Cobb Salad

In trying to eat a bit healthier and lower carb, I'm trying to get more salads and veggies into the rotation.  We had this lovely Cobb salad the other day for lunch.  Or was it dinner?  I  can't remember.  I do know it was delicious and we ate every last bit.  And I missed the bread.

Grilled chicken, blue cheese, bacon, hard boiled egg, avocado, tomatoes

Milo

Milo is racking up the vet bills again.  He was not feeling well the other night and clearly very uncomfortable, so off to the vet we went.  3 1/2 hours later we left with two meds, xrays, somewhere around 80 ultrasound pics of his intestinal walls, kidney, adrenal glands, pancreas, and other internal bits and pieces and orders to come back in the morning for another xray.  He seemed to be back to his cranky self last night, and is doing ok today.  He has to fast until Friday.  Until then, we have to force feed him his meds, keep him hydrated with a 50% dilution of Pedialyte, and try to keep Quincy from harassing him.  Oh yes, they shaved his belly and half way up his sides to do the ultrasound, so he's got a sort of doggie mohawk going on.  Not cute.

Anybody know what flavor Pedialyte dogs prefer?  Cause it isn't unflavored by the reaction I got today.  This is going to get really messy.

Asparagus Pizza

Wow, what an amazing pizza!  Deb over at smittenkitchen.com posted this asparagus pizza and she, as usual, was right on.  I used fresh mozzarella and cooked it on the grill with a quick finish under the broiler.  It's way too hot to turn on the oven tonight.  The crust had a nice char on the bottom that was just short of burnt.  The dough was good even though I made it just a few hours ago, with a nice chewiness to the interior.  I also finished off that homemade wine, which went well with the pizza.  I don't think it would have stood up to a tomato based pizza yet, but it was good with this light, springy one.

Chicken Cacciatore

Chicken cacciatore is usually, in my mind, a crockpot type of dish.  This was made on top of the stove and finished in the oven and was a delicous combination of ingredients that didn't go all mushy.  Bob G gave me this recipe from I-don't-know-where for Chicken Cacciatore with Red and Yellow Peppers.  Steamed then sauteed green beans on the side and some homemade bread.  è molto delizioso!

Grilled Vegetables and New Wine

We grilled vegetables this week to eat for lunches and such.  On Friday, we had a work related dinner and grilled chicken kabobs and flank steak.  Saturday, I ate the rest of the loaf of spinach dip in Hawaiin bread - thanks E, I DID eat ALL the bread - and for dinner we had the last of the grilled veggies with leftover chicken and a NY strip steak we grilled up "fresh."

To go along with all our grilled goodies, we opened the bottle of wine a new friend had given us.  She recommended that we have it with something grilled.  It was good, very light and young, but flavorful and easy to drink.  I'd like to see how it develops over time.  I don't think I have the patience to make my own wine and wait around for it when there's a great liquor store about 7 blocks away!  But I'm glad I know someone who does.  LBK drank the beer she gave us and he thought that was very good as well, even though it's not his preferred style of beer.  Props to the brewer!  I, who can normally not drink any kind of beer, had several sips.  An unqualified success, I'd say.

Happy Anniversary to Us

Yesterday was our 14th wedding anniversary.  I received a wonderful handmade card and this beautiful box of chocolates from Canady.  I feel like I should write something mushy and lovey-dovey.  It will have to suffice that I am the luckiest, no, WE are the luckiest people in the world to have each other.

I'll try to list the flavors as I eat them.  They aren't pictured on the website and LBK doesn't remember exactly what each one is.
Top row:  1  coconut   3  three layer ganache -milk, white, dark
Middle:   salt caramel   pumpkin spice   creme brulee   dark chocolate
Bottom:  1    2    3   80% ganache? with salt on top

I baked some cheddar bread from Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day.  I made 4 small loaves.  They didn't last long, even though I don't think they were cheesy enough.