Winter Doodle Romp

See - I promised I would post photos from that doodle romp long ago.  Sorry for the delay, but here are the cute doodles.

Here's Harper looking slightly less cute when she is sopping wet.

Sticks were very popular on the beach that day.

This Aussie Doodle just happened to be on the beach and joined in on the fun.

Joyce and David showed up with all of Harper's best friends, so her afternoon got even better.  (Latte, above.)

This is their newest puppy, Popcorn.  He also answers to Poppy and Poopy.

Mochi looking distinguished, as always.

Joyce and David are in Maui at the moment, so we have all three of their dogs at our place right now.  It's a bit of a madhouse, but fun.

Popcorn had a blast digging endless holes.

 

Yes, this kind of thing just happens spontaneously.

After Joyce and David (et al.) left, Harper found a new cute doodle to play with.  I told you those sticks were quite a hit!  These doodles will create fun out of anything.

New Year

Happy New Year!  Welcome to 2012!

How did you celebrate?

We headed up to Point Reyes and had a wonderful weekend.  More photos to follow.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from Harper et al.  

Really, who cares about the rest of us when Harper is this cute?

Snug as a Bug

This little bug is helping me get through my 10 hours of billing today.  Did I mention we started letting her on the couch?  She loves to snuggle in with all the blankets, and I love the company.

Drying Off

I honestly haven't a clue where her face is in this picture.

Miscellany

I took 400 photos at a doodle romp last weekend, but I haven't had time to edit and post them.  I promise to get to it pronto.  At least in the meantime I finished addressing all my Christmas cards.  If you're lucky, you might be seeing one soon!  There may even be some shots of Harper girl in there.  Shocker.

Five Things

Celebrating Christmas with your family early means the holiday season really does last a month (like all the retailers want us to believe).  I got wonderful gifts this year from my family under the tree as well as in my stocking.

 My aunt is big on family history, and gave me three vintage cookbooks from our family - from 1923, 1938, and 1943, respectively.  Pretty incredible.

Santa must have heard me admiring my aunt's lemon bags, because two days later I found some in my stocking.  You just pop one on the end of a lemon and the seeds stay-put.  Genius idea!

My brother and his wife got me three incredible cookbooks.  My brother said he picked them (from my wishlist) based on what he would like to eat.  I love that idea!  We both share a love for Mexican food since we ate it almost every week growing up.  I can't wait to break out some of these wonderful recipes.

In New York I was the opposite of a bring-your-lunch-to-work kind of gal.  I didn't just eat out every day, but I actually ordered in delivery every single day.  That's some intense laziness.  Now that I bring my lunch everyday, my new insulated lunch bag will get plenty of use!

A gift in my stocking was actually for Harper.  It's a UVA football rope-thingie dog toy.  Harper is obsessed with it.  Wa hoo wa!

Five Things

John showed how much he missed me when I was in New York by sending me flowers on my first day back in the office.  No, it's not my birthday or anniversary, guys, I just have a good husband.

Next week is Thanksgiving, otherwise known as Christmas-With-My-Family-This-Year, so I've been doing lots of online shopping to be prepared.  Even when the packages aren't for me, I always love coming home to something.

I might break into the Milk Bar cookbook this weekend with an attempt to recreate crack pie!  If it works out, I might even try to get my family addicted to crack pie this Thanksgiving.

Do you do that thing where when you find something you love you buy it in multiple colors?  Well I sure as hell do.  I just bought this skirt in yellow...that I also own in blue and orange.  Next up, green and red?

Our dog is a model.  And in case you were keeping score, yes, that makes her better than your dog.  She is in the cover photo of one calendar and the December gal in another calendar this year.  Our doodle-loving neighbors and I submitted photos of our doodles in the calendar contest and were successful in proving that our pooches are the most beautiful of the bunch!

Five Things

I absolutely adore cider in the fall.  I've been buying big jugs at Whole Foods and heating up mugfuls in the microwave to drink with my breakfast in the morning.

Warm cider is even better underneath a warm blanket - especially a warm heated blanket.  The only problem is that once you get underneath a blanket with a cup of cider, it's hard to unearth yourself and get to work.

