Fieldwork and Dog Return

With the Federal budget passing, money was freed up for travel again so I packed a full two weeks to catch up on some work in Northern California.  It was good to have a change of scenery after two weeks living for 4 dogs.  You can see that Bailey can't wait to be alone again.

I stopped in Los Angeles to return the dogs and I'm pretty sure they were very happy to be home.  I think two dogs are plenty work.  Sophia was so excited that she panted in my ear the entire 2 hour drive.


The weather was fabulous for the drive up to San Francisco and it was clear and sunny until I got over the Grapevine where I could see a haze of brown - I'm not sure it the photo does it justice.

When I got closer to the bay area, I saw all the wind turbines.  It was calm so none of them were spinning.

The weather was very warm for January so it was nice for my thin blood.  It did get pretty cold at night and I was bundled up to keep warm.

Chinese New Year - Water Dragon

Happy Chinese New Year!  It is the year of the water dragon.

I am back home after an extended work trip which I will write about as the days progress.  I was lucky enough to come home just in time for supper club with my peeps, Janet, Amy and Kim.

We celebrated with a Chinese New Year dinner which included General's chicken, egg drop soup, fried rice, pork and cabbage dumplings and almond sponge cake.

We used the recipes from this site and I left it up to everyone to choose what they wanted to make or bringing any other dish that would help the celebration.  I can't believe that in the 11 years that we have been doing supper club, that we never had a theme for Chinese New Year.

I made the chicken and the recipe was not quite complete since it didn't list how much oil to use in the wok.  After just coating the wok, I believe that the chicken should have been deep fried.  Since that was too much oil, I did a stir fry instead and using the pan leavings in the sauce.

Kim was very ambitious in that she made the dumpling wrappers from scratch but the dough was a little sticky which made boiling them a bit messy.  The dumplings did taste good so no complaints except for the waste of the deformed dumplings.  

Janet brought the fried rice which was colorful as well as delicious.

Amy made the egg drop soup which she finished on the stove before serving.  She stated she added some bok choy and mushrooms so we would have vegetables.  The soup was a bit peppery with the white pepper she added.

I rounded out the dinner with the almond sponge cake which was a bit flat and as soon as I took it out of the pan, it deflated like yesterday's news.  The cake was tasty with almost everyone having seconds.

Here is the gang in the kitchen right before dinner.

Here is to having a great new year.

Rotini with Sun Dried Tomatoes and Artichokes

The second Scramble meal I made was the rotini dish.  I decided not to do the artichoke hearts as a separate dish and instead incorporated them into the sauce.


The twist of this dish was to boil the noodles and then drain quickly but not rinse. I then added goat cheese to the hot noodles and let it melt all of the noodles.  It added an extra dimension to the pasta.

The sauce was made up of onions, sun dried tomatoes, diced tomatoes and some rosemary plus the artichoke hearts.

Once the noodles were ready, I added the sauce and mixed up the pasta.  Again the dish was a little tangy.

First Scramble Dinner

A few days ago, I posted about the Six O'Clock Scramble.  I cooked my first meal of pan-browned pork loins with green beans with sweet potato fries.


The meal was pretty easy to put together and took about 30 minutes.  I fixed the sweet potato and yam fries first with my alligator slicer and stuck them in the oven.


The coating for the pork chops went pretty fast and they browned up pretty well.  I bought the thin sliced chops instead of the regular ones.  With the 3 minutes on each side, I don't believe that the pork would be cook through with the thicker chops.

The lemon juice and capers added some tang which is not my favorite but over all the meal was tasty.

It was a very colorful dish and I was full afterwards with no cravings for dessert.  The meal serves 4 so I have plenty of leftovers.

The First Week with 4 Dogs

It has been a week of living with 4 dogs - my two and my brother's two.


It is a very hectic life with 4 animals milling about.  They have come to some sort of pack hierarchy and there are no fights for position now but Bubby still tries to intimidate to no effect.


I did find some poodles fluff out in the yard so there was probably some kind of scuffle while I was not home but there was no blood and everyone seems fine.


Pepper is still trying to eat food that is not hers and Bailey is still tentative but peace reigns in the house.


Food time has to be well timed and I need to hold the bowl for Sophie as she is such a slow eater that nothing would be left if I put the bowl on the ground.  Bubby is good at protecting his food bowl even though he eats kind of slow as well.


Since they were not use to eating on time and free fed, it was a chore to put down and pick up their food bowls.  After the third day, they came to the food bowl right away and ate their meals.


My slippers are absent when I wake in the morning and I usually find them in the yard.  There is barking between 4 and 5 in the morning for no reason.  I think everyone has settled into a new routine.


Pepper and Bubby have even decided to share a bed.

Walking 4 dogs is a chore of insanity and they don't like to be left alone while I walk a few at a time.  I just let them play in the canyon instead.

Shalom Cardigan

I listen to the Stockinette Zombies podcast and they are starting up a knit-a-long for the Shalom Cardigan for January and February.


This pattern has been in my queue for quite a while and this is exactly the incentive I need to start it.


I have some Cascade Eco + yarn in the Teal color way and I have knitted up, washed, and blocked a swatch.  I got gauge with US 10 needles so I'm ready to start.

Megan posted some up sizing for the pattern and it seems to be fairly straight-forward.  My plan is to add sleeves to my cardigan since I think it defeats the purpose of having short sleeve sweaters.  I should have enough yarn for that.

2012 Goals

It is another year and it seems the days past at a faster rate each year.


I didn't set any goals last year so I think I'm going to list some things for the up coming year.


1.  Eat more mindfully
2.  Exercise at least 3 times per week
3.  Finish knitting a sweater
4.  Finish knitting a pair of socks
5.  Finish the Evenstar shawl
6.  Make a point to be more social
7.  Be thankful every day
8.  Limit spending on hobbies


I think that is pretty ambitious for me.  I'm posting this above my desk so I will see it every day as a reminder.