! Mom says we'll wait till tomorrow to frost it. It needs to cool once it comes out of the oven.

I'm looking forward to tasting that frosting tomorrow and hopefully, mom will let Mitch and I have a piece of dad's birthday cake too!

So until tomorrow..................

Love ya lots,

Maggie

Beards and Birthdays

Mom washed my beard this morning - not all of me - just my beard because I snitch a lot of apples outside and it was getting yucky she said!

After it was washed and combed we got the ruler out!

Guess what? My beard is growing again! yeaaaaaaaaaaaaa

It must be the apple juice that's making it grow! So now you all know my secret!The last time we measured it was 3 inches long and yes, I know that it's still damp and this could be considered cheating but it's one whole inch longer! So even when it dries, it has to be longer than it was, right? I can't believe that it's 4 inches long! Cool!

Mitch eats lots of apples too. Last time we measured him his beard was 1 1/2 inches long. His is growing too! He's now at just over 2 inches! So the apple juice is working for him too!

Do you know how hard it is to measure the beard of a playful puppy?!

This coming Sunday is my dad's birthday so mom and I are deciding how best to celebrate it.

Last night Mitch and I took dad to the Glennwood for a foot long hotdog and some fries and onion rings! We love pre-birthday stuff around here! Why wait till the actually day when you can have tons of fun leading up to the special day, right?

Missy and Jim will be here for oonie dinner and mom and I have decided that we're going to make a coconut cake, but we're not exactly sure which recipe we're going to use yet.

So Saturday morning, I'll be busy in the kitchen helping mom make dad's birthday cake plus Saturday, my parents are going to a pig roast (poor piggy) and mom has to bring an antipasto, so I'll be around lots of good food this weekend!

So until next time...................

Love ya lots,

Maggie

An Early Birthday Gift for Mitch

Mom wanted something special for Mitch's first birthday so she commissioned Miss Barbara, the same artist that does paintings of Sunshade and the same artist who did Oscar's painting for Katy and Martin, to do one of Mitch.

Mom takes TONS of pictures of Mitch - the little imp is just so photogenic - so it wasn't easy choosing just one photo for Barbara to paint from!

We finally agreed on this one~

The painting arrived in the mail last week~

We think it's just outstanding and the perfect likeness! It's actually much more beautiful in person!

Mom showed it to me for my approval! After all - so far all the paintings have been of ME!

And now I have to share wall space with Mitch!

I love it! It's really pretty. I told mom just please don't hang it next to any of MINE!

Maybe you can choose an entirely different room!

But she reminded me that there are paintings of me all over the house - even in the bathroom!

So then she showed it to Mitch and told him that it's an early birthday gift and what did he think of it!

Mitch was pretty excited too to think that someone wanted to paint his picture! He immediately reached out to taste it!

You don't eat it silly - it just hangs on the wall and looks pretty!

So now my little brother is famous too - just like me and Sunshade and Oscar!

Happy early birthday, Mitch!

So until next time....................

Love ya lots,

Maggie

Barktoberfest 2007

We had an absolute BLAST today!
We got there about 10 minutes before 11AM and there were already Dales there! Mitch met Scuffer right off the bat! Scuffer is Carol Usher's dog. Carol is the lady that makes the WoolieDales! Here's Carol's donation! Mom dumped 30 tickets in her box but we didn't win! boohoo

It's okay! The money all goes for a good cause!

Barbara Curtiss's husband, Denis does the most awesome metal sculptures and they're everywhere on their property! They're pretty much life size!

This is Chip having his picture taken! Chip drove all the way from Boston to be here!

Hey Asta? Is that you? We met 3 or 4 Wire Fox Terriers today!

That's me in my new pink harness. I now own a harness just like Sunshade's and I absolutely LOVE it! Mitch has one just like mine in black!

We also met several Welsh Terriers!We all got to meet and greet for about 30 minutes - then Barbara Curtiss announced that it was time to go for a nice long walkie up the mountain to the water fall and to fall in behind Denis! Mitch zoomed off and there was no way that I could even begin to think of catching him! Dad said that he led the pack the whole way! For some reason, I just didn't feel like hiking the mountain. Mom tried pulling me along but I was dead set on not going! Mom gave in and we walked back down to Barbara's yard. I was so happy that mom listened to me! Unfortunately, mom had the camera, not dad and Mitch, so there are no waterfall pictures! Sorry!

It wasn't long before Mitch and dad returned along with everybody else! Lunch was served and everybody was shopping and spending money! Mom's peanut butter oatmeal bars were going pretty fast! This recipe is a winner so mom will be making them again!

The costume parade was getting underway! Check out this scary witch!

And here's Bumblebee Boy!

Here's Peter Pan! You know he never lost his hat once! I hate hats! I would have wiped that sucker off my head so fast! But he was just so patient and easy-going!

Here's Chip again - this time in his sheriff's costume! I thought of Oscar more than once today!

This is 18 month old, Gus! She's wrapped in a spider's web!

You've got to see Saxon! He's a "watch" dog! Get it! He has wrist watches everywhere and Timex written on his back on his watch face! His lady said that his glasses really don't go with his costume but that he wanted to wear them! What a ham he is! He's sure a crowd pleaser!

And here's Amelia Aireheart and Miss America!

I just couldn't get over Amelia! I had to have a closer look!

Check out this cute clown! He's just a puppy! That's dad and Mitch in the background!

Here's Saxon again. Look at the whole crowd laughing at him! The poor boy! He actually didn't mind it a bit - or so it seemed!

We had the BEST day! There were lots of snacks to be had - both doggy snacks and people snacks! Here we are in the pick-up on the way home!

We're ZONKED!!!!We can't wait for next year! We had SO MUCH FUN!!!!

So until next time...................

Love ya lots,

Maggie