Puppies and Such

I have gotten to the point that pretty much all I do when I have a day off is cook. I cook and clean and cook and clean and cook and clean. It is a never ending cycling of generating lots of very dirty dishes. Then wash. Then repeat. And it takes a lot of time. I wonder what I might accomplish if I didn't spend all my time cooking.

Anyhow, that's just a little aside. This exciting week - most of which I had off - has gone by in a whirl. The week started out with a little, sort of, vacation. I worked monday, but I went and hung out with Penny.

Oopsie, where is the nose.

As exhibited in this photo, Penny was just about to pop out some puppies. Her mom wanted someone there in case it happened while she wasn't at home. So I lugged over my computer (not a laptop) and Otto and I hung out with Penny for the day. I (sort of) worked and Penny and Otto sat around and looked cute. Penny did not have puppies, at least not on Monday.

There was a lot of this going on!

Penny did have puppies on Wednesday early am and on Thursday I got to hang out! Be prepared for major cuteness.

I can't even think of funny captions, they are so stinking cute, who can do anything but say 'ahhhh'.

The rest of the week has been a blur of food. I cooked a bunch of new stuff this week. And it was all extra tasty. Let's take a stroll through the menu.

Veggie mash, aka I ate a parsnip!  What's up with parsnips?  I am pretty sure I have never eaten one before this week. They look difficult. And not necessarily tasty in any way. However, I saw a recipe for autumn veggie mash and thought, parsnip why not. It actually included parsnips, carrots, cauliflower and roasted garlic. AND was super easy. AND was extra tasty. AND, it's possible I made a lot!

Mash 

Look how cute, pumpkins now come in boxes!

Art shot

I also made much too much pumpkin pie. I took one to thanksgiving and ended up being the only person who likes pumpkin pie. Hmm. I also decided that the main reason I like pumpkin pie is the whip cream. Must remember to make whip cream next year.

Pre party piece, whoops! How gauche. 

And can I mention that the worst thing about making pies to take to a party, is that you can't taste them! If you make cookies, you can just eat one (or two) and no one will know. But if you have a piece of pie, whoops, you suddenly are the person with zero self control!

Taj Mahal chicken. OMG. I may or my not have mentioned that my favorite cook book writer just came out with her second cookbook (Well Fed 2, if you haven't bought it, or the original Well Fed, do so immediately your taste buds will be so happy, I promise). I have been slowly making my way through some of the new recipes. Her recipes sometimes seem super wacky, like she was just making shit up. For example, the above pictured chicken has applesauce in it? I mean what's up with that? It also called for 1 and only 1 tablespoon of tomato paste. I usually avoid such recipes because then I'm left with a lot of tomato paste!  But I jumped in despite these recipe quirks and let me mention that is is one of the more amazing dishes I have had recently............. SO GOOD!!!! Particularly when it tops her coconut cauliflower, which is her version of sticky rice.

Which brings me to this. Zucchini soup. Let me go on the record stating that I hate zucchini. I think it's worthless. It tastes bland. It grows too abundantly (meaning everyone keeps wanting to give you some, even though you don't want it). I don't cook it. I don't put it in salads. And I certainly don't put it in my garden. Well, lately I have been getting tired of my beef broth. I make it, then have to force myself to drink it, because I know it's extra good for me. Well, my favorite cook book writer, Melissa Joulwan (see above, Well Fed), has a zucchini soup in her new book. (It's actually called silky gingered zucchini soup.) And, well, I trust her. So my bored of broth self decided to whip up a batch of soup, even though it was zucchini soup. I was super dubious the entire time it was cooking, because it just looked like a bunch of broth with stupid zucchini pieces floating in it, but OMG, extra tasty. It's all creamy, as if it has a whole bunch of, well, cream in it, but it's just zucchini and a few spices and broth.  

And finally, let me leave you with some cuteness, a down coat on the floor makes for the perfect bed when your mom is sitting close by typing a blog.......

Meow!