John got a Xoom from work, and I've inherited his iPad.  Now I can finally ride on an airplane and look like one of the cool kids.

I never had pistachios growing up, and I never knew what I was missing out on.  John doesn't like most kinds of nuts, but he loves pistachios, so I started keeping them around.  This local brand of pistachios is so unbelievably good.  It's so good that we eat a whole bag in one sitting.  I bought the store out of the Salt and Pepper flavor the last time I was there.  They have yet to restock.

I'm off to New York this weekend, and John is left to his own devices (mainly his xbox).  At least he has Harper to keep him company.  Let's pretend she made this sad face when I told her I was leaving.

Pumpkin Dog Biscuits

We like to sing a little song in our house entitled "Mean Mommy."  It goes along to the tune of "My Buddy" or "Kid Sister" if you are familiar with those commercials form the eighties.

Mean Mommy
Mean Mommy
Wherever I go
She's gonna go
Mean Mommy
Mean Mommy
Mean Mommy and meeeeeee!

I usually break into this tune after I take away something Harper is very much enjoying.  Usually a toy she is destroying or on the brink of destroying or maybe her antler chew toy.  I usually try to replace what she was chewing on with something else, but I will be admit it doesn't really fill the void.

Luckily for Harper, now that I have a box of pumpkin dog biscuits in the fridge, what I'm most likely to replace her toy with is a homemade treat.

Granted, Mean Mommy doesn't just hand out treats for no reason.  So I hide it within a toy within a toy so she has to work to get it out.  That's Mean Mommy for you.

These are great treats for dogs (not humans - I tasted the batter and ick) - they love them and they actually have some healthy nutrients too.  Pumpkin is full of vitamin A and helps dogs who have upset tummies.  Cinnamon and molasses are high in nutrients too, surprisingly enough.  But really it's just fun to bake something for my favorite pup and watch her enjoy it.  Having a Mean Mommy has its perks sometimes.

Pumpkin Dog Biscuits
From The Organic Dog Biscuit Cookbook

1 c. oat flour
1 c. brown rice flour
1 c. pumpkin (canned or fresh)
2 tablepoons molasses
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 egg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine all ingredients and mix until a cohesive dough forms.  Roll out on a lightly floured surface until 1/4 inch thick.  Use cookie cutters to cut into shapes and place on an ungreased cookie sheet.  The cookies can be placed very close together, as they do not spread.  Bake for 20-25 minutes.  Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.  Store in an airtight container in the fridge.

Five Things

We don't have the heat on in our house yet, but I officially turned off the air conditioning.  The heated blankets remain in storage, but I have been snuggling with the cashmere blanket quite a bit.  I might not be wearing socks to bed yet, but I have pulled out my long pants.  Baby steps into fall, people.

Brussels sprouts are such a great fall vegetable.  We've loved them roasted for awhile now, but I recently discovered how good they taste raw and chopped into a salad.  They are essentially mini cabbages, so it's similar to the cabbage flavor in cole slaw.  Delicious!

If not for the bone cookie cutter, you might think these pumpkin cookies are for humans.  I promise to share the recipe soon for Harper's favorite new biscuits!  We had fun this week making them together.

David Tanis just left his post as chef at Chez Panisse to become a writer for the New York Times dining section.  I'm excited to delve into his cookbook and to read his work at the Times.  From what I hear, the book is full of earthy and flavorful recipes.

I think the real reason everyone was upset about the iPhone 4S not looking different than the iPhone 4 was because we all wanted to show off that we had the new one.  Well, I have the new one, and I have to post about it on my blog or else no one would know.  My new favorite discovery is not Siri but realizing I can watch Grey's Anatomy reruns on Netflix while at the gym.  This is life changing, people.

I wish I could tell you the name of these grapes, I really do.  The vendor at the farmers market said they were "crispin grapes" (or something).  I tried to Google it, and it appears that isn't a real type of grape.  These are my new favorites because they are as crisp as an apple (all week, according to the vendor, but mine didn't last that long) and full of flavor.  No one likes biting into a sad, mushy grape.