Practicing the art of patience

Raising a puppy is tough. Rosko is now 9 weeks old and a serious handful. He's partially housetrained but still has some accidents. Thank god Tyler invested in a spot cleaner; that little green machine has been a lifesaver.

We took him to get his second series of shots on Sunday, which included distemper, hep and parvo. Usually boxers aren't prone to getting reactions to these vaccines, but apparently ours likes to be a little different.

The vet at PetSmart had warned us if the dog had any facial swelling, diarrhea and/or vomiting, to bring him back in. About an hour after we got home, we noticed Rosko looked like he had just gotten collagen injected into his lips. We rushed back to the vet and by the time we got there he looked like a hippo! Poor thing. He had to get an antihistamine shot and now has to take childrens Benadryl three times a day for the next couple of days. He doesn't like the medicine, but one good thing about it is calms his arse down (if he doesn't throw it up).

After his next round of shots, we'll start him in obedience training. I've already got him obeying 'sit' and Tyler has taught him to heel on the lease. Dogs are such an investment in both time and money and wreak havoc on the house but honestly, no matter what he's done, if he looks at me with that sweet face of his, I melt. I'm such a softie.

A new addition

Introducing Rosko Coltrane Jenkerson!

Early Christmas

Tyler's coming back from Utah today and is bringing my gift with him. Any guesses?

Getting collard

I love vegetables but as of last night, I have developed a hatred for collard greens. Ew! Who likes this nasty stuff?

Flexing my mussels

Tyler is out of town in Utah for the better part of this week and I decided to practice some new recipes. I recently whizzed through Julie & Julia, a book about a NY woman who decides to cook the entire Mastering the Art of French Cooking I, by Julia Childs. It essentially documents her ups & downs in her marriage and personal life and is overall really entertaining. Plus, they are making a movie which I think is going to be released early next year. So inspired by Julie Powell, the author, I decided to dip my toe into french cooking and make Moules à la Marinière, aka Steamed Mussels with White Wine, Shallots, and Parsley. I added leeks (left over my Thanksgiving CSA delivery) and Meyer lemons.

The concept was based in good intentions but failed flatly in the execution. It was my first time cooking mussels at home and I think the quality from Safeway is lacking. Some of them didn't open and the meat of the ones that did just didn't look right. The sauce had too much lemon and I overdid it with the leeks. All in all, I think I will leave mussels well enough alone and realize that its better to order them at a restaurant from here on out. When we do go out to eat, I've been trying to order things that I can't make on my own. Otherwise, why not just cook in my own kitchen?

On a positive note, I cooked my first beets. They were also included in the CSA box and were delicious. I roasted them for about an hour, peeled them after they were cooled and then let them rest in the fridge for a day. I cut them up, added some herbed goat cheese, chopped some shallots and dressed it all with a red wine vinegarette. So good. The only downside (which I realized this morning) is you end up peeing purple. I hope that's not too graphic for my many readers, but it was a little unnerving. FYI, I guess.