Still on the dog thing...

So, I've been compiling a list of dog breeds I want to own someday, arranging them into groups of three, and brainstorming names for them. Because I think this is a really good use of my time right now. Assuming an average lifespan of 12 years per dog, and assuming I won't want more than three dogs at any given time, in order to own one each of the following breeds I need to start fifteen years ago and live to be 154. Hm. Still, this was fun.

Note: A few breeds are interchangeable to me, as is indicated by slashes (/).

GROUP ONE

Leonberger: Orson or Ursa

Brittany: Bourbon


Boxer: Augustus ("Gus")

GROUP TWO

/

Weimaraner/Viszla: Nickel/Penny

Australian Kelpie: Oz

Briard: Filibuster

GROUP THREE

Australian Shepherd: Matilda

Chesapeake Bay Retriever: Charlotte

Basenji: Yosemite

GROUP FOUR

/

Standard Schnauzer/Kerry Blue Terrier: Moses

Doberman Pinscher: Turtle

Akita: Ticonderoga ("Ty")

GROUP FIVE

Schipperke: Escher

/

Borzoi/Afghan Hound: Baryshnikov

Airedale Terrier: Wallace

GROUP SIX

/

Pharoah Hound/Ibizan: Niles

Norfolk Terrier: Graham

Bernese Mountain Dog: Stella

GROUP SEVEN

Great Dane: Horatio

Shiba Inu: Kismet

Standard French Poodle: Wellington

GROUP EIGHT

Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever: Chloe

English Foxhound: Hugh

Canaan Dog: Jerusha

GROUP NINE

Belgian Tervuren: Wagner

Black Russian Terrier: Trotsky

Finnish Spitz: Terwilliger

Group Ten

Newfoundland: Noah

Dachshund (miniature smooth): Shoe

Yorkshire Terrier: Pudding

Group Eleven

Border Collie: McCoy

Kuvasz: Magellan

Gordon Setter: Charlemagne

Group Twelve

Rottweiler: Grissom

Siberian Husky/Malamute: Mush

Rhodesian Ridgeback: Malcolm

Dinner tonight

Curried lentils with roasted broccoli and pickled ginger. Good combo.

Fish Tacos

Note: Asadero is one of several Mexican cheeses made fresh from part-skim milk -- the Mexican equivalent of mozzarella. Like mozzarella, asadero (along with fresco, panela, an quesadilla cheese) has an equal fat-to-protein ratio. But unlike mozz, these cheeses have an extremely low "melting" temperature, but do not run or separate, or even lose their shape, really; they just get hot and very soft. Also, asadero has a deeper, nuttier flavor than mozzarella. 

Fish Tacos

olive oil

tilapia fillets

salt and pepper

lime juice

6-inch corn tortillas

asadero cheese, sliced or grated

cilantro, chopped

salsa/hot sauce/chilis, green or red

ripe mango, diced

sour cream

lettuce or cabbage, sliced into ribbons

Heat a little oil (about half a teaspoon per fillet) in nonstick pan over medium. While it heats, prepare the other ingredients. Pat tilapia dry with paper towel and set in hot pan. Season with salt and pepper. Let it cook several minutes, until thin side of fillet is almost opaque throughout (it's hard to overcook tilapia, and you want both sides to brown nicely). Meanwhile, continue preparing other ingredients. Flip tilapia and continue cooking. When done, remove from pan, turn heat to medium-low, set fish aside on cutting board or plate and drench fillets with lime juice. Add a little oil to the pan if needed and heat the tortillas on one side, flipping them over after a minute or so and sprinkling hot side with cheese, cilantro, and salsa/hot sauce. When cheese is melted, remove tortillas to plate, add tilapia, mango, sour cream, and lettuce. Wrap up and enjoy.

Puppy Love

I discovered this (and last) year's Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show is on hulu. Watching it, I was incensed anew that the Leonberger is still not yet recognized by the WKC. What is wrong with these people?

I mean, look at this. Is this not the most beautiful thing you've ever seen?!

Also, HUGE. Oh my gosh. His paw is the size of her FACE. 

They have friggin' GOLDEN EYES, okay?

And GIANT BUSHY TAILS,

which they sometimes carry curled in a highly adorable fashion.

In addition, they are brave and noble altruists, rescuing wanderers in the Swiss Alps in their spare time...

... and are 100% safe around small animals.

Basically, coolest dog ever. I so want one. Highfive.

"The Amen of Nature is always a Flower." --Oliver Wendell Holmes

New Cake o' Dreams

Planning on making it within the week. (Hooray for MONEY and TIME!)

Four buttermilk spice cake rounds, soaked in tres leches.

Orange curd filling.

Mascarpone/whipped cream frosting.

Ginger-infused caramel ganache.

Toasted pecan garnish.

Title ideas: 

Orange-Spice Caramel Torte. 

Autumn Trifle Cake. 

Spice 'n' Citrus Soaked Gateau.

...?

Finished.

I am finally done with this 18-credit, 15-hour-work-week, grad-school-application-deadlined semester, and should finish with a 3.75 GPA. 

Booyah, Bully, and Ballyhoo. 

And now, in the words of John Travolta in drag, "Ah'm g'nuh goo d'bed; Ah'm s'tawrd." I feel an overwhelming need to sleep, watch hours of mindless television, and saturate various surfaces with ink and paint -- in which activities I now have a glorious week and a half to indulge before the next semester starts up. The last semester of my undergraduate career. Gulp.

Anyway, sorry if I haven't been responsive in the blogging or facebook worlds; my online socializations are usually the first casualties of stress. I love you all! Thanks for being awesome.

Y'know, tinned fish has its place.

Since (mostly) giving up meat last autumn, I've been experimenting with protein sources -- seafood, seeds, legumes. I've always loved smoked oysters, but I haven't really had any desire to eat sardines since that one time at Sunriver when I was a kid. Turns out, though, that they're full of good stuff, including calcium in their tiny crunchable bones.

So I made a simple sauce of canned fine-dice tomatoes, fresh garlic, fennel seeds, oregano, and red pepper flakes, cooked it down for about thirty minutes, stirred in a tin of lightly smoked sardine, and tossed it with brown rice pasta, white beans, fresh steamed asparagus, and parsley. 

Delish. Can't wait to try it with oysters.

Something New

Confession: I've never bought Brussels sprouts fresh. Or frozen, come to think of it. In fact, these tough, knobby little cabbage buds were the very last veggie on the "DO NOT LIKE" side of my list until three or four years ago, when my aunt brought a braised batch to Christmas dinner and I fell like the S&P 500. Since then I've been on the lookout, but Broulims' specimens have never been very appealing... until now.

So I roasted a bunch. Aubrey offered me some of her gyoza in exchange for some of my sprouts, and the combination was scrumptious.

All mankind is of one author, and is one volume. When one man dies, one chapter is not torn out of the book, but translated into a better language; and every chapter must be so translated. God employs several translators; some pieces are translated by age, some by sickness, some by war, some by justice -- but God's hand is in every translation, and his hand shall bind up all our scattered leaves again for that library where every book shall lie open to one another.

John Donne

Meditation XVII

Perchance to dream...

Phyllo dough. Browned butter. Roasted butternut squash. Red onion. Maple. Sage. Jarlsberg. Smoked fontina. Spinach. Fine-ground almonds. A drizzle of bechamel. White pepper. Nutmeg. 

Hot, flaky, layer-y goodness. Like my dad says, "I love anything hot in a pocket. ...Except Hot Pockets."

These would not be Hot Pockets.